GREAT ACTRESSES

Marilyn Monroe

2014-05-04T14:07:00.003-07:00

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1926 – 1962) was an American actress, model, and singer, who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s and early 1960s.

After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946 with Twentieth Century-Fox. Her early film appearances were minor, but her performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950), drew attention. By 1952 she had her first leading role in Don't Bother to Knock and 1953 brought a lead in Niagara, a melodramatic film noir that dwelt on her seductiveness. Her "dumb blonde" persona was used to comic effect in subsequent films such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and The Seven Year Itch (1955). Limited by typecasting, Monroe studied at the Actors Studio to broaden her range. Her dramatic performance in Bus Stop (1956) was hailed by critics and garnered a Golden Globe nomination. Her production company, Marilyn Monroe Productions, released The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), for which she received a BAFTA Award nomination and won a David di Donatello award. She received a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Some Like It Hot (1959). Monroe's last completed film was The Misfits (1961), co-starring Clark Gable, with a screenplay written by her then-husband, Arthur Miller.

The final years of Monroe's life were marked by illness, personal problems, and a reputation for unreliability and being difficult to work with. The circumstances of her death, from an overdose of barbiturates, have been the subject of conjecture. Though officially classified as a "probable suicide", the possibilities of an accidental overdose or a homicide have not been ruled out. In 1999, Monroe was ranked as the sixth-greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. In the decades following her death, she has often been cited as both a pop and a cultural icon as well as the quintessential American sex symbol. In 2009, TV Guide Network named her No. 1 in Film's Sexiest Women of All Time.

Enjoy Marilyn's unique beauty and charm!

Some trailers:

Gentlemen prefer blondes (1953)

How to marry a millionnaire (1953)

Niagara (1953)

River of no return (1954)

The seven year itch (1955)

Bus stop (1956)

The prince and the showgirl (1957)

Some like it hot (1957)

I wanna be loved by you

Through with love

Let's make love (1960)

My heart belongs to daddy

The misfits (1961)

Something's got to give (1962) (unfinished movie: Marilyn died during the shooting)

Marlene Dietrich

2014-05-04T13:18:00.001-07:00

Marie Magdalene "Marlene" Dietrich (1901 – 1992) was a German actress and singer.

Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel (1930), directed by Josef von Sternberg, brought her international fame and garnered her a contract with Paramount Pictures in the US. Hollywood films such as Shanghai Express (1932) and Desire (1936) capitalised on her glamour and exotic looks, cementing her stardom and making her one of the highest-paid actresses of the era. Dietrich became a U.S. citizen in 1939, and throughout World War II she was a high-profile frontline entertainer. Although she still made occasional films in the post-war years, Dietrich spent most of the 1950s to the 1970s touring the world as a successful show performer.

In 1999, the American Film Institute named Dietrich the ninth-greatest female star of all time.

Even at the start of her film career, Dietrich would often include masculine clothes in her wardrobe, giving herself an androgynous quality.

She made her film debut playing a bit part in the film, The Little Napoleon (1923).

Dietrich continued to work on stage and in film both in Berlin and Vienna throughout the 1920s. On stage, she had roles of varying importance in Frank Wedekind's Pandora's Box, William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as George Bernard Shaw's Back to Methuselah and Misalliance. It was in musicals and revues, such as Broadway, Es Liegt in der Luft, and Zwei Krawatten, however, that she attracted the most attention. By the late 1920s, Dietrich was also playing sizable parts on screen, including Café Elektric (1927), Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame (1928) and Das Schiff der verlorenen Menschen (1929).

In 1929, Dietrich landed the breakthrough role of Lola Lola, a cabaret singer who causes the downfall of a hitherto respected schoolmaster, in UFA's production The Blue Angel (1930). Josef von Sternberg directed the film and thereafter took credit for having "discovered" Dietrich. The film is also noteworthy for having introduced Dietrich's signature song "Falling in Love Again", which she recorded for Electrola and later made further recordings in the 1930s for Polydor and Decca Records.

On the strength of The Blue Angel's international success, and with encouragement and promotion from von Sternberg, who was already established in Hollywood, Dietrich then moved to the U.S. under contract to Paramount Pictures. The studio sought to market Dietrich as a German answer to MGM's Swedish sensation, Greta Garbo.

Dietrich starred in six films directed by von Sternberg at Paramount between 1930 and 1935: von Sternberg worked very effectively with Dietrich to create the image of a glamorous femme fatale. He encouraged her to lose weight and coached her intensively as an actress—she, in turn, was willing to trust him and follow his sometimes imperious direction in a way that a number of other performers resisted.

Their first American collaboration, Morocco (1930), again cast her as a cabaret singer; the film is best remembered for the sequence in which she performs a song dressed in a man's white tie and kisses another woman, both provocative for the era. The film earned Dietrich her only Oscar nomination.

Morocco was followed by Dishonored (1931), with Dietrich as a Mata Hari-like spy) and Blonde Venus (1932). Shanghai Express (1932) was von Sternberg and Dietrich's biggest box office hit. Their last two films, The Scarlet Empress (1934)and The Devil Is a Woman (1935)—the most stylized of their collaborations—were their least commercial ventures. Dietrich later remarked that she was at her most beautiful in The Devil Is a Woman.

A crucial part of the overall effect was created by von Sternberg's exceptional skill in lighting and photographing Dietrich to optimum effect—the use of light and shadow, including the impact of light passed through a veil or slatted blinds (as for example in Shanghai Express)—which, when combined with scrupulous attention to all aspects of set design and costumes, make this series of films among the most visually stylish in cinema history. Critics still vigorously debate how much of the credit belonged to von Sternberg and how much to Dietrich, but most would agree that neither consistently reached such heights again after Paramount fired von Sternberg and the two ceased working together.

Dietrich's first film after the end of her partnership with von Sternberg was Frank Borzage's Desire (1936), a commercial success that gave Dietrich an opportunity to try her hand at romantic comedy. Her next project, I Loved a Soldier (1936) ended in a shambles when the film was scrapped several weeks into production due, to script problems and disagreements between the star and her director.

Extravagant offers lured Dietrich away from Paramount to make The Garden of Allah (1936) for independent producer David O. Selznick (she received $200,000) and to Britain for Alexander Korda's production, Knight Without Armour (1937) (at a salary of $450,000). Although she was now one of the best paid film stars, her vehicles were costly to produce and neither of the latter two films was financially successful. By this time, Dietrich ranked 126th at the box office and exhibitors labelled her "Box Office Poison" (alongside others like Fred Astaire, Joan Crawford, Dolores del Río, Katharine Hepburn, and Mae West).

While she was in London, officials of the Nazi Party approached Dietrich and offered her lucrative contracts, should she agree to return to Germany as a foremost film star in the Third Reich. She refused their offers and applied for US citizenship in 1937.

She returned to Paramount to make another romantic comedy, Angel (1937, directed by Ernst Lubitsch); reception to the film was so lukewarm that Paramount bought out the remainder of Dietrich's contract. When film projects at other studios fell through, Dietrich and her family set sail for an extended holiday in Europe.

In 1939, she accepted producer Joe Pasternak's offer to play against type in her first film in two years: that of the cowboy saloon girl, Frenchie, in the light-hearted western Destry Rides Again, opposite James Stewart. The bawdy role revived her career and "The Boys in the Back Room", a song she introduced in the film, became a hit when she recorded it for Decca. She played similar types in Seven Sinners (1940) and The Spoilers (1942), both opposite John Wayne.

