Inside Edition: Bonnie Strauss- 1992 Feature on Jayne Mansfield

Source:Inside Edition– Jayne Mansfield’s daughter, being interviewed by Inside Edition about her mother, in 1992.

Source: The Daily Review

“Movie star Jayne Mansfield (1933-1967) is profiled on “Inside Edition” in 1992, featuring film, TV and newsreel clips, as well as interviews with her first husband, Paul Mansfield, her daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield, her mother (Vera Peers) and stepfather (Harry Peers), Hollywood journalist James Bacon, super-agent Irving “Swifty” Lazar and fellow sex symbol Mamie Van Doren.

Mansfield is best known for starring roles in THE GIRL CAN’T HELP IT, WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?, KISS THEM FOR ME and PROMISES, PROMISES, and her untimely death in 1967. She had five children, including actress Mariska Hargitay.”

From Inside Edition

“The controversial actress Jayne Mansfield interviewed three weeks before her death in a car accident. Called the ‘Working man’s Monroe’ she is one of the original ‘blonde bombshells’

Yr actores Jayne Mansfield yn cael ei holi yn 1967, gwta tair wythnos cyn iddi gael ei lladd mewn damwain car. Mae hi’n parhau fel un o actoresau mwya rhywiol Hollywood…

Source:ITV– interviewing Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield in 1967.

From ITV

The man anchoring this show might look familiar to all you political and news junkies out there. Especially cable news junkies, because before Bill O’Reilly got his big gig The O’Reilly Factor at Fox News Channel in the mid 1990s, he was anchor of the syndicated tabloid/news magazine show Inside Edition.

I remember watching him on that show in the mid 1990s after work. But enough about The O’Reilly Factor, or as I prefer to call him The O’Reilly Finger and give him my middle finger to show how I feel about him.

Jayne Mansfield died in a horrible car crash in 1967 and she wasn’t drunk or even driving the car. The two men in front that were supposed to protect her were simply too tired to work and drive that night and should have never been on that trip. Especially with other people with them and in back of the car.

So that is why Inside Edition did this story about Jayne in 1992. Because even though she did make a brief impact in Hollywood in the mid 1950s, it was sort of like that talented QB who has a couple big years early in his career and perhaps even wins the Super Bowl, but gets hurt or thinks too much of himself and stops doing the work and finds himself even playing for bad teams, or completely out of the NFL. The fall ends up being as dramatic as the rise to the top floor in Hollywood. That was Jayne Mansfield’s short Hollywood adventure.

I disagree with James Bacon that Jayne wasn’t a good actress though and was only famous because of her, lets say measurements. She was a good actress, but more importantly a very good entertainer. Who was also a very good singer and comedian and had she realized that early on and just took with that instead of trying to move to doing drama and serious roles, we might be talking about one of the best comedic actresses and comedians at least of her generation. Which is how Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore are remembered today.

Jayne wasn’t a great dramatic actresses, but great comedians don’t have to be. But Jayne got bored with comedy and tried to move away from what made her great in Hollywood.

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Jerry Skinner: What Happened To Jayne Mansfield?

Source:Jerry Skinner– Hollywood Babydoll and Bombshell Jayne Mansfield.

Source:The Daily Review  

“Jayne Mansfield: A Tragic Ending (Jerry Skinner Documentary)”

From Jerry Skinner

“How Jayne Mansfield’s Death Car Changed The Trucking Industry. Great New segment about The Mansfield Bar on the REAR of Truck’s and how her death changed Federal regulations.”

Source:Jayne Mansfield Diamonds To Dust– The car crash that killed Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield in 1967.

From Jayne Mansfield: Diamonds To Dust 

“Die Jayne Mansfield Story (1980)”

Source:Filme – wahre Begebenheiten– Loni Anderson as Jayne Mansfield, in the last scene from The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980)

From Filme – wahre Begebenheiten 

This is a scene from CBS’s The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980) where Jayne Mansfield (played by Loni Anderson) just wrapped up her latest nightclub act in Biloxi, Mississippi. And she calls her ex-husband Mickey Hargitay (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) to tell him that she has a big business meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. If you are familiar with this story, you know that Jayne and her crew, including her kids, never make it to New Orleans on this tip.

