Marilyn Monroe Movie Monday: Ladies Of The Chorus by Don Wilson HOLLYWOOD,CA.: August 29, 2016-- Marilyn Monroe's movies will sometimes be spotlighted with some background and facts, this is this blog's first foray into's MM's film career with a lesser known film that Marilyn made, if you haven't seen it, it may be a treat with some great musical numbers by Monroe. This film was Marilyn's first starring role!
Ladies Of The Chorus was released by Columbia Pictures in 1949. The film was directed by Phil Karlson, the camera work was done by Fred Reman. The cast: Marilyn Monroe, Adele Jergens, Rand Brooks, Nana Bryant, Eddie Garr, Steven Geray, The Bobby True Trio, Bill Edwards, Marjorie Hoshelle, Frank Scannell, Dave Barry, Myron Healey, Robert Clarke, Gladys Blake, Emmett Vogan, Erin Selwyn, Marie Allison, Edna Ryan, Jane Hazard, Eve Whitney, Carole Gallagher and Marian Colby. The film runs at 61 minutes and is not readily available to the public.So here for your enjoyment is a link to watch the film:
An original lobby card for the 1949 Columbia release of Ladies Of The Chorus featuring a young Marilyn Monroe.
Holly Beavon personifies the image of the beloved Marilyn Monroe.
HOLLYWOOD: August 2016 -- Holly is one of the best known Marilyn Monroe Tribute Artists, like Marilyn, she lives in Hollywood, California. What makes Holly unique is that she not only performs as Marilyn but also other icons like Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Carole Lombard and even 'Felicity Shagwell' the character from the Austin Powers film. I sat down for two hours with this talented performer to look back on her life and into the future. Holly Beavon was born near San Jose, California on November 22nd, which in and of itself is an ominous date that is associated with the JFK assassination. Holly was born years later after that event, she finds it "ironic", as JFK and Marilyn Monroe have been linked together.
I asked Holly about the first time she learned of Monroe and what inspired her to perform as the blonde goddess: "The first time I ever heard the name Marilyn Monroe was the first time I ever put red lipstick on!" Beavon giggles. "I was about eight-year-old and I was at a friend's house. I had slept over, I grew up in churches, like, only churches, that's the only thing I knew. I was at this girl's house, her mom was deaf, I remember, and she loved to watch TV. She put some red lipstick on me and she's like 'You look like Marilyn Monroe!' "I then saw a promo on television for 'Some Like It Hot' and I was like 'Oh, that looks like so much fun! And my dad was like 'Oh, no, too sexy.' So, I was not allowed to watch it. Years later Beavon met one of the film's stars at Spago in West Hollywood - Tony Curtis. Curtis was with his wife, Jill and they had some small talk together at the bar. The photo below shows Beavon modeling Marilyn's actual dress from "The Prince And The Showgirl" period of Monroe's life in 1957, Marilyn not wear the dress in the film, but rather to a dinner engagement.
The San Diego Union Tribune said that Holly Beavon was an "incredibly credible facsimile" of Marilyn Monroe.
I asked Holly how she started to emulate Monroe in her career: "I was picking flowers, I had just moved to Indianapolis...I grew up in this Christian Fundamentalist School in Charlotte, North Carolina from like age eight through thirteen. I went to High School and College in Indianapolis.. anyway, I was picking flowers and this guy drove up in a Vespa and we became friends and he thought I should model and act. He was a model and actor, so he drove me to his agency and they threw me into class."
"In my class, I met this guy who was doing rewrites for a script and directing this film. I was living in Indiana and I auditioned for and got my first part in a movie, I saw the character breakdown and then it said 'Marilyn Monroe type'. The film was called 'Pushed Too Far'. It was fun to do and I got to the premiere and met Bernie Wayne who wrote the 'Miss America' song. "
Holly Beavon in a recreation of Marilyn performing "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend".