While Dietrich arguably never fully regained her former screen glory, she continued performing in the movies, including appearances for such distinguished directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Orson Welles, and Billy Wilder, in films that included A Foreign Affair (1948), Stage Fright (1950), Rancho Notorious (1952), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), and Touch of Evil (1958).

Dietrich was known to have strong political convictions and the mind to speak them. In interviews, Dietrich stated that she had been approached by representatives of the Nazi Party to return to Germany but had turned them down flat. Dietrich, a staunch anti-Nazi, became an American citizen in 1939.

In December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II, and Dietrich became one of the first celebrities to raise war bonds. She toured the US from January 1942 to September 1943 (appearing before 250,000 troops on the Pacific Coast leg of her tour alone) and was reported to have sold more war bonds than any other star.

During two extended tours for the USO in 1944 and 1945, she performed for Allied troops on the front lines in Algeria, Italy, Britain, and France and went into Germany with Generals James M. Gavin and George S. Patton. When asked why she had done this, in spite of the obvious danger of being within a few kilometres of German lines, she replied, "aus Anstand"—"out of decency".

Her revue, with future TV pioneer Danny Thomas as her opening act, included songs from her films, performances on her musical saw (a skill she had originally acquired for stage appearances in Berlin in the 1920s), and a pretend "mindreading" act. Dietrich would inform the audience that she could read minds and ask them to concentrate on whatever came into their minds. Then she would walk over to a soldier and earnestly tell him, "Oh, think of something else. I can't possibly talk about that!" American church papers reportedly published stories complaining about this part of Dietrich's act.

In 1944, the Morale Operations Branch of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) initiated the Musak project, musical propaganda broadcasts designed to demoralize enemy soldiers. Dietrich, the only performer who was made aware that her recordings would be for OSS use, recorded a number of songs in German for the project, including "Lili Marleen", a favorite of soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Major General William J. Donovan, head of the OSS, wrote to Dietrich, "I am personally deeply grateful for your generosity in making these recordings for us."

Dietrich was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the US in 1945. She said this was her proudest accomplishment. She was also awarded the Légion d'honneur by the French government as recognition for her wartime work.

Dietrich often performed parts of her show in top hat and tails.

From the early 1950s until the mid-1970s, Dietrich worked almost exclusively as a highly paid cabaret artist, performing live in large theaters in major cities worldwide.

In 1953, Dietrich was offered a then-substantial $30,000 per week to appear live at the Sahara Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. The show was short, consisting only of a few songs associated with her. Her daringly sheer "nude dress"—a heavily beaded evening gown of silk soufflé, which gave the illusion of transparency—designed by Jean Louis, attracted a lot of publicity. This engagement was so successful that she was signed to appear at the Café de Paris in London the following year; her Las Vegas contracts were also renewed.

Dietrich employed Burt Bacharach as her musical arranger starting in the mid-1950s; together they refined her nightclub act into a more ambitious theatrical one-woman show with an expanded repertoire. Her repertoire included songs from her films as well as popular songs of the day. Bacharach's arrangements helped to disguise Dietrich's limited vocal range—she was a contralto—and allowed her to perform her songs to maximum dramatic effect; together, they recorded four albums and several singles between 1957 and 1964. In a TV interview in 1971, she credited Bacharach with giving her the "inspiration" to perform during those years.

She would often perform the first part of her show in one of her body-hugging dresses and a swansdown coat, and change to top hat and tails for the second half of the performance. This allowed her to sing songs usually associated with male singers, like "One for My Baby" and "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face".

Her use of body-sculpting undergarments, nonsurgical temporary facelifts, expert makeup, and wigs, combined with careful stage lighting, helped to preserve Dietrich's glamorous image as she grew older.

Dietrich's return to Germany in 1960 for a concert tour elicited a mixed response. Many Germans felt she had betrayed her homeland by her actions during World War II. During her performances at Berlin's Titania Palast theatre, protesters chanted, "Marlene Go Home!" On the other hand, Dietrich was warmly welcomed by other Germans, including Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt, who was, like Dietrich, an opponent of the Nazis who had lived in exile during their rule. The tour was an artistic triumph, but a financial failure. She also undertook a tour of Israel around the same time, which was well-received; she sang some songs in German during her concerts, including, from 1962, a German version of Pete Seeger's anti-war anthem "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", thus breaking the unofficial taboo against the use of German in Israel. Dietrich in London, a concert album, was recorded during the run of her 1964 engagement at the Queen's Theatre.

She performed on Broadway twice (in 1967 and 1968) and won a special Tony Award in 1968. In November 1972, I Wish You Love, a version of Dietrich's Broadway show titled An Evening With Marlene Dietrich, was filmed in London. She was paid $250,000 for her cooperation but was unhappy with the result. The show was broadcast in the UK on the BBC and in the US on CBS in January 1973.

In 1982, Dietrich agreed to participate in a documentary film about her life, Marlene (1984), but refused to be filmed. The film's director, Maximilian Schell, was allowed only to record her voice. He used his interviews with her as the basis for the film, set to a collage of film clips from her career. The final film won several European film prizes and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary in 1984. Newsweek named it "a unique film, perhaps the most fascinating and affecting documentary ever made about a great movie star".

Dietrich's funeral service was attended by approximately 1,500 mourners in the church itself--including several ambassadors from the Germany, Russia, the US, the UK, and other countries - with thousands more outside. Her closed coffin rested beneath the altar draped in the French flag and adorned with a simple bouquet of white wildflowers and roses from the French President, François Mitterrand. Three medals, including France's Legion of Honor and the US Medal of Freedom, were displayed at the foot of the coffin, military style, for a ceremony symbolizing the sense of duty Dietrich embodied in her career as an actress, and in her personal fight against Nazism. Her daughter placed a wooden crucifix, a St. Christopher's medal and a locket enclosing photos of Dietrich's grandsons in the coffin. The officiating priest remarked: "Everyone knew her life as an artist of film and song, and everyone knew her tough stands... She lived like a soldier and would like to be buried like a soldier".

Dietrich was a fashion icon to the top designers as well as a screen icon that later stars would follow. She once said, "I dress for myself. Not for the image, not for the public, not for the fashion, not for men." Her public image included openly defying sexual norms, and she was known for her androgynous film roles and her bisexuality.

Enjoy Marlene's supreme glamour!

Her great concerts:

Live in Stockholm (1963)

Live in London (1972)

Lana Turner

2014-05-04T12:23:00.002-07:00

Julia Jean "Lana" Turner (1921 – 1995) was an American film and television actress.

Discovered and signed to a film contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget (1937). She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). During the early 1940s she established herself as a leading actress in such films as Johnny Eager (1941), Honky Tonk (1941), Ziegfeld Girl (1941) and Somewhere I'll Find You (1942). She is known as one of the first Hollywood scream queens thanks to her role in the 1941 horror film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and her reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her performance in the film noir The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Her popularity continued through the 1950s, in such films as The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Peyton Place (1957), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Turner's film, Imitation of Life (1959), proved to be one of the greatest successes of her career, but from the early 1960s, her roles were fewer. Turner spent most of the 1970s and early 1980s in semi-retirement, only working occasionally. In 1982 she accepted a much publicized and lucrative recurring guest role in the television series Falcon Crest. Her first appearance on the show gave the series the highest rating it ever achieved. Turner made her final film appearance in 1991.

