R.I.P. Shirley Temple...

I was hoping this day would never come. For as long as I can remember, I have loved Shirley Temple. She was such a big part of my childhood. Watching her movies sparked my interest in all things old Hollywood. I always hoped to meet her someday so I could tell her how much she meant to me as a child. Alas…

Rest in peace, Shirley. Thinking of you and your family today…

Rest in peace, Norma Jean.

6/1/26 - 8/5/62

Dim all the lights...

There's a disco in heaven tonight. Rest in peace, Donna.

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse

Tragic.

R.I.P. Elizabeth Taylor

Wow, I can't believe I'm posting this. So sad. :(

R.I.P. Jane Russell

From CBS News:

Jane Russell dead at 89 years old
Jane Russell, legendary Hollywood sex symbol of the 40s and 50s passes away peacefully in California

Jane Russell passed away at her home in California Monday, surrounded by her children, reports KCOY-TV. The legendary Hollywood sex symbol of the 40s and 50s - described by some as the sassy brunette counterpart to Marilyn Monroe's ditsy blonde bombshell - was 89 years old.

Russell leaves behind three children, six grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

Veteran Associated Press Hollywood correspondent Bob Thomas reported in 2000 that Russell was married to her high school sweetheart, Bob Waterfield, for most of her film career. They adopted three children and divorced after 23 years of marriage. Her second marriage, in 1969 to actor Roger Barrett, ended after three months when he died suddenly. In 1972, she married real estate broker and builder John Peoples; he died in April 1999.

Read the rest of the article here.

R.I.P. Tura Satana

From The New York Times:

February 5, 2011, 5:53 PM

Tura Satana, Cult Actress, Is Dead
By DAVE ITZKOFF

Tura Satana, the actress whose authoritative presence, exotic looks and buxom frame commanded the attention of viewers of Russ Meyer’s 1965 cult movie “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”, died on Friday evening in Reno, Nev.

The death was announced by her longtime manager, Siouxzan Perry, who said the cause of death was believed to be heart failure. Ms. Perry said Ms. Satana was 72 when she died, though other sources listed her birth year as 1935.

Read the rest of the article here.

R.I.P. June Havoc

Rest in peace, Baby June!

From The Los Angeles Times:

June Havoc dies at 97; child vaudeville star and sister of Gypsy Rose Lee

Her early life was portrayed in the Broadway hit 'Gypsy.' Havoc played showgirl Gladys Bumps in the hit musical comedy 'Pal Joey' and starred in TV's 'The June Havoc Show.'

By Dennis McLellan
March 29, 2010 | 6:48 p.m.

June Havoc, an actress and former child vaudeville star whose early life with her sister -- future burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee -- and their ambitious stage mother was portrayed in the hit Broadway musical "Gypsy," has died. She was 97.

Havoc died Sunday of natural causes at her home in Stamford, Conn., said her caregiver, Tana Sibilio.

"Gypsy," the "musical fable" based on Lee's memoir, opened on Broadway in 1959. It starred Ethel Merman as the overbearing stage mother, Mama Rose.


Read the rest of the article here.

R.I.P. Jean Simmons

Old Hollywood lost another one yesterday. :(

From Telegraph:

Jean Simmons remembered: tributes to the demure, doe-eyed British beauty of film

Actress Jean Simmons, who has died aged 80, seemed destined for stardom from the moment she was plucked at 14 from a London dance troupe to make her first film.

by Olga Craig
Published: 10:45PM GMT 23 Jan 2010

With her demure, doe-eyed beauty and sultry allure, Simmons - who died of lung cancer - made her debut on the silver screen in the 1944 film, Give Us the Moon.

But bizarrely the teenage Simmons, who won wave reviews for her part as Margaret Lockwood's sister, had altogether loftier ambitions in the world of academia. Though she was to go on to conquer Hollywood - playing Ophelia to Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, singing alongside Marlon Brando in Guys and Dolls and co-starring with Gregory Peck, Paul Newman and Kirk Douglas - she was, initially, reluctant to become an actor, believing that her true talent was for teaching.

Val Guest, the movie director who discovered her when he chanced upon her dance troupe practising routines in a back street theatre, begged her to drop her ambitions to study. But Simmons insisted she wanted to give teaching a go, turning her back on the movie world.

