The Echo of a Distant Time

Friday, June 28, 2024

Fare thee well, Orlando Cepeda

Topps 1968

The 1967 NL MVP departs at age 86. Orlando Cepeda did grace the rosters of six Major League franchises, most famously the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals. In the twilight of his career, he did become the first designated hitter in Boston Red Sox history during the 1973 season, when that role was first introduced. The 1958 National League Rookie of the Year, and eleven times an All-Star. His 46 home runs in 1961 led the National League, although this feat was overshadowed by Roger Maris’ 61 home runs for the New York Yankees in the American League. One of the first and undeniably greatest stars of Puerto Rico in Major League Baseball, may Orlando Cepeda rest in eternal peace.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Marguerite Chapman: a vision of timeless elegance and coquettish charm

Verily, a classic and captivating beauty, actress Marguerite Chapman is photographed in this enchanting pose for Yank magazine (which I believe was a French publication) on 3 December 1944. Reclining gracefully on plush fabric, her crossed legs adorned in fishnet stockings, she is clad in a sheer, flowing garment that reveals her form, adorned with sparkling embellishments. With one hand raised, she playfully tousles her locks, a playful smile gracing her visage.

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Carole Lombard, captured by Eugene Robert Richee for the September 1935 issue of Picture Play magazine

Actress Carole Lombard striking a glamorous pose. Her arms are raised gracefully above her head. She is clad in a delicate, light-coloured dress with thin straps. A serene and poised expression doth adorn her visage, accentuated by carefully arched eyebrows and dark lipstick.

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

‘You’ve come a long way, baby’. Virginia Slims ad from around 1971

A damsel with wavy locks of brown sitteth with her knees drawn up, a gentle smile playing upon her lips. She is the very picture of casual confidence, sporting a red knitted hat, a patterned blue jacket, a red miniskirt, and knee-high red socks matched with red heels. A cigarette resteth casually in her right hand. The tagline doth read: 'You’ve come a long way, baby'. In the bottom right corner, a packet of Virginia Slims cigarettes resteth beside the text: 'Slimmer than the fat cigarettes men smoke. With rich Virginia flavor women like'. Photo: Condé Nast.

I am not entirely certain, but I believe this be the model and actress Veronica Hamel in the portrait.

Quotables 25 June 2024: Groucho Marx on principles

Sporting a visage both dignified and merry, Groucho Marx doth exude a charm and confidence most profound. A cigar held aloft in his right hand, he peers through his round spectacles. A neatly trimmed moustache completes the picture, all framed by a check suit jacket over a checked shirt. Photo: Getty Images

‘Those are my principles, and if you like them… well I have others’.

Quote via https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/groucho_marx_122547

Monday, June 24, 2024

Publicity shot of model, actress, and dancer Adele Lacy, circa 1933

Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

In a most glamorous and playful pose, Adele Lacy reclines on a cushioned bench with a luxurious fur stole draped across her upper torso. Her legs are elegantly extended, showing off her high-heeled shoes, and her visage doth beam with delight. A joyful smile and hands raised high complete the lighthearted and flirtatious look. The backdrop consists of marbled panels; a sophisticated and vintage aesthetic.

Actress Alicia Silverstone in Rolling Stone magazine, 1995, captured in a playful and whimsical setting

Lying on her back against a pink background, garbed in a pink tunic and matching pink knickers. About her, several pink plush elephants are scattered. Holding one of the plush elephants above her with both hands, she looks up at it with a joyful countenance. A lighthearted and vibrant aesthetic.

Friday, June 21, 2024

Born #OTD 1921: Jane Russell

The Minnesota-born Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell, lensed by the celebrated photographer George Hurrell, circa 1946. She reclines on a luxurious fur throw, her head tilted back and eyes closed, suggesting a sense of relaxed sensuality. A silky gown drapes elegantly around her, adding to the overall glamorous and sophisticated mood.

