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I had a thought today, but Jayne had a lucrative stage and television career. Her break came on Broadway in WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?, which had a lengthy of over a year. She later performed in successful tours of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and BUS STOP (both stories Marilyn had cemented on film) as well as RABBIT HABIT and CHAMPAGNE COMPLEX (which Jayne apparently wanted to do as a movie with Bob Hope, but he declined).
As a tidbit, one writer said, "If Marilyn Monroe was the Broadway of the blonde bombshells, then Jayne Mansfield was the roadshow."
As it's been said, Marilyn would never have had the punctuality and professional discipline for a stage career, whether on Broadway or even in Las Vegas. Speaking of the latter, Jayne was the first celebrity to earn upwards of $25,000 a week in Las Vegas for her TROPICANA HOLIDAY show in 1958. Her later forays into Vegas, THE HOUSE OF LOVE and FRENCH DRESSING, lacked the same quality, but still drew big crowds.
Jayne also had a prolific television career. She appeared on various game shows, talk shows, variety shows, and other episodic shows. Some of her best work on TV has to be what she did with different comedians. She worked with several -- Jack Benny, Jack Paar, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, Steve Allen, and others. Jayne's third husband, Matt Cimber, said she "had a wonderful rapport with comedians" because "she wasn't afraid to give them the setup" and "to have the joke be on her, and most of the time it was on her".
Mansfield's performance in a 1962 episode of the short-lived anthology FOLLOW THE SUN called "The Dumbest Blonde" was heralded as the beginning of a "new and dramatic Jayne Mansfield". It was an extremely well-received episode. She did a remake of Monroe's 1953 bit with Jack Benny on a 1963 episode of his self-titled TV show. Both episodes are available on YouTube, but it's interesting to see how Monroe's version mentions her film GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES by name, whereas Mansfield's version doesn't mention PROMISES! PROMISES! at all.
"TV suited her image," said one writer, "but she could never do more than occasional guest spots. Her bread and butter continued to be promotional appearances." Jayne did a lot of promotional tours and advertisements during her career, sometimes being paid in merchandise instead of cash. It has been that she furnished her Pink Palace "for almost next to nothing" because of her ability to self-promote and work out different deals to get such household appliances as dishwashers and stoves.
I say all that to say this -- Jayne Mansfield had a much "fuller" career than some give her credit for. Sure, she sandwiched herself into a parodic and quite limited persona, but she rode said persona successfully for a number of years. Even when the movie roles dried up, she still has TV, promotional appearances, and the stage. Her TV appearances are still a treat to seek out and rediscover.
As a tidbit, one writer said, "If Marilyn Monroe was the Broadway of the blonde bombshells, then Jayne Mansfield was the roadshow."
As it's been said, Marilyn would never have had the punctuality and professional discipline for a stage career, whether on Broadway or even in Las Vegas. Speaking of the latter, Jayne was the first celebrity to earn upwards of $25,000 a week in Las Vegas for her TROPICANA HOLIDAY show in 1958. Her later forays into Vegas, THE HOUSE OF LOVE and FRENCH DRESSING, lacked the same quality, but still drew big crowds.
Jayne also had a prolific television career. She appeared on various game shows, talk shows, variety shows, and other episodic shows. Some of her best work on TV has to be what she did with different comedians. She worked with several -- Jack Benny, Jack Paar, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, Steve Allen, and others. Jayne's third husband, Matt Cimber, said she "had a wonderful rapport with comedians" because "she wasn't afraid to give them the setup" and "to have the joke be on her, and most of the time it was on her".
Mansfield's performance in a 1962 episode of the short-lived anthology FOLLOW THE SUN called "The Dumbest Blonde" was heralded as the beginning of a "new and dramatic Jayne Mansfield". It was an extremely well-received episode. She did a remake of Monroe's 1953 bit with Jack Benny on a 1963 episode of his self-titled TV show. Both episodes are available on YouTube, but it's interesting to see how Monroe's version mentions her film GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES by name, whereas Mansfield's version doesn't mention PROMISES! PROMISES! at all.
