Donna Lethal

Glyph Jockey, one of my tribematers in crime over at PCL, sent me this amazing gift.

Jeez, I feel like all I’ve done this past week is report sad news. Yet another pal of mine passed away (granted, he was with us for a very long time.) I loved to visit Delmar and he loved to entertain me, especially because I was enthralled by his incredible photo collection, which not only included many candid shots of Jayne Mansfield, who he adored, but for those LA historians among you, Elizabeth Short and Marion Parker’s, ahem, photos. Delmar was a real kick, and he loved life. Visiting him was like going to a museum where you could handle all of the goods, with Delmar as the wily curator.

PS. Thank you, Arthur!

I went to Mr. Blackwell’s memorial service today. It was standing room only, and a few of us even ended up outside due to the 95+ degree heat. A large oil portrait of Mr. B presided over the room, and Ruta Lee sang “I’ll be Seeing You” as we watched a video tribute. Perhaps Tippi Hedren said it best: “How many of us thought about our outfits as we were dressing to come here today?” Blackwell would have had a good laugh. Rest in peace, my friend.

PS. And how fitting was the re-introduction of ELLNET HAIRSPRAY the same week? My hair looked fabulous!

Here are some photos and a copy of the program.

It was with the saddest of hearts that I have to report this news. As most of my readers now, Princess Luciana Pignatelli is the “fairy godmother” of my blog. Her books - “The Beautiful People’s Beauty Book,” “The Beautiful People’s Diet Book,” and “Luciana Avedon’s Body Book” are my bibles. My sister-by-another-mother, Mavis Martini and I have idolized her since we first laid our manicured hands on these gems.

For the past few years I’ve tried to track PLP down. An old article here, a tidbit here - and finally a new photograph last year. Still, no word on where the elusive Princess was. Like a child writing to Santa, I kept writing to her on my blog, with an “Ask Princess Luciana” feature (no, I’m not that crazy, I didn’t make up the answers, I just looked them up in her books!)

And then one day it happened.

Hi,
I love your photos! Luciana Pignatelli is actually my grandmother … I showed her your site a few weeks ago and she was thrilled that people still know who she is. It made her very happy!

I felt like Glinda the Good Witch had waved her wand. It was true! PLP had visited us mere mortals. And more importantly, she knew of her fans. There was even a possibility of touching the hem of greatness, should we both be in NY over Christmastime (well, I would, but PLP wasn’t sure if she was going to India.) In the meantime, her granddaughter and I tried to track down a few unseen photos, and hoped to upload her Camay soap ad from the 1970s (like most of us, my first intro to Princess Luciana was this commerical on American television.)

PLP’s granddaughter and I have been enjoying a spirited correspondence, but I hadn’t heard from her last week. This morning, I received the news. “Luzi” (she preferred that her grandchildren call her “Luzi” rather than the dreaded “Grandma”) had left the catwalk of life:

I wanted to let you know that Luzi died on Thursday. I am absolutely devastated and so is my family. I was wondering if you would write something on your blog in memory of her or celebrating her life because I know it made her so happy when I told her people were writing about her. She always loved being spoken about and I know she would be happy if people remembered her because the only people who truly die are those forgotten. I really dont want her to ever be forgotten She and I were increadibly close and this is a great loss for me.

What is a world without Princess Luciana?

Read fitting tributes at Fabulon and Stirred Straight Up.

I just heard the news. I was fortunate enough to actually know Mr. Blackwell in the few short years since I’ve lived here in Los Angeles. He was an absolute sweetheart and adored by everyone who knew him, and as he and his partner, Spencer, put it: “We were never in the closet.” My heart goes out to Spencer.

M R. B L A C K W E L L
1922 - 2008

Mr. Richard Blackwell
Born Richard Sylvan Selzer on August 29 1922 in Bensonhurst/Brooklyn, NY, USA
Died at 4:15pm on 10/19/08, Los Angeles, CA of complications due to an intestinal infection

Born Richard Sylvan Selzer, Mr. Blackwell was raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, in a poverty stricken neighborhood. A persistent truant, he was in and out of boy’s homes throughout his early years. As a young man, he acted on the New York stage. Between acting jobs in New York, he had his first taste of fashion, making hats for wealthy socialites and actresses in his apartment attic. After realizing that his theatrical ambitions were going nowhere in New York, he pursued his acting career in Los Angeles under the name Dick Ellis, in productions such as “Juvenile Court” starring Rita Hayworth, the smash hit “Dead End” (having appeared in the Broadway production), and the Universal picture “Little Tough Guy,” eventually returning to the NY stage in 1944 with “Catherine Was Great” starring Miss Mae West.

He was signed by the studios to play small parts in the motion pictures and appear with luminaries such as Humphrey Bogart and Gene Kelly while going to school with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney (among others). It was Howard Hughes who changed his name to Richard Blackwell when he signed him to RKO, but he eventually left acting for a short stint as a Hollywood agent. It was then that he discovered a talent for design, while making his client’s stage costumes. Once again strapped for cash, he finally decided to pursue a career in fashion in 1958. His line, House of Blackwell, would become synonymous in fashion. An important designer during the 1960s, he became the first in history to present his line on a television broadcast as well as the first to make his line available for plus-size women. By the early 1960’s he had become one of the top designers with his own line, creating fashions for such stars as Jayne Mansfield, Dorothy Lamour, Peggy Lee, Ann Blythe, Jane Russell and a favorite among political wives such as Nancy Reagan and Corretta Scott King.

