41 Fabulous Photos of Dancefloor Styles That Defined 1970s Disco Fashion
30 Beautiful Photos of Actress Diana Dors From Between the Late 1940s and 1950s
Diana Dors was born Diana Mary Fluck on October 23, 1931 in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. She and her mother both nearly died from the traumatic birth. Because of the trauma, her mother lavished on Diana anything and everything she wanted–clothes, toys and dance lessons were the order of the day.
Diana’s love of films began when her mother took her to the local movies theaters. The actresses on the screen caught Diana’s attention and she said, herself, that from the age of three she wanted to be an actress. She was educated in the finest private schools, much to the chagrin of her father (apparently he thought private education was a waste of money). Physically, Diana grew up fast. At age 12, she looked and acted much older than what she was. Much of this was due to the actresses she studied on the silver screen and Diana trying to emulate them. She wanted nothing more than to go to the United States and Hollywood to have a chance to make her place in film history. After placing well in a local beauty contest, Diana was offered a role in a thespian group (she was 13).
The following year, Diana enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) to hone her acting skills. She was the youngest in her class. Her first fling at the camera was in Code of Scotland Yard (1947). She did not care that it was a small, uncredited role; she was on film and at age 16, that’s all that mattered. That was quickly followed by Dancing with Crime (1947), which consisted of nothing more than a walk-on role. Up until this time, Diana had pretended to be 17 years old (if producers had known her true age, they probably would not have let her test for the role). However, since she looked and acted older, this was no problem. Diana’s future dawned bright in 1948, and she appeared in no less than six films. Some were uncredited, but some had some meat to the roles. The best of the lot was the role of Charlotte in the classic Oliver Twist (1948). Throughout the 1950s, she appeared in more films and became more popular in Britain. Diana was a pleasant version of Marilyn Monroe, who had taken the United States by storm. Britain now had its own version.
Diana continued to play sexy sirens and kept seats in British theaters filled. She really came into her own as an actress. She was more than a woman who exuded her sexy side, she was a very fine actress as her films showed. As the 1960s turned into the 1970s, she began to play more mature roles with an effectiveness that was hard to match. Films such as Craze (1974), Swedish Wildcats (1972), The Amorous Milkman (1975) and Three for All (1975) helped fill out her resume. After filming Steaming (1985), Diana was diagnosed with cancer, which was too much for her to overcome. The British were saddened when word came of her death at age 52 on May 4, 1984 in Windsor, Berkshire, England.
Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis: 39 Amazing Photographs of the Comedy Duo in the 1940s and 1950s
In 1945, comprising singer Dean Martin met a young comic named Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis debuted at Atlantic City’s 500 Club on July 25, 1946, when Lewis suggested to the club owner that Martin would be a good replacement for the scheduled singer who was unavailable. The duo were not well received. The owner, Skinny D’Amato, threatened to terminate their contract if the act did not improve. Martin and Lewis disposed of pre-scripted gags and began improvising. Dean sang, and Jerry dressed as a busboy, dropping plates and making a shambles of Martin’s songs and a mockery of the club’s decorum. They performed slapstick and delivered vaudeville jokes to great fanfare.
Their success at the 500 Club led to a series of well-paying engagements along the Eastern seaboard, culminating with a triumphant run at New York’s Copacabana Club. The audience were convulsed with laughter by Lewis interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, and ultimately by the two of them chasing each other around the stage and having as much fun as possible.
Eventually, the two hired young comedy writers Norman Lear and Ed Simmons to improve their act. By 1950, Lear and Simmons were the main writers for Martin and Lewis.
One of the secrets to their success was the diversity of their audience as Jerry Lewis explained: ‘Who were Dean’s fans? Men, women, the Italians. Who were Jerry’s fans? Women, Jews, kids. Who were Martin and Lewis’ fans? All of them.’ When the partnership ended in 1956, the comedians fell into a bitter feud that lasted for decades only did they reunite on rare occasions until Dean Martin’s death in 1995.
Jerry Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 20, 2017 at the age of 91.
27 Amazing Mugshots of Men and Women From Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1915
(Photos via Mark Michaelson)
34 Vintage Photos of Couples During the 1920s
51 Stunning Vintage Photos Of The Crow Tribe during the Early 20th Century
The Crow, called the Apsáalooke in their own Siouan language, or variants including the Absaroka, are Native Americans, who in historical times lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota, where it joins the Missouri River. In the 21st century, the Crow people are a Federally recognized tribe known as the Crow Tribe of Montana, and have a reservation located in the south central part of the state.