"He wanted to take me to Vegas right then and there and make me a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, I was only 15. He also wanted me to be in the pageant and also wanted me to come and sing Jazz with him. But, for my mom, that was just 'it', that was the last time she was supportive for me whatsoever was drive me to a couple of shoot days. Other than that, I was catching rides with the makeup artist, who's like still my adopted mom." "On my sixteenth birthday, I won a solo in choir for singing 'Santa Baby' and I won an acting award for that movie, and I got in my second car accident because my parents wouldn't even go with me, isn't that crazy? Instead I went with this friend of mine who ended up getting smashed drunk and we got in a wreck on the way home. It was nuts." Beavon, thankfully, didn't sustain any injuries, only her dress: "I tore the bow off my dress is all and I put it back on." "People started calling me, even though I didn't have bleached hair. I did after awhile and I started wearing crazy psychedelic 1960's clothes because I grew up at a Goodwill, I had no money or anything. I still love that stuff! Anyway, people are calling me Marilyn behind my back and there was an acting competition in Indianapolis, and people were suggesting 'You should do an monologue from 'Bus Stop'".
"But, I hadn't seen 'Bus Stop' - I didn't even know Marilyn had done it. I was really clueless." I did 'Bus Stop' and this other scene and I didn't even read the whole play of 'Bus Stop', I certainly didn't see the film. Anyway, I won and I got into a week long acting class with this lady named Clare Marshall who precast me as 'Rusty' in this play called "Goodbye, Charlie" which was written by George Axelrod. No one else was going for it and I ended up playing 'Charlie'. I found out just a couple of years ago that Marilyn was supposed to play 'Charlie' in the movie. "Clare Marshall ended up marrying this guy who was the former entertainment director for Harrah's Casino in Reno, Tahoe and Vegas. He needed a Marilyn for the President's Casino in Davenport, Iowa, so that was my first gig. I went in and auditioned for him and wore that pink dress I had wore at the movie premiere. I did the Dayton Air Show, which is a big deal, you know. I did some college theater, dance classes... I put myself through my own conservatory."
Holly Beavon arrives at Hangar 7 in Salzburg, Austria. Photo: Vivi Simon / Fotocafe
One of the most awesome jobs that was super fun...was one was in Salzburg, Austria and I presented this guy with a 47 million dollar jet in Hangar 7, which is the Red Bull Mogul's Museum to his racing and flight exploits and it looks like a big glass egg, it's gorgeous. I came down off the plane and surprised him with champagne! They had girls dressed up like Pan-Am attendants and there were only like 200 people there, but they were royalty and business people, friends of the guest of honor. They were a lot of fun and very approachable.".
Holly The Seamstress: Holly Beavon is a seamstress and she works on her own clothes, sometimes it can take years to do a dress the way she wants it. The reason is Beavon wears so many hats onstage and off - she has to find time to create her clothes. it's difficult when you are booked for so many performances as this young lady is.
" I started sewing when I was three, we had no money and it was a way to be creative. I would rather like make Barbie clothes, than I would play with the Barbies. I would rather design their houses. I was more into playing as a person, than playing with dolls. I was reading construction manuals by the age of eight. I've always been hands on to make stuff." "I want to get to know the people in the room that I am with. That's what makes me a good meet and greeter in my work. Not every lookalike is good at that, because some don't like the interaction, but I do."
The Many Faces Of Holly: "There's the craft side, which is knowing the makeup and the hair and the tools to accomplish it. There's knowing what you're looking at, knowing how different hair rollers respond, knowing how the hair falls. Knowing the different kinds of wigs and makeup and how to use it. I'm always continuing to learn. My friend Jimmy James, who was one of the best Marilyn drag queens of all time, ended up being my neighbor and we became good friends, so he taught me a couple of things. I finally found a really good eye shadow for my lid as Marilyn, it's really hard to find!"
Holly Beavon is a very talented, versatile actress and performer.
