Jane Russell to perform tomorrow night

Here is an excerpt from an article in the Ventura (Calif.) County Star. A couple of the lines of background material sound a little familiar, as if they were lifted out of my book. I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

“Legendary film star Jane Russell will be heading south on the 101 from her Santa Maria home to make a rare local appearance Saturday night. She will be your singer at My Florist Cafe & Bar, a new venue in Ventura. Piano player Peter Clark will showcase his digit dexterity beforehand and later will accompany Russell.

"A voluptuous Valley Girl, easily able to fill a sweater, Russell was discovered by millionaire Howard Hughes in the early 1940s and cast in his controversial (at the time) Western, "The Outlaw.'' Hughes directed the 1943 picture himself and declared, "There are two good reasons why men will come to see her.'' He was right. Russell became one of the most popular World War II pinups.

"Russell's cleavage in "The Outlaw" caused a huge stir at the time, which the lady herself now dismisses as "insane'' and "ridiculous.'' The movie itself would probably be rated PG-13 these days. Russell signed an exclusive contract with Hughes and went on to make several films over a lengthy career. Her most popular starring role was in 1953's "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," which co-starred a young starlet named Marilyn Monroe.

"While most people remember Russell's movies, many forget she sang in several of her pictures and has performed in nightclubs for decades. In Ventura, the 87-year-old Russell will sing a few songs, tell a few stories from her six decades in show biz and screen clips of her films. It's a chance to kick it with a legend who is still in the spotlight. . . ."

To read the rest of the article, which includes an interview with Russell, go here.

Florida aviation museum features Hughes

The Toronto Star recently carried a travel piece about the Florida Aviation Museum and mentioned that it contains a big collection of Hughesiana:

"A completely different kind of art form can be found just outside Lakeland, in Polk County. It's a bit of heaven for those who like to soar: the Florida Air Museum.

"For museum curator Kathryn McManus, flying is a passion and an avocation.

"‘I feel like pinching myself every day that I get to work here,' she says. ‘They actually pay me to do this.'

Among the aircraft and flying memorabilia, there's a real jewel — the Howard Hughes personal aviation collection. The museum got a lucky break in 1996 when the Hughes Corp. wanted to empty its warehouse, says McManus. The Smithsonian turned down the collection and the Florida Air Museum stepped in.

So here, in a plain one-story building in the heart of Polk County, is the brilliant eccentric's extraordinary collection, including a scale model of the famous Spruce Goose, Hughes' flight suit and the flight suit of his one-time-lover Katharine Hepburn. There are also photos of the couple. Hughes' 1938 round-the-world fight ‘was like us going to the moon,' comments McManus, who plans to digitize the daily radio broadcasts Hughes made during that journey."

So, the Spruce Goose is in Oregon while Hughes' personal aviation collection is in Florida: I'll say that's a good 3,0o0 miles. Good thinking.

The TWA saga and Hughes

A website called 24/7 Wall Street, in a story about airline bankruptcies, offers this historical synopsis:

"TWA was Pan Am’s most formidable competitor for several decades. It was started in 1930. By 1938, TWA was running commercial flights around the US using DC-3 aircraft. Flying enthusiast Howard Hughes bought stock in the airline. A pilot’s strike in 1946 allowed Hughes the opportunity to put up the capital to take control of the troubled company. Hughes pushed the carrier into the Asian and European markets, putting TWA head-to-head with Pan Am. TWA began buying into the jet market, beginning service in 1956. It was aggressive in adding to its fleet, and in 1969 it moved ahead of Pan Am in total trans-Atlantic traffic and by 1988 it controlled over 50 percent of that entire market. Its dominance did not last long. Most of the European flag carriers and emerging U.S. airlines led by American and United wanted to cash in on the lucrative routes. Raider Carl Icahn took over the company in 1985. He had hoped to make money selling off the firm’s assets. The plan did not work and TWA filed for Chapter 11 in 1992. It operated under court protection and made a run at the domestic market that failed in 2001 when American bought its remaining assets."

Hughes wasn't involved with TWA after the mid-1960s, but this paragraph seems interesting in its entirety anyway.

Hughes and actor George Hamilton's mom

The actor George Hamilton has a new memoir out, and of course there's a Howard Hughes connection. In a recent feature about the book, the Toronto Globe and Mail reports:

"His love of women began with his mother, Anne Potter Hamilton Hunt Spalding, a multi-married Southern belle and beauty, nicknamed Teeny, whose motto should have been, ‘There's nothing incredible about miracles,' he writes. His father, husband No. 2, was a band leader, and after his parents' divorce, Teeny took her three boys across the country in a Buick Roadmaster to find a rich husband and a new life in Hollywood.

"‘Our road trip was all hopes and great expectations,' he explains. As the beautiful new face in Hollywood, she went out with a variety of men, including Howard Hughes and Ronald Reagan. The tale of his childhood adventures has been made into a film, My One and Only, a comedy starring Renée Zellweger as his mother, to be released next year."

I can't confirm it through an Internet search, but one has to wonder whether Hughes will be depicted in the movie. Considering she dated Hughes and Ronald Reagan, two of the biggest names of the 20th century, I know I'd want to put them in the movie.

Hughes connection to the late Mr. Blackwell

There's almost always a Hughes connection. I'm a little tardy in posting this one, but it's worth noting anyway.

The famous Mr. Blackwell, critic of celebrity fashion, died last month in Los Angeles at age 86. Blackwell became famous in the 1960s for his annual "worst dressed" lists that skewered some of the world's great stars, including, in the early days, Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor, and more recently, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.

Mr. Blackwell was born Richard Selzer in 1922 in Brooklyn, N.Y. He started out as an actor on Broadway, then moved to Los Angeles to break into the movies. In 1949, he was cast by Howard Hughes for a role in the movie "Vendetta." According to the Los Angeles Times, referencing Blackwell's autobiography:

"He credited aviation entrepreneur and movie producer Howard Hughes with changing his name to Richard Blackwell. Hughes cast him in ‘Vendetta' and chose the new name to sound ‘theatrical, polished, memorable,' Blackwell wrote."

Ironically, Blackwell's scenes didn't make it into the movie. But while the movie was being made, Blackwell met Robert Spencer, a hairdresser, and they became business partners. They formed a talent agency and Blackwell designed dresses for the female singers they handled. The dress designs were so well received that Spencer and Blackwell, who also had a personal relationship, closed the talent agency and opened a fashion firm called Mr. Blackwell that operated until the mid-1970s. Blackwell also designed costumes for Las Vegas entertainers.

The name change prompted by Hughes played a significant role in the future career of Mr. Blackwell. It's another case of Hughes doing something, inadvertent or otherwise, that had unintended consequences, in this case positive.