"TV suited her image," said one writer, "but she could never do more than occasional guest spots. Her bread and butter continued to be promotional appearances." Jayne did a lot of promotional tours and advertisements during her career, sometimes being paid in merchandise instead of cash. It has been that she furnished her Pink Palace "for almost next to nothing" because of her ability to self-promote and work out different deals to get such household appliances as dishwashers and stoves.
I say all that to say this -- Jayne Mansfield had a much "fuller" career than some give her credit for. Sure, she sandwiched herself into a parodic and quite limited persona, but she rode said persona successfully for a number of years. Even when the movie roles dried up, she still has TV, promotional appearances, and the stage. Her TV appearances are still a treat to seek out and rediscover.
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Back when I first became a Marilyn Monroe fan, I was infatuated with her. My parents, brother, cousins, and all bought all sorts of stuff bearing her likeness. I used to take the pictures and movies I got to my grandparents' house so they could see it. My nanny was always interested, and so was my papa, but he'd usually tell me, "You need to get some Jayne Mansfield stuff."
You see, my papa never found Marilyn to be "all that hot" -- it was Jayne he was enamored with. He never mentioned anything about watching her movies or anything, but he was adamant that Jayne was better-looking that Marilyn. I once took one of my favorite Marilyn pictures for them to see. When my papa held it to look at, he said, "They wasn't anything pretty about her but her teeth." Of course, he was picking with me, but it just reinforced the notion that he didn't find Marilyn too good-looking.
With that, I'll always remember it was Jayne Mansfield that my papa found the hottest of the '50s blonde bombshells.
You see, my papa never found Marilyn to be "all that hot" -- it was Jayne he was enamored with. He never mentioned anything about watching her movies or anything, but he was adamant that Jayne was better-looking that Marilyn. I once took one of my favorite Marilyn pictures for them to see. When my papa held it to look at, he said, "They wasn't anything pretty about her but her teeth." Of course, he was picking with me, but it just reinforced the notion that he didn't find Marilyn too good-looking.
With that, I'll always remember it was Jayne Mansfield that my papa found the hottest of the '50s blonde bombshells.
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I am more of a Jayne Mansfield fan than a Marilyn Monroe fan.
Both are good
Both are good
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Again, Mansfield was prettier as a brunette -- and an even prettier brunette than Marilyn was.
Somehow, Mansfield's gorgeous facial features seemed to get lost in all the peroxide:
Somehow, Mansfield's gorgeous facial features seemed to get lost in all the peroxide:
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According to her eldest daughter, Jayne Marie, it was sometime around 1963-64 when Mansfield decided to "change her image". She started "wearing her hair up, she started wearing high-neck dresses, she started wearing gray and conservative clothes". This also a time she dyed her hair dark, and also when she "became very serious in her attitude about getting good roles in films", but Hollywood was over her by this point. Marilyn had died, and the era of the big, busty blondes had passed. As one biographer wrote, "fashionable figures went from full to stick".Again, Mansfield was prettier as a brunette -- and an even prettier brunette than Marilyn was.
Somehow, Mansfield's gorgeous facial features seemed to get lost in all the peroxide:
But I'll agree with you, Snark, that Jayne was quite attractive as a brunette. The hair color seems more suited to her and her features than the platinum blonde look she's most associated with. Even on Marilyn, the "dyed blonde" job didn't look quite as out-of-the-box as it did with Jayne.
Below is a terrible quality screenshot of how Jayne looked after her early-60s makeover.
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A quick perusal through Youtube shows that Jayne did mostly, but not entirely, adopt a less overtly sexual wardrobe after the early 60s. But circa '66 she was still doing the same schtick as in '56 -- the same 'sexy' breathless cooing that Marilyn had phased out long before the 60s rolled around. More than anything else, it's why Jayne never amounted to much. She was a personality, and a fairly limited one at that. She was suited to game shows or variety show appearances.