Source:Make a GIF– Hollywood Babydoll Loni Anderson as Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield.

From Make a GIF

This is a scene from CBS’s The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980) where Jayne Mansfield (played by Loni Anderson) just wrapped up her latest nightclub act in Biloxi, Mississippi. And she calls her ex-husband Mickey Hargitay (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) to tell him that she has a big business meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. If you are familiar with this story, you know that Jayne and her crew, including her kids, never make it to New Orleans on this tip.

Source:Streamer Clips– Hollywood Babydoll Loni Anderson, as Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield.

From Streamer Clips

“Jayne Mansfield: A Tragic Ending (Jerry Skinner Documentary)”

Source:Jerry Skinner– Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield, I believe appearing in a British documentary about her.

“What happened to Jayne Mansfield.” Originally from Jerry Skinner, which was about Jayne Mansfield’s last days before she died in that horrible car crash.

What happened to Jayne Mansfield? Well as far as her death, she died in a car accident in June, 1967. She was a passenger and not driving and was headed to New Orleans from Biloxi, Mississippi just after midnight because Jayne had an interview that next day on a local New Orleans news show. They probably should have waited until the next morning to leave because as we know now the driver of the car was working and driving literally on no sleep.

And to make things worst they were trying to make an 87 mile trip in about an hour or so and were in a real rush. So you got a tired driver driving past midnight and in a hurry to get from Biloxi to Mississippi and you also had a lot of traffic on the road as well and two men who died in the accident in front of Jayne’s car who were real impatient.

But I believe the better question as far as what really happened to Jayne Mansfield is not so much about how she died in the end. But why was she performing in nightclubs in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1967 when she was still only 34 years old. Instead of New York or Los Angeles making movies, or doing TV shows, performing comedy, perhaps putting her own music album together. Because she had real talent to do all these things as a versatile entertainer, but wasn’t doing them by 1967.

One thing that I agree with the narrator in this video is that Jayne Mansfield wasn’t a dumb blonde. The woman had a college degree and came from a successful family in Pennsylvania and later Texas. The daughter of a layer and teacher. She could act, she had a comedic wit, and a singer’s voice. But she played the dumb sexy blonde as a career move in order to make money and bring publicity to herself.

But to go back to the fact that she was actually a good actress who could act. She played the dumb sexy blonde so well that people took her seriously as the dumb sexy blonde and didn’t see her as anything else. Both her fans and studios, movie and TV executives. She voluntarily left Hollywood in the 1960s because she was tired of playing the dumb sexy blonde and wanted serious roles as an actress. She could have stayed in Hollywood and continued to play the dumb sexy blonde and had very successful career as a comedic actress and comedian in general.

But Jayne was no longer interested in those roles. I believe she would have made a great soap actress in the 1970s and 80s even on prime time had she lived a normal life in years, because of a great comedic timing and wit and she had real dramatic affect as well. But of course we’ll never know that. I believe Saturday Night Live in the 1970s and 80s would have been a great place for her too, but we’ll never know that either. By the early and mid 1960s Jayne’s Hollywood career was basically over.

Jayne’s Hollywood career wasn’t over because she was tired of working in it, but because she was tired of the roles that she was getting. As the comedy relief in movies and TV appearances and wanted to go further as an actress. And was left to doing b-movies and and even some pornographic film and even films of her simply traveling around the country and going to Europe simply to stay busy as an actress.

Marilyn Monroe is famous for saying that it takes a smart woman to play the dumb blonde. Jayne played the dumb blonde so well that she had too many people fooled. Which is why she’s always been known as the dumb sexy blonde and not much else even though she had so much else going for her as an entertainer and person.