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Farewell to the masterfully melancholic French actress, Anouk Aimée: 1932-2024

Actress Anouk Aimée in 'Lola' (1961). She cuts a striking figure in a seductive ensemble. The outfit features an intricately detailed lace corset, a feather boa draped around her shoulders, and a tall top hat, which she adjusts with a steady hand. Her expression is one of poise and confidence, with slightly parted lips and an intense gaze. Soft waves in her hair complete the overall glamorous and theatrical look. Photo: Euro-International Films.

A pillar of French cinema for many decades, the celebrated Anouk Aimée, known as 'an icon of doomed romance', has passed away at the age of 92. This remarkably beautiful actress also made her mark on Hollywood, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in 'A Man and a Woman' (1966).

BBC: French film star Anouk Aimée dies aged 92 - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clllev363y3o

Gene Tierney administ a riot of colourful umbrellas and clad in a pink and white striped dress, 1940

A striking and stylish portrait of actress Gene Tierney. She sits amidst a riot of colourful umbrellas, creating a lively and eye-catching backdrop. She is clad in a pink and white striped dress with puffed sleeves and buttons down the front. The dress is cinched at the waist with a belt, emphasising her figure. Her dark hair is styled in soft waves, and she gazes to the side with a poised and elegant expression. A small bunch of yellow flowers in one hand adds a touch of brightness and charm.

Photographed for Vogue magazine, 15 May 1940.

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Kate Moss in a pose, circa 1992

Model Kate Moss adopts a pose that accentuates her natural figure. Seated and leaning back slightly, she has her head tilted upwards and her eyes closed. Her hair flows down her back, and the background is kept minimal.

Photographed by Irving Penn.

Quotables 19 June 2024: Veronica Lake on being a ‘misfit’ in 1940s Hollywood

A sepia-toned picture of actress Veronica Lake, taken around 1941. She's posing in front of a backdrop with a drawn horse. Dressed in a long, flowing gown and a striking necklace, she's seated on a cushioned surface. The photograph captures her enigmatic glamour. Photo: Louise Dahl-Wolfe

‘There's no doubt I was a bit of a misfit in the Hollywood of the forties. The race for glamour left me far behind. I didn't really want to keep up. I wanted my stardom without the usual trimmings. Because of this, I was branded a rebel at the very least. But I don't regret that for a minute. My appetite was my own and I simply wouldn't have it any other way’.

Quote via https://www.azquotes.com/quote/747145

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

A sad night for anyone who loves the history of baseball: The legendary Willie Mays has died at the age of 93

Willie Mays in a San Francisco Giants uniform. He is clutching a baseball bat, poised to hit, in a stadium with the crowd in the background. Photo: Louis Requena/MLB Photos/Getty Images.

A 24-time All-Star and a record-holding 12-time Gold Glove winner, Willie Mays was the first National League player to achieve the feat of 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a single season. With 660 career home runs and a World Series win in 1954, he has long widely been considered to be one of the top five players of all-time.

His on-field brilliance was matched by his resilience, having overcome significant barriers to acceptance faced by Black players in the 1950s. Renowned for his generosity and spirit, ‘The Say Hey Kid’ was a baseball legend without equal. Thank you for your life, Willie Mays.

AP: Willie Mays, Giants’ electrifying ‘Say Hey Kid,’ has died at 93 - https://apnews.com/article/willie-mays-33b31cc2d6382676ed54517d20ea36a3

Marilyn Monroe’s mountainside resilience

Actress Marilyn Monroe strikes a pose for the camera against a stunning mountain and woodland backdrop. Clad in a two-piece swimsuit and high heels, she exudes confidence despite a bandaged foot supported by crutches. Her determined expression captures both her resilience and enduring glamour in the face of this clear injury. Photo: John Vachon.

Must get back on the proverbial horse with posting. Been outright catatonic for weeks; this world is doing my head in, and at a more rapid pace than ever. Well, just to show even the best of us get a knock sometimes, here is Marilyn Monroe on crutches, circa 1953.

