Monday, November 30, 2009

Tribute to Martin Ransohoff Earlier This Year and Another Take on the Polanski Case

I didn't know that Ransohoff was being honored this year?  I found this article from May 15, 2009:


A recent photo of Ransohoff

A Tribute to Producer Martin Ransohoff  May 3, 2009

This is an Egyptian Theatre Exclusive

Producer Martin Ransohoff started out in television and, after an incredible success story with the original "The Beverly Hillbillies" beginning in 1962, graduated to producing hit motion pictures the same year with BOYS’ NIGHT OUT and THE WHEELER DEALERS. A string of critically acclaimed and successful movies came in their wake, including THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY, THE SANDPIPER, THE CINCINNATI KID, THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, DON’T MAKE WAVES, ICE STATION ZEBRA, CATCH-22, 10 RILLINGTON PLACE, SAVE THE TIGER, SILVER STREAK, THE WANDERERS and JAGGED EDGE, to name just a few of his many hits! He was also partly responsible for helping to launch the careers of such actresses as Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret and Sharon Tate. Join us for some of producer Martin Ransohoff’s favorite films. He’ll be here in-person for two out of the three evenings!  



Here are the highlights of the films they showed:

http://www.egyptiantheatre.com/archive1999/2009/Egyptian/Martin_Ransohoff_ET2009.htm

Another mention announces it this way:

Director Arthur Hiller & Producer Martin Ransohoff In Person at the Egyptian

Producer Martin Ransohoff is the subject of a tribute this weekend at the Egyptian Theatre. Though himself, not a household name, his films are quite famous. He got his start in television producing "The Beverly Hillbillies" and went on to produce THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY (starring Julie Andrews & James Garner (forever Jim Rockford of "The Rockford Files" to TV fans), helmed by LOVE STORY director Arthur Hiller. Hiller, a former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, will appear in person with Ransohoff to reminisce about making 'EMILY' in 1964. MARY POPPINS starring Andrews was also released in 1964.


Director Arthur Hiller today


Ransohoff will be joined by Robert Loggia for a look at JAGGED EDGE on Sunday, May 3rd. Loggia was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as investigator Sam Ransom. Another highlight is ICE STATION ZEBRA on May 2nd, the film that eccentric, compulsive billionaire Howard Hughes watched repeatedly in his private screening room (remember the days before video let alone DVD???) Join us for some big screen action. Also screening are, SAVE THE TIGER and THE CINCINNATI KID with Steve McQueen.

For more on the films they showed go to the 2nd article here:

http://americancinematheque.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about if anyone present asked about Sharon.  But here is a summary of the events from a fan that was there:

Mister, we could use a producer like Martin Ransohoff again. And again and again.

Sunday the Egyptian played host to the final night of the Martin Ransohoff tribute. Joining Mr. Ransohoff on stage were the evening’s host, Alan Rode and one of the truly great veteran Hollywood actors, ROBERT LOGGIA.

Much of Friday’s bloggery was taken up with war’s ugliness. Sunday’s double bill encompassed far less grave subject matter, namely murder, betrayal, gambling, small-fry in comparison. All encased in a pair of classic films that continue to mature, recruit new fans to the table, and send the rest of us reeling back in timed-release-capsules.

How such a diverse career? A filmography from which any handful of titles will yield the same results: stories seemingly world’s apart – polar opposites (ICE STATION ZEBRA was Saturday). If anything holds true in an overview, it is this extreme diversity of thematic commitment. And a handling of the material that was –don’t say it, don’t say it – edgy! A producer who exhibited more than just a token willingness to take chances, but real desire and as we heard Friday, one that was willing to go up against studio bosses, to fight for an artistic choice, despite the box office impaction. It is testament to Ransohoff’s guiding hand and diligence that the films are both timelessly entertaining and revelatory of their respective “times.”

The “knife with the jags” certainly holds up, clearly if tonight’s audience was any indication. Collective gasps and a “yeah” when the killer gets “his,” same as the day it was made. Pure 80s gold, prototypical of an entire subgenre, sporting a razor sharp script by the screenwriter who virtually defined the era’s potboiler, Joe Eszterhas, very quickly into the Q&A one begins to realize, that this is one more movie whose story belongs to the man who first conceived of the basic idea, none other than Martin Ransohoff. Not stated in some vanity mirror-moment-of-reflection, rather matter-of-factly in the first moments of discussing the project. “Basically the original idea for the movie was mine.”

