04 Thursday Aug 2016
Posted in Celebrities, Music, Quizzes
Girls over 50 still just want to have fun! Play the cover video below and hear a clip of Cyndi’s version of “Funnel of Love” from her new CD of country classics, Detour. Take the Cyndi Lauper Quiz
— AARP The Magazine for iPad, August-September 2016
21 Monday Sep 2015
Posted in Celebrities, Magazines
Tags
AARP the Magazine, August/September 2015. Viola Davis photographed by Robert Trachtenberg/Trunk Archive.
Congratulations to Viola Davis on her Emmy win, the first for an African-American actress in the drama category. The ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ star grew up hungry and poor. Now, giving back is her greatest reward. (READ MORE)
22 Wednesday Apr 2015
— AARP Magazine for iPad, April-May 2015
14 Thursday Aug 2014
Posted in Celebrities, Film, Fine Art, Museums, Obituaries, Photography
LAUREN BACALL, included in the National Portrait Gallery’s “American Cool” exhibition, through September 7, 2014. Artist: Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1949 (printed 2013). Pigmented ink jet print.
Born: September 16, 1924, The Bronx, New York City, NY
Died: August 12, 2014, New York, NY
Lauren Bacall was definitely cool.
Each generation has certain individuals who bring innovation and style to a field of endeavor while projecting a certain charismatic self-possession. Lauren Bacall is one of the figures selected for the National Portrait Gallery‘s “American Cool” exhibition.
Ms. Bacall was 89 and a longtime resident of Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Launched by a Harper’s Bazaar cover when she was a 19-year-old model, the former Betty Joan Perske, born to Jewish immigrants in New York City, was signed by Warner Bros. in 1943.
Whatever she may have lacked in acting experience, the willowy teen made up for with a certain grace that was made camera-ready by the great director Howard Hawks. Lauren Bacall, as she had been renamed, modeled her character in 1944’s adaptation of a Hemingway novel, To Have and Have Not, after Hawks’s stylish wife, Nancy “Slim” Keith, and delivered the immortal line to the grizzled Humphrey Bogart, who was 25 years her senior: “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”
A star was born. So was a legendary off-screen romance with and marriage to Humphrey Bogart, with whom she made four films.
Other memorable roles that made Ms. Bacall a Hollywood legend were The Big Sleep (1946), Key Largo (1948), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).
Once Bacall left Hollywood for New York in the late ’50s, she found a new career working on Broadway, where, despite her raspy singing voice, she won Tony Awards for the musicals Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981).
In my opinion, she was one of the most beautiful and talented actresses in Hollywood. She had ‘The Look’ — cool and mysterious — and she had the sound, courtesy of that irresistibly low and throaty voice.
Thanks for the memories, Lauren.
12 Tuesday Aug 2014
Posted in Celebrities, Comedy, Museums, Obituaries, Photography
Robin Williams by Michael Dressler. Color photograph, 1979. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Born: July 21, 1951, Chicago, IL Died: August 11, 2014, Tiburon, CA
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has installed a photograph of celebrated American comedian and actor Robin Williams today. The work is in the first-floor gallery where the museum memorializes the passing and celebrates the lives of people represented in the museum’s collection. The photograph above was taken for Time magazine by Michael Dressler in 1979.
Thanks for all the laughs, Robin. God bless and may you rest in peace.
Williams was a madcap genius in performances of all types of entertainment, from stand-up to feature films. Known initially as a comedian, he surprised with his ability to play serious dramatic roles. His breakthrough came in the 1970s TV comedy Mork and Mindy; as the alien Mork, much of Williams’ dialogue was improvised, as would be the case in most of his comedic roles. Once established, Williams worked tirelessly in show business, going on to appear in many feature films, including Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Dead Poets Society (1989) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993); he won an Oscar for his role as the psychologist in Good Will Hunting (1997). He played Teddy Roosevelt in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009). He also did voice over work in animated films and returned to television with The Crazy Ones (2013-14).
20 Thursday Jun 2013
Posted in Celebrities, Obituaries
The world lost a great man, a great actor and a true New Jerseyan yesterday. I was fortunate to have met and worked with James Gandolfini on a photo shoot for New Jersey Monthly magazine in 2004. He was a down-to-earth, genuinely nice guy, unfazed by his stardom in the hit HBO series at the time, The Sopranos. May he rest in peace. (MORE)
James Gandolfini photographed exclusively for New Jersey Monthly in February 2004 by Chris Buck. Grooming by Gregg Tusler for Rosanne Renfrow.
08 Monday Aug 2011
Posted in Celebrities, Design, Music, Web Sites
"Watch the Throne" is the debut collaborative studio album by Jay-Z and Kanye West. (Roc-A-Fella Records/Roc Nation/Def Jam Recordings)
“Watch the Throne“, American rapper Jay-Z‘s debut collaborative studio album with Kanye West was released today. Jay-Z also has a pretty cool web site called Life+Times that reflects his knowledge and appreciation of great design. Life+Times covers the artist’s latest interests in the worlds of style, leisure, art & design, technology, sports, and of course, music. Check it out! DESIGN NOTE: The album cover artwork for “Watch the Throne” was designed by Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci and rendered in gleaming gold by Joe Zeff Design.