Holly - The Actress: I was so surprised looking at Holly's demo reel what a versatile actress she truly is, she is a master of makeup, clothes, voices and getting into iconic personas. It's a great feat to accomplish and yet she delivers her performances with ease. Beavon admits it is more natural for her to perform as Marilyn, because they do have certain things in common.
"As an actor , you have to study the person, and you have to watch all of the movies that you have time to watch. I did Marlene Dietrich and I only had a day to throw together the costume and learn the character. It take rehearsal and repetition to get into a character. Bette Davis is not the easiest voice for me to do, I really have to get into her character."
Holly Beavon's incredible transformation to Bette Davis.
Holly Naturally Sounds Like Marilyn: This writer had met Holly Beavon before, but it was closer to when she began her career, a lot has happened since then, but one thing remains the same, she naturally sounds like Marilyn Monroe when she speaks, sometimes you can't tell if she is being Marilyn or just herself. The two personalities seems to flow into one another, like two streams that meet.
Beavon: "Marilyn is the easiest for me to do, I mean, I feel like with Marilyn, really, the more I get to know her, she may not have been as hyper as I am. It's more like rewinding your brain to that time and place and manner for me. Our sense of humor is very similar in terms of the way we can state the obvious , but in a offhand kind of a way. It somehow lands like a clunk, but it's still funny. It's what I do naturally...there's a certain way that our brains work is similar enough, you know." "The party for Norman Lear was hilarious. It was just a little dining room party, I spent most of the time, waiting for the right time to appear. I went in to do my show and I came in singing 'Happy Birthday' with the cake and then went into 'I Wanna Be Loved By You'. After that, he was like "This IS Marilyn Monroe!' We were making crazy faces and crazy laughs for the camera and then I sang a couple of more songs. he wouldn't let me go until we had another crazy laugh off for the cameras." "I try to do what I do very well from a place of artistic and personal integrity. These people are icons, they deserve respect. I do my research, I try."
Holly Beavon with legendary car designer George Barris and actor Joe Mantegna.
What Marilyn Monroe Means To Holly Beavon: Beavon:"It's impossible for me to put it in a sentence, because Marilyn has transformed my life. I never in a million years would have had these experiences. when I look at it, you know, it's like, I've spent more time at parties and social events, as Marilyn, than myself or any other character." "Marilyn, in a lot of ways gave Norma Jean a character to communicate with the world as a shy person and understanding that time and place and what was going to sell. And for me, Marilyn has given me, a shy person, a way to become comfortable with the outside world. " "I've related to the world so frequently, of them already having love and affection for me. When you walk into the room and you're Marilyn, people love you. They have so much love for her. I get to experience that as well. It's allowed me to share a lot of honest, truthful, sweet, tender nice moments with people from all over the world and every type of person you could imagine. It's given me the most incredible view of humanity. Me, a shy person from absolutely nowhere - a Christian Fundamentalist not knowing anything about pop culture. It's given me a warm, fuzzy, soft place to experience things."
Holly performs for Murray Weissmann shortly before his 90th birthday. Weissmann was a Oscar campaign publicist for Weissman-Markovitz Communications.and a publicist for Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and other legends
The future looks limitless to Holly Beavon who wants to have her own showcase one day and incorporate her different personalities into it, giving evenings where friends and fans can come and see her in a scripted show unlike the one she does now. Until that time, Beavon looks forward to the next adventure in her busy career. She loves people, she loves to perform for them and bring smiles to their faces and importantly, she loves to meet the people who are her audience.
"Weird Al" Yankovic and Holly Beavon as Madonna performing in his parody video, "Born This Way"
"Weird Al" Yankovic featured Holly Beavon as Madonna in reference to numerous comparisons between Lady Gaga and Madonna.
Holly Beavon was featured as Marilyn Monroe Jared Leto's production of "Thirty Seconds To Mars - City Of Angels".
The August 6, 1962 edition of the New York Daily News with the headline of Marilyn Monroe's death.