Much like the way Mr. Ransohoff refers to himself as a “creative producer,” completely lacking in pretense. He is in fact un-credited on EDGE as he was, we learn, on much of his earlier work.

He mentions it in passing, like the CINNCINNATI KID’s locale being shifted from St. Louis where Richard Jessup’s novel is set, to New Orleans and a more bygone era. Ransohoff: “I’m from New Orleans.” If you’ve seen KID you know how pivotal the Big Easy’s setting is to the movie. If you haven’t seen it, than where the heck were you Sunday Night?

Between films, Mr. Ransohoff took a seat on stage between Robert Loggia and Alan Rode, the Q& A having commenced while he was returning from the lobby and Mr. Loggia recounting a dinner at Spago’s and nearly begging for the role of Sam Ransom. A performance which would land him an Oscar nom., the part had originally been set for Jason Robards, a much older actor. It was Loggia’s input that led to the character’s incorporation of the “F” carpet-bombing, and other major changes that were eventually embraced by both the director, Richard Marquand and Ransohoff.

Repeatedly, as audience, we bear witness to producer Ransohoff’s openness to the collective give and take of the creative process. Loggia said, “Marquand listened and was a gentleman.” The same holds true in spades for Ransohoff.

Ransohoff stated that as a producer, “after my first five or six pictures, I spent very little time on the set. My bonus to a director was not to have to see me.” To the “director who was doing his job… if dailies looked good, if we were on budget, my gift was to stay away… Plus, sitting around on a film set, watching films being made is like watching paint dry.”

Watching a Ransohoff movie is nothing like latex. Also, make note, “director doing his job.”

What might stand out the most in reviewing Ransohoff’s credits (he made the number at 41) is the sheer span of time – the post war 50s, the 60s, and on into the 80s – Mega eras of cultural and social upheaval, shifting norms and taboos, all reflected in shades of nuanced entertainment, engaging and more often than not, challenging, work. Culled from some of the greatest literary sources of the day, “I bought the rights to the book,” and so it would start.

Loggia remarked that he had recently turned 79 years of age, and with Ransohoff at somewhere in the low 80s, both gentlemen were still “ambling,” as Loggia put it, albeit at a somewhat leisurely pace. And this here is one darn glad moviegoer – I’m thinking next month for another six of the 41!

Wonder who I can ask about that?

Wish I could have asked Hiller if Sharon was really in "The Wheeler Dealers" and "The Americanization of Emily" like I have heard?  And there would endless questions to ask Ransohoff.

Another Take on the Polanski Case now that Roman is on house arrest.  It also talks about when Roman lost Sharon:

http://www.pamil-visions.net/polanski-flees-chalet-can-he-escape-conviction/28643/

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Another Reporter Remembers Sharon and Roman Plus Vampires and Beautiful Women



CAD Magazine February 1970

Our Life is our Jungle by Bruce Harper

When I encountered vibrant and intense Roman Polanski at Paramount Studios he was in the midst of editing Rosemary’s Baby, the brilliant film on satanism and witchcraft in our time that was to bring worldwide acclaim.

It was the spring of 1968 and the slight, intense, lean, young man who sat next to me at the small table was as happy as he possibly would be in his life.

He was thirty-four and looked ten years younger. He was already a world renowned festival prize winning film director, of Polish origin but now very mobile in the far-flung film world – Paris, London, Rome and now the heart of the industry, Hollywood.

But above all Roman Polanski had just wooed, won and married the unbelievably beautiful and talented young film star, Sharon Tate. If there was one young couple among the beautiful people who had everything going for them – love, immensely successful talent, exciting careers and the unlimited admiration of their peers – it was Sharon and Roman.

