Marilyn Monroe as Lillian Russell. Russell was one of the most famous actresses & singers at the turn of the century, known for her beauty & style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.

Marilyn Monroe as Theda Bara, silent film star from 1914 – 1926.

In 1958 Monroe posed for a series of photographs taken by Richard Avedon for Life Magazine. The photographs were to accompany an article titled “Fabulous Enchantresses” where Monroe recreated five famous actresses, Lillian Russell, Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, & Marlene Dietrich. Though Avedon was not completely happy with the photographs, the pictures appeared in the Christmas issue of Life. This issue also included her husband, playwright Arthur Miller's article “My Wife” which introduced Monroe’s “Fabulous Enchantresses”.

Monroe as Clara Bow.

Monroe as Jean Harlow.

Monroe as Marlene Dietrich.

Here's 3 year old Norma Jean on the beach with her mother Gladys in 1929

May 27, 1958

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Marilyn Monroe posing as Jean Harlow, Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Lillian Russell and Marlene Dietrich photoshoot for LIFE magazine, photographs by Richard Avedon.

Marilyn Monroe as Jean Harlow, Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Lillian Russell and Marlene Dietrich photographed by Richard Avedon to recreate images of five celebrated actresses of different eras. Entitled “Fabled Enchantresses” the piece was part of the magazine’s December 22 “Christmas” issue. Avedon found in Marilyn an easy subject to work with.

QUOTE OF THE DAY ↓

“She was so lovely and too young to die. God bless her… I never met Marilyn Monroe, but if I had, I would have tried very hard to help her. A sex symbol is a heavy load to carry when one is tired, hurt, and bewildered.” - Clara Bow

beautiful women of the past (imo) iiii

In 1958, LIFE Magazine invited Marilyn Monroe and photographer Richard Avedon to recreate images of five celebrated actresses of five different eras. The story entitled “Fabled Enchantresses”, featured Monroe as Lillian Russell - turn-of-the-century American actress and singer, Theda Bara as Cleopatra, Clara Bow - the “IT” girl, Jean Harlow (Her Idol) and Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola in The Blue Angel. The piece was part of the magazine’s December 22 “Christmas” issue and included an article by Marilyn’s playwright husband, Arthur Miller, entitled “My Wife, Marilyn”.

Alice Faye in Lillian Russell (1940). Costume by Travis Banton.

Beautiful Alice Faye in Lillian Russell 1940 👯‍♀️

Hot Vintage Stage Actress Round 1

Lillian Russell: Lady Teazle in Lady Teazle (1904 Broadway); Henrietta Barrington in Wildfire (1908 Broadway); Laura Curtis in The Widow's Might (1909 Broadway)

Ethel Barrymore: Nora Helmer in A Doll's House (1905 Broadway); Rose Trelawny in Trelawny of the Wells (1911 Broadway); Rose Bernd in Rose Bernd (1922 Broadway); Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1922 Broadway); Ophelia in Hamlet (1925 Broadway); Constance Middleton in The Constant Wife (1926 Broadway); Marie-Louise in L'Aiglon (1934 Broadway)

Propaganda under the cut

Lillian Russell:

Ethel Barrymore:

Literally referred to as “The First Lady of the American Theatre,” Ethel is hands-down my favorite of all the Barrymores (no offense to her grand-niece Drew), and a certified icon. She has a breathtakingly beautiful portrait in the National Portrait Gallery of her as Madame Trentoni in Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, the show that would make her a star. When adoring audiences kept demanding more and more curtain calls after every performance and she said “That's all there is—there isn't any more!" it became a catchphrase found all over the 1930s. She was a strong union member and instrumental in the Equity strikes of 1919, even when it cost her relationships with important Broadway producers like George M. Cohan. She had a Broadway theater named after her when she was still alive (and still actively working!), and it still bears her name nearly 100 years later. A star of her wattage is rare indeed, and on top of her myriad accomplishments, she’s really fucking hot!!! A young Ethel is beautiful, an older Ethel is dignified, the woman has PRESENCE and a knowledge in her eyes, and there’s a smidge of play dancing underneath her surface. Vote for a genuine Legend of the American Theatre, vote for Ethel Barrymore

Remembering Lillian Russell on her birthday #botd

1908 October The Theatre - Lilian Russell 1006X1400. Unfortunately, I did not record the source of this image,

Lillian Russell (1860-1922) - The Amazing Life Of A “Scandalous” Operetta Diva

Her importance has been somewhat exaggerated because of her looks and mini scandals … she has become a ‘name’ … witness the film. But she’s still fun!”

Indeed, she is. And in many ways her career is typical of other famous operetta divas from the 19th century, be it in Paris or Vienna. So I think it’s worth presenting Helena Louisa Leonard afresh, the woman born on 4 December 1860 in Clinton, Iowa, who died in New York in 5 June 1922 and was “America’s queen of comic opera in the last decades of the 19th century”, a “buxom beauty of early 20th-century Broadway burlesque.”

Lillian Russell in 1905. (Photo: Benjamin Falk)

ACTRESSES WHO DIED 1922

Lillian Russell at 61 from illness

Lillian Russell (December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922), was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for her beauty and style, as well as for her voice and stage presence.

Russell was born in Clinton, Iowa, but raised in Chicago. Her parents separated when she was 18, and she moved to New York with her mother. She began to perform professionally by 1879, singing for Tony Pastor and playing roles in comic opera, including Gilbert and Sullivan works. Composer Edward Solomon created roles in several of his comic operas for her in London. In 1884, they returned to New York and married in 1885, but in 1886, Solomon was arrested for bigamy. For many years, she was the foremost singer of operettas and musical theatre in the United States, performing continuously through the end of the 19th century.

In 1899, she joined the Weber and Fields' Music Hall, where she starred for five years. After 1904, she began to have vocal difficulties and switched to dramatic roles. She later returned to musical roles in vaudeville and retired from performing around 1919. Russell was married four times, but her longest relationship was with Diamond Jim Brady, who supported her extravagant lifestyle for four decades. In later years, she wrote a newspaper column, advocated women's suffrage, was a popular lecturer, and contributed to the passage of the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924.

Quelques portraits de Lillian Russell, actrice et chanteuse du XIXème et XXème siècle

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/lillian-russell-actrice-et-chanteuse-1900/

Quelques portraits de Lillian Russell, actrice et chanteuse du XIXème et XXème siècle

Diane Brill channeling Lillian Russell.

Lillian Russell (actress) in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience, 1882 at the Bijou.

Observation I made:

During this part of WftD, the closer the choir is to the front, the more violently they thrash around.

Ricky doesn't really thrash and only raises his crutches.

Mischa and Noel are slightly more intense but it mostly looks like they're reaching for something.

Ocean and Constance have the most intense and violent movements. Ocean's hair flips around and she twists; Constance flails then snaps right back into place

Maybe everyone knows that XD but hey I was the first person to make a post about so there's that! >:D