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BBC: 1999 Jayne Mansfield Documentary

Source:Primativo– Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield, being interviewed by BBC for their documentary about her.

Source:The Daily Review

“Movie star, pin-up queen, nightclub performer Jayne Mansfield lived a short but colorful life (1933-1967) during which she married three times, had five children (including TV star Mariska Hargitay), made over 30 films, appeared on hundreds of magazine and record album covers and dozens of TV appearances. She was known for her “dumb blonde” persona, almost-cartoonish dimensions, and a brilliant intelligence (she spoke multiple languages, played various instruments and was reported to have a 163 IQ). Unfortunately, she is as recognized for her presence in the media (including for her untimely passing) as she is for her on-screen performances. This comprehensive British documentary features tons of media footage, interviews with all three of her husbands, two of her children, and her friends and collaborators…

From Primativo

I guess in one way Jayne Mansfield was a great actress and not just a great comedic actress and comedian, but a real great actress at least in the sense that she had so many people fooled. She wanted to be seen as the dumb blonde who needed her hot, adorable, sexy image to pay her bills. But in actuality she always knew what she was doing. An intelligent woman who wanted to be viewed as a bimbo and was such a great actress that she pulled that off. She had people thinking she was exactly as she came off which was as a bimbo.

Marilyn Monroe had the famous quote that it takes a smart woman to play the dumb blonde. Well that was Jayne Mansfield, the smart woman who played the dumb blonde. She knew what Hollywood was and how she could be successful in it and played her talents to the hilt. A hot, adorable woman with a great body, but who also had a great sense of humor and comedic timing, who was also an accomplished singer. But knew exactly what people in Hollywood and what the fans noticed first and what they wanted.

Which was to see this hot, adorable woman with the great curve appeal and then you add to that which was she was a great entertainer. Someone who should exchange wisecracks with funny people like Tom Ewell, Edmond O’Brien, Merv Griffin, Jack Benny, Cary Grant, and many others.

Jayne was better than Marilyn Monroe at least in this sense that Jayne knew she was really good and had made it and deserved what she accomplished. Unlike Marilyn who was battling mental illness and depression and was heavily medicated for a lot of her adult life and had even attempted suicide and been committed at one point.

Jayne had a plan from day one and knew what she needed to do to make it in Hollywood. But unfortunately Jayne Mansfield falls in the class of what could’ve happened if only and ends up dying at 34 in 1967 because of a car crash where she wasn’t even driving because her and her crew were in a big hurry to meet a big appointment that they had in New Orleans the next morning.

By the time Jayne died in 1967 she was woking the nightclub circuit as a singer because her Hollywood career had burned out because the major studios no longer wanted to work with her.

Jayne mentally in many ways was just as adorable as she was physically. She came off a little girl both physically and personally. And was fairly immature and developed bad habits like drinking heavily and not able to take criticism very well and work to expand her image so she could get better and bigger parts.

Which is why she fell out of Hollywood and down to the nightclub circuit just to pay the bills and keep working.

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CBS: ‘The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980) CBS Wednesday Night Movie’

Source:CBS– Hollywood Babydoll Loni Anderson, as Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield.

Source:The Daily Review

“Not from Chicago, but aired via another CBS affiliate, WJBK Channel 2 in Detroit, MI, here’s The CBS Wednesday Night Movies’ “television premiere” presentation of “The Jayne Mansfield Story,” with Loni Anderson as the ultimately doomed blonde bombshell, and Austrian-born Arnold Schwarzenegger as her husband, Hungarian-born Mickey Hargitay. Followed by the first three minutes of Eyewitness News, with Norm Wagy, Jill Geisler, Bill Fouch and Joanne Williams, and a report from Tom Fenton.”

From Danjel Ostojic

“Made-for-TV** – WJBK 2 Detroit – The Jayne Mansfield Story (Made-for-TV) – This is the Original Oct.29,1980 broadcast with Commercials followed by a few minutes of Local News.