At this point a reddish-haired movie-star handsome, turtleneck-sweatered young fellow stopped to say hello to Roman. “Krysztof Komeda,” Roman said, “my composer. He is also a doctor. I told him he better leave the hospital, always rushing for an operation or something, and really stay in music. So he abandoned, of course, the study of medicine.” Polanski pointed to a mark on his upper lip. “I had a cut here,” he said. “He pulled my stitches out. I had a fight in Paris a few days ago, I came back with the stitches and I said, ‘I must have it pulled.’ Kris said ‘All right, I’ll pull it.’ He sat down and cooked the scissors and pulled it out. ‘You can do it so fast,’ I said, ‘I’m going to start being in doubt about the music!’”

I wanted to know about the fight. Did it have anything to do with moviemaking? “The fight?” Polanski responded dryly. “No, I just had a fight on the street. I got married, you know, I was in Paris on my honeymoon with my wife Sharon Tate. We were just going to the cinema. On the street there were three guys going in the opposite direction, and one stuck his hand under my wife’s skirt, so I punched him. And he had the stupid idea to punch me back. He had a little ring on his finger and he cut my lip.” This was instantly more than I expected, this insight into the contrasts shadowing Roman Polanski’s life. He was newly rich, famous, ensconced in that room at the top of his profession, just happily wed to fabulous Sharon Tate – and he had to fight with his fists against three toughs on the streets of Paris!

In Hollywood and London Polanski met Sharon Tate, and his life took on a new radiance. She was five-foot-five, a stunning ash-blonde--so glamorous that producers and directors kept discovering her. First it was director Martin Ritt who met her as a sixteen-year-old nymphet in Venice, where her father was then posted as a colonel in Army Intelligence. “You ought to be in pictures!” Ritt told Sharon, but Papa was against it. But later on a visit to Hollywood she remembered Ritt’s advice and went to agent Hal Gefsky. “All I know is,” he has said of that encounter, “when she walked into the my office she was the most beautiful girl in the world.”

She began making her own way, appearing in TV commercials, trying to break in the hard way. “I was just a piece of merchandise,” she said of that difficult period. “No one cared about me, Sharon.” The producer Martin Ransohoff saw her, signed her and groomed her for a superstar.

Now fate twisted together the bright-and-dark strands of Roman and Sharon’s lives. He was bewitched by the stunning, hypnotic witch (she played one in Eye of the Devil) on the screen and cast Sharon in a film he was then about to make that spoofed the vampire films, titled The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Neck! She romped through this wild satire in a red wig –and nothing else in a fantastic nude scene! This is how Cynan Jones saw her at that buoyant time of her life:


Sharon is the eternal woman, yet paradoxically she twists and turns her lithe body in the eager coltish manner of a careless tomboy. She affects the no-make-up Italian look, except for black eyeliner which serves to emphasize her wide hazel eyes and thick natural eyelashes. She has high cheekbones in an oval pre-Raphaelite face and her coloring is fresh and vivid with natural glowing cheeks. Her usual attire when not working is a huge oatmeal-colored sweater and skin tight jeans… She apparently cares little for clothes – and why should she with such an exquisite healthy body?
Sharon herself once said, “I’m really different underneath. All my life I’ve been told that I’m beautiful. But beauty has nothing to do with me – the real me. Anyway, you can stay covered up to your neck and still be sexy, you know. I would like my image to be somewhat secretive, simple and down-to-earth. I adore the little girl look." But when Roman Polanski entered her life he had still a different idea of her potential. “I’m trying to make her a little meaner,” he said. “She’s too nice and everyone walks all over her. She’s embarrassed by her own beauty.”

For her part, Sharon was fascinated by her brilliant young husband. “When I first met Roman,” she said, “I couldn’t believe he was a director because he looked so young. He’s the youngest looking man for his age I’ve ever seen. But he really isn’t as young as he looks. He’s thirty-five.” Her luminous eyes glowed as she rhapsodized about Roman. “He is wise, wonderful, brilliant and he knows everything! Above all, Roman is an artist.”

An interviewer found that she had “an aura, a magic, a curious mystique . . . a face of extraordinary beauty and a body that won’t quit,” and predicted that Sharon Tate would be with us a long time. It was a just prophesy, if some perverted destiny had not interfered with the right course of things

Here is another article mentioning the recent vampire craze and it includes Roman and Sharon in The Fearless Vampire Killers:

http://www.whitefieldconsulting.com/wordpress/?p=1695

And another blog includes Sharon as one of the most beautiful women of the 1960s:

http://www.retrokimmer.com/2009/11/retrokimmer-favorite-1960s-beautiful.html

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Photo Comparison of the Week & I Nominate Sharon Tate for Stardom


Here is are photo comparison of the week.  It's Hillary Duff and Sharon looking similiar.  Duff's hair looks great here and it reminds me of Sharon. 

