Joi to the World

Blonde bombshell Joi Lansing had a figure that could easily rival that of Jayne Mansfield's, a doll-like face which was just as gorgeous and photogenic as Marilyn Monroe's, and more than adequate acting ability. Mysteriously, though, she never starred in a major film of her own, and is best remembered for her cheesecake modeling and many television guest appearances in the 1950's and 1960's. Perhaps she was too "square" for the lecherous producers on the make in Hollywood - a devout Mormon, Lansing neither drank nor smoked. In the mid-1960's, Lansing began a singing career, lending her appealing, smoky voice to nightclub stages, at least one impossible-to-find record album, and, most infamously, a series of Scopitone videos.

Sadly, Joi Lansing was yet another casualty of the blondes-who-die-too-young syndrome: she passed away in 1972, at the young age of 43, after a battle with breast cancer - possibly the result of the silicone injections she had taken to enlarge her chest. (Foreshadowing Ava Gardner's illness and death, Lansing's former paramour, Frank Sinatra, footed the destitute beauty's medical and funeral bills.) Despite her seemingly small resume, Lansing is being rediscovered by a whole new generation, thanks to her Scopitone camp classics, as well as her appearances on such still-viewed series as The Beverly Hillbillies and Love That Bob/The Bob Cummings Show. Fifty years later, we're still trapped in her web of love!

JOI LANSING
April 6, 1929 - August 7, 1972