Though she qualified as a teacher the lure of movie screen stardom proved just too tantalising. She accepted parts in several major British films - Caesar and Cleopatra, Black Narcissus and Great Expectations - but it was her role in Hamlet, for which she won an Oscar nomination, that took Hollywood by storm. Overnight a star was born. She appeared several times on the cover of the prestigious Time magazine and became the sweetheart of the American press. Finally won over by the movie world, she ditched her second name Merilyn in 1950, packed her suitcases, bought a one way ticket and sailed across the Atlantic where she became one of tinsel town's most popular and sought after actors.

Though hugely talented - she won an Emmy Award for her role in the 1980s mini series The Thorn Birds, a Golden Globe and a second Oscar nomination - Simmons' appeal was her tantalising mix of the wanton seductress and the vulnerable ingenue.

As writer and film historian Alan K Rode said when her agent announced she had died on Friday at her Santa Monica home after a long illness: ''Jean's jaw-dropping beauty often obscured a formidable acting talent.''

Paying tribute to Ms Simmons actor Edward Fox said: ''She was one of my pin ups when I was young. She was simply gorgeous, a real str, a true English girl and a very fine actress. She was particularly wonderful in Great Expectations. She might not always have got the more heavyweight roles she wanted, as the studios controlled everythng and they hired people for their eyelashes back then. But she made her mark alongside some of the finest actors of her generation.''

Actor and screenwriter Julian Fellowes described Ms Simmons as being "among the last of that tier of movie stars who left Britain for Hollywood in the Fifties.'' She belonged, he said, to that "gentler generation of players, those who were well bred. Personally I mourn their passing. She was up there among the greats along with Audrey Hepburn and Deborah Kerr. I fear there ilk has not been replaced.''

Terry O'Neill, the celebrity photographer, pictured Ms Simmons many time in the heyday of her career. ''She was a stunning beautiful young woman and a lovely, lovely, gentle lady,'' he said. "The camera absolutely adored her and she had tremendous patience. The thing that always stuck in my mind about Jean was her dignity. She belonged to that illustrious band of British actresses who were utter stars and were so very ladylike. Her death will bring great sadness to her many fans.''

When legendary film maker David Lean cast her as the mischievous but aloof young Estella, companion to the reclusive Miss Haversham in Great Expectations, a nation of schoolboys quivered with anticipation when she shyly proffered her cheek to a wide-eyed Pip, primly telling him: ''You may kiss me if you like.'' Similarly, when she appeared naked from the back as the sultry slave girl in Spartacus, a generation of male movie-goers swooned.

Simmons had a second reason for moving to America however. On the set of Caesar and Cleopatra she had met and fallen in love with fellow British actor Stewart Granger. The pair eloped to Tuscon, Arizona where the reclusive tycoon Howard Hughes (who in later life revealed he had always been in love with Simmons) arranged their secret marriage.

Wily Hughes, all too keenly aware that Simmons would never have feelings for him, had an ulterior motive. If he could not have Simmons herself, he would instead keep steely control of her movie career. He would ruin her reputation he told her if she tried to work for anyone else. As Simmons herself was to admit: ''When I returned from the honeymoon I learned that Hughes owned me. He had bought me from J Arthur Rank (the British producer) like a piece of meat.''

It was one battle the notorious Hughes was not to win. Simmons, for all her seeming fragility, possessed a backbone of steel and a tenacity to match. She was determined to win her independence. She made only four films for him before successfully suing the billionaire mogul for the right to make more prestigious pictures with other studios. The result was Young Bess, in which she played Queen Elizabeth 1, The Robe, The Actress, The Egyptian and the big box office success Desiree in 1954 in which she played the title role opposite Brando's Napoleon. In The Robe she played opposite Richard Burton which won rave reviews. Simmons was scathing about the part however, complaining that all it required of her was ''to look pretty and dignified.'' In a memorable Time magazine article she described it as ''a poker up the arse part.''

In 1955 she teamed up again with Brandon in Guys and Dolls, the Samuel Goldwyn-produced musical, in which she played Sarah Brown, a Salvation Army-style reformer conned into a weekend fling in Havana by gambler Sky Masterson.