Skimming through some of Jayne's TV appearances points out how prudent Marilyn was to avoid the medium after the early 50s, as she would have been subjected to the same dumb, semi-lascivious gags by Milton Berle or Bob Hope. (I do wish Marilyn had turned up during the I LOVE LUCY Hollywood episodes, though.)
Skimming through some of Jayne's TV appearances points out how prudent Marilyn was to avoid the medium after the early 50s, as she would have been subjected to the same dumb, semi-lascivious gags by Milton Berle or Bob Hope. (I do wish Marilyn had turned up during the I LOVE LUCY Hollywood episodes, though.)
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A&E said "TV suited her image", and they were right. Her giggly and bubbly "dumb blonde" stereotype lent itself good to TV game shows and variety shows.
This would've been a delight!
Apparently Fox said TV was "the wrong medium" for Marilyn and urged her away from doing it more. It was either Fox or one of her agents that told her that after 1953 appearance on Jack Benny's show.
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Tony Randall once said that Mansfield's "entire career was based on spoofing Marilyn Monroe", adding that "she didn't take herself too seriously, and she was out for laughs".
One man, but I forget his name, said of Jayne: "I think she felt she wasn't going to have a long career. That's why she went for exploitation-type films. She settled for what she could get."
Roger Ebert said of her: "Finally, in PROMISES! PROMISES! she did what no Hollywood actress ever does except in desperation: she made a nudie. By 1963, that kind of box office appeal was about all she had left."
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The "trailer" for THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW (1958) that doesn't feature a single clip from the actual movie. It has some "real audience members" talking about how "fresh" the comedy is, as what appears on the screen hypes up the pairing between Mansfield and English actor Kenneth More.
I've seen the movie once or maybe twice. I mean, it isn't terrible, but it isn't that good, either. This was the beginning of the phase when Fox was burning off Jayne's contract by sending her overseas to make movies. They financed and distributed FRACTURED JAW, but it was be their penultimate attempt at doing so for Jayne; with IT HAPPENED IN ATHENS (shot in 1960, but released in 1962) being their last.
I've seen the movie once or maybe twice. I mean, it isn't terrible, but it isn't that good, either. This was the beginning of the phase when Fox was burning off Jayne's contract by sending her overseas to make movies. They financed and distributed FRACTURED JAW, but it was be their penultimate attempt at doing so for Jayne; with IT HAPPENED IN ATHENS (shot in 1960, but released in 1962) being their last.
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Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe - both iconic
I prefer Jayne Mansfield to Marilyn Monroe
and I prefer Jane Russell to both!
I prefer Jayne Mansfield to Marilyn Monroe
and I prefer Jane Russell to both!
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You sound like my dad. He said Jane Russell looked better than them all!
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Jayne admitted she wasn't big breasted, she had a big torso.
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Probably the reason she looked so blowsy in the mid-60s. The big hair of the era made her face look rounder and the mod fashions made her look dumpy rather than curvy.
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Dumpy?
I would guess that if Jayne Mansfield is the standard, than many women would... have an opinion
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Well, he's referring to the look she eventually took on in the '60s -- and indeed, her hair cut and the new fashions did in fact make her look a bit more round than voluptuous per se.
Which is probably why the Beatles were, by their own admission, mean to her in the press.
This look is more Lil Abner than Marilyn-esque:
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Right. Jayne was a bit heavier in the 60s -- she had been repeatedly pregnant after all -- but it was far more to do with her fashions. Her hair, makeup and wardrobe in the mid to late 60s was very unflattering to a woman of her shape. She often looked slatternly; Diana Dors too, but she leaned into it and became a character actress.
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Was a different Jayne Mansfield acting in the 50s and 60s?
Dumpy? Slatternly/ Rotund?
Denigrating observations about Hair, Makeup, Wardrobe and figure?
I don't understand
Dumpy? Slatternly/ Rotund?
Denigrating observations about Hair, Makeup, Wardrobe and figure?
I don't understand