New Year's Eve Greetings

I normally don't find myself in the middle of an A-Z round of new subjects going from one year into another, but I'm currently positioning my post schedule so that I will have featured one thousand different women here by this coming September 25, this blog's tenth anniversary.  So 2016 is going to be a big year here. :-D Expect, in addition to more new subjects, more special retrospective posts, and, a list of all of the women I've featured on this blog since its fifth anniversary in September 2011, when I put up my list of the first five hundred women to be featured here.  I've been compiling the list as time has gone by, not waiting to do it all at once like last time, so it should be much easier to post when the time comes! :-D  I hope to come up with a special Leap Day post for February 29, like I always do, and of course in December I'll have my biennial "Beauty of Dance" series, celebrating more lovely women in ballet and modern dance. :-)

In the meantime, since this is supposed to be a pictorial blog (in other words, enough of my yakking), here's a special New Year's Eve pictorial post.  Earlier this year, I showed a closeup of German model Margrit Ramme from a 1977 print ad.  Here is the full ad.

As previously noted, it's an ad for ladies' undergarments.  Yes, you can expect Maidenform ads from Maria Hanson's portfolio in 2016, though you don't know when exactly when they'll turn up. ;-)

Happy new year.

Greek model/politician Elena Kountoura

Elena Kountoura is a former model who made the transition to politics in her native Greece.

She modeled from 1984 to 1997, becoming the face of the Japanese cosmetics brand Shiseido and working regularly with French photographer and designer Serge Lutens.

After a stint as a director for a Greek women's magazine, Ms. Kountoura got elected to the Greek Parliament in 2004, and served in that legislature on and off for about a decade.  A woman who leans to the left, she currently serves as the  Deputy Minister of Tourism under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Given the precarious state of Greek finances and the need for more tourism to help prop up Greece's economy, she has her work cut out for her.    

Model Jeanette Hallen

Jeanette Hallen is a model from the eighties and early nineties.

In her heyday, she appeared in ads for Neutrogena (form which the photo above is taken) and for Clairesse hair care products, as well as the covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Redbook, among others. 

She's also done fashion and beauty editorials, from which the photo above is taken. 

Biographical data on her is scant. 

New Link Announcement: Catherine Roberts YouTube Channel!

Earlier this year, I announced a link to the Web site of model Catherine Roberts, who has had a distinguished career in her profession but for too long had not been a household name due to an emphasis on commercial modeling, rather than the editorial work that gets models credits and helps make them household names.  As today is Christmas, and with 2015 drawing to a close, I am presenting as a holiday gift a link to to another page Ms. Roberts has set up to promote herself . . . her very own YouTube channel!

By now, you've seen on her site all of the classic print ads she's done for Charles of the Ritz, Helena Rubenstein, and other clients.  You may have even remembered some of them, only finding out now who that beautiful woman is. :-)  Well, Ms. Roberts has also put together a YouTube channel to promote her television advertising work.  Some of you may remember these commercials, too, while though some of you may be seeing them for the first time; Ms. Roberts has already included at least one of them on her main site already.  They all show another facet of her work as a model and show just how versatile and demanding the modeling profession is.  A lot of work and effort go into making a 30-second spot, and it takes a good deal of dedication and devotion to make it work.  That's why Catherine Roberts remains an active participant in the modeling profession. :-) The link, like all links to modeling and photography sites on this blog, is just below the members list and the blog archive field in the upper right hand corner of the screen, six spaces down the list.

As I noted back in January 2015, Ms. Roberts has been a friend of mine since I connected with her as a result of she and other high-profile models discovering my blog.  I had long found it unfortunate that she has rarely been known by her name, which is the reason I've featured her here so often.  That's why I'm as happy to add her YouTube channel to my list of permanent links as I was to post a link to her main Web site at the beginning of this year.  I am always glad, because of the joyous association I've had with her, to help get more people her YouTube channel and see her TV work.  She epitomizes what is best about the modeling profession.

 

I'm sure you'd agree. :-)

Merry Christmas. :-D :-)

Mexican actress Edith González

You've probably never heard of Edith González, unless you watch Telemundo serials or live in a town in the Southwest that gets Mexican TV.

And if you happen to be Mexican, then you have heard of her. :-)

She has been in more telenovela serials in Mexico that you can count.  She made her debut at the age of five in the the 1970 serial Cosa juzgada, and she's been doing them ever since.  Among her other  serials are 1986's Monte calvario, 1990's En carne propia, and  2009-2010 Camaleones, which ran in 2009 and 2010 and yielded an impressive 135 episodes in that short time.