Turner's discovery at a Hollywood drug store is a show-business legend. As a sixteen-year-old student at Hollywood High School, Turner skipped a typing class and bought a Coke at the Top Hat Malt Shop located on the southeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place (not Schwab's Pharmacy, as is commonly believed), where she was spotted by William R. Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter. Wilkerson was attracted by her beauty and physique, and referred her to the actor/comedian/talent agent Zeppo Marx. Marx's agency immediately signed her on and introduced her to film director Mervyn LeRoy, who cast her in her first film, They Won't Forget (1937).

Turner earned the nickname "The Sweater Girl" from her form-fitting attire in a scene in They Won't Forget. According to her daughter, this was a nickname Turner detested throughout her entire career. In late 1937, she signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $100 a week, and graduated from high school in between filming. According to LeRoy, it was thanks to him that she made the switch, for he left Warners to work at MGM and was advised by studio head Jack Warner to take her with him, because Warner believed that she wouldn't "amount to anything." Her first starring role for MGM was scheduled to be an adaptation of The Sea-Wolf, co-starring Clark Gable, but the project was eventually canned. Instead, she was assigned opposite teen idol Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy film Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938). It was this appearance, as a flirtatious girl described as "the kissing bug," that convinced Louis B. Mayer that LeRoy's protégée Turner could be the next Jean Harlow, a sex symbol who had died six months before Turner's arrival at MGM.

Mayer turned her into a glamorous star and gave her the leads in several youth oriented films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, such as Dramatic School (1938), These Glamour Girls (1939) and Dancing Co-Ed (1939). In early 1940, she was also set to star in a remake of Our Dancing Daughters, but the film was never made. From the beginning of her career, Turner stood her ground on her beliefs and was one of the few actresses at MGM to go against Mayer's wishes.

Turner, an actress bolstered by her extreme beauty, reached the height of her fame in the 1940s and 1950s. During World War II, Turner became a popular pin-up girl because of her popularity in such films such as Ziegfeld Girl (1941), Johnny Eager (1942), Slightly Dangerous (1943) and four films with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "king of the lot", Clark Gable. The Turner-Gable films' successes were only heightened by gossip-column rumors about a relationship between the two. Turner even had a B-17 Flying Fortress—the Tempest Turner—named after her. Following the canned The Sea Wolf project, Turner and Gable were set to star in The Uniform in December 1940. Turner was eventually replaced by Rosalind Russell and the film was released as They Met in Bombay (1941).

Meanwhile, Turner was receiving much publicity for her personal life, and her career was one of the very few to be furthered by this. MGM boosted this by changing the title of her latest film to Slightly Dangerous (1943). After the war, Turner's career continued successfully with the release, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), which co-starred John Garfield. As claimed in a documentary, Turner did not get along with him and when she found he was her male lead, she responded: "Couldn't they at least hire someone attractive?" The now-classic film noir marked a turning point in her career, and it marked Turner's first femme fatale role. Reviews of the film, and in particular, Turner's performance, were glowing, with a critic of The New York Times writing it was "the role of her career."

While not exactly giving up her pin-up credentials, Turner established herself as a skilled actress.

In August 1946, it was announced Turner was set to replace Katharine Hepburn in the big-budgeted historical drama Green Dolphin Street (1947), a role for which she darkened her hair and lost 15 pounds. She was cast due to the persistence of producer Carey Wilson, who was overwhelmed by her performance in The Postman Always Rings Twice. It was her first starring role that did not center on her looks. Nevertheless, she insisted she would not give up her glamorous image.

Later that year, Turner headlined Cass Timberlane, a role that Jennifer Jones, Vivien Leigh and Virginia Grey were previously considered for. As of early 1946, Turner was set for the role, but schedules with Green Dolphin Street almost prohibited her from taking the role, and by late 1946, she was almost recast. Production of Cass Timberlane was very exhausting for Turner, as it was shot in between retakes of Green Dolphin Street. Nevertheless, she took the female lead in Homecoming (1948) in August 1947, only moments after finishing Cass Timberlane. She was the studio's first choice for the role, but they were reluctant to offer her the part, considering her overbooked schedule. Paired again with Clark Gable in Homecoming, their chemistry projected on the screen was well received by the audience, and they were nicknamed "the team that generates steam". By this period, Turner achieved the milestone of her film career, and was not only MGM's most popular star, but also one of the ten best-paid women in the United States.

In 1948, Turner appeared in her first Technicolor film, as Lady de Winter in The Three Musketeers, opposite Gene Kelly, Van Heflin and June Allyson. In November 1947, she agreed to do the film, thereby giving up an unfinished film project called Bedeviled. However, in January 1948 it was reported that she had withdrawn from the film. Initially, Louis B. Mayer gave her permission for doing so because of her schedule, but she was later that month put on suspension. Eventually, Turner agreed to make the film, but did not start production until March due to having to lose weight. In 1949, she was to headline A Life of Her Own (1950). The project was shelved for several months, and Turner insisted in December 1949 that she had nothing to do with it.

During the 1950s, Turner starred in a series of films that failed to succeed at the box office, a situation MGM attempted to remedy by casting her in musicals. The first, Mr. Imperium (1951), was a flop, while The Merry Widow (1952) was more successful. She gave a widely praised performance in Vincente Minnelli's film, The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) (in a role partly based on Diana Barrymore), and later starred with John Wayne in the adventure film The Sea Chase (1955). She was then cast in the epic The Prodigal (1955), but the film and her performance in general were not well received. After the film Diane (1956), MGM opted not to renew her contract. This was a difficult time for Hollywood's major studios because a recent court decision forced them to divest themselves of their movie theaters. In addition, television had caught on in a big way; the public was staying home. Turner was just one of MGM's star roster to be let go. Her career recovered briefly after she appeared in the hugely successful big-screen adaptation of Grace Metalious's best-selling novel, Peyton Place (1957), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Turner accepted the lead role in Ross Hunter's remake of Imitation of Life (1959) under the direction of Douglas Sirk. Universal Studios capitalized on her new-found notoriety; the result was one of the biggest hits of the year, and the biggest of Turner's career; she owned 50% of the earnings of the picture and during just the first year of the film's release she earned $11 million. Critics and audiences couldn't help noticing that the plots of Peyton Place and Imitation of Life each had borrowed heavily from Turner's private life. Both film depicted the troubled, complicated relationship between a single mother and her teenage daughter.

She made her last film at MGM starring with Bob Hope in Bachelor in Paradise (1961). Other highlights of this era include By Love Possessed (1961), based on the James Gould Cozzens novel and two Hunter productions (for whom she did Imitation of Life), Portrait in Black (1960) and Madame X (1966), which proved to be her last major starring role.

In 1969, Turner appeared in her only lead starring role on television in ABC's Harold Robbins' The Survivors, but despite the presence of other big-name stars, the program fared badly opposite Mayberry R.F.D. and The Doris Day Show on CBS and The NBC Monday Movie, and was cancelled midway into the season.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Turner appeared in several television roles, most notably as a guest star for several episodes on the series Falcon Crest as the mysterious Jaqueline Perrault and The Love Boat, but the majority of her final decade was spent out of the public eye.

On October 25, 1981 the National Film Society presented Lana with an Artistry in Cinema award. In 1994 she received Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Spain. In 1982, Turner released a memoir, in which she stated that she had two abortions and three stillbirths. She said she was an alcoholic and had attempted suicide.

