serious class

i love paul scofield

beauty fades

but till it does.....

beautiful birkin

jane turns 65 today. the british born jane had made some films in the sixties before getting together with france's great musical genius/rude boy serge and settling in france. she sings like a little bird and lights up the screen with a fragile awkwardness that is very alluring. her and serge gainsbourg passed their respective genes down to their daughter charlotte. she too sings like a falling leaf and makes memorable film performances.

the coolest thing about jane is her heart. the famous and coveted 'birkin' bag (which is ridiculously pricey) may have been named after her, but she has wisely found a reasonable role for it to play in her life:

I got Hermès to fork out for my charities once I saw the fortune they were making. A certain amount of money every year goes straight to my charity and it will continue to after my death. This year I was able to [use some of that money] to go to Japan for a benefit concert after the earthquake. We use some of the money to feed the poor people who can’t afford to eat in France. I sold one of my Birkin bags for $163,000 to help the Japanese Red Cross. So that rather trivial piece of heavy luggage has done a lot of good in the world.

photos: jane with serge/the english rose/with charlotte

'neely!!!!!'

when i brought a copy of patty duke's autobiography up to the counter in a bookstore the guy working smiled and said, 'the dukester!' i nearly fell down laughing.
i always liked patty duke. her t.v. show was great and her turn as 'neely' in 'valley of the dolls' is legendary. she wound up making lots of made for t.v films which could only be better as a result of her being in them. she went through way too much dark times due to depression but lived to write about it. today 'the dukester' turns 65.



















images: patty 2011/makin' hits/as 'neely'/young patty/her book was made into a t.v. movie!

g.g.

just lie still

nastassja's face is so dang arresting that i never once noticed the snake kissing her ear. photographer richard avedon sold two million posters of this image. i wonder how many people didn't notice that snakes tongue.

back to the future

John Malkovich and Uma Thurman smoking on the set of Dangerous Liaisons.
Picture by Brigitte Lacombe

sad eyed buster of the lowlands

this out of print book is being sold for $999.00! i have a feeling dear buster was broke in his later years. typical that this book would have bought him a ton of groceries.

eli's coming (hide your heart girl)

for all of you who are not aware of the mind blowing talent of singer/songwriter laura nyro, here is a link to her song 'eli's comin':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfW41eKUkKE

the great actor eli wallach is 96 today! eli was terrific as 'silva', the man who came into the lives of the miserably married 'archie' and 'baby doll' in tennessee williams's brilliant, funny and tender play 'baby doll.'

Baby Doll: Excuse me, Mr. Vacarro, but I wouldn't dream of eatin' a nut that a man had cracked in his mouth.
Silva Vacarro: You've got many refinements.
Baby Doll: Thank you.

image: eli wallach and marilyn monroe shooting 'the misfits'

mini driver

not a misspelling!

horses horses horses

31 of them! the beautiful actress jenny seagrove has just adopted 31 horses. that is seriously incredible. dame seagrove sounds so nice.

the publicity machine

what a great photograph.


Photo of Swedish actress May Britt by Leonard McCombe, 1957.