Innholdsfortegnelse for 2510 i The Australian Women's Weekly Icons

Mariska Hargitay was just three years old when she lost her mother, Jayne Mansfield. She was in the back seat – along with older brothers Miklós “Mickey” Jr Hargitay and Zoltán Hargitay (older sister Jayne Marie Mansfield and younger brother Tony Cimber were not travelling with them) – when the car they were travelling in crashed into a trailer, instantly killing front-seat passenger Jayne, 34, along with driver Ronald B. Harrison and her lawyer-turned-boyfriend Sam Brody. She has no memories of her mother. Or rather, she has one hazy recollection of a tender touch, but is unsure if it’s something imagined rather than a real event. Growing up, she saw the images of her mother in varying stages of undress. She heard the put-on ditzy voice in movies and interviews.…

Having slammed the vaudeville door behind her, Annette Kellerman told husband and manager Jimmie [James R. Sullivan] she wanted to show the world she was much more than just a pretty fish. For a long time, she had been intrigued by the idea of taking her talents to the silver screen. Now, inspired by the fairy stories she read as a child, she conceived an idea for a water fantasy. Annette had grown up with a love of pantomime and she told her new husband that she had a wonderful idea for a ‘water movie’, complete with mermaids, based around the character of King Neptune. All the action on the water, the diving and the obligatory brief costumes would be underpinned by a dramatic love story. “It’s a lovely idea,”…

The aching bewilderment of a life not just cut short, but snatched away in the purest of primes, rocked the movie-going world. When teen screen idol and celluloid auteur James Dean was laid to rest on October 8, 1955, killed in a car crash aged just 24, it deprived us of a talent for the ages. Hollywood largely stayed away from the funeral in Indiana, though of course lachrymose fans flocked to mourn. For Paul Newman, six years his senior, it was more complicated. Worldly-wise Paul had been partly living in the long shadow James cast and, much like the understudy telling the star to “break a leg”, the most dreadful misfortune for one could be perceived as opening the door for another to truly shine at last. It was…

In the November 26, 1975 edition of The Australian Women’s Weekly we were delivered a huge scoop. After taking time out to focus on her sons and new marriage, Audrey Hepburn had returned to acting. Now, she’d invited us onto the set of Robin and Marian (1976) to tALK ABOut wHy sHE wAs fiNALLy rEADy tO rEturN tO sCrEENs. We republish the story from our archives here ... She had paid for the party out of her own pocket. Now, Audrey Hepburn stood behind a long trestle table a little apart from the crowd, eyeing the scrum in the open tent with the faintly apprehensive air of any hostess hoping her guests were having a good time. “Are you all right?” she queried anxiously. “Has everyone got a drink?” Everyone…

The film had been nominated for 12 Academy Awards in 1960. It had already won all but one, with only the major categories to be announced, including Best Actor for which the film’s leading man had been nominated. The man in question sat in the audience, nearly 10 years to the day since he first appeared in a Hollywood motion picture. The nominees were read out, the winner’s envelope delivered, and then, “Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur!” On stage, he bowed his head before speaking. “It’s really true; when you stand here you’ll want to thank everybody you ever knew in this business … I’ve worked with a great many of you. And every one of you did something to put me here tonight.” Journey to the Oscars John Charles Carter’s journey…

The Second World War was still a recent memory, and France was in the midst of rebuilding after the German occupation. Against the backdrop of these tough times, a young courtier by the name of Christian Dior was carefully designing his debut collection. He’d spent many years during the war serving in the South of France, but in 1947, was finally ready to show his collection to the public. It was a turning point in fashion history. The Dior collection was a breath of fresh air compared to the subdued clothing that was worn throughout the war, and many consumers admired Christian’s concept of femininity. However, the success of Christian’s first designs outraged one of his fellow designers. Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, despite her overwhelming success in the 1920s and ’30s,…

Making her mark Born in Sweden on August 29, 1915, Ingrid Bergman long dreamed of becoming an actress despite her shyness. She worked hard to be accepted to the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm and her dedication paid off in 1933. Two years later she appeared in her first film, Munkbrogreven, leading to challenging roles in other Swedish films. However, her appearance in the 1936 film Intermezzo would change everything. Hollywood producer David O. Selznick was so captivated by her performance that he sent a representative to Sweden with a contract for Ingrid. She quickly signed and once in the US, reprised her role in the 1939 Hollywood production of Intermezzo: A Love Story. Hollywood star Ingrid lit up the screen in her first major Hollywood performance, both with…

They would go on to make eight films together. But you would never have predicted this given the studio’s reaction to Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland’s first time on camera together, during a screen test for 1936’s Captain Blood. Olivia, then another virtual unknown, remembers being immediately struck by Errol charisma. The studio execs weren’t so sure, describing the young actor as “tense and inexperienced”. Tense – who knows? Inexperienced – absolutely. Errol, even at the age of 26, had done many, many things in his life, but being up for a lead role in a Hollywood film certainly wasn’t one of them. Born in Hobart in 1909, Errol Flynn was the son of a respected marine biologist, Professor Theodore Thomson Flynn, and Lily Mary “Marelle” Flynn. Both of…

IN HER OWN WORDS“I think we loved almost too hard.”- Elizabeth Taylor on Richard Burton. The story goes that when the director of 1963’s Cleopatra yelled “cut” on the first kiss between Elizabeth Taylor, who was playing the Queen of Egypt, and Richard Burton, who played her lover Mark Antony, the two actors could not be separated. The film had already suffered huge cost blowouts, rewrites, delays, and the near-death of its million-dollar star, but the expensive epic was about to face its biggest scandal yet: The adulterous love affair of its two stars. Cleopatra started as a way for the ailing 20th Century Fox studio to make a quick buck. They wanted a speedy remake of their 1917 version. Joanne Woodward was considered. Joan Collins did a screen test…

Family legacy For handsome matinee idol Tyrone Power, acting was in his blood from the day he was born in 1914. Tyrone’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather – all also named Tyrone Power – were successful actors in their own right and young Tyrone was determined to follow in their footsteps. But while he found his name opened the door to meetings in Hollywood, especially after his father’s death when Tyrone was just 17, it failed to translate into offers of paying jobs. Seeking greater fortunes, Tyrone set his sights on New York, where he managed to snag himself a role in a Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet. Power & passion The part put Tyrone firmly on Hollywood’s radar but he was encouraged to further hone his craft. And after…

Denim-clad legs, crossed at the ankle and topped by a crisp white T-shirt and red jacket, cigarette dangling from one hand while the other rests on a slouched hip … Given the classic image of James Dean is so instantly recognisable, it’s difficult to believe he made just three films before his untimely demise at the age of 24. James was by no means the first Hollywood star to wear denim jeans on the silver screen, but the pairing of Levi’s with his troubled, misunderstood character in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) helped to give what had once been a workwear staple a whole new set of nuances. They were cool, sexy and rebellious. Practical? Who cared? But practicality was at the heart of jeans when they were first produced…

DID YOU KNOW?Twiggy was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for her services to fashion, arts and charity. Twiggy was 17 when she was flown to New York and interviewed by Woody Allen, then aged 31. “Who’s your favourite philosopher?” the film director asks her. The school dropout from Neasden, Northwest London, sticks out her tongue, then says, “I don’t know, who’s yours?” “Er, I like them all,” he replies. “Who?” demands Twiggy. “Oh, your Greeks, your Germans,” he stumbles. “Yeah, but what are their names?” says Twiggy. Woody, stumped, then actually falls off his chair. The film clip has recently gone viral because it is part of the new feature-length documentary, Twiggy, directed by actor and…