Among her movies are 1988's Pero sigo siendo el rey, 1990's Fabricantes de pánico, and 1996's Salón México La Jaibitaanción.   Her earliest cinematic role, however, was not a Mexican one but an English one; in 1974 she played Fanny, the sister of Ebenezer Scrooge, as a child in a Spanish-language adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol.

TV newswoman Lesli Foster

If you watch local TV news in the Washington, D.C .metropolitan area, you know all about Lesli Foster.

She's the weeknight anchor for the weekday evening news broadcasts of WUSA-TV, Washington's CBS affiliate.  She also heads the station's Consumer Unit, through which she covers consumer news and issues.

Ms. Foster got her start in broadcast journalism in her native Michigan, as a weekend anchor and reporter for WEYI-TV in Flint.  She was a TV reporter for WBAL-TV in Baltimore before joining WUSA-TV.  Both of her former employers are NBC affiliates.

Model CariDee English

CariDee English is the Carrie Underwood of modeling.

Like Carrie Underwood, Ms. English came to prominence through a talent show.  She placed first in the the seventh cycle of the TV talent show "America's Next Top Model" in 2006.   As a result she got a $100,000 contract with the CoverGirl cosmetics brand, a modeling contract with Elite agency, and a six-page fashion editorial and cover for Seventeen (though she was 22). She's gone on to model in several fashion shows and appear in several magazines since.  She's also known for her ads for Stelara, a drug for curing psoriasis. 

I'm always happy to put a little English on this blog. ;-) :-)  

Model Donna Denton

Donna Denton is a fashion model from the 1980s.

She was primarily active in the middle of the decade, represented by the Wilhelmina agency in New York.

British actress Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke has a distinguished role in a popular TV series.

 

She plays Daenerys Targaryen in "Game of Thrones," the television series based on George R.R. Martin's book series of the same name, about fantasy medieval kingdoms.  Daenerys is a heroine of the stories, going from a meek girl to a strong woman who helps save people from bondage by leading an army to liberate their cities, in the style of Joan of Arc.

The British actress is also moving toward motion pcitres.  As of this writing, she has made two movies, Voice from the Stone and Me Before You, that are in post-production.

TV newswoman Kristina Behr

You might say that Kristina Behr was born into TV news.

The Greater New York-based newswoman was born in to a family involved in television production, and she received her broadcasting education from Boston University, where she earned a journalism degree.  Today, Ms. Behr reports for WPIX-TV in New York City and also does freelance anchoring for the New Jersey cable news channel News 12 New Jersey.

Fun fact:  As a girl, Ms. Behr would get to go to television studio sets, and she got her hair cut by the same stylists who did hair for soap-opera star Susan Lucci. :-D 

Musical actress Annaleigh Ashford

Annaleigh Ashford is another bright star on Broadway.

The Denver-born actress and singer has done numerous musical in New York.  She's played the Good Witch Glinda in Wicked and Margot in Legally Blonde, among other roles, and she was the original original Lauren in the Cyndi Lauper/Harvey Fierstein musical Kinky Boots, for which she received a Tony nomination in 2013 for the Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical.  She did win the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play, as well as the Outer Critics Circle's and the Drama Desk Awards' 2015 awards for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, for her portrayal of Essie Carmichael in a production of You Can't Take It With You.  Ms. Ashford has also been played small roles on television shows such as "Law & Order "and "Nurse Jackie," and she has also played Betty Dimello in the Showtime period drama series "Masters of Sex."  

Through January 2016, she plays a dog - yes, a dog - adopted by a New York City couple in the title role of the comedy musical Sylvia on Broadway, a role that has caused some controversy for being played by a woman.

Ms. Ashford also has her own cabaret show, Lost In the Stars, that toured between February 2014 and January 2015. 

The Latest Numbers

As indicated earlier, I have posted pictures of 930 different women as of now.

I have decided not to post statistics of my top ten posts this time; none of them have changed positions since I last did so, and so there's nothing really new to report.  Needless to say, my March 2014 post of weatherwoman Stef Davis continues to surge.  And some people out there have a special attraction to TV newswoman Atia Abawi;  not only does my post of her stubbornly hold on to the number ten spot, the numbers of views have actually gone up of late, if only just a bit (1,801, up three from September 2015).

Back tomorrow with another A-Z round of new subjects, which will spill over into the new year.  You were expecting me to feature a month's worth of beautiful dancers?  No, I do that every other December, and in even-numbered years. 

