We're excited to announce a special feature for the first full week of 2010: SSUWAT will be hosting three glamorous Guest Editors, each of whom will take the reigns on Monday the 4th, Wednesday the 6th, and Friday the 8th, respectively. We will officially reveal their names soon, but rest assured, they are all fabulous! As for us, it will be a treat to sit back and see what these fabulous creatures will cook up. Stay tuned!
In honor of Hump Day, we take great pleasure in revealing the name of our latest Mystery Guest: Guy Madison.
There isn't much more to say, except that Mr. Madison was quite possible the most perfect male specimen to ever walk the earth. We mean really, truly, earth-quakingly handsome - but beyond mere jaw-dropping beauty, he had raw sex appeal, to boot. Some pretty boys are undeniably...well, pretty, but not necessarily sexy. And some sexy mugs would never be mistaken for great beauties. The former Robert Moseley, though, had it all (except, some critics sneered, talent). Even better, as he aged, the quintessential boy next door matured into your best friend's ridiculously hot dad.
For those who enjoy the masochistic game of What Might Have Been, consider this lascivious excerpt from a recent biography of notorious Hollywood agent Henry Willson, who discovered Madison, Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Rory Calhoun, and every second hunky male starlet on the Universal and Warners lots:
"'Rory was fucking Guy. And they always told me they didn't like to do it with men,' [Willson said.] He confronted Guy, who insisted that his dalliance was a momentary lapse, the first and only time. 'But I knew it couldn't be true,' said Henry. 'Rory was so big, and Guy was taking him with no problem.' Rory later confessed that yes, their affair had been going on for months."
We need a cold shower now. Seriously.
StewieG, that little minx, was the first to tantalize us with his knowledge of the sexy swain straddling that Schwinn; he is granted the prize of being Rory Calhoun for the day. But, wait! - brbette is a special runner up, for having not only identified Mr. Madison, but researching the bike he was straddled upon! So, brbette gets to be the seat of Guy's bike. Which, if the whispers are true, would be pretty much be the same thing.
Although in our fantasies our plans look a bit like this...
...the reality will most likely be a pint of Haagen-Daas and our sweatpants. And, quite honestly, we're actually sort of looking forward to peace and quiet. What are your plans, possums?
"Mrs. Amory fills her summers with specialized local-into-national events: the races at Belmont; golf at The Greenbrier, and Southampton where she lives in the summer; polo on Long Island; excursions into city life."
MRS. CHARLES MINOT AMORY at Belmont Park. White Honan silk dress; big blue straw hat.
She watches golf in Southampton. Dress striped with gold braid; white cashmere cardigan.
"Mrs. Amory's summer plans are sometimes city plans. Her problem (a familiar one): a wardrobe that balances at either end of the scale."
She dances at the St. Regis Roof. White silk halter dress; short, very tailored.
She has luncheon at The Colony Restaurant. Wide-skirted Honan suit.
Yes, our latest Mystery Guest was, indeed, the luscious Ava Gardner. If the adjective "smoldering" hadn't yet been invented, then it would have had to have been coined to describe La Gardner. For our money, she completely surpassed her immediate predecessors and contemporaries (Hedy Lamarr, Rita Hayworth and Elizabeth Taylor) in nearly every department: looks, glamour, elegance and talent. She certainly was never the critics' darling, and never seemed to think much of her own abilities; but given strong material and a capable director, and Gardner brought not only her sensual, sexually-charged presence to the proceedings, but also an earthy honesty and surprising tenderness.
Widely acknowledged as one of the screen's great beauties from the very beginning of her career, by the late 1950's, Gardner was accused of allowing hard living, heavy drinking and rough loving to adversely affect her looks. In our humble opinion, the aging Gardner's looks may have changed, but didn't diminish. If anything, her bearing became more regal, while her allure was made even more erotically powerful by her maturity and experience.
After leaving the protection of her MGM contract in 1958 (she had called Metro "home" since 1941), and only occasionally leaving her adopted country of Spain, Gardner only made sporadic film appearances; On the Beach (1959) and The Night of the Iguana (1964) were worthwhile productions, while the majority of the rest were made "strictly for the loot," as Gardner blithely explained.
In 1985, Gardner had one last glamorous hurrah when she guest starred on five episodes of Knots Landing, still exuding the star power which had led to her being dubbed "The World's Most Beautiful Animal" decades earlier. Five years later, she was dead from pneumonia at age 67 - "The Last Goddess," trumpeted the People magazine cover story on her passing. Few members of Hollywood's fabled golden sorority deserved that sobriquet more.
A visitor from France, Dsata, was the first to guess La Gardner's identity (and we're loving her blog!) - the photo, by John Engstead, was formatted in such a way that we and normadesmond felt it obscured Gardner's instantly recognizable features; the original proof is below.
So, dear Dsata, you have your choice of a prize: would you prefer a Barefoot Contessa, or a Naked Maja? Or perhaps you'd simply like us to Bhowani your junction.