For her contribution to the motion-picture industry, Turner has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6241 Hollywood Boulevard. On May 24, 1950, Turner left hand and footprints in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Enjoy Lana Turner's legendary beauty!

Extracts:

With Ricardo Montalban et Rita Moreno

Betrayed (1954) (Lana Turner sings but she is dubbed)

As "Milady"

The big cube (1969)

Ann Miller

2014-05-04T11:46:00.002-07:00

Johnnie Lucille Collier (1923 – 2004), known professionally as Ann Miller, was an American dancer, singer and actress. She is best remembered for her work in the Hollywood musical films of the 1940s and 1950s.

Miller was born in Chireno, Texas. She began to take dance classes at the age of 5, after suffering from a case of rickets. Her mother believed that these classes would help strengthen her young daughter's legs.

She lived in Texas until she was 9, when her mother decided to leave her unfaithful husband and move to Los Angeles. Because Miller looked much older than she was, she began to work as a dancer in nightclubs. About this time she adopted the stage name Ann Miller, which she kept throughout her entire career. She was considered a child dance prodigy. In an interview featured in a "behind the scenes" documentary on the making of the compilation film That's Entertainment III, she said that Eleanor Powell was an early inspiration.

At age 13 in 1936, Miller became a showgirl at the Bal Tabarin. She was hired as a dancer in the "Black Cat Club" in San Francisco (she reportedly told them she was 18). It was there she was discovered by Lucille Ball and talent scout/comic Benny Rubin. This led Miller to be given a contract with RKO in 1936 at the age of 13 (she had also told them she was 18) and she remained there until 1940. In 1941, she signed with Columbia Pictures, where, starting with Time Out for Rhythm, she starred in 11 B movie musicals from 1941 to 1945, ending her contract in 1946 with one “A” film, The Thrill of Brazil. The ad in Life magazine featured Miller's leg in a large, red, bow-tied stocking as the "T" in "Thrill." She finally hit her mark in MGM musicals such as Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953).

Miller was famed for her speed in tap dancing.

In 1970, satirist Stan Freberg used Miller and her tap-dancing skills in a television commercial for "Great American Soups." The commercial can be seen on the video accompanying Freberg's boxed set release, The Tip of the Freberg.

She was known, especially later in her career, for her distinctive appearance, which reflected a studio-era ideal of glamor: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a slash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Her film career effectively ended in 1956 as the studio system lost steam to television, but she remained active in the theatre and on television. She starred on Broadway in the musical Mame in 1969, in which she wowed the audience in a tap number created just for her. In 1979 she astounded audiences in the Broadway show Sugar Babies with fellow MGM veteran Mickey Rooney, which toured the United States extensively after its Broadway run. In 1983, she won the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre.

She appeared in a special 1982 episode of The Love Boat, joined by fellow showbiz legends Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Della Reese, Van Johnson, and Cab Calloway in a storyline that cast them as older relatives of the show's regular characters. In 2001 she took her last role, playing Coco in auteur director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive. Her last stage performance was a 1998 production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, in which she played the hardboiled survivor Carlotta Campion and received rave reviews for her rendition of the song "I'm Still Here".

Miller appeared as a dance instructor in Home Improvement episode "Dances with Tools" (1993).

For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Miller has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd. In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her. To honor her contribution to dance, the Smithsonian Institution displays her favorite pair of tap shoes, which she playfully nicknamed "Moe and Joe".

Enjoy Ann Miller's legendary dancing and beauty!

Vera-Ellen

2014-05-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

Vera-Ellen (1921 – 1981) was an American actress and dancer, principally celebrated for her filmed dance partnerships with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald O'Connor.

Vera Ellen Westmeier Rohe was born in Norwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. She began dancing at age 10 and quickly became proficient. (One of her fellow dance students was Doris Day.) At age 16 she was a winner on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and embarked upon a professional career.

In 1939, she made her Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein musical Very Warm for May. She became one of the youngest Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, although she was only 5'4". This led to roles on Broadway in Panama Hattie, By Jupiter, and A Connecticut Yankee, where she was spotted by Samuel Goldwyn, who cast her opposite Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo in the 1945 film Wonder Man.

She danced with Gene Kelly in the Hollywood musicals Words and Music and On the Town, while also appearing in the last Marx Brothers film, Love Happy. She received top billing alongside Fred Astaire in the musicals Three Little Words and The Belle of New York. She had a co-starring role with Donald O'Connor in the Ethel Merman vehicle, Call Me Madam. Vera-Ellen's second to last film role was the 1954 blockbuster hit White Christmas, co-starring with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney. She starred in only one more film, the 1957 British production Let's Be Happy. Her last performances were on a November 1958 television episode of The Perry Como Show and a February 1959 broadcast of the The Dinah Shore Show.

Enjoy Vera-Ellen's grace!

Elsa Martinelli

2013-08-05T15:10:00.001-07:00

Here are 2 songs chosen to enhance the glamorous beauty of the Italian actress and former fashion model Elsa Martinelli.

Born Elisa Tia in 1935 in Grosseto, Tuscany, she moved to Rome with her family and in 1953 was discovered by Roberto Capucci who introduced her to the world of fashion. She became a model and began playing small roles in films. She appeared in Claude Autant-Lara's Le Rouge et le Noir (1954), but her first important film role came the following year with The Indian Fighter opposite Kirk Douglas. Douglas claims to have spotted her on a magazine cover and hired her for his production company, Bryna Productions. In 1956 she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival for playing the title role in Mario Monicelli's Donatella.

From the mid-1950s through the late 1960s, she divided her time between Europe and the United States, appearing in films such as Four Girls in Town (1957) with George Nader, Manuela (1957) with Trevor Howard, Prisoner of the Volga (1959) with John Derek, Captain Blood (1960), Love in Rome (1960), Hatari! (1962) with John Wayne, The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962) with Charlton Heston, The Trial (1962) with Anthony Perkins, The V.I.P.s (1963) with Orson Welles, Rampage (1963) with Robert Mitchum, The 10th Victim (1965) with Ursula Andress, Marco the Magnificent (1965), Woman Times Seven (1967) with Lex Barker, The Belle Starr Story (1968). In Candy (1968), her co-stars were Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, Walter Matthau and Ringo Starr.

Since the late 1960s, she has worked in Europe in mostly foreign language productions. Her last English language role was as Carla the Agent in 1992s Once Upon a Crime. Her most recent appearance was in the 2005 European television series Orgoglio as the Duchessa di Monteforte.

Enjoy Elsa Martinelli's class!

Joanna Shimkus

2013-07-21T16:29:00.001-07:00

Here is a lounge soung chosen to enhance the delicate beauty of actress Joanan Shimkus.

Joanna Shimkus, Lady Poitier (born in 1943), is a former Canadian actress and is married to Bahamian-American actor and diplomat Sidney Poitier.

She was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to a father of Lithuanian origin and a mother of Irish descent. Her father worked for the Royal Canadian Navy. She attended a convent school and was brought up in Montreal, Quebec. She went to Paris at age nineteen, where she worked as a fashion model and soon attracted the attention of movie people on the lookout for new talent.

She made her debut in 1964, in Jean Aurel's film De l'amour. She was then noticed by film director Robert Enrico, who selected her to appear in three of his films: Les aventuriers (1967), opposite Alain Delon and Lino Ventura, Tante Zita (1968) and Ho (1968).