“The Jayne Mansfield Story” (Made-for-TV) CBS Wednesday Night Movie (Oct.29,1980)

Promo for the rerun of the 1980 made for TV movie “The Jayne Mansfield Story” starring Loni Anderson and Arnold Schwarzenegger on the April 27, 1982 CBS Tuesday Night Movies.

Opening to the world premiere of “The Jayne Mansfield Story” from 10/29/80.”

Source:Chicago Classic Television– Hollywood Babydoll Loni Anderson, as Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield, in The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980)

From Chicago Classic Television

“The movie tells the story of Hollywood movie star Jayne Mansfield. Like Marilyn Monroe, Mansfield was a sex symbol of the 1950s. She was able to succeed in Hollywood, became the owner of several theater awards. She also appeared several times in Playboy magazine. Her tragic death in a road accident ended her life at age 34.”

Source:IMDB– CBS’s Wednesday Night Movie.

From IMDB

“Martha Saxton’s ‘Jayne Mansfield And The American Fifties’ is a fascinating, deeply probing biography on the short, tragic life of a Hollywood … symbol. ”

Source:Good Reads– Martha Saxton’s book.

From Good Reads

“Thanks to social media, it’s now easier than ever to become “famous,” often for doing as little as Tweeting a joke (or someone else’s joke, if you’re Josh Ostrowsky). Sometimes you don’t even need to try–merely saying something funny in a “man on the street” interview will turn you into someone’s “spirit animal.” Back in Hollywood’s golden age, however, you had to work hard to get publicity, let alone keep it, and no one worked harder than Jayne Mansfield.”

Source:Tune In Tonight– Hollywood Babydoll Loni Anderson, as Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield, in The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980)

From Tune In Tonight

At risk of sounding old here: when I was growing up in the 1980s and even when I was in high school in the early 1990s. network original movies that were made and produced by the networks, were actually worth watching.

CBS, NBC, and ABC, all had their own movie companies that were part of their entertainment divisions and had one night a week and sometimes multiple nights if they were showing a mini-series where they should show two-hour movie and sometimes longer than that.

The networks would produce their own movies and of course would show movies that were from Hollywood and perhaps had been out for a year or so, or longer. Very similar to what HBO, Showtime and others do on cable.

Probably watched 5-6 of James Bond series of movies in the summer of 1992 alone on ABC. The networks did this because they were good at it and knew what movies to pick and how to promote them and what kind of cast they could put together and so-forth. But also because cable wasn’t as dominant in the 1980s as it became in the 1990s. CBS, NBC, and ABC, were worried about each other. And not so much what HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, TNT, USA, etc, were doing on cable.

The cable networks simply didn’t have the resources that the broadcast networks had back then and to certain extent today as well, but cable networks are much powerful and influential today than they were back then.

I only mention all of this because I’m trying to bore you into a coma. Especially if you weren’t even born yet in the 1980s. Actually, I have other reasons as well. Because the Jayne Mansfield Story was a TV network movie that CBS put together with the producers, directors, creators, and writers of the movie.

And The Jayne Mansfield Story and I’m only 4 years old when it came out in October, 1980 so I didn’t see it and only finally heard about it a year or so ago and saw a video for it on YouTube and the finally got to see the whole movie on cable (of course) on Get-TV last February and saw it again a few months after that.

And this was a network movie where you have Loni Anderson as the lead actress playing Jayne Mansfield and Arnold Schwarzenegger playing her husband and long time lover Mickey Hargitay. (The father of Mariska Hargitay) If there is just one woman who is adorable and funny enough to play Jayne Mansfield, as well as being a good enough actress and comedian, it’s Loni Anderson. I think she plays Jayne perfectly in this movie.

Loni was already a star at this point with her guest appearances on Threes Company in the late 1970s playing Jack Tripper’s love interest. And then she lands WKRP in Cincinnati in 1978. (One of the best sitcoms of all-time) Arnold wasn’t a star as an actor yet, but he was a superstar professional bodybuilder and already well-known at this point. Mickey Hargitay was a superstar bodybuilder before become an actor as well.

