Tuesday
Aug072012
Actress a Day: Jayne Mansfield
Tuesday, August 7, 2012 at 7:02AM For the month of August I'm drawing an Actress a Day to finally get over my fear of drawing on the computer -- That's what's holding up "Actressland", a webcomic series that's been evolving in my head for ages. Today inspired by Illustration Friday's word of the week "bounce" I went with Jayne Mansfield on a whim ...and with a jiggle
Confession: I've never seen a Jayne Mansfield movie. Have you? "The Working Man's Marilyn Monroe*" made a lot of them but she remained more famous for her breasts than her acting. (Like Shelby, Pink was her signature color.)
*This designation kind of stuck to her 50s pinup legacy but how was Marilyn Monroe not the working man's Marilyn Monroe herself? She belonged to everyone.
Reader Comments (14)
Love your drawings. You should sell them!
You could edit this Actress a Day as an album!
I mean it!
I have this green policy of only buying ebooks and not print at all, so I wouldn't buy an album, but I'd buy these drawings in high resolution to print them myself.
cal -- wait isn't printing using paper even if you do it yourself ;) I'm trying to go green myself cuz i use a TON of paper so i'm forcing myself to do things more digitally
Yes, but think about how much carbon. Priting, shipping, delivering... If I have to own something print, I print it myself.
I actually live just a few minutes away from her death site, I see it all the time. There's a tiny memorial for her there, though I'll admit that I, too, have never seen a film of her's.
Oh, and I love her daughter.
Nathaniel, I do think it is time for your own etsy store ;)
thanks Alexa -- i always feel so inadequate though because there's so much great professional art on the web.
I have seen The Girl Can't Help It and it's one of my favorite comedies. It is really in the rank with Marilyn's Some Like It Hot and Seven Year Itch if not better cause it's real satire. You really should check it out!
Nathaniel, Jayne's tits look like your butt!
Can you explain what "Actressland" is all about? Sounds like something that would be a must read for me.
I love it! Jayne Mansfield's the type of movie star whose back story I know even if I haven't seen any of her films... which I admit I haven't. I'm excited by both 'Actress a Day' and the idea of 'Actressland'. This should make August fabulous.
Great drawing :D Keep it up!
I recommend 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?' which is a sharp comedy about Hollywood from 1957. Also consider checking out 'Promises! Promises!' from 1963. It's ridiculously stupid, but Jayne became the first Hollywood star to go topless on film.
Love the drawing and have seen quite a few of her films, a surprising number once I started thinking about it.
The Good (there are only a very few):
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?-Her big stage success and breakthrough brought to the screen, she's a walking, talking Barbie Doll but funny and Tony Randall and Joan Blondell are great.
The Girl Can't Help It-Mostly for the music but Jayne looks amazing.
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw-Western spoof with Jayne a rootin' tootin' crack shot and Kenneth More as a fish out of water English man who somehow ends up as in charge of the title town.
The Passable:
Kiss Them For Me-If you're a Cary Grant fan this is an adequate but crass, flat comedy. Jayne surely did it to work with him but he should have known better.
A Guide to the Married Man-Dumb but an amazing array of stars pass through and I'm a sucker for any movie that stars the late great Inger Stevens.
The George Raft Story-Mediocre and her part isn't that big but it was one of the last decent films she appeared in.
It Takes a Thief-Low budget but compact little British crime drama. Jayne isn't that good but neither is she bad.
The Bad to Truly Awful:
Single Room Furnished: Jayne's last, she's brunette in this and tries but the film is cheapjack junk and defeats her. This is merely bad what follows is the bottom of the barrel.
It Happened in Athens-A dreadful story set at the Olympics
Las Vegas Hillbillys-Mindnumbingly awful
The Loves of Hercules-Ditto plus it's horribly dubbed.
I've heard that The Wayward Bus is good and she's good in it but it's impossible to find.
I don't know about her being the working man's Marilyn Monroe so much as the poor man's Marilyn. She certainly had a distinctive look and some comic ability but she possessed none of Marilyn's soulfulness, her flesh impact on camera nor Marilyn's ability to make any material better just by her presence.
I really like Mariska Hargitay a completely different persona from her mother but at times the resemblance comes through and is quite striking, more so now than when she was younger.
I love this drawing :)