Looking for a copy of B&W Magazine

If anyone has an extra copy of the Sept 2008 Issue 61 of B&W Magazine featuring Marilyn on the cover - please let me know.  I am interested in acquiring a copy asap.  Thanks!!  - FOUND

ONCE AGAIN.  THANKS TO EDGAR FOR COMING TO MY RESCUE!

Dearly Departed - Elizabeth Taylor

Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, whose violet eyes, tumultuous love life and passion for diamonds epitomised Hollywood glamour, died today at age 79.

The star of Cleopatra and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles surrounded by family after a long battle with congestive heart failure that sent her to the hospital six weeks ago.

In a career spanning seven decades, Taylor first gained fame in 1944’s National Velvet at age 12 and was nominated for five Oscars. She won the best actress award for BUtterfield 8 (1960) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) with actor Richard Burton, whom she would marry twice.

Taylor’s eight marriages, health problems, prescription drug addiction and ballooning weight often overshadowed her career, but she overcame adversity and used her fame to advocate for causes such as AIDS education and research.

Taylor is rumored to be buried in a plot next to her parents at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.  Among those who are buried or interred there -Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Truman Capote,Farrah Fawcett, Dean Martin and Walter Matthau.  NOTE:  She actually ended up at Forest Lawn Memorial near her long-time friend Michael Jackson.

Bonhams auction features early Norma Jeane letter

NORMA JEANE DESCRIBES HER WEDDING IN INTIMATE DETAIL.
Autograph Letter Signed ("Norma") in pencil, 8 pp, 4to, [Van Nuys, CA, September 14, 1942], to Grace Goddard, regarding her wedding and married life, with original autograph transmittal envelope signed ("Mrs. James E. Dougherty"), light soiling at creases to letter, envelope toned, corners bumped, right margin rough.

Charles Williamson often described this lot as "the greatest Marilyn Monroe letter in the world"—and he may well have been right. 16-year old newlywed Norma Jeane Dougherty writes her foster mother Grace Goddard mentioning the man she believed was her biological father and describing her wedding and married life in vivid detail.
Though Monroe's birth certificate lists a Martin Mortensen as her father, she always believed that her true biological father was a man named Charles Stanley Gifford, a co-worker of her mother Gladys at Consolidated Films during the 1920s. Monroe is known to have reached out to Giffords once she was an established celebrity, but he rebuffed her attempts. This letter reveals that by as young as 16—at the moment she begins her adult life as a married woman—she was interested in establishing a relationship with the man she thought of as her father. 
The first line of this letter to Grace reads: "I want to thank you so much for writing Mom and explaining things about Stanley G. I'm sure she understands now." Norma goes on to describe life as a married woman: "He really keeps me busy cleaning the house and fixing meals, everybody told me that it is quite a responsibility being a house wife, and boy, I'm finding it out. But it really is a lot of fun. / Jimmy is so swell to me, in fact I know that if I had waited 5 or 10 years I couldn't have found anyone who would have treated me better. I just think the world of him and we get along so nicely. He is just so sweet about every little thing."
Norma Jeane goes on to describe her new home, even drawing a floor plan diagram of the rooms and furniture. The next 5 pages list in exacting detail each guest invited to the wedding and the gift sent: "Mr. and Mrs John Ingram (He is the school teacher that was such a good friend of Jimmy's). He is also Doris Drenen's brother-in-law. And Doris Drenen is Jim's ex—remember? I remember only too well."
She describes a gift from the Gaddis family: "The most beautiful cocktail set I have ever seen in my life. It is out of solid copper. The set consists of a huge round copper tray with a mat or cork on one side and asbestos on the other for hot drinks. Then there are eight copper glasses then there are eight little copper tray things for the glasses. Also there is a little copper bucket for grated ice. It is really beautiful."
Norma Jeane adds a poignant post script, again mentioning the man she thought of as her biological father: "How can I get in touch with Stanley Gifford? Through Consoladated [sic] films? Or something like that. Which dept?"

Estimate $25,000 - 35,000

UPDATE:  This letter went for $52,460 well above the estimate

Visit the auction here

8 Marilyn Monroe Tattoos added

Thanks to John, Alex, Adam, Chandra, Brian, Toscinia and Yarmia for sending in their tattoos.

Two Little Girls from Little Rock - Remembering Jane

I just love this number with Jane Russell and Marilyn.  It is wonderful to see so many people posting about her on youtube since her passing.

Dearly Departed Jane Russell

I'm really sad to see this news today.  Jane was a good friend to Marilyn.  You can listen to one of my favourite podcasts that was dedicated to Jane  HERE.

The actress, whose career was launched by Howard Hughes and his film "The Outlaw," was 89.