This is a very good and funny movie and a lot of that has to do with Loni Anderson. Who has great comedic ability and one of the top comedic actresses of her generation, at least. And she happens to playing a very funny woman in Jayne Mansfield who was very funny in real-life both intentionally and unintentionally, because she was so adorable and very immature and then add her comedic timing and you had a very funny woman who might still be working today had it not had been for her tragic car accident in 1967.

The movie covers Jayne’s life from when she became star in the early 1950s looking for work and basically forcing herself on her future agent Bob Garrett (played by Ray Buktenica) and he tells her if he’s going to represent Jayne that she’s going to have to change her hair and a few other things. But sees potential in her as a comedian.

And the movie goes from Jayne being discovered in the early 1950s where Hollywood wasn’t ready for her alway up to her fall and struggling to find work in the early and mid 1960s, to her tragic death in 1967.

Loni Anderson is just plain hot, sexy, adorable and funny as Jayne Mansfield. She’s as cute as a little girl with personality to match, but with body of a goddess with those legs, curves, chest and everything else, as well as the face.

Arnold playing Jayne’s wife is also great as a very loving and caring husband of Jayne who tries to look out for her best interests and tries to manage her immatureness and irresponsible behavior, but fails at both and they split up in the movie.

I believe Jayne Mansfield in real-life would have been proud for how Loni played her and at least give her credit for doing such a great and accurate job. Because I think knew herself real well and didn’t try to be anyone other than herself even if she seemed overly adorable and even childish to even the people who loved and cared about her like Mickey Hargitay and her business people.

This is a very entertaining movie that covers the struggles as Jayne making it as a great comedic actress, but someone who also wanted to be taken seriously in Hollywood and get serious parts with more meaning.

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Lisa Rinna: Marilyn Monroe- Things Happen For a Reason

Source: Lisa Rinna’s Facebook Page

Source: This piece was originally posted at The Daily Review

I’ve blogged this before and I’ll say this again. Marilyn Monroe, wasn’t known for saying intelligent things, at least not with people not knowing her personally. She was known as a goddess, dumb blonde, an entertainer, comedian, singer, a wild child with the baby-face of a sixteen year girl and even the personality of one. And except for the dumb blonde she was all of those things. But she was so much more and even those she was immature and lack self-discipline and self-confidence, which is shocking if you just look at her and see that smile, she had this keen blunt way of seeing things for what they are and knowing exactly how to describe them and put things and people in their place. She had a keen sense for commonsense about life outside of her. Even if she didn’t show much of it when living her own life. What’s she saying here in this quote is not something that makes people think, “I wish I thought of that.” Instead it’s more like, “I wish I remembered that, so I could see things what they were and take life as it comes and make the best of it.”

Things to happen for a reason. Which sounds like a quote from Captain Obvious, but it’s so true and if more people just saw that instead of thinking their life is collapsing because they’re facing some hardship. It’s not whether something for good or bad happens in your life that is key. The question is how does that change you and what do you do about it. Being poor at any point in your life is only a life sentence if you make it one for yourself. You don’t improve yourself, you don’t get yourself the skills that you need to live your life, you don’t make the necessary lifestyle adjustments needed to be able to move up in life and you’ll remain poor. Instead of saying, “I hate poverty, so I’m going to do what it takes to get myself out of poverty.” And that is just one example and when something positive happens in your life, you should know why and how that happened, so you don’t take it for granted and stay on that positive course. Whether you get a promotion at work, get a great girlfriend, whatever it might be.