She also appeared in Joseph Losey's film Boom! (1968), opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and The Lost Man (1969), opposite Sydney Poitier. Her film career continued until the early 1970s, one of her last notable screen appearances being in The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970).

She married Sir Sidney Poitier in 1976, and they have two daughters.

Enjoy Joanna Shimkus' grace!

Jennifer O'Neill

2013-07-12T16:02:00.001-07:00

Here is a lounge song chosen to underline the glamorous beauty of Jennifer O'Neill.

Jennifer O'Neill (born in 1948 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an American actress, model, author and speaker, known for her role in the 1971 film Summer of '42 and as a face of CoverGirl cosmetics starting in the 1970s.

In 1962, she was discovered by the Ford modeling agency and put under contract. By age 15, she was gracing the cover of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen and other magazines.

An accomplished rider, O'Neill won upwards of 200 ribbons at horse show competitions in her teens. She attended New York City's Professional Children's School and the prestigious Dalton School in Manhattan. Later, she moved on to films and worked in a number of television movies and series.

In 1968 O'Neill landed a small role in For Love of Ivy. In 1970 she played one of the lead female roles in Rio Lobo starring opposite John Wayne.

She is most remembered for her role in the 1971 film Summer of '42, where she played Dorothy Walker, the young widow of a pilot shot down and killed in World War II.

O'Neill continued acting for the next two decades. She appeared in The Carey Treatment (1972), Lady Ice (1973), The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), Lucio Fulci's cult movie The Psychic (1977), Caravans (1978), A Force of One (1979), Scanners (1981), and The Cover Girl Murders (1993 made-for-television film). She went to Europe in 1976 and worked with Italian director Luchino Visconti, appearing in his last film L'innocente (1976), where she played the part of the mistress, Teresa Raffo.

In 1982, O'Neill starred in the short-lived NBC prime time soap opera Bare Essence. She portrayed a role previously envisioned by actress Linda Evans in the miniseries that the soap was based on. Her other credits include singing in the Chrysler Corporation commercial "Change in Charger" that represented the end of the Dodge Charger in 1975. In 1984, she played the lead female role on the CBS television series Cover Up.

O'Neill is also listed in the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History's Center for Advertising History for her long standing contract with Cover Girl cosmetics as its model and spokesperson in ads and television commercials.

In 2004, O'Neill wrote and published From Fallen To Forgiven, a book of biographical notes and philosophical thoughts about life and existence.

O'Neill continues to be active as a writer working on her second autobiography CoverStory, an inspirational speaker.

O'Neill works for several charitable causes. In addition, she remains actively involved with her childhood love of animals and horses.

Enjoy Jennifer O'Neill's great beauty!

Perrette Pradier

2013-05-03T16:12:00.001-07:00

Here is a nostalgic song, chosen to underline the beauty and charm of French actress Perrette Pradier, who recently passed away.

Perrette Pradier (1938 – 2013) was best known for her work as a voice actress which earned her the nickname of "Queen" or "High Priestess" of dubbing.

She was born Perrette-Marie-Mathilde Chevau in Hanoi, Vietnam. Two years after making her film début, in 1961, she was awarded the Prix Suzanne Bianchetti as most promising new actress in France for her performance as "Amenita" in the Sacha Guitry film "Au voleur!" ("Stop Thief"). That year she gained further recognition for her role as "Constance Bonacieux" in two films based on the Three Musketeers. Throughout the 1960s, she appeared in a number of films in her native France (gifted with a great sense of humour, and very pretty, she is at ease playing soubrettes as well as femmes fatales as in "Furia à Bahia pour OSS 117" or "L'Homme d'Istanbul"), then was contracted for Hollywood productions that included the Fred Zinnemann film "Behold a Pale Horse" (1964) starring luminaries Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, and Omar Sharif. She returned to English-language filming in the Universal Studios thriller "House of Cards" (1968) with Orson Welles and George Peppard.

In her long career, Perrette Pradier has also worked in live theatre, appearing in plays such as "La Bonne Addresse" as well as the longest running French play ever produced, "Boeing Boeing" (a play that was adapted in many countries and for the cinema, with Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis). She was the voice of "Sarafina" in the French version of the Walt Disney Studios animated feature film, "The Lion King" but also of "Medusa" in the French version of "Bernard and Bianca", among many others.

But, most of all, she is the unforgettable classy voice of many great actresses, such as Faye Dunaway, Jacqueline Bisset, Glenda Jackson, Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Sheree North, Lily Tomlin, Lynn Redgrave, Dolores del Rio, Sandra Milo, Jean Seberg, Ursula Andress, Diana Rigg, Barbra Streisand, Charlotte Rampling, Elke Sommer, Madeline Kahn, Carol Burnett, Joan Collins, Claudia Cardinale, Maggie Smith, Candice Bergen, Julie Andrews, Kathleen Turner, Lesley Ann Warren, Ann-Margret, Lauren Hutton, Kate Jackson, Glenn Close, Polly Bergen...

Enjoy Perrette Pradier's great charm!

Barbara Steele

2013-03-10T20:59:00.001-07:00

Here are two lounge songs to illustrate the beauty and charisma of movie icon Barbara Steele.

Barbara Steele (born in 1937) is an English film actress. She began as a model. She is best known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. Her breakthrough role came in Italian director Mario Bava's Black Sunday (1960), now hailed as a classic. Steele starred in a string of horror films, including The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962), The Ghost directed by Riccardo Freda, and Roger Corman's 1961 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Pit and the Pendulum, among others. In the 70s, she played less but appeared in famous films such as Caged Heat by Jonathan Demme (1974), Shivers by David Cronenberg (1976), Piranhas by Joe Dante (1978). She guested on various British television shows including the spy drama Danger Man starring Patrick McGoohan. She took the role of Julia Hoffman in the 1991 revival of the 1960s TV series Dark Shadows. In 2010, she was a guest star in the Dark Shadows audio drama The Night Whispers.

In 2010, actor-writer Mark Gatiss interviewed Steele about her role in Black Sunday (1960) for his BBC documentary series A History of Horror. Although she is considered as an icon of the horror genre, she said once to prefer the art-house cinema, and her roles in such films as Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963), Mario Monicelli's L'Armata Brancaleone (1966), Volker Schlöndorff's Der junge Törless (1966), or Louis Malle's La Petite (1978). Her husband, a screenwriter, had written a role for her in Sydney Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), but it was Susannah York who finally got the part.

Enjoy Barbara Steele's flaming beauty!

Hedy Vessel

2013-03-07T15:05:00.001-08:00

Here is a delicate song, chosen to enhance the beauty of cult Italian actress Hedy Vessel.

Hedy (or Edy) Vessel was born Edoarda Vesselovsky in Trieste in 1940. She began her career as a model and a revue dancer. She was chosen by the director Mario Mattoli to play in his 1959 film Guardatele ma non toccatele, with Ugo Tognazzi and Johnny Dorelli. She appeared in a dozen of movies (among which Risate di gioia, by Mario Monicelli, with Anna Magnani and Totò, 1960; Il ladro di Bagdad, with Steve Reeves and Georgia Moll, 1961; Psycosissimo, by Steno, with Ugo Tognazzi, 1961; La guerra di Troia, with Steve Reeves, 1961; Il dominatore dei sette mari, with Rod Taylor, 1962; Rocambole, by Bernard Borderie, with Channing Pollock, 1963), her last one – last but not least – being Fellini's 8½ in 1963, after which she quitted the cinema business, married the businessman Camillo Crociani, then the count Pierluigi Vitalini (her daughter Camilla is married to Carlo di Borbone-Due Sicilie, pretendant to the throne). Although her career was too short, she still has fans!