HOLLYWOOD: August 1, 2016-- The headlines of Marilyn Monroe's death on August 5th, 1962 still ask the question of why the beloved star died at only age 36. In this writer's opinion, i do not believe that Monroe took her life as the coroner had stated, "probable suicide". There are still a lot of unanswered questions, conspiracy theories and unusual events that surround Monroe's death.
I know whenever I brought up the last night of Marilyn's life to friend Jeanne Carmen, she broke into tears. Marilyn had called Jeanne that last night and asked her to come over to keep her company, Carmen said she had drank too much to drive over - it was Carmen's birthday, August 4th. It haunted Jeanne Carmen until she passed away in 2007. Carmen said years ago: " I was devastated, it's still hard to talk about." After Marilyn Monroe's death, Carmen was warned by a private investigator that if she didn't leave Los Angeles, she'd end up in a box too.
I could write a thousand stories and there would still be unanswered questions, that's why I am going to include some documentaries along with this piece on Marilyn. Marilyn Monroe has surely proved her staying power in this world of come and go celebrities, she is still very popular, even with those who weren't even born during her lifetime, this include millennials. Monroe seems timeless and her appeal is worldwide to this day - even fifty-four years after her untimely death. It's the essence of Marilyn Monroe that keeps her memory alive, it's not the gossip, the controversies of her relationships with President John F. Kennedy or his brother, Robert F. Kennedy - there's a myriad of stories, some substantiated - some not. All of these elements fuel articles, documentaries, television specials and even radio shows. There's a new feature film that will go in production soon about her last days through the eyes of private detective Lou Morgan. The film is entitled Goodnight Marilyn, according to the film website:"Goodnight Marilyn artfully blends fact with fiction shining a new and unique perspective on the events of the last three days of Marilyn Monroe's life."
Marilyn is also kept alive by the new Blu-ray releases of her films that give her adoring public the highest definition picture and sound of her that is available. You can buy a set of her films in elegant packaging or collect them individually.There are also the books, the magazines and even a Marilyn Monroe clothing line, Marilyn Monroe wines, anything you can imagine, it's probably available for his many fans around the world to purchase and collect - and that they do. If you can't afford original memorabilia sold, there are also many reproductions that are available There are also the Marilyn Monroe Tribute Artists, some of which you will meet here from time to time on this blog. More than a half century has come and gone and the Marilyn Monroe legend has no signs of diminishing. This writer believes in part that Marilyn lives in the hearts of fans for a good reason, besides her personality, talent or looks - her love of her fans. Marilyn always took time for her fans, there are many instances that were either filmed or photographed of these occasions. There's Marilyn Monroe fan clubs to join, you can join one without dues on the internet, there are tons of her photos on the web, as well as groups. You could spend a considerable time on You Tube alone viewing Marilyn, clips of her films, home movies, specials and music videos culled from her films.
Marilyn signing for fans at the Hotel Del Coronado during the filming of "Some Like It Hot".
Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell at Grauman's Chinese Theatre at their hand and footprint ceremony on June 26, 1953.
When you visit Hollywood, California you can come to Grauman's Chinese Theatre - TCL and slip your hands into Marilyn's hand prints or stand where Marilyn did. There's always activity around Monroe's prints, I have seen it time and time again. You can visit the places where Marilyn lived, but be respectful of present owner's, at they make these residences their home now. There's something that can relate to Monroe around every corner of Hollywood it seems, it is after all her hometown.
Don Wilson and Jeanne Carmen photographed at Marilyn's Grave Site in 2002.
Any pilgrimage wouldn't be complete without visiting Marilyn's final resting place at Westwood Cemetary
Marilyn Monroe on Santa Monica beach photo graphed by George Barris in 1962.
The Los Angeles Times cited pills were blamed for Monroe's death. We now know that Marilyn had no glass of water in her locked bedroom that night.
The Following videos are about Marilyn's last days, here for your perusal.
Video: The Death Of Marilyn Monroe - Conspiracy Theories. August 4th 1962