Pressured by the Ojibwe and Cree peoples (the Iron Confederacy), who had earlier and better access to guns through the fur trade, the Crow had migrated to this area from the Ohio Eastern Woodland area of present-day Ohio, settling south of Lake Winnipeg. From there, they were pushed to the west by the Cheyenne. Both the Crow and the Cheyenne were pushed farther west by the Lakota (Sioux), who took over the territory west of the Missouri River, reaching past the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and Montana. The Cheyenne eventually became allies of the Lakota, as they sought to expel European Americans from the area. The Crow remained bitter enemies of both the Sioux and Cheyenne. The Crow managed to retain a large reservation of more than 9300 km2 despite territorial losses.
Since the 19th century, Crow people have been concentrated on their reservation established south of Billings, Montana. They also live in several major, mainly western, cities. Tribal headquarters are located at Crow Agency, Montana.
When it became clear that the battle would be lost, Hairy Moccasin put on the clothing of a Crow warrior, wanting to die a Crow. Montana. 1910.
Montana. 1910.
Montana. 1910.
30 Wonderful Vintage Portrait Photos of the Dare Sisters, Phyllis and Zena, From the Early 20th Century
Two of the most stunning and popular actresses of Edwardian England were the sisters Dare, Phyllis (1890–1975) and Zena (1887–1975), who for decades delighted audiences in London’s West End and on tour. At the height of their fame, their likenesses graced hundreds of picture postcards, which were sold across the country. As a boy, the famed critic James Agate was said to have harbored a picture of Zena Dare in his school locker.
Daughters of a judge’s clerk, the sisters made their stage debut in 1899 in the pantomime Babes in the Wood. In 1900, Phyllis went on to make her first provincial appearance at the Theater Royal, in Manchester, in Little Red Riding Hood. She was then engaged by actor-manager Seymour Hicks to play at the Vaudeville Theater in London, where she charmed audiences in Bluebell in Fairyland and The Catch of the Season. Her big break came in 1906, when she took over the lead in the musical comedy The Belle of Mayfair after the renowned actress Edna May left the show. Though she was triumphant in the role, Phyllis’ success was short-lived because she had also signed a contract to appear in an Edinburgh Christmas pageant. (The lead in The Belle of Mayfair was subsequently taken over by Billie Burke.)
In 1909, after her appearance in Edinburgh and a tour in The Dairymaids, Phyllis appeared in the highly acclaimed Robert Courtneidge musical comedy The Arcadians, which played 809 performances at the Shaftesbury Theater. In 1911, the legendary theatrical manager George Edwardes tapped her for the title role in Peggy. During the run of the show, Phyllis recorded “Ladies Beware” for the fledgling recording company, His Master’s Voice. She also recorded four songs from the show Tina, which opened at the Adelphi in 1915. Her career continued throughout the war years, both in variety and review. In 1919, she was in Kissing Time, followed by The Lady of the Rose, The Street Singer, and The Maids of the Mountains. During the 1930s and 1940s, she appeared in show after show, straight comedies as well as musicals.
Phyllis Dare never married, though at age 22, while playing in The Sunshine Girl, she met and fell in love with the show’s composer Paul A. Rubens. The couple announced their engagement, but Rubens fell ill with tuberculosis. With no hope of recovery and not wanting to burden Phyllis, he broke off the engagement. He died in 1917, at age 40.
Zena Dare’s career paralleled her sister’s. As a young girl, she appeared in pantomime in Scotland, toured in An English Daisy, and played Cinderella at the Shakespeare Theater in Liverpool. In 1904, she was cast in her first adult role in Seymour Hicks’ The Catch of the Season, a part originally intended for Hicks’ wife Ellaline Terriss, who temporarily retired due to pregnancy. A great success, the show ran for 621 performances, although after a year Zena was replaced by her sister Phyllis because of another contract commitment. Like Phyllis, Zena also worked for George Edwardes, playing in the musicals Lady Madcap, The Little Cherub, and The Girl on Stage. In 1906, she rejoined Seymour Hicks, playing a variety of roles, including Victoria Siddons in The Gay Gordons and Peter Pan.
In 1911, at the peak of her success Zena retired from the stage to marry Maurice Brett, second son of the second Viscount Esher. They had a son and two daughters. Zena returned to the stage in 1926, at age 39. Rather than continuing in musicals, she enjoyed great success in straight roles, including Mrs. Cheyney in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney and a role opposite Noel Coward in The Second Man. In 1926, she formed her own company and toured South Africa. On her return, Zena teamed with Ivor Novello in Proscenium, in which she enjoyed her greatest success since her preretirement musical days. She also paired with Novello in 1936, playing the Manager of a beauty parlor in his musical Careless Rapture. The Times of London described her roles with Novello as “exactly suited to her years and to her bent for mild caricature.”