Friday, June 7, 2024

Quotables 7 June 2024: Joan Crawford on where to find ‘the girl next door’

B&W icon: Joan Crawford in a striking floral dress by George Hurrell (MGM, c. 1932). Classic waves frame her confident gaze. Dramatic light accentuates her strength and elegance in this timeless portrait.

From a 1937 Los Angeles Times interview: ‘I never go outside unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door’.

Quote via https://www.azquotes.com/quote/67131

Glamorous actress Martha Hyer, clad in a white towel, prepares to toast with champagne

Actress Martha Hyer, circa 1955, wearing a strapless white towel that she is holding up in front of her, giving the impression that she has just stepped out of a bath. Several bottles of champagne lined up along the edge. Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images.

The daughter of a well-respected Texas lawyer and a devout Methodist family, Martha Hyer ventured to Hollywood in her early 20s and landed a contract with RKO. She subsequently married two Hollywood producers, the latter being Hal B. Wallis, who was responsible for classics like ‘Casablanca’ (1942) and ‘True Grit’ (1969). Martha Hyer was a successful supporting player on film throughout the 1950s, and also served as a screenwriter for the 1974 John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn film ‘Rooster Cogburn’.

Thursday, June 6, 2024

#DDay 1944: The liberation of Europe from Nazi tyranny commenced with the Allied invasion of occupied France

Allied soldiers on the eve of the D-Day landings, Normandy, 1944. Photo: Getty Images.

Today, we commemorate all those who stormed the Normandy beaches on the 80th anniversary of the pivotal event in the 20th century. Their bravery and sacrifice secured a period of relative peace, prosperity, and stability that lasted up until recent years. I fear a conflict of this scale and with such perilous consequences will have to be fought again. And I worry that this time, #Murcia might not be on the righteous side. Heaven help us all.

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Quotables 5 June 2024: Paulette Goddard on ‘the most fascinating person in the world’

Photo: Bud Fraker

‘Actors and actresses who say they never go to see their own pictures are talking through their hats. You don't have to be a Freud to know that the most fascinating person in the world - actors or anybody - is yourself’.

Quote via https://www.azquotes.com/author/34540-Paulette_Goddard

Saturday, June 1, 2024

Happy 98th heavenly birthday to the goddess

Marilyn Monroe, born 1 June 1926. Shown here photographed by Milton Greene in 1956.

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Mamie Van Doren and Elinor Donahue in ‘Girls Town’, ‘an awful picture’ from 1959

Mamie Van Doren, publicity photo for 'Girls Town', MGM 1959.

‘Girls Town’ was an MGM attempt to capitalise on the teen ‘exploitation’ B-movie genre that was popular in the 1950s. The dramatic plot centres around a teenage misfit named Silver (Mamie Van Doren) trapped in a juvenile detention facility run by nuns, whilst trying to save her sister (played by Elinor Donahue) from being sold into the Tijuana slave trade by Mel Tormé’s character. Featuring appearances by The Platters and Paul Anka, starring as themselves, this quirky and not particularly good film ended up being a financial loss for MGM and was later lampooned in the 1990s on ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’.

Elinor Donahue. Photo: Virgil Apger/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Elinor Donahue said of her part: ‘I would just as soon forget the whole thing. In the first five minutes of the picture it was established that I was a good girl, being pushed into being a bad girl. The rest of the picture I spent doing practically nothing but crying and saying, 'Help me, help me!' It was fun making it, but it was an awful picture’.

Quotables 29 May 2024: John F. Kennedy in 1947, speaking about the true, insidious nature of the Republican Party

Photo: Arnold Sachs/Getty Images

The frightening part is that the GOP was a comparatively more sane and responsible party in the 1940s than in these Trumpian times, but JFK had them pegged even then: ‘(Republicans) follow the Hitler line – no matter how big the lie, repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth’. - John F. Kennedy, speaking at the Knights of Columbus, East Boston, MA, 18 May 1947.

Quote via https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/east-boston-ma-19470518

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Quotables 28 May 2024: Marilyn Monroe on fame and envy

Photo: Ed Feingersh, circa 1955.