Her enormous work lode, however, took a heavy toll on her marriage. Though she and Granger had a daughter Tracy, they divorced in 1960. The newly single Simmons continued to complain that she was overlooked for meaty roles, finally getting her opportunity to prove her mettle as the psychopathic Angel Face, alongside Robert Mitchum, and with Gregory Peck in The Big Country.

By 1960 Simmons was at the peak of her career, starring in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, The Grass is Greener and Elmer Gantry. The latter was directed by Richard Brooks, who became her second husband.

The 1967 Dean Martin film, Rough Night in Jericho, brought Simmons fresh acclaim for her performance as the hard-nosed businesswoman, and she secured her second Oscar nomination for the role of alienated housewife Mary Wilson in The Happy Ending. Simmons career dipped in the next two decades. She found refuge in a number of television movies and mini series before admitting in the Eighties that she was an alcoholic.

After treatment she made a triumphant comeback in 1995, starring alongside Winona Ryder, Ellen Burstyn and Anne Bancroft in How to Make an American Quilt. In the 2003 New Year Honours List Simmons was awarded an OBE. She and Brooks had a daughter Kate, although that marriage, too, ended in divorce in 1977.

She continued to do voice over work into her Seventies until she was diagnosed with lung cancer. In recent years she had become something of a recluse. ''In her final years she spent a lot of time in her Hollywood home watching her old movies over and over,'' one friend said yesterday. ''It didn't depress her, seeing herself on screen as the great beauty she once was. It gave her enormous pleasure. Just as she gave cinema-goers enormous pleasure throughout her entire career.''

R.I.P. John Hughes

I grew up on his movies. This is very sad news. :(

FROM MTV.COM:

John Hughes -- Filmmaker Behind '80s Classics Like 'Pretty In Pink' & 'Sixteen Candles'-- Has Died

John Hughes, the writer and director whose string of classic '80s comedies essentially defined the genre for decades, has died at the age of 59.

The cause was a heart attack, which he suffered taking a walk on Thursday morning (August 6) during a trip to New York, according to Variety.

Writing for talent like Chevy Chase and Michael Keaton, Hughes had early hits with "Mr. Mom" and the first of the National Lampoon "Vacation" movies. His 1984 directorial debut, "Sixteen Candles," and his follow-up the next year, "The Breakfast Club," were instrumental in launching the pop-culture phenomenon known as the Brat Pack. Actors like Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez and Anthony Michael Hall became some of the biggest names in Hollywood thanks to Hughes' brand of youth-oriented entertainment.

Continue reading more about John Hughes' legacy at MTV.com.

Marilyn...

marilyn by jock carroll
Originally uploaded by bballchico

Rest in peace...

6.1.26 - 8.5.62

R.I.P. Virgin Megastores

First Tower Records. Now this! I'm bummed. I spent many a dollar at the SF Virgin Megastore (pictured above). It was a destination for me every time I went to the city to shop. It's sad to see it go!

From: TheWrap:

Wrap Exclusive: Virgin Megastores to Close in U.S., CEO Simon Wright Confirms
BY LAUREN HORWITCH

Virgin Megastores’ six remaining retail stores will close by this summer, individuals inside the company told TheWrap on Monday, signaling the end to a once-dominant consumer retail behemoth.

Virgin Entertainment Group CEO Simon Wright confirmed the news to TheWrap by the afternoon. "It's sad news, but it has nothing to do with the stores. In this economy, we can't justify the other stores to replace the Times Square store."

The Times Square store made the bulk of Virgin's profit, and VEG decided to close that flagship in April, they recently announced.

Brick-and-mortar music retailers across the country have been fighting a losing battle with Internet sales. Tower Records declared bankruptcy last year. Apple iTunes surpassed Wal-Mart as the biggest music retailer in the United States in April.

But for three decades the Virgin Megastores founded by Richard Branson were a particularly splashy symbol of pop culture.

Branson opened his first record shop on London's Oxford Street in the early 1970s, and the first megastore at the end of Oxford Street in 1979. Branson now owns around 200 companies in over 30 countries. He could not be reached for comment.