In 1940, Zena and Phyllis appeared together on stage in a tour of a revival of Novello’s Full House. Zena followed this with a comic performance of Lady Caroline in a revival of Dear Brutus, after which she took the role of the Red Queen in Alice through the Looking Glass. In 1949, the sisters were joined again on stage in Novello’s musical King’s Rhapsody, with Zena playing Novello’s mother and Phyllis his mistress. An enormous success, the play even ran seven months after Novello’s death in 1951. Following King’s Rhapsody, Phyllis retired to Brighton, at age 61. Zena remained on stage for another ten years, in a variety of popular plays, including Sabrina Fair, Double Image, and Nude with Violin. Her last appearance was as Rex Harrison’s mother, Mrs. Higgins, in My Fair Lady, which opened in April 1958 and played in London for five years before going on tour. Zena retired in 1965 and died on March 11, 1975. Six weeks later, on April 27, her sister Phyllis also passed away.
32 Vintage Photos of Dallas, Texas in the 1950s
Dallas is a major city in the state of Texas and is the largest urban center of the fourth most populous metropolitan area in the United States.
Here below are vintage images capturing everyday life of this city in the 1950s.
22 Wonderful Photographs of Claude Monet in His Studio and His Garden at Giverny
Claude Monet is the founder of the Impressionism, and he’s the key figure which allows us to understand the transformation process occurred from the second half of 19th century to the early 20th century. Monet’s works still arouse immense enthusiasm among his many fans, and the success of exhibitions displaying his paintings is guaranteed.
Claude Monet was born in Paris on 14 November 1840, but he spent his early life in Le Havre, where he drawed caricatures and he was noticed by E. Boudin, who convinced him to devote himself to landscape painting.
In 1859 Monet moved to Paris, where he discovered the painting by Delacroix, Daubigny and Corot, and he met Pissarro, Bazile, Sisley, and Renoir. Together with those painters, Monet began painting “en plein air” in Fontainebleau wood.
During his early years of his career, Monet didn’t enjoy good moments, especially due to his lack of money, and in 1869 his creditors confiscated all the canvas he had. Monet wasn’t able to paint because he didn’t have his colors.
Monet’s landscapes, painted with a meticulous attention to the reflection of the light on the water, represented the first works of the Impressionism. His 1872 painting “Impression. Soleil levant” (“Impression. Sunrise”), exhibited in 1874, gave the name for the new artistic movement: Impressionism.
Claude Monet made a careful study of the laws of physics which form the basis for perception of the light and color in human eyes. He depicted the same scene many times in order to capture the changing of light that could be seen only by the painter at the moment he painted.
In 1883 Monet moved to Giverny, Normandy. There he created a garden and his refuge, or simply he created his own world, which would become his favorite subject of his paintings. Monet lived in Giverny more than 40 years and he used his garden along with its plants and its flowers to produce great masterpieces.
He died in 1926.
Cléo de Mérode: The Glamorous Dancer and Model of the Belle Époque
Born 1875 in Paris, French dancer and model Cléo de Mérode was sent to study dance the age of eight, and made her professional debut at age eleven.
Mérode became renowned for her glamour even more than for her dancing skills. A particular new hairstyle she chose to wear became the talk of Parisian women and was quickly adopted as a popular style for all. Her fame was such that Alexandre Falguière sculpted The Dancer in her image, which today can be seen in the Musée d’Orsay.
In 1895, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec did her portrait, as would Charles Puyo, Alfredo Muller, and Giovanni Boldini. Her picture was taken by some of the most illustrious photographers of the day, including Félix Nadar.
In 1896, King Léopold II attended the ballet and saw Mérode dance. The 61-year-old Belgian King became enamoured with the 22-year-old ballet star, and gossip started that she was his latest mistress.
Very popular in her ancestral homeland of Austria as well as in Germany, her character appeared in the German film Women of Passion (1926), played by Fern Andra. In Vienna, her beauty caught the attention of painter Gustav Klimt, whose primary focus was on female sexuality. Their story was the basis of the film Klimt (2006), in which the character “Lea de Castro” is based on Cléo de Mérode.
Mérode continued to dance until her early fifties, when she retired to the seaside resort of Biarritz in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France. In 1955, she published her autobiography, Le Ballet de ma vie (The Dance of My Life).
Cléo de Mérode died in 1966, aged 91.
Take a look at these glamorous photos to see the beauty of Cléo de Mérode in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