The Beauty of Retrospect: Yet Another Model Trio!

In the late sixties and early seventies, an up-and-coming generation of black fashion models had to assert themselves and fight hard for equal representation in fashion and beauty ads and fashion shows.  Alva Chinn, whom I featured earlier this month (November 2015) and who is a friend of mine, was one of those trailblazers. And she paved the way for subsequent generations of black models to follow their own paths in the modeling profession.  Here she is with two of them.

The seventies fashion and beauty legend is flanked by two women she no doubt inspired: Januel McKenzie on the left, and Shelby Coleman on the right.  I originally featured them earlier in 2015.

These two ladies have Alva Chinn to thank for their successes, and the warm expressions on their lovely faces show that they know it.  This is a sweet picture, a warm tribute to the black models of today and the woman who helped make their careers possible, here shown literally embracing her legacy. 

Januel McKenzie and Shelby Coleman couldn't have posed with a more generous, giving woman. :-)

The Beauty of Retrospect: Margrit Ramme

Margrit Ramme remains a model I never get tired of showing here.

But, then, how could I ever tire of her, with  her wavy blonde hair, her Teutonic coolness, and her ability to shine in any photograph, be it color or black-and-white?

She always looks beautiful, in any modeling assignment, be it editorial or commercial.  And her come-hither quality never fails to come thrtough, whether she's striking a coy pose in a photo like the picture above, from a 1977 ad for (psst!) ladies' undergarments . . .  

. . . or whether she's turning on the seductiveness in this ad for Chloé perfume. :-)

She's still, after all this time, one of my favorite models ever. :-)

The Beauty of Retrospect: Beverly Johnson, Close Up

And personal. :-)

I am always happy to revisit Beverly Johnson, one of my all-time favorite models.  Her closeups are probably her best shots, because the camera loves her perfect face and high cheekbones.

Sigihing yet, boys? :-)

The Beauty of Retrospect: Kenya Moore

I first featured Kenya Moore in March 2009.

Since then, she's continued to appear in movies, and she's also produced a few movies as the owner of the company Moore Vision Media.

Oh, she's also appearing in a reality show, I'm led to understand.

The Beauty of Retrospect: Alva Chinn

Alva Chinn is a model I love to revisit on this blog, given her formidable portfolio. :-)

For all of the exciting glamour she projects in the many stunning dresses and gowns she models, she looks just as stunning in a simpler ensemble like the one above, as well as in a Calvin Klein outfit as seen below (photographed by Rico Puhlmann).

For Alva Chinn, it's hard not to look beautiful;. :-)

Full disclosure: She's a friend of mine. 

The Beauty of Retrospect, Special Post: Kate Winslet!

When I posted a retrospective of Kate Winslet in September 2015, I mentioned some of her current and most recent movie projects, but one such project somehow escaped my notice.

She stars in Steve Jobs, a movie about the computer genius of that name, which opened in the U.S. in October 2015.  Ms. Winslet plays Joanna Hoffman, the marketing executive who worked with jobs on the team behind the Apple Macintosh PC.

From what I understand, she's gotten very good reviews.  But, of course!  :-) 

The Beauty of Anonymity: Clairol Model

I found this picture of a model for Clairol on an ad (from 2015) featuring coupons for the product being advertised - conditioner, or something like that.

She has a striking look, which, despite the fact that I don't know her name, was enough reason for me to feature her here, as my 930th subject.

So who is she?  What's her background?  What is, in fact, her name?  If you know the answers to these questions, please feel free to leave a comment on this post. :-)

Back soon - I'm finishing out the month of November with more retrospectives.    

Model Jennifer Woods

Jennifer Woods is a model from the 1980s with platinum-blonde hair and platinum-blonde looks. :-) 

Based in England, she was represented by the Freddie's agency in London for much of the decade.  She appeared in different sorts of ads in Europe in the eighties, including a print ad for the Nissan Silvia coupe (called the 200SX in the U.S.) 

Actress Allison Williams

Allison Williams is a young actress who's making a name for herself in both cable and broadcast television.

She plays Marnie Michaels on the HBO series "Girls," one of the many supportive friends of aspiring Brooklyn writer Hannah Horvath (played by Lena Dunham).  Marnie starts out as an art gallery assistant who pursues her own dream of making it in music.

Allison Williams made it in music on broadcast television when she played the title role in a live production of the musical Peter Pan (with Christopher Walken as Captain Hook) in December 2014, the second of NBC's first-Thursday-in-December live stage shows, which the network hopes will become a holiday tradition.

