—Farrah Fawcett (born Ferrah Leni Fawcett; 1947 – 2009)
Interior, 1901
oil on canvas 65.5 X 48.5 cm.
Girls Sheep Racing on a Farm, UK, 1969
The Dark Hedges
Ireland, 2017
—Kim Novak (born Marilyn Pauline “Kim” Novak, February 13, 1933)
Footloose, 1978
Before the Mirror, 1876
oil on canvas: 93 X 71.6 cm.
California Dreamin’ on Van Nuys Boulevard, 1972
—Claire Bloom (born England, Patricia Claire Blume, originally Blumenthal, 1931)
Sita and Sarita, Portrait of [the artist’s cousin] Sarah Allibone Leavitt, 1893 – 1894
oil on canvas: 44 5/8 X 33 in.
My Greatest Friend, 1986
“Myrna Drive #2 Because UPS Destroyed, Absolutely Vandalized Myrna Drive #1”
Acrylic on linen: width: 48 inches, length: 36 inches, 2021
Photo by John Dominis
I love the Rick’s Ireland photo. It has a Tolkeinesque vibe.
Bill raises an interesting point about Farrah’s quote: “If we could only see ourselves as others see us.
Didn’t Farrah know her poster was on a million teenage boy’s walls? Or women wanted to copy her hairdo? And MM thought she was ugly too!”
It make me reflect a bit about human nature concerning our own appearance. Some woman have great vanity and dress to impress others. I’ve heard that many (most?) women dress to impress the other women in the room, not the men. It’s a competitive thing.
Other women have great modesty and want to blend into the background (to some extent). They don’t want to be viewed as a sexual object. I suspect Farrah looked in the mirror in the morning (sans makeup) and saw the minor flaws in her face or body and thought “why would anyone think I’m a sex symbol?”
Over the course of our lifetime, appearances change. We gain weight. We lose our hair. We get wrinkles. (OK, I speaking from personally experience in that last part!) With a certain amount of maturity comes the realization that Character and Personality count far more than Looks, and the brain is most important “sex organ” in the human body.
Robert, I’d be curious to hear what your lovely wife, Karen, has to say about the psychology behind the actresses you’ve highlighted in the Friday posts. So many seem “damaged” psychologically and exhibit self-destructive behavior. Alcohol and/or drug abuse. Numerous failed relationships — often with infidelity. The list goes on and on. I wonder, is it indicative of their profession — a pretty face, a sexy body, and living a life of fantasy through the characters they portray? Or is it just a normal “human failing” which is magnified by the publicity they receive as a celebrity?
Sorry to be so loquacious! Blame it on my Covid vaccination this morning!
” I’ve heard that many (most?) women dress to impress the other women in the room, not the men.”
My wife, long ago, used to say “A party is to a woman what a battlefield is to a man.” Same idea.
Farah had a sad end, though. I am always thinking about medical stories with people, not just celebrities.
The hedges in Ireland was an impressive photo but I drove through back roads in Ireland, called Boreens, in a futile quest for my “roots” back in 1977. The hedges were impressive but the dirt base was much higher, 6 feet or more. My mistake was to assume the story of the Kennedys and Ireland was true. My family had a legend that we were cousins and that both families came from the same area of Ireland, near Dublin. There is a Kennedy library there that Teddy visited and met with “cousins.” In fact, I learned that the Kennedys had no idea of the origin of the family in Ireland. It was all fake.
The Genealogy office in Dublin Castle gave me the John Kennedy file and I saw the cables from the embassy. I later learned that my great, great, great grand parents were from the IRS hotbed of Armagh. They emigrated in about 1820. I even found the church where they were married. It is now a pub.
Anyway, nice photo. Celebrity houses were normal in those days. My wedding reception in 1960 was held at Jane Russels’s house in Sherman Oaks. Nice house but no mansion.
I really like the Achen painting “Interior.”
It’s a Friday ritual to wake up early, read this blog and then comment before getting ready to shower and shave. Normally, I am the first to comment. I awoke at 4:30 AM this morning, coffee in hand I turn to Seraphic Secret. . . to find 4 comments already! Wow!
Lovely photos this week, Robert. I was a teenage boy when Farrah’s iconic poster was released. I understand the appeal of it, but every time I looked at it (No, I never owned a copy) I thought “Wow, she has a lot of teeth”. It was just an initial visualization in my head that remains with me today. For some reason the ’70’s brought us Farrah Fawcett and Jimmy Carter — both showed too many teeth when they smiled!
The Drysdale photos are interesting. Back then they showed the love and bound between humans and animals. I suspect today they would be viewed as animal cruelty by PETA. The sheep racing photo is another example of my “where are they now” curiosity. Those girls would be about my age. What are they doing now?
