Friendly Strangers In A Black Sedan

Won't you hop inside their car?

Hitch A Ride...

...on this Van.

The Wearing Of The Green

Who did it best yesterday?

To The Max, Fur Sure

Doing 45's in a 55 Zone

Thank goodness she's not texting.

Baby Jane Hudson

Our Birthday is Approaching...

...and we do think that coordinated gifts are awfully nice. Just a suggestion, darlings!

...But She Drifted

"I'm as pure as the driven slush."

Tickets to Ride

Hello, Kitty

She Wants Muscles

But what about moose knuckles?

If the Avanti is a-Rockin'...

As Cookie and Felix stumble out of ElMo with their dates, the Sardelli twins, only one question is on their giddy lips: which couple gets the back seat first?

Avanti!

One hopes that there was enough Rumaki, Hot Crab Dunk and Swedish Meatballs for the crowd at Cookie's last cocktail party to soak up the Manhattans and Daquiris - the last time, Norma got so stoned, she drove the damn Avanti into the pool. The car turned out all right, but Norma's gold lame sheath rusted as green as the Parsley-Roquefort Cheese Balls she always brings to every party.

Always. To every party.

Who's That Girl?

That's right, kids, it's Perry Mason's stalwart Della Street doing her best Barbara Nichols impression! (Photos from the Barbara Hale Annex.) Before she became Raymond Burr's girl Friday, Barbara Hale had been a fine arts student, a model, and finally, a B-movie leading lady. If films like West of the Pecos (1945) and Emergency Wedding (1950) were about as routine as their titles would suggest, they at least led to Hale becoming a popular, dependable presence, if not quite a "star."



But it was her role as the efficient, loyal Della Street which made Barbara Hale familiar to millions of television viewers from 1957 through 1966. For her work, Hale won the 1959 Supporting Actress Emmy, and was nominated again in 1961. After the Perry Mason series went off the air, Hale continued to act sporadically, devoting much of her time to her family: her husband of 46 years, Bill Williams, and their three children. Her son, William Katt, became an actor, beloved to children of the 1970's as The Greatest American Hero. And, of course, Barbara guest starred as his mom. From 1986 until his death in 1994, Hale also regularly appeared with Raymond Burr in a series of made-for-TV movies reprising their roles as Perry Mason and Della Street.


Retired since 2000, Barbara Hale lives quietly and happily in California. On behalf of hard-working, trustworthy, dependable, yet glamorous, working gals everywhere, we salute you, Miss Hale! We hope that you're enjoying your 88th!

MISS BARBARA "Della Street" HALE
April 18, 1922

Golden Boy

He could play daring (Stalag 17, 1953), dashing (Sabrina, 1954), dangerous (Picnic, 1955), dissipated (Network, 1976), or all of the above (Sunset Blvd., 1950), and all with professional panache, everyman charm and comfortable sexiness. He was William Holden, often overlooked as one of the great movie stars from the last gasp of the studio system. If his splashy debut in 1939's Golden Boy led to a disappointing string of mediocre films in the 1940's, then the back to back success of the brilliant Sunset and the hysterical Born Yesterday not only marked a glorious comeback for Gloria Swanson and the launch of Judy Holliday's stardom, but also a major career rejuvenation for Holden. From there, he went on to win an Oscar for Stalag 17, and aside from the films referenced above, also starred in such critical and commercial successes as The Country Girl (1954), Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957).


By the early 1960's, however, it was all over. Despite only being in his mid-40's, Holden suddenly appeared too aged and tired to play the romantic lead; his two attempts with younger co-stars, The World of Suzie Wong (1960) with Nancy Kwan and Paris When it Sizzles (1962, released 1964) with Audrey Hepburn, merely served to drive the point embarassingly home. Unlike Gregory Peck or Cary Grant, who could convincingly woo pretty young things on film well into their fifties and sixties, Holden was an alcoholic, and the physical ravages of his disease were all too apparent on the screen.


Well-liked in the industry, Holden continued to work fairly consistently through the 1960's and 1970's, even though his leading man days were over. His startling turn in Network earned him another Oscar nod, and the kind of critical kudos he had not received in decades. He died, five years later, after suffering a fall while alone and drunk in his apartment. Hitting his head on the edge of a table, he was either unaware of how severe the injury was, or unable to call for help, and died from the loss of blood. William Holden was 63 years old.

WILLIAM HOLDEN
April 17, 1918 - November 12, 1981

Heavy Lies the Head

Our queenly duties have us a bit overwhelmed at the moment, darlings. We'll be back with updates as soon as possible!

Fans of Fenneman

The winner of our Great Nerd Showdown was, by quite a wide margin, swoonsome George Fenneman. While we admit to being biased in favor of Robert Q. Lewis, we can certainly see Fenneman's appeal: he's as smooth as Vitalis, suave as Aqua Velva, and slicker than Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick.




For those of you who voted Team Fenneman, here's an added bonus to get your motors running: a 1955 DeSoto ad, where George uses those dreamy, dulcet tones to describe "added inches" and "that taut, surging feel." Have mercy.

Interior Dialogue

Mostly, dialogue involving chapeaux, pearls, and wiglets.

Postcard From 1962

Darlings, it's simply been a mad caper - between choosing hats with Halston at Bergdorf's, lunching with Jacques Tiffeau at La Grenouille, and cruising the Rambles with Michael Greer, we've had scarcely a moment to breathe. But what a relief to know that SSUWAT has been in such capable hands as those belonging to our darling Felix! Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to get back to the bar - leave that Audrey alone for more than a few minutes, and she'll be slinging back sloe gin fizzes and loudly requesting "Moon River" to be repeated ad infinitum.

Happy 2010!

It's a new year, a new decade, and hopefully, the start of new beginnings.

Health and happiness is our wish for all of you, darlings!