Enjoy Hedy Vessel's glamour!

Georgia Moll

2013-03-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Here are two lounge songs chosen to illustrate the delicate beauty of Italian actress Georgia Moll.

Giorgia Moll (also known as Georgia Moll or Georgia Mool, born in 1938) is one of the many beauties discovered by the Italian cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Her harmonious face, her perfect brown hair and her dream measurements made her a star early: she was only seventeen when she was hired for her first film Non scherzare con le donne (1955). Two of her roles stand out: Phuong, Audie Murphy's Vietnamese love interest in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Quiet American (1958), filmed in Rome in 1957; and Francesca Vanini, the secretary of authoritarian film producer Jack Palance in Jean-Luc Godard's Le mépris (Contempt, 1963, with Brigitte Bardot). She has played in several B-movies, such as The thief of Bagdad (1961, with Steeve Reeves and Hedy Vessel) or Tom Dollar (1967, with Erika Blanc).

During this period, Giorgia Moll was also a popular singer. After 1970, her appearances became sporadic and she retired for good in 1985. She is now a photographer.

Enjoy Georgia Moll's great beauty!

Carla Gravina

2013-01-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Here are two lovely songs, chosen to enhance the great beauty of Italian actress Carla Gravina.

Carla Gravina (born in 1941) appeared in 40 films between 1957 and 1998. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Ettore Scola's "La terrazza" at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. Beginning in Alberto Lattuada's "Guendalina", in 1957, she has become one of Italy's greatest actresses, as well for the cinema as for the theatre.

Enjoy Carla Gravina's great class!

Mimsy Farmer

2012-12-27T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here are two sweet songs, chosen to illustrate the beauty of cult actress Mimsy farmer.

Mimsy Farmer (born Merle Farmer in 1945 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actress. Her nickname came from a line in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky: "All mimsy were the borogoves".

Farmer played in "Spencer's Mountain" (1963) and "More" (1969), the first feature film with a Pink Floyd soundtrack.

After a brief film career in the United States, mostly portraying "party-girl" types in films such as "Hot Rods to Hell" (1967), "Riot on Sunset Strip" (1967) and "The Wild Racers" (1968), Farmer moved to Italy. Most of her career has been spent in Europe, including some giallo movies with Dario Argento. She played namely in "Road to Salina" (1970), with Rita Hayworth, in "The Master and Margaret", with Ugo tognazzi.

Since 1992 she has worked as a sculptor for theatre and opera in France and Italy, and for films (Art Department) such as "Oceans", "Troy", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "Marie Antoinette", "Five Children and It", and "The Golden Compass".

She also creates personal sculptures and paintings.

Enjoy Mimsy Farmer's so delicate beauty!

Viveca Lindfors

2012-12-10T14:20:00.001-08:00

Here are two classical cinematographic songs chosen to enhance the great beauty of cult actress Viveca Lindfors.

Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors (1920 – 1995), better known under her professional name of Viveca Lindfors, was a Swedish stage and film actress.

She was born in Uppsala, Sweden. She trained at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School, Stockholm, like her fellow Swedish actresses Greta Garbo, Signe Hasso, Mai Zetterling and Ingrid Bergman. Soon after, she became a theater and film star in Sweden. She moved to the United States in 1946 after being signed by Warner Bros. and began working in Hollywood. She appeared in more than one hundred films including "Night Unto Night", "No Sad Songs for Me", "Dark City", "King of Kings", "Creepshow", and "Stargate".

She appeared with actors such as Ronald Reagan, Jeffrey Hunter, Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott and Errol Flynn. She also appeared on television, including the 1959 episode "The Temple of the Swinging Doll" of the NBC espionage drama Five Fingers, starring David Hedison. Later, she had a recurring role on the ABC series "Life Goes On", for which she won an Emmy Award. Lindfors appeared with Joseph Cotten and Ward Bond in the 1957 film "The Halliday Brand". One of her last performances was in the original "Stargate" film in which she played the role of Catherine Langford.

An original and mesmerizing stage presence, her roles ranged from Strindberg to Shakespeare to the musical Pal Joey.

In 1962, she shared the Silver Bear for Best Actress award with Rita Gam at the Berlin Film Festival, for their performances in Tad Danielewski's "No Exit".

In the last years of her life, she taught acting at the School of Visual Arts in New York. She had returned to her native Sweden to perform in the play "In Search of Strindberg". She died there at the age of 74, and was buried there. In New York, a service was held at the Actors Studio where Gene Frankel spoke to an audience about his respect and affection for her.

Enjoy Viveca Lindfors' glamour!

Florinda Bolkan

2012-11-26T15:02:00.002-08:00

Here are 2 Italian songs, the first one performed by the star herself, and the second one by Italian singer Ornella Vanoni, chosen to illustrate the great beauty of Florinda Bolkan (those songs are from two of her most famous movies).

She was born Florinda Soares Bulcão in Brazil in 1941. A former flight inspector for Brazilian international carrier Varig, she came in contact with several languages and became fluent in English, Italian and French. She moved to Italy in 1968 after being discovered by the film director Luchino Visconti. She changed her name to Florinda Bolkan because she thought it would be more comfortable for international audiences. Bolkan acted with the Beatle Ringo Starr in her first film, "Candy". She worked in more than forty films, mainly in Italy. She was directed by Vittorio de Sica in "Una Breve Vacanza". Under Elio Petri's direction, she made one of the most acclaimed films of her career, "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion". Enrico Maria Salerno directed her in "Anonimo Veneziano". She also worked with John Cassavetes, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Annie Girardot (in "Metti, una sera a cena"). Like Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale and Monica Vitti, she also won the David di Donatello award three times, the Italian equivalent of the Academy Award in Hollywood. De Sica cast her in "Una Breve Vacanza", the film that introduced her to North America. She starred also in Lucio Fulci's "Don't torture a duckling". A cult actress, she continues to act in European films, mostly Italian films.

Enjoy Florinda Bolkan's flaming beauty!

Michèle Morgan

2012-08-10T14:58:00.002-07:00

Here is a French nostalgic song (sung in English by the great jazz singer Rita Reys), chosen to illustrate the beauty of one of France's greatest movie stars, Michèle Morgan.

Born in 1920, she is regarded as Grand-Dame of the French film. She left her home at the age of 15 and took acting lessons. Her career took soon shape and she played small roles in three movies in her debut year - "Une fille à papa" (1935), "La vie parisienne" (1935) and "Mademoiselle Mozart" (1935).

It followed soon important productions where she acted besides stars like Raimu, Charles Boyer, Jean Gabin or Pierre Brasseur. To these movies belong "Gribouille" (1937), "Orage" (1938) and "Quai des brumes" (1938), one of her greatest successes.

Already in 1940 - only 20 years old - she was called to Hollywood where she only appeared in few movies because the US film business didn't have the flair to bring her into play optimal. She played at Humphrey Bogart's side in "Passage to Marseille" (1944) and other movies but she soon decided - although she got the US nationality meanwhile - to return to France. Already for her first movie after her return - "La symphonie pastorale" (1946) she was awarded in Cannes.

