Fun Finds: Movie Stars Parade Magazine, June 1956

Back again right away with another Fun Find, purchased on the same day as the last one. And, wouldn't you know, the Butcher of Burlington was up to her old tricks again in this mag! While it's not quite the shambles of the previous publication, there were still several pages missing or messed with... I will be more attentive when searching for old periodicals in the future! I guess that beguiling cover of Miss Kim Novak distracted me. Fans of cheesecake photography might like this one especially. As usual, I'll be providing commentary along the way as I deem appropriate. Now let's get to it! 

The inside front cover featured this device, the likes of which could be found in magazines up through the 1970s at least! I don't know if anyone ever lost weight from it, but at least the vibrations could put a smile on your face if you aimed it right. LOL

I don't know why, but it struck me as odd that a mouthwash ad would be set at the counter of an ice cream parlor! She gets a luscious float and he gets Listerine?

I didn't cut these models' heads off. The ad was presented that way (to focus on the garments.) Interesting assortment of clothing (and bigger gals will pay an extra $1!) Number 542 is "on-or-off shoulder" which reminded me of Blanche from The Golden Girls: "Why everything I wear is off the shoulda'... sooner or later...!"

Grrr... the first page of this gossip section is MIA. We do love us some Guy Madison. And I had utterly forgotten that Cara Williams was once wed to John Drew Barrymore! They were split by 1959, but she did have his son, sometimes-actor John Blyth Barrymore. No need for any nursery over at Rock & Phyllis' house!

Russ Tamblyn's wife here, Venetia Stevenson, is the daughter of Anna Lee, though she and her mother were not close until Venetia was an adult because she lived with her father, actor Robert Stevenson in England. Her marriage to Tamblyn was finished after a year. Dale Robertson and Mary Murphy needn't have bothered with their upcoming nuptials. The union was annulled six months later! Serenade (1956) was a moderate hit, but Mario Lanza only made one more movie before passing away at 38 from the effects of stringent (and controversial) weight loss procedures. 

Milton Greene, shown on this page with Marilyn Monroe, was a famous photographer who, for a time, helped Monroe change career directions with movies like Bus Stop (1956) and The Prince and the Showgirl (1957), though there was a falling out after the second film. He is the man who took the iconic photo of her in a tulle ballet tutu, among many other shots.

His story has gone missing at the hands of the scissor-happy original owner, but this is Ben Cooper, a busy 1950s & '60s actor who is not particularly well-known now. He tended to play supporting roles in films which featured bigger stars like Joan Crawford or Burt Lancaster.

A small amount of his article remains intact in the back of the mag. Cooper did marry in 1960 to actress Pamela Raymond and they remained wed until 2008 when she passed away. Cooper acted up through the mid-1990s and passed away in 2020 at age 86. I recall the shock of seeing him in 1st & Ten as Delta Burke's husband who has a special fondness for one of the players!

Not sure what "The Wedding Clock" was, but Shirley Jones didn't make it. Her next movie, in fact, was Carousel (1956), whose soundtrack album she is holding.

She really must have been tight-lipped about spilling too much personal information, including about Jack Cassidy. The two were wed that August!

Now the cover story and the parade of cheesecake-y photos of the popular actresses of the day. At first glance I thought this was Elizabeth Taylor, but it's one Marla English. This is really a pretty revealing photo for a 1956 "family" publication! She was currently filming "White Nightmare" which became A Strange Adventure (1956) with the aforementioned Ben Cooper in the cast. She wed a businessman in 1957 and retired from the biz at only age 21!

Arlene Dahl famously advised ladies to never sleep on their faces, only on the back of their head, to avoid facial creases, etc... (She also infamously would rise before hubby Fernando Lamas and apply makeup, then slip back into bed, so that he would awaken to a vision instead of a slattern next to him! LOL) I had no clue on earth that that was (a brunette!) Martha Hyer at lower-right...

This is kind of a fun article with intriguing text and info along the way. I can barely envision cowboy Rory Calhoun amid all they endless frillery! Mamie Van Doren's towel has seen better days. I had one not quite that bad that I used to like to use at the YMCA to attract attention. Ha ha!

Heavens... those side-lamps of Debra Paget's! I think Marilyn Monroe once replied, when asked what she had on in bed, "the radio..." Or was it Chanel #5?

I'm not having a brunette Mitzi Gaynor! LOL And though I love her, this hard-looking period is one of my least favorite of Joan Crawford's. As for the text in the story, is it "moo-moo" or "muu-muu?"

Here is cover girl Kim Novak at last. Jan Sterling was one of the lightest blondes ever, next to Jean Harlow and latter-day Monroe.

There's our other Joan (Collins), all ready for bed in full makeup and large earrings! Ha! The caption is on the opposing page, but that's Julie Adams and humpy hubby Ray Danton above-right.

Lastly, we find curvaceous Anita Ekberg and former child-star Margaret O'Brien. (I can't with the dolls...)

The accompanying story (about her dreams of marriage) was rendered from the magazine, but this pinup of Natalie Wood remains. In 1957, Wood married Robert Wagner for the first time, which was hardly the dream she had in mind. But they later re-wed ten years after their 1962 divorce.