Wright announced the mass closures to employees at Virgin’s corporate offices in Los Angeles late Friday. Roughly 100 corporate employees will be laid off and hundreds of Megastore retail workers will be out of a job by the summer.

The megastores in New York’s Union Square and San Francisco will also close in April. No date has been set to close the remaining stores in Hollywood, Denver and Orlando. Virgin Entertainment Group North America will most likely be liquidated by the summer.

Virgin Megastores’ music sales had been in decline for several years. In August 2007 two real estate companies – the Related Cos. and Vornado Realty Trust -- bought the company from Richard Branson. The chain, once a looming presence on the American pop culture scene, boasted 11 stores when it was acquired but now operates only six.

The company is privately held and does not release revenue figures.

Wright said VEG’s new owners were more interested in real estate rather than the retail business. “Their attraction was about real estate. In an ideal world it would have been possible to both have that real estate and develop the business along a different strand. But the economy has cut off that option,” he said.

The rent for Virgin’s Times Square store was $54/sq foot, while market prices put prime space in that area at closer to $700/sq foot. The 60,000 sq/foot space will be converted into a Forever 21 store.

VEG had been combating slow music sales by adding more “lifestyle” products such as apparel and books. Wright said apparel sales were up 20% over the holiday season, but music sales were “disastrous,” and DVDs and games were not far behind.

Jerry Suarez, former music merchandise manager for VEG and now regional sales director for Island Def Jam Music Group, said the closure of the Megastores is a huge loss for consumers and the music industry.

“Virgin Times Square had become an icon. All of the big high-profile events would launch at Virgin. If you wanted to launch something big, Virgin Times Square was the location.”

“It’s bad for all labels. But like everything else, we’ll find other avenues to sell product.”

But Suarez is optimistic about the fate of physical record stores. “I think there’s still a large business to be had in the physical space. Everybody is very quick to end it, especially in the press. For years, everybody has predicted the date of the end of the physical CD, and yet today we’re still selling CDs,” he noted.

“It’s just a real shame that there will no longer be a Virgin Megastore.”

Rainbow Fantasy Radio

RAINBOW FANTASY RADIO will cease broadcasting on January 13, 2009

I want to thank all of you for listening to Rainbow Fantasy Radio over the years. I wish I had the time and money to keep it running forever, but unfortunately with the economy the way it is right now etcetera etcetera, I can't. I don't know if Rainbow Fantasy Radio will ever be back, but I will keep you posted via this myspace page if that indeed ever happens.
xoxo,
Kitten Moon

R.I.P. Bettie Page

A very very sad day for all Bettie fans and pin-up admirers.

R.I.P. Ollie Johnston

From: Reuters

Last of Walt Disney's "Nine Old Men" dies
Tue Apr 15, 2008 7:31pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The last of Walt Disney's original team of animators, known as the Nine Old Men, has died at the age of 95, a Walt Disney Co spokesman said on Tuesday.

Ollie Johnston worked for Disney for 43 years, drawing characters for animated Mickey Mouse short films before contributing to such classics such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Pinocchio", "Peter Pan" and "The Jungle Book."

Johnston died of natural causes in a long-term care facility in Sequim, Washington on Monday.

Born in Palo Alto, California in 1912, Johnston showed early artistic promise and attended Chouinart Art Institute in Los Angeles. During his final year of college in 1935, Disney approached Johnston to join his fledgling animation studio.

Starting with "Song of the South" in 1946, Johnston became directing animator and served in that capacity in nearly every subsequent film. He retired in 1978 after completing some work on his final film, "The Fox and the Hound."

Johnston devoted his retirement to writing, lecturing and consulting and to model trains, of which he was considered one of the world's foremost experts.

In 2005, he became the first animator awarded a National Medal of the Arts, and he and his lifelong friend and fellow Disney animator, Frank Thomas, were profiled in the 1995 documentary "Frank and Ollie."

Disney Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter, who pioneered computer animated films such as "Toy Story" and "Cars," considered Johnston and Thomas as mentors.

"He taught me to always be aware of what a character is thinking, and we continue to make sure that every character we create at Pixar and Disney has a thought process and emotion that makes them come alive," Lasseter said in a statement.

Johnston is survived by two sons.

(Reporting by Gina Keating, editing by Dan Whitcomb and Sandra Maler)