‘...when you're famous you kind of run into human nature in a raw kind of way. It stirs up envy, fame does. People you run into feel that, well, who is she who does she think she is, Marilyn Monroe? They feel fame gives them some kind of privilege to walk up to you and say anything to you, you know, of any kind of nature and it won't hurt your feelings. Like it's happening to your clothing. One time here I am looking for a home to buy and I stopped at this place. A man came out and was very pleasant and cheerful, and said, "Oh, just a moment, I want my wife to meet you." Well, she came out and said, "Will you please get off the premises?" You're always running into people's unconscious.

‘Let's take some actors or directors. Usually they don't say it to me, they say it to the newspapers because that's a bigger play. You know, if they're only insulting me to my face that doesn't make a big enough play because all I have to say is, "See you around, like never." But if it's in the newspapers, it's coast-to-coast and all around the world. I don't understand why people aren't a little more generous with each other. I don't like to say this, but I'm afraid there is a lot of envy in this business. The only thing I can do is stop and think, "I'm all right but I'm not so sure about them!" For instance, you've read there was some actor that once said that kissing me was like kissing Hitler. Well, I think that's his problem. If I have to do intimate love scenes with somebody who really has these kinds of feelings toward me, then my fantasy can come into play. In other words, out with him, in with my fantasy. He was never there’.

Quote via an interview with Richard Merryman, published in LIFE magazine, 17 August 1962 - https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/sep/14/greatinterviews

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Quotables 19 May 2024: Coleen Gray on daydreams of Hollywood stardom dampened by the harsh realities of a Hollywood career

A publicity shot of actress Coleen Gray for ‘Kansas City Confidential’, 1952. Photo: United Artists

‘When I attended the University, I daydreamed about being a movie star. I would do my dressing room in Early American and give lovely presents to my make-up man and hairdresser for making me look so lovely, and so on. When I got my contract at 20th I was in seventh heaven, but I found out that a movie career is mostly hard work laced with disappointments’.

Interview with the Boston Sunday Post, 9 November 1947

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

1960: May Britt in a publicity photo for the 20th Century Fox feature, ‘Murder Inc.’

Born 22 March 1934 in Stockholm, Swedish actress May Britt is oft recalled in present times as the wife of Sammy Davis Jr. from 1960 to 1968. In her own right, however, she was a star of some repute in Italy and in Hollywood during the 1950s, appearing alongside the renowned likes of Marlon Brando, Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Montgomery Clift, and Peter Falk. Marrying a notorious, professional bachelor akin to those in the Rat Pack is a foolish endeavour for any lady anticipating a faithful husband. May Britt learned this lesson through adversity, as her union with Davis met its end amid whispers of an affair with actress and songstress Lola Falana. Removed from the limelight for many a decade now, and at 90 years-old, I doth sincerely hope the lady finds solace and joy in her days.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Born #OTD 1949: Rick Wakeman

Rick Wakeman CBE. Photo: Steve Parsons/PA/Getty Images

Wishing the esteemed keyboardist, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Rick Wakeman CBE, a joyous 75th.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Quotables 18 May 2024: Baseball great Reggie Jackson on the value of ‘the will to win’, Mickey Mantle, tolerating failure versus accepting it, the batter’s box belonging to him alone, and bringing his star to New York City

1977 Topps baseball card for Reggie Jackson

Words of wisdom from the all-time excellent right fielder Reggie Jackson, born on this day, 18 May 1946, in Abington Township, Pennsylvania:

‘The will to win is worthless if you don’t get paid for it’.

‘Just like every other kid in my grade school, I was listening to my little radio plug in my ear when Mickey Mantle hit 18 post-season homers and won series after series for the Yankees. I listened and I learned from that. I think he was the original "Mr. October", but thank god it didn't stick’.

‘I feel that the most important requirement in success is learning to overcome failure. You must learn to tolerate it, but never accept it’.

‘Fans don't boo nobodies’.

‘I’m a businessman. I bring my bat and glove and attache case to the office and go to work. I don’t give a damn if the other workers at the office like me or not’.