Audie Murphy had a family-oriented spread in the other recent Fun Find and now here he is again, out and about at Universal-International Studios for the day with his two little boys.

I don't know a thing about these two sweet boys, but I hope they had happy lives. Things got rough for their father near the end of his life.

Y'all pay attention to this so you can look more presentable when you visit Poseidon's Underworld...! Ha ha!

Funny how things change... now everyone WANTS a pouty lip! The owner of the mag snipped out the photo of Grace Kelly and her perfect nose. And it was the unkindest cut of all...

...because in the process, she hacked away a large portion of John Derek's cranium!

At least the rest of the spread was left alone, though these training photos sadly have him all covered up in a sweatsuit.

Jacques Sernas got what ought to have been a considerable break with Helen of Troy (1956), but it wound up only making back half its money at the box office. Before too long, he was back making multiple European costume epics in what was a long career there. (Among his films were also La dolce vita, 1960, and 55 Days at Peking, 1963.)

Sernas managed to survive Buchenwald concentration camp and, like many others who made it through such an ordeal, lived a long life. He retired in 2007 and passed away in 2015 at age 89. 

Despite being an alleged cinema aficionado, I'm ashamed to admit that I have never seen any of these films! By the way... read about Zonitors at your own risk! Ha ha!

Some remaining tidbits from the opening gossip section. Gary Cooper did perform in at least two more westerns, The Hanging Tree (1959) and the excellent Man of the West (1958), which is a favorite of mine. Janet Leigh was able to deliver her baby, Kelly, and proceeded to have Jamie Lee about two years later. Jerry Lewis, by the way, was biological father to six children (that we know of!) Rita Hayworth did not end up marrying Raymond Hakim.

Keep learning, kids...

Lord, Janet, is there anything else you'd like to know about Natalie?!? There were stories in this magazine about both Sal and Tab, but they were missing! Aaarrgh! But in any case, I think Tab liked his girls real quiet, like asleep. But I suspect he liked blonds versus blondes...

If you're not familiar with Kay Starr, she sang the Christmas hit "(Everybody's Waitin' For ) The Man with the Bag" along with many other songs. She lived to be 94. "Rock Island Line," a smash in the UK, reached number 8 in the US. Many of the vocalists mentioned here would soon enough find themselves washed away by the influx of rock 'n roll artists.

There are a number of people in this section with fan clubs who I have never heard of! For what it's worth, Gordon MacRae has my favorite singing voice ever. I just loved the way he sounded in his prime. He and Sheila were married from 1941-1967 and had four children together before divorcing. He immediately re-wed and they were together until his death in 1986 from pneumonia at age 64.

Here is the back cover of the magazine. For whatever reason it took me FOREVER to recognize the artwork shown...! I thought it was a red toothbrush at first! I guess I'm just not one to appreciate art. Ha ha!

::::BONUS PICS::::

I felt the least I could do under the circumstances of this magazine's vandalism was to try to show Mr. Derek's pinup unmolested by scissors. However, I could NOT find that exact shot. This is very, very close. 

I have yet to see The Leather Saint, but now I really want to. I ask you to examine the unbelievably hairy legs of John Derek in this photo...!

"There, there... let mama make it all better for you."

All the long, wavy locks that Derek had sported for The Ten Commandments (1956) were shorn off for this movie. It's likely the shortest hair the actor-turned-director ever had.

The beatific lighting is because he plays a priest who secretly and temporarily takes to the ring in order to raise funds for both an iron lung and a community swimming pool.

The End.

Varietal Spice

They say variety is the spice of life? Then I have a few spice girls to show you today. This post started out as a visual tribute to the sometimes elaborate hair of female guests on 1960s variety shows, but soon evolved into a general appreciation of the whole package: the carefully coiffed 'dos, the elegant gowns, the sparse yet glamorous sets, colorful lighting, etc... For the most part, variety shows (ala The Ed Sullivan Show, Hollywood Palace, etc...) are dead now, but in their hey-day one could spot a lovely lady coming out on stage all decked out and singing a song or dancing. Like many folks, I love scampering through youtube and coming upon things like this. Bless the people who take care to upload them. Sometimes it's amazing, sometimes less so, but they nearly always LOOK interesting! Ha ha!  I've attached links so that you can witness the performances yourselves should you wish to.

Today's cover girl for this post is Miss Barbara Eden, romping around to the strains of "Spinning Wheel!"

Many a teen-aged boy dreamed of Jeannie (and a few probably dreamed of BEING Jeannie! - ha ha!)

Here she is in an earlier appearance, singing "Big Beautiful Ball" and sporting some of that piled-high hair we love so much.

This is the one that actually started the whole idea off. One look at Miss Julie London's crown of tresses and false eyelashes and I was all in! She's singing "Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast."

Miss Shirley Jones starts off this number in a sleek, but conventional '60s hairstyle and wedding dress, but soon morphs into a green gown and a higher stacked coiffure. (As an aside, I have always adored pale green and purple as a color combination.)