Around the same time, he hosted his own radio show on KABC in Los Angeles, and through the years he had appeared on virtually every talk show on television with his “Worst Dressed List,” naming the biggest fashion fiascoes of the year and the less recognized “Fabulous Fashion Independents.” The lists, now in its 48th year, are still a source of controversy, amusement and conversation among the fashion elite and the unlucky (or lucky) celebrities who adorn it. Lynn Redgrave expressed it best, when she stated “You haven’t made it in Hollywood until you’ve made ‘the list!’”

In 1995, Blackwell published his best-selling autobiography “From Rags to Bitches.” He continued to write for several magazines and newspapers under both his own name and a pseudonym.

He is survived by his partner of almost 60 years, Mr. R.L. Spencer. Private memorial services are being scheduled. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to The ROAR Foundation at Shambala.org, The Actors Fund or noonprop8.com.

Mr. Blackwell at home in Hancock Park.

Jayne and Mr. B

Mr. Blackwell, Tippi Hedren, and yours truly.

Photo by Elise Thompson.

Grandmother Patricia Neal

and granddaughter Sophie Dahl

I’ve always dug Sophie. Read and see more about her here.

I was in the elevator at work today - which I rarely take, but I forgot my stairway keys and was carrying my lunch. I heard a woman yell for me to hold the elevator, and as she made it in, she complimented my dress. Then, “And that’s a nice tattoo!”

It was half hidden under my wrap (yes, a pink pashmina, a cliche, I know) but she spotted it.

“Oh, thanks — it’s old,” I half-apologized.
“That’s okay - it’s pretty!” She had a Jamaican accent so it didn’t sound snarky.
“Well, I guess when I’m old, all of us old people will have tattoos,” I lamely joked.
She laughed.
“So you got it back when you used to be foxy.”

OUCH.

(click to enlarge)

In lieu of find a clip from “The Oscar,” there’s one of Edie’s Muriel Cigar ads:

AP headline: “Ike may have dealt blow to endangered turtles”

What this world coming to?

Please check the comments - Lada has been found. Sadly, not in LA, but I hope she knows she has fans!

Quelle Fromage! I posted this some months back, so national cheese day is long past.

Turns out TODAY is national cheese day, not yesterday, as SOME people (who shall remain nameless but simply don’t understand my love of 60s pop le francais) will have it. Check out Lada Edmund Jr - the gogo girl in the cage from Hullaballoo, as Soupy Sales lets her out to sing! Lada cut two singles then disappeared after doing some movies (like “Rape Squad” with one of my heroes, Jack Hill, illustrious director of other classics like “SpiderBaby” and “Coffy.”) Anyone know where she is? I probably pass her in the supermarket here in LA!

Nomi was my dear friend Vincent-louis’ dog. Yes, he was named after Klaus, and like Klaus, he had enough personality to be remembered for eternity. Luckily, Nomi was with his master until the very end. Much love, little darling.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) — A judge has brushed off a Connecticut woman’s claim that L’Oreal Inc. ruined her social life when she accidentally dyed her hair brunette with one of its products. Charlotte Feeney of Stratford said she can never return to her natural blonde hue, a shock that left her so traumatized she needed anti-depressants. She says she suffered headaches and anxiety, missed the attention that blondes receive and had to stay home and wear hats most of the time.

Well, some of these are dead-on - cantilever heels are in now!

Today I spotted two pair of Ugg boots; a woman in a porn skirt (a super short, checkered-kilt-type thing) with stiletto ankle boots; and a young gal in a PAJAMA BOTTOMS. I’m not talking hostess pajamas, silk pajamas, or lounging pajamas. I have all of the above! No, these are pajama bottoms. Dotted, spotted, plaid or pink … flannel. Or sweatsuit material. Ugh.

This PJ pants thing has to stop. It’s an utter disregard for your fellow man. Why? Because the people I see in pajama pants are all obviously able to purchase real clothing. You don’t see homeless people in pajamas. Even people who cannot afford to keep a roof over their head - and there are more and more - don’t wander around insolently in pajamas, giving a great “fuck you” to the world. It peeves me to no end and just screams “I’m rich and lazy!” For every idiot that wanders outside in pajama pants, they should be fined and the penalty would be to give a real pair of pants to a person in need.

There is one large and blowsy woman I occasionally see on my early morning dog walks. She wears a nightie of sorts as she walks her (of course, tiny) dog. She is large and has gelatinous thighs. I could not bear to see myself in one of those in the privacy of my own home - alone! Why on earth should I be subject to the sight of someone else in them before I’ve even had my morning coffee? Her poor dog.

Princess Luciana, if you are reading, you are needed in Los Angeles. Urgently!

The horror.