‘Essentially Marilyn’ Extended in LA

Essentially Marilyn, the exhibition showcasing the collection of Maite Minguez Ricart, has been extended through October 28 at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles, reports Broadway World – and there’s more news on the upcoming auction…

“Profiles in History is proud to announce their next legendary, blockbuster Hollywood auction to be held December 11th, 12th and 13th in Los Angeles, and will go on display at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, currently the site of Essentially Marilyn: the Exhibit, starting October 4th and running through October 28.

Essentially Marilyn: The Auction will be on the morning of December 11th, before the Hollywood auction begins.

They have added an unreleased studio master recording of Marilyn Monroe singing the song ‘Down, Boy!‘ from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which was never filmed. It is being sold with copyright and is estimated to sell for $100,000 – $150,000.”

Marilyn, Bruce Campbell and the Oscar Date That Never Was

Marilyn was (infamously) never nominated for an Oscar, and only attended the ceremony once, to present an award for All About Eve in 1951. However, in an interview for Hollywood Life, actor Bruce Campbell – who made his name in the cult 1981 horror film, The Evil Dead – reveals a family memory that may provide another tenuous link to Oscar.

“Show me a successful person, and I’ll show you someone who’s life is falling apart. It really is — it’s so true of so many people. Show business — show me a really successful actor, like really successful, and I bet their personal life is for sh*t.

I heard one time — Marilyn Monroe. No one would ask her out, because they always assumed she was with somebody. And an uncle of mine was an animator for Disney, years back in the Fifties, and they said, ‘hey, Marilyn Monroe’s looking for a date to the Academy Awards. Do you want to do?’ He’s like, ‘bullsh*t. She’s not looking for anything.’ And she didn’t go that year, because she didn’t have anyone to go with. Ain’t that weird?

Prettiest girl in school. Talk to the prettiest girl in school. Some guys may be like, ‘oh, she can’t — I can’t touch her.’”

Critical Acclaim for Dublin’s ‘Misfits’

Reviews are in for Annie Ryan’s recent production of The Misfits at the Dublin Theatre Festival. It’s unclear as yet whether a full run will follow, so watch this space!

“Roslyn (Aobhínn McGinnity), first played by Monroe, is stronger, more worldly, and more sardonic than the original, and, crucially, she is a brunette, instantly drawing a distinction with Monroe … The play suffers from the same problems Miller’s original novella and screenplay did; it is an awkward narrative that constantly changes tone, and is eventually unclear in what it wanted to say. This production, though, one of the most anticipated of the Dublin Theatre Festival, does not disappoint.” – Ciarán Leinster, Reviews Hub

“If there appears to be a lack of nuance in the characters, it’s one that has been forced on them by their circumstances. It’s a strength of Miller’s writing that he is still able to reveal a humanity in the characters … Aoibhinn McGinnity’s Roslyn and Úna Kavanagh’s Isabelle hold the keys, even if in the latter case it’s just the key to the bar, both just as much misfits to the power dynamic of a very male-centred world.” -Noel  Megahey, The Digital Fix

“Stage-plays migrate into movies frequently, often with great success; the traffic is lighter in the other direction. Some of the technical challenges are here very well met by movement director Justine Cooper; the lassoing of the mustang is effective, complete with the character of Isabelle embodying the struggling horse.

All five performances are first-rate, each actor taking plenty of risks. This is a thoroughly enjoyable dramatic probe into what’s biting the American male; it ends on a profound and optimistic note.” – Irish Independent

“While Roslyn stirs their passions, she is not the flaky sex object that a visibly unhappy Marilyn Monroe played in her final movie. She instead becomes the means of exposing the men’s rootlessness, insecurity and uncertain sense of self. Miller may have seen himself as a misfit in the sense of being a political malcontent, but Ryan’s version reminds us that at the heart of the story is a wider crisis in masculinity.” – Michael Billington, The Guardian

Marilyn Brings ‘Diamonds’ to Winchester

Marilyn will be prominently featured in Diamonds Are Forever, a retrospective for artist Simon Claridge, coming to his new gallery, Claridge Fine Art in Winchester from October 4-11, as CRYSTLSD reports.

“It’s always wonderful to work with Marilyn, Audrey and Brigitte; I can never make a bad picture, because they’re so beautiful and iconic as subjects. Being a portrait artist is at the core of what I do, and I wanted to showcase a retrospective of the work I’ve done, how I got to where I am now, and why I opened the gallery. Diamonds are Forever: A Claridge Retrospective will give me the opportunity to tell my story to the people that come into the gallery on a daily or weekly basis.”

Thanks to Joel at MM News

Laurie Mitchell 1928-2018

Actress Laurie Mitchell, who played ‘Mary Lou’, the trumpeter from Sweet Sue’s band in Some Like It Hot, has died aged 90.

Born Mickey Koren in Manhattan in 1928,  she was a child model and was crowned ‘Miss Bronx’ while still in high school. Her family moved to Los Angeles where she took acting classes at the Ben Bard Drama Academy. In 1949 she married magician Larry White, and began performing onstage as Barbara White.

She made her big-screen debut with an uncredited role in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954.) More bit parts followed in movies and television, until she hit her stride under her new name of Laurie Mitchell, as Queen Yllana (the masked nemesis of leading lady Zsa Zsa Gabor) in the cult sci-fi flick, Queen of Outer Space (1958.)

Laurie Mitchell at left (in headscarf)

Her role in Some Like It Hot was also uncredited, but she considered it a highlight of her career. Her husband also played the trumpet, which may explain her casting. As Mary Lou, she brings a box of crackers to the impromptu party at Jack Lemmon’s bunk on the overnight train.

She later recalled that all the girls in the band were required to ‘go blonde’ by director Billy Wilder. Marilyn was unhappy with this, and insisted they should sport a darker shade than her signature platinum do.

Laurie later played a showgirl in That Touch of Mink (1962), starring Cary Grant and Doris Day, and a ‘saloon girl’ in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963), with Audie Murphy. She also made guest appearances in many TV shows, including 77 Sunset Strip, Perry Mason, Rawhide, Bonanza, Wagon Train, The Addams Family, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Ironside, and Hogan’s Heroes. Her final screen appearance was in 1971.

Her marriage to Larry White, with whom she had two children, ended in 1976.  She later remarried, and became a much-loved fixture on the celebrity expo circuit.