Her excursion to the USA didn't harm her career, on the contrary. She became a demanded actress in all great film nations and took part in movies like "Joan of Paris" (1942), "Higher and Higher" (1943), "Fabiola" (1948), "Marie-Antoinette reine de France" (1956) and "Le miroir à deux faces" (1958).

With some of the great French stars she worked together in several movies - with Gérard Philipe in "Les orgueilleux" (1953) and "Les grandes manoeuvres" (1955), with Jean Marais in "Aux yeux du souvenir" (1948) and "Le château de verre" (1950) or with her husband Henri Vidal in "L‘étrange Madame X" (1951), "Napoléon" (1955) and "Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?" (1959).

In the 60's and 70's followed many movies which didn't justice to her talent, after that she retired slowly from the film business. After an absence of 15 years she made her comeback and appears in movies again occasionally.

Michèle Morgan war married with the actors William Marshall and Henri Vidal as well as director Gérard Oury. When in Hollywood, she had a house built that Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate later bought.

Michèle Morgan has a rose named after her.

Enjoy Michèle Morgan's great beauty and class!

Susan Scott

2012-06-17T15:32:00.002-07:00

Here are two lounge songs, chosen to enhance cult actress Susan Scott's beauty and elegance.

Susan Scott, born Nieves Navarro García in 1938, is a retired Spanish-born Italian actress and fashion model. Navarro worked extensively in Italian cinema appearing alongside actors such as Totò and Lino Banfi in the 1960s and 70s. She later adopted the Americanized stage name Susan Scott for many of her productions after 1969.

Navarro was also one of the first female stars of the Spaghetti Western genre making her feature film debut in A Pistol for Ringo and its sequel The Return of Ringo along with later appearances in The Big Gundown (1966), Long Days of Vengeance (1967), Light the Fuse... Sartana Is Coming (1970) and Adiós, Sabata (1971). Nieves also had leading roles in a number of action and horror films during this period and was among the protagonists of the film Death Walks At Midnight (1972), directed by Luciano Ercoli. In 1972, she married to him, starring in many of his productions up until the early-1980s, and was familiar for her erotically-themed roles in giallo and sex comedies. It was the giallo and erotic genres that highlighted her as a major star especially her appearances in Ercoli's Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion (1970), or Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977) and Emanuelle e Lolita (1978), directed by Joe D'Amato and Henri Sala respectively. She went into semi-retirement after 1983, making two last films in 1989. In recent years, she has returned to live in her native Spain with her husband.

Susan Scott played in nearly forty movies and proved that she was gifted as well for comedy as for drama.

Enjoy Susan Scott's class and beauty!

Dagmar Lassander

2012-06-16T14:11:00.002-07:00

Here is a lounge song chosen to underline the beauty of glamorous actress Dagmar Lassander.

Dagmar Lassander (byname of Dagmar Regine Hager) was born in 1943 in Prague to a French father and Chilean-German mother, and began her career as a costume designer in the Berlin Opera. Her first role was in 1966 in a German film by Will Tremper, Sperrbezirk. Starting from 1969, this flaming redhead with emerald eyes began to work regularly, especially in Italian crime, horror and erotic movies, where she often plays the lascivious seductress. Her first success, which makes her the new star of Italian cinema, is in Piero Schivazappa's Femina Ridens (1969), a strange psychedelic and sado-masochistic giallo. Other great movies are: Hans Schott-Schöbinger's Andrea (1968) and Pelle su pelle (1969), Mario Bava's Il rosso segno della follia (1970), Luciano Ercoli's Le foto proibite di una donna per bene (1970), José Maesso's Alibi nella luce rossa (1970) or Ricardo Fredda's L'iguana dalla lingua di fuoco (1971). Her great erotic movies include: Silvio Amadio's Peccati di gioventù (1975), with Gloria Guida, or Bitto Albertini's Emanuelle nera (1976), with Laura Gemser and Karin Schubert. In Steno's Piedone l'africano (1978), she is the partner of Bud Spencer. One of her most famous horrific roles is in Lucio Fulci's Quella villa accanto al cimitero (1981). In the 1980s she was featured in several Italian TV series and the French-German feature film S.A.S. à San Salvador. After having illuminated the screens with her outrageous sensuality, she retired in the 90s.

Enjoy Dagmar Lassander's stunning beauty!

Janet Blair

2012-01-10T14:37:00.001-08:00

Janet Blair (1921 – 2007) was an American film and television actress and occasionally a singer.

Born as Martha Jane Lafferty (she took her acting surname from Blair County, Pennsylvania) in Altoona, Pennsylvania, she began her acting career on film in 1942, being placed under contract to Columbia Pictures. During World War II, she made a string of successful pictures, although she is today best remembered for playing Rosalind Russell's sister in My Sister Eileen (1942) and Rita Hayworth's best friend in Tonight and Every Night (1945). In the late 1940s, she was dropped by Columbia and did not return to pictures for several years. Instead, she took the lead role of Nellie Forbush in a production of the stage musical South Pacific, making more than 1,200 performances in three years.
She appeared on television on various variety shows and was also a summer replacement for Dinah Shore. She recorded an album entitled Flame Out for the Dico label. It was a collection of late night ballads like "Don't Explain" and "Then You've Never Been Blue".

She made a rare dramatic appearance in the 1962 British horror film Night of the Eagle. Her last performance was on television in a 1991 episode of Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury.

Here is a famous dynamic song from a great TV show! Enjoy!

Ursula Andress

2011-11-16T16:01:00.001-08:00

This song, sung by the statuesque Ursula Andress in the 1st Bond movie "Dr. No", was actually performed by the British singer and actress Diana Coupland, who dubbed also Lana Turner.
Ursula Andress (born in 1936) is a Swiss actress who was a major sex symbol of the 1960's. She is best known for her role as the first Bond girl, in "Dr. No" (1962). Andress started her career as an art model in Rome, which led to her first roles in the active Italian movie industry. Her introduction in "Dr. No" became one of the most iconic moments of the franchise. In 1963, she won a Golden Globe for Best Promising Newcomer (Female). Andress co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1963 film "Fun in Acapulco" and she also appeared in the parody Bond movie "Casino Royale" (1967) as Vesper Lynd. In 1981's "Clash of the Titans", she starred opposite legendary English actor Sir Laurence Olivier. She was married in 1957 to actor/director John Derek. The marriage ended in divorce in 1966 due to her well-publicized love affair with French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo. Andress dated many of Hollywood's leading men including co-stars Sean Connery, Marlon Brando and James Dean. In 1995, Ursula Andress was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history".
Enjoy this charming song combined with Ursula's beauty!