Fun fact:  Allison Williams is the daughter of NBC News anchorman Brian Williams.  After seeing her dad as a guest on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show," I'm willing to bet that she gets her performing smarts from him. :-)     

Model Valerie Robinson

Valerie Robinson is model from the 1980s, and she appeared in both editorials and ads.

She was represented by the prestigious Zoli agency in New York.

One of her editorial assignments was for an article titled "The Healthy Hair Regimen."  But you probably figured as much. :-)  

The Beauty of Retrospect, Special Birthday Post: Famke Janssen!

Famke Janssen, a model who made the successful transition to acting, and whom I've featured here before, celebrates her fiftieth birthday today.

And so do I! :-D

I know some sites say she was born in 1964, but her birth year is listed elsewhere as 1965, so I'm obviously going with that. ;-)   

Happy birthday to my astrological twin!

She recently joined the cast of the American TV series "How To Get Away With Murder."  

Kait Parker of The Weather Channel

Kait Parker is one of the lovely female meteorologists on the Weather Channel who's warm and sunny even when the forecast isn't.

The Texas native served as a morning on-camera weather forecaster at both WAKA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama and WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Fun fact:  Ms. Parker earned a bachelor's degree in atmospheric science from the University of Missouri and then went back to her alma mater to teach a course on storm chasing.  

Model Linda Miller

Linda Miller is a model from the late seventies.

She was represented by Elite Model Management in New York.

Weatherwoman Marja Martinez

Marja Martinez is yet another bright young star among on-camera meteorologists.

A former weatherperson at AccuWeather.com, she joined NBC News in October 2014.  According to her LinkedIn page - yes, she has one! - she would love to be part of a team of reporters, broadcasters and producers with a passion to keep viewers informed.  As a weatherwoman in a time of climate change - which is producing a lot of strong storms - she's certainly in the right place at the right time.

Maureen O'Hara: 1920-2015

It is great sorrow that I must report the death of one of my subjects on this blog. Maureen O'Hara, the Irish-born American actress who starred in films such as Miracle On 34th Street and The Quiet Man, and whom I featured on St. Patrick's Day 2010, dies on October 24, 2015.  My original post of Ms. O'Hara will remain online, but as always, I will not post any pictures of her going forward in keeping with my role against showing women who have since died.

And to acknowledge her memory  I honor her with this shamrock.  May the road to heaven rise to meet you, Maureen O'Hara. 

Model Kirsty Hume

Great Scot!

As far as models go, Kirsty Hume is, indeed, a great Scot. :-) 

The platinum-blonde British beauty is originally from Scotland, and she made her biggest splash as a model in the 1990s.  Here are Ms. Hume's credits, courtesy of Wikipedia:  Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Lanvin, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Lacroix, Gianfranco Ferré, Claude Montana, Alexander McQueen, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Prada, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Oscar de la Renta.  And that's just a partial list, folks.

She doesn't live in the Highlands anymore, but she is known to be a resident of Woodstock, New York.

Fun fact: Remember another Scottish celebrity, the singer Donovan?  Kirsty Hume was married to actor/musician Donovan Leitch, the singer's namesake son, for fourteen years beginning in 1997.  In other words, she was Donovan's daughter-in-law (though clearly never a mellow-yellow blonde).   

Catherine Dyer, Again

As stunning as those earlier color photos of Catherine Dyer are . . .

. . .she looks equally stunning in black-and-white photos.

Both of the photos, from the mid-eighties, were taken by her husband David Bailey. :-)

British model Catherine Dyer

Catherine Dyer has been a force in British fashion since the eighties.

She began as a model with the Models1 Elite agency in London, then moved on to the Askew Team agency.  Ms. Dyer has been one of the more sought-after models in London, and these pictures - all from 1984, showing her in Pino Lancetti dresses - clearly shows why.   

And what's her fashion philosophy?  "At the end of the day it’s not just about fashion, it’s about style and what you’re comfortable in," she says.

Oh yeah, she's been married to British photographer David Bailey - she's his fourth wife - since 1986, and she's the mother of two sons and a daughter.  Bailey, of course, is known for having been married to another woman named Catherine, an actress from France, and her surname also began with the letter D.  Know whom I'm talking about? ;-) 

Actress Blythe Danner

Blythe Danner is a legend, but until recently she'd never been a a big star.