One way I would describe Marilyn Monroe, is that she has a Ronald Reagan knack of commonsense. (Sorry my fellow Democrats) The Gipper had an ability to put things as they are and put them in a way that anyone basically could understand. That is how someone wins presidential elections with 56 and 59 percent of the vote and wins 93 states in two elections. Because you show strong leadership and layout a vision and character that everyone can understand. Even if they vote for you or not. Marilyn Monroe, was fifteen-years younger than Ron Reagan and politically very different, but she had that same ability of putting things in a way that everyone can understand. And not introduce knew language and facts, but instead remind people of commonsense that almost everyone knows. That perhaps we forgot, because it’s so common and perhaps seems so ordinary and perhaps old school and we feel the need to simply be different and fit in with current times. Marilyn was great at putting things exactly as they are and for that reason alone is worth being missed.

Ruling Funnys: Amazing Marilyn Monroe Quotes

 

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Scott Rogers: The Steve Allen Show- Diana Dors Hooray For Love in 1960

Source: This piece was originally posted at The Daily Review

It’s simply not possible for me to see too much of Diana Dors right now and believe me I’ve tried. If I don’t get over this compulsion fairly soon I might seek professional help. She along with Anita Ekberg, Ava Gardner, Liz Taylor, Shelley Winters, are my favorite not just Golden Age Hollywood Goddess’s right now, but my favorite Hollywood Goddess’s right now. Add Angie Dickinson, Marilyn Monroe and Kim Novak to that list. Diana, was so adorable with a hot baby-face, English accent and personality to match.

I’ve seen The Run For Doom which is her Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode from 1962, probably twenty times now. And it’s a very good show, but she makes it great. Simply because of her performance on it. Her presence on it is simply overwhelming by the way she moves and her adorable facial expressions. But keep in mind she was a hell of a lot more than a baby-face goddess with a great voice and personality. She was a hell of an actress and a very funny performer as well. She reminds me a lot of Shelley Winters as far as personality and comedic timing.

Diana could make serious parts look funny and keep people staring at her with her with her add living. Again watch The Run For Doom. Or be the funniest person in the room when you let her go off the cuff. Like she did with Bob Hope, Steve Allen and many others. As far as Hooray For Love, again Diana had many talents. She played a singer nightclub singer/gold digger in The Run For Doom. And in this performance she’s singing Hooray For Love on The Steve Allen Show, (Got me for who that show was named after) Great face, great voice, great body on a 5’6 frame. Tall and curvy, but definitely not too tall and I just wish she lived a lot longer and had a much longer career. Because she was so special.
Steve Rogers: The Steve Allen Show- Diana Dors Hooray For Love- 1960

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KQED: Gabe Meline- Kim Novak Opens Up: ‘I Think I’m Appreciated More Now’

Source: KQED– Hollywood Goddess Kim Novak, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo from 1958

Source:The Daily Review

This is a good interview from Gabe Meline of Hollywood Goddess Kim Novak and I mean that in the most positive sense. Yes, she was not just hot in Hollywood, but physically hot in general. Great body and yet so adorable at the same time that she generally came off as 10-15 years younger than she actually was, if not even younger than that. But she was so real and convincing as an actress. I think that is what made her great and again as I said before had her career not have been over for the most part by the late 1960s and I think we’re talking about one of the greatest actress’s ever. Same class as Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Lana Turner, Liz Taylor and many others. She was really that great in the 1950s and 1960s.

If you watch the movie Vertigo with Alfred Hitchcock, Madeline is Kim Novak. Either as the Hollywood bomb shell blonde or as the red-hot Hollywood bomb shell. A women who looks like a goddess on the outside. Whose 5’6 and hot with a great body, but also as cute as a baby with a sexy voice. But on the inside she was a like a sixteen year old girl who wants the hottest guy in high school, but not ready to make a move, because she doesn’t think she’s good enough for him. Or thinks he won’t like her at all. As great as Kim was she always had this self-confidence issue that wasn’t that different from Marilyn Monroe, but she was smart enough not to get involved in drugs and abuse alcohol. Especially together which would the slow way to commit suicide.