The song is "Love Walked In." Sadly, I was unable to get a look at this creation from the back.

Variety show staple Miss Leslie Uggams sports a fairly high hairpiece here.

She's belting out "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues." I just love the beaded detailing on her gown.

It's Christmas in July as Miss Florence Henderson (Mrs. Brady) performs a medley while bedecked in period wear and an elaborate hairdo.

Generally, I'd rather take a bullet than listen to children singing, especially in unison as happens for much of this... Thank God we can at least appreciate Flo's lengthy curls.

Miss Nancy Wilson (who sang the jaunty theme song for one of our guilt pleasures, Love Has Many Faces, 1965) is icy blue with Andy Williams here.

Here are some close-ups of her colorful eye makeup as she's performing "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" with Williams.

Miss Diana Ross (I'm bound legally to refer to her that way! LOL) along with The Supremes joined up with The Temptations for a mash-up. They took turns singing songs made popular by the other group!

Gladys Knight and the Pips perform "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" which is obscured throughout by psychedelic effects.

Miss Knight generally wore her hair long with maybe some height at the top, thus this piled-up, curly do is something of a departure for her.

Miss Ann-Margret does one of her characteristically sultry performances in a slinky pink gown with a bejeweled neckline.

She does "The Look of You" and later "Put a Little Love in Your Heart." What sends this over the top for me is her hooty bedazzled microphone!

Now entering the Miss Bobbie Gentry wing of this exhibit. She croons "Let it Be Me" with Glen Campbell.

I love her eyelashes and hair, but get a load of the shoes!

Here, she performed an entire medley with Bobby Darin in profile! The two remain nose-to-nose throughout. (For some reason he is afforded a brief close-up from another angle, but she isn't...!)

This is the way most of us recall Gentry if we do at all. Looking as if she's just auditioned for either Valley of the Dolls (1967) or Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), we adore her hair, her lashes, her ensemble and, well, just all of it! She's performing a song called "Touch 'Em With Love."

Arguably, her most famous numbers, though, were "Fancy," later remade with success by Reba McIntire and, as seen here, "Ode to Billie Joe." Her makeup here does Sharon Tate proud!

The talented songwriter-producer and vocalist abruptly retired in 1978 after having come up against behind-the-scenes sexism and a spate of lackluster sales of her work and is, thus, unjustly forgotten by many.

Heading old school for a moment, we catch up with Miss Ginger Rogers, hoofing her way through "That's How Young I Feel" and "Dancing," both from Jerry Herman shows she performed on stage (Mame and Hello Dolly!) No close-ups of Ginge in this instance.

With it's teal and kelly green colors and the gazebo, this set brings to mind the Promenade Room from my beloved The Towering Inferno (1974), but the attraction here is Miss Alice Faye singing a medley of songs.

This set is punctuated with some slick costume augmentations and a fair amount of choreography for the fifty-one year-old performer. Love the necklace!

Another frequent variety show performer was Miss Peggy Lee. Here, she is doing "Walking Happy," followed by "Little Girl Blue."

At this time, she was elegant and glitzy (and, of course, very blonde.) Lee perfected a style that was very stationary and quiet. Reportedly, she adopted this method while singing in a noisy, hectic supper club wherein she barely sang out in order to force people to silence themselves and listen in order to hear her!

If you look at later appearances, she really went off the rails with her hair, makeup and clothing, eventually appearing quite alien! But, here, she was still pretty lovely.

Here we find Miss Lee in one of those cascading Grecian hairstyles we live for! She and Dean Martin are engaged in a medley.

Rounding third and heading for home, I give you this. I nearly died when I saw it. Not only do I adore the instrumental of "Love is Blue," but I've recently become obsessed with Mitzi Gaynor in her many TV specials. How many things I'm insane about could this clip combine? The song (which she hilariously overdramatizes, but who gives a shit!?), the cool color scheme, the sheer drapes, a dazzling Bob Mackie gown with a mind-boggling neckline and the shapely, always "in it to win it" Gaynor...

Did I mention the neckline of this show-stopping dress?!

No, this is not Bride of Frankenstein (1935) as colorized by Ted Turner... It is my ALL-TIME favorite variety show appearance. I've featured it before many moons ago, but I never tire of it.

It's the jaw-dropping Miss Nancy Ames (another practically forgotten performer who was exceedingly popular in her day.) She sings a really unusual combination of "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Games People Play." The first time I heard it was sort of shell-shocked. Soon after I began to love it and eventually to crave it! LOL

The powerful alto was charmingly introduced by Engelbert Humperdinck and they proceed to duet, making a gorgeous couple. (She even allows some room in her hairdo for him to rest his chin!) Look at her startlingly beautiful face in close-up...

Ames receded from view in the 1970s to focus on an event planning enterprise (which is still in operation) and it was the television and recording worlds' loss.

We love watching Ames on old episodes of Password (even if she could be a bit of a cheater with gestures!) and in her many variety appearances (the vast majority of which are NOT on youtube), but it is for this neck-bending confection that we place her in The Underworld's highest esteem!