Her memorable performances in movies such as 1776 - she played Thomas Jefferson's wife Martha -  and The Great Santini (as the wife of a tough-guy Marine pilot, played by Robert Duvall) were countered by roles in movies that weren't so successful, though not because of her.  Perhaps she was typecast to easily as a wife; she played the wife role (Dina Byrnes) in the 2000 comedy Meet the Parents and its sequels.

In 2015, though, Blythe Danner distinguished herself in I'll See You In My Dreams, about a widowed singer who pursues new friendships and a new relationship and lives live to the fullest. It's gotten her good reviews, and it's been seen as a positive response to ageism, particularly ageism against women. 

Blythe Danner has also made several television movies and appeared in numerous stage productions.  Her daughter is also an actress, I understand.  :-p

Fun fact.  Blythe Danner has actually played Martha Jefferson twice.  She reprised the role in a 1997 TV biography of the third President of the United States.    

Actress Jamie Chung

Jamie Chung started out as a reality star on MTV's "The Real World."  I don't like to include reality stars on this blog, but in the case of Ms. Chung, a daughter of Korean immigrants to the U.S., I'm happy to make an exception.  Because it turns out she can act! :-D

Although she's done some fluff (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry), Ms. Chung has shone in more serious roles like in the satirical film Burning Palms, as well as the 2012 independent film Eden, in which she played a girl abducted and forced into prostitution by human traffickers.  On TV, she also plays the warrior Mulan in the ABC fairy-tale series "Once Upon a Time." 

She's also engaged to actor Bryan Greenberg.

Model/actress Laetitia Casta

Don't let the name fool you. She's French. :-D

Laetitia Casta grew up on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, which is Italian culturally but French politically; her father is Corsican, while her mother is from Normandy.  She emerged as a model in the early nineties and did numerous ads for many different clothing brands - as also did a lot of Victoria's Secret catalogs - and appeared in several magazines (including, inevitably, the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue).

She made the transition to acting by first apeparing in Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar, a live-action film of a popular French comic book, "Asterix & Obelix."  But it was her portrayal of Brigitte Bardot in the Gainsbourg (Vie heroique) that got her taken seriously as an actress, earning her a Cesar award (France's equivalent of an Oscar).

Fun fact:  Ms. Casta was made the model for the statue of the allegorical female figure Marianne, the symbol of France which is duplicated all over France in front of public buildings.  It is an honor few French female icons have received.  Catherine Deneuve was one of them (but then, you probably figured as much). 

Model Karen Bjornson

Karen Bjornson was one of the most visible models of the seventies, thanks largely to the late designer Halston.

Ms. Bjornson, who is from Cincinnati, met Halston after only a month in New York and immediately became his muse.  And fashion buffs? They were all impressed with her Halston dress - the dress she's wearing in the Francesco Scavullo photo above - and they didn't really care about the people that she knew at Elaine's. ;-)

"He was my teacher, my employer, and a great friend," Ms. Bjornson said in 2010.  "I was so green when I started and he really took care of me. He was a funny, kind, and exceptionally talented man."

Karen Bjornson took time off from modeling to raise her daughters, but she re-emerged in the two thousand zeroes to appear in a couple of fashion shows, as well as do a J. Crew assignment.

The photo of Ms. Bjornson below is from 2010, taken by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders.

Actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson

Cynthia Addai-Robinson is a British-born American actress known for her roles in limited-run cable TV series.    

She is best known for her role as the loyal slave Naevia in the Starz television series "Spartacus," set in the days of Roman Republic - before the Empire, before Caesar - about a slave revolt against the Roman government.  But history buffs who concentrate on more recent history know her from her role in the History Channel miniseries "Texas Rising."

In that television production, about the Texan War for Independence against Mexico, she played Emily West, a mixed-race folk heroine believed to have been the lover of Sam Houston, played in this miniseries by Bill Paxton.  West is believed to have been the inspiration of the traditional song "The Yellow Rose of Texas." 

I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of this English-born rose in times to come.   Maybe even in another TV series about a revolution. :-)    

The Latest Numbers . . . and An Announcement

Here are the latest statistics showing the top ten posts for this blog, based on statistics kept since May 2010.  Feel free to click on the image.

No real change, but AccuWeather forecaster Stef Davis is still rising.  Possibly with good reason.

As I write this, a hurricane may be headed to New Jersey in a repeat of Sandy in 2012.  That could mean that I spend all of next week in the dark, unable to post here.  I might get in a couple of posts to start the month of October before Monday, October 5, when the storm would likely hit, but if I'm not around for a week and change after that, well, know you know the reason.

Back soon.