Pier Angeli

2011-11-16T15:59:00.000-08:00

Here is another wonderful song by the divine Edda Dell'Orso, chosen to illustrate the beauty of the lovely Italian star Pier Angeli.
Pier Angeli (born Anna Maria Pierangeli) (1932 – 1971) was born in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, and made her film debut with Vittorio de Sica in "Domani è troppo tardi" (1950). She was discovered by Hollywood, and MGM launched her in her first American film, "Teresa" (1951). Enthusiastic reviews for her eloquent and understated performance compared her to Garbo. Under contract with MGM throughout the 1950's, she appeared in a series of films. In "The Light Touch" with Stewart Granger, she indeed brought a light touch of innocence to the film. Her next few films were: "The Story of Three Loves" (1953) with Kirk Douglas, "Sombrero", in which she replaced an indisposed Ava Gardner, and "Flame and the Flesh" (1954), where she lost her man to Lana Turner. Meanwhile, MGM having discovered Leslie Caron, Angeli found herself loaned out to other studios. She went to Warner Bros. for "The Silver Chalice", which marked the debut of Paul Newman, and made "Mam'zelle Nitouche" with the great Fernandel. For Paramount, she should have had the role of Anna Magnani's daughter in "The Rose Tattoo", but motherhood having interfered, it went to her twin sister, Marisa Pavan. She was loaned out again, to Columbia, for "Port Afrique" (1956). She showed a return to her old form when she returned to MGM for "Somebody Up There Likes Me" as Paul Newman's long-suffering wife. She still appeared in "The Vintage " (1957) with Mel Ferrer and John Kerr, and in "Merry Andrew", starring Danny Kaye. During the 1960's and until 1970 the actress returned to live and work in Britain and Europe. She made a strong performance opposite Richard Attenborough in "The Angry Silence" (1960). She was reunited with Stewart Granger for "Sodom and Gomorrah" (1963). She played a brief role in the war epic "Battle of the Bulge" (1965). She was picked to play a role in "The Godfather", but she died soon before. Kirk Douglas and Angeli were engaged in 1950's, according to Douglas' autobiography. For a short time Angeli also had a close relationship with James Dean. However, she broke it off suddenly and went on to marry singer/actor Vic Damone (1954-1959). Her second marriage was to Italian composer Armando Trovajoli (1963-1965).
Enjoy Pier's great beauty!

Ann-Margret

2011-11-16T15:58:00.002-08:00

Here is a version of this classic song (already sung, among many others, by Judy Garland, Shani Wallis - in the film "Oliver" - or Shirley Bassey) by the beautiful and sparkling Ann-Margret.
Ann-Margret (born in 1941) is a five-time Golden Globe Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-nominated Swedish American actress, singer and dancer who was born Ann-Margret Olsson in Valsjöbyn, Jämtland, Sweden. She moved to the United States when she was young and grew up in Wilmette, Illinois. She attended Northwestern University and was discovered singing in a nightclub by George Burns. She was often referred to as a "sex-kitten" and the "female Elvis". Ann-Margret started recording for RCA in 1961, but her recording career was not as successful as her concurrent movie career. She had a sexy, throaty, singing voice, and RCA attempted to capitalize on the "Female Elvis" comparison by having her record a version of "Heartbreak Hotel" and other songs stylistically similar to Presley's. In 1961, Ann-Margret made her film début in "Pocketful of Miracles", starring Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, and Hope Lange, a remake of the Oscar-winning 1933 film "Lady for a Day"; both versions were directed by the great Frank Capra. She followed that role with the successful 1962 remake of Rodgers' and Hammerstein's musical "State Fair". Her next starring role, as the all-American teenager in "Bye Bye Birdie", made her a major star. When she filmed "Viva Las Vegas" with Elvis Presley the two began an affair that received considerable attention from the gossip columnists. Although he ended the affair, Presley remained a friend and continued to send Ann-Margret flowers at the opening of each of her stage appearances until he died. Of all the Hollywood starlets with whom he had worked or had a relationship, Ann-Margret was the only one to attend his funeral. In 1963, Ann-Margret was featured and guest-starred, in animated form, in an episode of Hanna-Barbera's "The Flintstones" as "Ann-Margrock". Ann also co-starred along with friend Dean Martin in the 2nd 'Matt Helm' film, "Murderer's Row". In March 1966, Ann-Margret and entertainers Chuck Day and Mickey Jones teamed up for a USO tour to entertain U.S. servicemen in remote parts of Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia. She still has great affection for the veterans and refers to them as "my gentlemen". In 1971, she starred in Mike Nichols's "Carnal Knowledge", marking a significant change from her sex-kitten musical roles and garnering a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Throughout the 1970's, Ann-Margret balanced her live musical performances with a string of critically-acclaimed dramatic film roles that played against her glamorous image. These included "Tommy" in 1975, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. In addition, she has been nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards and has won five times, including her Best Actress for "Tommy". She also did a string of successful TV specials, starting with The Ann-Margret Show for NBC in 1968. Now in her mid-60's, she continues to act in films. Ann-Margret has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1995, she was chosen by Empire Magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars in film history".
Enjoy!

Another great performances:

And a sweet Swedish song:

Barbara Bain

2011-11-16T15:57:00.001-08:00

Here is a very good song magnificently performed by the great Lena Horne, chosen to illustrate Barbara Bain's chic and beauty.
Barbara Bain (born in 1931) was born Millicent Fogel, in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from the University of Illinois in sociology and moved to New York City where she was a dancer and high fashion model. Bain studied with Martha Graham, thus cementing her interest in dancing. After attending Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio, she changed careers to acting. In 1957, she married actor Martin Landau, with whom she would later star on television. Bain is best known for her role in the television series "Mission Impossible" in the role of "Cinnamon Carter" (1966 - 1969), a role she later reprised in one episode of "Diagnosis: Murder". She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Actress in a Television Series" for her performance in "Mission: Impossible", 1968. She won three consecutive Emmies for Best Dramatic Actress for that series, in 1967, 1968, 1969. Martin Landau also starred in the series. Later, she starred opposite Landau again in the science fiction television series "Space: 1999" (1975 - 1977), as Dr. Helena Russell. Since then, Bain has worked to further the cause of many charities, including literacy.
Enjoy this blend of vocal and visual beauty and let Barbara fly you to the stars!

Carroll Baker

2011-11-16T15:55:00.000-08:00

Here are two famous songs, lovely performed by the delicate singer Anita Kerr, and chosen to emphasize the beauty of the glamorous Carroll Baker.
Anita Kerr (born Anita Jean Grilli in 1927, in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American singer, composer and music producer. Kerr's career peak was during the 1960's, in a time when women in her field were rare. Among her works were jingles for WLS-AM, a trilogy of albums with poet Rod McKuen titled "The Sea, The Earth, and The Sky", choral music for the first season of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" (directing her own group, the Anita Kerr Singers) and several LPs, including one on Burt Bacharach songs.
Carroll Baker (born in 1931) is an American actress who has enjoyed popularity as both a serious dramatic actress and, particularly in the sixties, a movies "sex symbol". Despite being cast in a wide range of roles during her heyday, Baker's beautiful features, blonde hair, and distinctive drawl made her particularly memorable in roles as brash, flamboyant women. Baker's flashy portrayal of a Jean Harlow-type movie star in the 1964 hit "The Carpetbaggers" brought her a second wave of notoriety. Based on her Carpetbaggers performance, Levine began to position Baker to be a movies sex symbol, casting her in the title roles of two 1965 potboilers, "Sylvia" and "Harlow". She then moved to Europe. Eventually settling in Italy, she would spend the next several years starring in giallo thrillers. A lead role in Andy Warhol's "Bad" (1977) brought her back to American shores. The seventies also saw a return to the stage. Film and television work continued sporadically through the nineties, and the 2006 DVD release of "Baby Doll" features a documentary with Baker reflecting on the impact the film had on her career. An apocryphal story has it that a Masai chief offered 150 cows, 200 goats, sheep, and $750 for her while she was on location in Africa for the 1965 movie "Mister Moses". She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Enjoy this display of sweet music and flamboyant beauty!