Madeline from Vertigo, is Kim Novak. This gorgeous baby-faced blonde with the great body and the sexy Czech-Slavic curves. Who is never sure of herself and just wants someone to love her for who she is and just love her. Who is involved with a guy and his fantasy about who she should be. And she goes out-her-way to try to be that person for him. If you like Alfred Hitchcock and you like Kim Novak, you’ll love Vertigo. The perfect Hitchcock movie with the hot sexy adorable blonde with a great suspense/thriller and humor all in the same movie. Like all great Hitchcock movies. And you see the real Kim Novak in it. As a goddess on the outside that every straight guy with eyes whose not blind should love, but who is very vulnerable on the inside. Even though she doesn’t has any real reason to be.
Studio AVC: Full Interview With Kim Novak

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Los Angeles Times: Patrick Kevin Day- Kim Novak: Hollywood Star Walk

Source: This piece was originally posted at The Daily Review

When I think of pure beauty, grace, class, realism, adorableness, Kim Novak is not the only actress I think of, but she’s certainly one of my favorites. I don’t know of another actress who was that hot, baby-faced adorable and that well-built and that real. A hot 5’6 women with a great body and whose also baby-faced adorable, who played all of her roles as if she’s playing herself. If you judge an actress by how real and believable their character is, meaning do the you believe the actress playing the women or not, that alone would make Kim Novak not just one of the best actress’s of her generation that includes Angie Dickinson, Sophia Loren, Dyan Cannon, Liz Taylor and many others, Grace Kelly, but one of the best actress’s of all-time.

And I believe what makes Kim even better is that the women that she played most of the time tended to be very different from who she is in real-life. Kim, was somewhat shy and lacking in self-confidence and never quite sure of herself. Which was perfect for her in Vertigo where she plays Madeline who is very similar in personality. But look at The Man With The Golden Arm with Frank Sinatra and she’s playing the cool always sure of herself character. Whose trying to save a drug addict and gambler played by Sinatra, from himself. Which is my point about Kim that she was so good at playing her characters even people who were very different from herself. But played them so well as if she was playing herself.

I’m not saying Kim Novak is Lauren Bacall, or Liz Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Susan Hayward, but probably in the next group, or the one right after that if not the second one. Because she sort of burned out by the late 1960s and attempted a few comebacks after that without achieving the great roles that she use to have. Had she still been doing well in Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s, maybe we’re talking about an actress who belongs in the first group of greatest actress’s of all-time. But for her time in the 1950s through the mid 1960s she was one of the best and best looking in Hollywood. And landed a lot of great movies and roles because of that. And someone who clearly belongs in the Hollywood Hall of Fame, or the equivalent of that.
Goody Awards: TCM 2012- Kim Novak Handprint Magic at Grauman Chinese

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Cliff Michel Moore: Ginger Rogers Interview (1968)

Source:Recording Singer– Hollywood Babydoll and comedian Ginger Rogers, being interviewed by Cliff Michel Moore, in 1968.

Source:The Daily Review  

“In the last post, I mentioned something about a 1968 interview Ginger did with Cliff Michelmore. Lucky for us, it’s available on YouTube and I’ve embedded it below.

It’s quite a fun interview to watch. Ginger was in her late 50’s by then, but she still looked as gorgeous as ever. She spoke very comfortably and confidently about her life and career, and it is just a nice look at how she saw herself. The interview was done at her California house, so perhaps this contributed to how comfortable she felt. Also, she’s quite a storyteller, too. It’s definitely not boring to hear her speak.

Here are some of the highlights that are definitely good reasons to check out the video:

Ginger fixing up an ice cream soda for Michelmore is the most adorable thing you’ll ever see. We know by now she’s crazy about ice cream soda, but in this she also said that she liked it with “lots of chocolates”. Her kid-like personality shines through in this part.

Ginger considered herself a good business woman, but didn’t see money as the most important. She said, “I don’t want material things. I want those things that are needful in life, but not necessarily the most valuable according to dollars and cents.”

Ginger discussed her relationship with Fred Astaire, noting that “we’re very definite about what we like and we dislike”.