Rick’s photo is awesome and I agree with you — he makes the trees come alive.
I love your Myrna Drive #2 painting, but it pains me to know #1 was damaged. Is there a significance to the name?
I agree with the observation about the celebrity houses. McQueen’s house looks modest. Jimmy Stewart and his wife lived in a nice Tudor house for decades. I remember seeing a magazine coverage of the interior. It was a nicer than the house I grew up in, but certainly no mansion. Shortly after his death, a businessman bought the house, tore it down and put up a 15,000 sq ft Italianate mansion. They sold it recently for $47 million and the listings all reference “Jimmy Stewart’s longtime address up for sale!” The man literally never saw the house, let alone lived in it! Today’s celebrity certainly seem different than the stars of yesteryear.
I’ve told you my feelings about Kim Novak before, so I shall not repeat them again.
I love California Dreaming. That certainly encapsulates the ’70’s youth culture. Short shorts and awesome pony cars!
Have a wonderful weekend.
Prophet Joe:
Myrna Drive is where the owners of the painting live.
I too love the California Dreamin’ photo.
Have a wonderful weekend.
I did some research on the Coleman House and it didn’t start life as a Queen Anne Victorian. Mr. Coleman bought the Craftsman house, which was covered in white vinyl siding with black trim and has transformed it into the a spectacular Victorian masterpiece. He even added the turret. You can see a tour of the inside here (as well as a photo of the house when he bought it). I wouldn’t decorate it like that inside, but to each their own!
Coleman House
If we could only see ourselves as others see us.
Didn’t Farrah know her poster was on a million teenage boy’s walls? Or women wanted to copy her hairdo? And MM thought she was ugly too!
Never heard of sheep racing! Those hedges – can you imagine being in there on a moonlit night?
That Disney cafeteria looks….bizarre. I’m thinking the scene from Blazing Saddles!
Always admired Elvis Presley for going in – here I thought I was the “old man” being inducted at 22! His anger at the draft board is probably what lead to the life-debilitating accident when Jan Berry (of Jan & Dean) crashed his Corvette near Sunset Blvd .. and he wasn’t nearly as big musically as Elvis.
Footloose – noticed the lion cub!
Kim Novak – a sign I am getting older. Stopped at Big Sur and had lunch at a rustic restaurant. Told the young waiter that “Kim Novak used to live here”
Young waiter asked, “Kim who?”
California Dreaming – a perfect B & W photo!
Nice photo set Robert!
Bill:
I have seen all episodes of The Crown. Which Karen and I have hugely enjoyed, even as we contemplate the ethics of the fictional nature of the drama. There is something a bit unfair about the whole enterprise. I’d love to hear the Royals commenting about the episodes. Do they hold the entire enterprise in contempt? Are they amused at the imaginings of the writers? Or do they say: “My word, how did they get that so right?” Or maybe they just ignored it entirely.
My very favorite episode was the one about Prince Philip’s mother, the nun. Oddly enough the episode ignored her true heroism: At great personal peril she hid Jews, protected them from the Nazis. She has been honored by Yad Vashem.
I imagine some members of the royal family might have enjoyed the show – the actress who played Margaret in the first two seasons was much more beautiful than the actual Margaret at the time, and both the actress and the writing for Princess Anne in the second two made her seem like by far the most interesting and intelligent member of the whole family. I have seen better Thatchers than Gillian Anderson’s (and I’m not talking about Meryl Streep’s version.)
The California Dreaming photo was the siren’s call that made so many of the older brothers and sisters of kids I grew up with dream about running away from Canada. Some, I’m sure, actually managed it, but I know of one older brother who ran out of money somewhere in Colorado and came home with his tail between his legs.
Robert-
Is it possible that the writers for The Crown got advice – uncredited-from Buckingham palace?
I had that feeling because they brought out a lot of trivial stuff that I had forgotten such as that Mining disaster in Wales.
Or the fight with Queen Elizabeth and prince Philip during the world tour in Australia.
If it is uncredited advice then it’s plausible deniability.
Just my thought based on no facts 🙂
One correction Robert – the shot at the Dark Hedges is from 2017.
Steve & Neile McQueen’s home looks so…normal. No kitchen big enough to park two trucks, no vast islands of marble countertop. I recently saw a video of Dean Martin’s home from the ’60s – a pretty standard middle class LA bungalow. It’s often amazing how humble movie star homes were back then.
Claire Bloom was lovely.
Rick:
Thanks so much for the correct date.
Fantastic photograph. You make the trees look alive.
Have a wonderful weekend.