Jane Russell, whose voluptuous good looks won the attention of Howard Hughes and launched her on a movie career, has died. She was 89.

Generally cast in fluff films like 1943’sThe Outlaw that showed off her well-endowed beauty, Russell reached the pinnacle of her career with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), starring in the comedy with Marilyn Monroe.

During the 1970s, Russell was widely recognized as the spokesperson for Playtex bras, appearing in national TV commercials for the “Cross Your Heart” bra campaign.

Although best known for her figure, Russell showed a comic sensibility inGentlemen Prefer Blondes and again with Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955) and The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956). Nevertheless, most of her movie roles were designed around her towering physicality and frontal amplitude. Soft-spoken and well-regarded, Russell received the Women’s International Center Living Legacy Award in 1989.

Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell was born on June 21, 1921, in Bemidji, Minn. Her father was a U.S. army lieutenant and her mother was an actress who performed with a traveling troupe. When she was a child, the family moved to California, where she studied piano and acting. After high school, Russell worked as a chiropodist’s receptionist and modeled and studied acting at Reinhardt’s Theatrical Workshop.

Rather than her thespic talents, it was her 38-inch bust line that came to the attention of Hughes, who was a major stockholder in RKO and was conducting a nationwide hunt for the leading-lady role in his film The Outlaw. On a visit to the doctor’s office where she held down her day job, Hughes noticed her figure and insisted that she enter his contest. Russell won the contest and the starring role in the film.

As part of the “opportunity,” she was subjected to what many regarded as vulgar publicity. Nevertheless, she handled it with aplomb, proving there was more to her than met the eye. The movie itself was a bizarre twist on the saga of Billy the Kid, where Russell played a Latin charmer who entices Billy.

Hughes and his publicity team spared no expense in her buildup, and she was featured as a cheesecake pinup that was distributed to G.I.’s. Her figure also made it to other fronts, to the cover of numerous fan and movie magazines. The whole promotional enterprise, highlighting her bust size, was notorious for the day and decidedly risqué. In fact, upon its completion, the movie itself was considered too “hot” and controversial. Further, it did not meet the censorial standards of the Production Code. Such censure, of course, only increased public awareness and wetted the public’s appetite for the film.

Although shot in 1941, The Outlaw was not released until two years later, and then only in a few theaters. Finally, in 1946, it was released nationally and was a box-office smash, with many viewers flocking to see Russell’s “performances.” Airplane designer Hughes even designed a special “cantilever bra” for Russell to ensure proper handling of her “assets” during the filming, but she claimed not to have worn it for the movie.

In the wake of the widespread clamor and success of The Outlaw, Russell’s next film, a soap-opera type entertainment titled Young Widow, was released soon on the heels of The Outlaw. It piggybacked on her hot reputation and was also a financial success for Hughes.

Since Russell had signed a seven-year contract with Hughes, she was at his mercy as far as casting, and he only placed her in RKO pictures that capitalized on her looks. Usually, she played the role of a worldly “dame,” playing in cheesecake-type films and musicals like His Kind of Woman (1951) and The Las Vegas Story (1952). Most sensational perhaps among these was her performance in The French Line (1954), where she performed a sexy dance number in a tiny costume. The film also was in 3D.

Fortunately, she was eventually loaned out from RKO to Paramount, which allowed her to display more of her talents. She won respect for her performance opposite Bob Hope in The Pale Face. After appearing in The Fuzzy Pink Night Gown (1957), which tanked at the box office, Russell took a hiatus from films and did not act again until 1964, when she performed inFate Is the Hunter. She only acted in three more films during the ’60s: Her final film of the decade was Born Losers (1967), a biker movie starring Tom Laughlin. She last appeared inDarker Than Amber (1970).

Moving away from the shackles of the kind of movie role that was offered her, Russell widened her repertoire. In 1971, she replaced Elaine Stritch on Broadway in the musical Company.

She married Los Angeles Rams football star Bob Wakefield in 1943, a union that lasted until 1968. Her second husband, Roger Barrett, died less than three months after their marriage. In recent years, Russell lived in the Santa Barbara area, where she was active in numerous charities.

Forever Blonde in Palm Springs March 18-22

I drove to Michigan in order to see Sunny's show and it was totally worth it.  My review here.  So if you are anywhere in the Palm Springs area or can drive there - you should really see this show.
MARILYN: FOREVER BLONDE APPEARING IN PALM SPRINGS!
March 18 - 22, 2011
The Annenberg Theater • Palm Springs Art Museum
101 Museum Dr • Palm Springs, CA
For Tickets at the Box Office Call (760) 325-4490
or Visit www.AnnenbergTheater.org