‘When I stepped into the box, I felt the at-bat belonged to me. Everybody else was there for my convenience. The pitcher was there to throw me a ball to hit. The catcher was there to throw it back to him if he didn’t give me what I wanted the first time. And the umpire was lucky that he was close enough to watch’.

‘There are at least three kinds of advantages that the pitcher and batter contest. There’s the physical advantage, the strategic advantage, and also the psychological advantage. I didn’t want two out of three. I wanted them all’.

‘So many ideas come to you and you want to try them all, but you can't. You're like a mosquito in a nudist colony, you don't know where to start’.

‘In the building I live in on Park Avenue there are ten people who could buy the Yankees, but none of them could hit the ball out of Yankee Stadium’.

‘I didn’t come to New York to be a star. I brought my star with me’.

Quotes via https://www.azquotes.com/author/7277-Reggie_Jackson, https://quotefancy.com/reggie-jackson-quotes, and https://www.allgreatquotes.com/authors/reggie-jackson/

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Friday, May 17, 2024

Quotables 17 May 2024: Ava Gardner speaks on beauty, stardom, Frank Sinatra, and George C. Scott

Ava Gardner, circa 1945. Photo: PictureLux

‘All I have going is my looks. When my beauty goes, I'm through’.

‘What I'd really like to say about stardom is that it gave me everything I never wanted’.

‘I dealt with men who had tempers, and who could get violent-Lord knows how I had to defend myself against Howard Hughes and Frank Sinatra, and from Artie Shaw's verbal abuse. But George [C. Scott] was a different category of animal when he got drunk. He'd break into my hotel room, which he did in Italy, London and at the Beverly Hills Hotel, attack me to where I was frightened for my life, and scream, 'Why won't you marry me?' Well, I would never marry a man who couldn't control his liquor. Me, I'm a happy drunk. I laugh, I dance. I certainly don't break bottles and threaten to kill’.

‘Our phone bills were astronomical, and when I found the letters Frank wrote me the other day, the total could fill a suitcase. Every single day during our relationship, no matter where in the world I was, I'd get a telegram from Frank saying he loved me and missed me. He was a man who was desperate for companionship and love. Can you wonder that he always had mine’.

‘Love is nothing but a pain in the ass’.

Quotes via https://www.azquotes.com/author/5336-Ava_Gardner

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Tuesday, May 14, 2024

R.I.P. David Sanborn

David Sanborn, circa 1980. Photo: David Redern

The esteemed saxophonist David Sanborn, renowned for his manifold contributions to hundreds of recordings as both a session musician and band leader, has departed at the age of 78 after battling prostate cancer. {AP 5/14}

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Born #OTD 1898: Arletty

A publicity shot of French actress Arletty, for ‘Hôtel du Nord’, 1938. Photo: Bridgeman Images.

French actress, singer, and model Léonie Marie Julie Bathiat, professionally known as Arletty, entered this mortal coil on 15 May 1898 in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie. Notorious for her dalliance with Nazi Luftwaffe officer Hans-Jürgen Soehring during the dark days of her homeland’s occupation in the crucible of World War II, she was convicted of treason in 1945 and served eighteen months in confinement for this crime. Yet, the French people did prove to be a forgiving lot and Arletty's stage and film career resumed by 1948 and flourished into the 1960s. In 1995, the French government honoured her memory by printing a limited edition coin with her visage. Arletty lived to the ripe age of 94, departing on 23 July 1992.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Born #OTD 1928: Barbara Ann Scott

Barbara Ann Scott. Photo: Getty Images

Canadian figure skating icon and horsewoman Barbara Ann Scott, hailed in her days of skating as 'Canada's Sweetheart' and victor of the world championship in 1947 and 1948. Born on 9 May 1928 in Ottawa.

Copyright 2024, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on X, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, BLUESKY - @arthurnewhook.bsky.social, and @arthurnewhook on POST. DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED at https://tinyurl.com/ArthurNewhook.