Ginger recounted the time she reunited with Astaire during the 1967 Oscar ceremony, where they did a little dance before walking to the podium to announce a winner. This is the part that compels me to say that Ginger is a good storyteller. She looked and sounded so excited to tell Michelmore about every little detail.

Ginger talked about how influential her mother, Lela, was to her and defended that Lela didn’t push her around like a typical “stage mother” does.

Ginger spoke about her love of painting and how she could lose hours and days just to paint.” 

Source:The Daily Review– Hollywood Babydoll and Comedian Ginger Rogers, being interviewed by Cliff Michel Moore, in 1968.

From Recording Singer 

I’ve always thought at least since I started becoming pretty familiar with her career, that Ginger Rogers is one of the cutest and funniest actress’s and perhaps women of all-time.

Ginger was so quick-witted and always had perfect comedic timing whether she was off script, like in this interview, or on script. And even when she was on script she was very adept at adding her own humor to lines and scenes.

If you ever see the movie Monkey Business from Howard Hawkes where she plays Cary Grant’s wife in that movie, they were an incredible comedy team in that movie. And I believe a lot of that had to do with them always being on the same page when it came to the wisecracks and physical comedy. She was the cutest woman in that movie that had Marilyn Monroe in it.

I love women who can make me go: ‘Aw! you’re so cute!’ But who can also make me laugh and she was very adept at both. She was an actress who was a hell of a dancer, who could sing, but also give a great comedic performance all in the same role.

Had Marilyn Monroe lived a natural life in years, maybe we’re talking about her the same way we’re talking about Ginger today. Someone who could sing, dance, act, make you laugh, looked great and everything else. That was Ginger Rogers, but she did it for a whole career.

Ginger was always as cute as baby physically, but always had the intelligence and maturity of a great woman. Someone who didn’t need money to be happy, but made a lot of it anyway, because she so good at what she did. And is one of the best entertainers we’ve ever produced.

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Vicki Dahl: The Marilyn Monroe Story- A Life of Love, Glamour and Darkness Autobiography

Source: This piece was originally posted at The Daily Review

Had Marilyn Monroe been mentally as strong as she was physically, or even mentally half as strong as she was physically, she’s probably still alive today. Unless some jealous disturbed women murdered her, because she could no longer handle how much better looking Marilyn was over her. If Marilyn was strong mentally, to go with her appearance and body, we might be talking about the goddess of all-time. I would still be leaning towards Sophia Loren and perhaps a few other women. Imagine had Marilyn’s brain matched her face. Imagine if mentally she wasn’t as adorable and immature as she was physically. That she didn’t look at life from the standpoint of a 16-year-old girl, but instead as an early middle-age 36-year-old women. Which is how old she was when she died.

Forget about the great legs, the butt, the body that was perfectly designed and perhaps purposely designed for the skinny jeans in boots look today. The long strong legs and round butt, that of course she had. She was a hell of an actress, as well as a great comedian and when she was happy she was about as funny as anyone in Hollywood and probably could have written her own humorous scripts for TV and the movies in her forties had she just lived in a natural life in years. She was an excellent singer, she had great moves, she could act very well and probably ends up winning awards as an actress and not just as a comedic actress. But these were her talents and you don’t last in Hollywood simply on talent. You have to work and hold it together personally as well.

Unfortunately Marilyn Monroe fits the old cliché, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, like a glove. As perfect as she was on the outside, she was at times at least just as weak on the inside. With the personality and maturity level of a teenage girl and even the voice of one. She’s a women who never grew up mentally and could never see how great a talent that she was and how great of a future that she had only she was just reached and out grabbed it. Laid off the booze and pills, showed up for work on time and do the work and produce the great films and performances that she was more than capable of doing time after time being rewarded handsomely for her great performances. This is the Marilyn that we would have seen had she just had been mentally strong enough for it.
Vicki Dahl: The Marilyn Monroe Story- A life of Love, Glamour and Darkness Autobiography

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