Here is another short article I found on Sharon that I thought everyone would enjoy:


Modern Screen Magazine, December 1966

by Dorothy Manners

I Nominate for Stardom:  Sharon Tate

Yes, she’s the one I told you about in the bikini on the Don’t Make Waves set. Remember the name – she’s going to be BIG. Under contract to Marty Ransohoff’s Filmways Productions, Sharon has more rival producers bidding for her than any new girl in town. The word is out. But she’s not bolting. “I’d be pretty ungrateful if I did,” said the blonde bombshell when we chatted between scenes before I bolted. “The Filmways people picked me off a bench in the MGM casting office waiting for an interview. They tested me, spent a lot of money giving me dramatic lessons and singing and dancing lessons – the works. They brought me along carefully for 30 months before I was trusted with a major role in 13, with David Niven and Deborah Kerr. I’d be some kind of ingrate if I didn’t appreciate the investment.”

That’s the kind of girl Sharon is, grateful. Also humorous. Drawing an orange robe across the bikini, she chuckled suddenly. “I’ve appeared in three pictures, 13, followed by Roman Polanski’s The Vampire Killers in Europe, and now this one. The public has yet to see me. Who knows that I won’t be a bomb?” I’ll take that bet.

Sharon was born in Dallas, Texas the daughter of a colonel in Army Intelligence. Because of her father’s assorted missions, the family traveled a lot. Even spent two years in Italy where she learned to speak like a native. “But I always had my fingers crossed that we’d eventually land in Los Angeles because I had my heart set on being a movie actress,”Sharon said. They did. And she did. And this is just the beginning of Sharon Tate. There’ll be a lot more to tell.

Under the photo it reads: On the way to being a big star, Sharon Tate isn’t likely to forget old pals.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Photo of the Week and More Polanski News

Here is a sweet Photo of the Week of Sharon and her co-star Vittorio Gassman on the set of "12 + 1":



Just in case you are curious what all is being sold alongside the nude Sharon and Roman photo here is a story on it:


The story on the nude photo is still appearing on more websites but nothing really new to report other than the same story being told again and again.


More the Polanski case here:


I hope everyone has a nice and safe shopping day!  Happy Holidays!


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving Poem and more Polanski News

I was thinking about the Tates today and wondering how their Thanksgiving was when Sharon was alive?  So I found this poem to dedicate in memory of them:


Thanksgiving Delights

On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for


Our blessings all year through,


For family we dearly love,


For good friends, old and new.



For sun to light and warm our days,


For stars that glow at night,


For trees of green and skies of blue,


And puffy clouds of white.


We’re grateful for our eyes that see


The beauty all around,


For arms to hug, and legs to walk,


And ears to hear each sound.


The list of all we’re grateful for


Would fill a great big book;


Our thankful hearts find new delights


Everywhere we look!



By Joanna Fuchs from this website: http://www.poemsource.com/thanksgiving-poems.html

Apparently, the news isn't done discussing the nude photo of Sharon and Roman.  It has now been announced on The Wrap, Movieline Blog, The Boston Herald, The Playlist Blog and The Seattle Times.  I guess since Polanski has made so much recent news that now this photo has become a sensation.  It will be interesting to see how much it goes for and I will post the results as soon as they are available.


More Polanski News:

There is also more news on Polanski being released under house arrest in Switzerland.  "I am very happy and relieved," Mathilde Seigner, Polanski's sister-in-law told Le Parisien daily, adding that the director's imprisonment had "enormous consequences on a psychological level" for his children. After Polanski's release, "we're going to drink a nice glass of Champagne and toast together," she said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34162794/ns/entertainment-celebrities?GT1=43001

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/25/polanski-makes-bail-but-i_n_370529.html

Also, here is Gore Vidal 's take on the Polanski case, which is quite interesting:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/28/gore-vidals-vile-remarks_n_336995.html

 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Nude Photo of Polanski and Tate is Big News & New News on the Polanski Case

I didn't think that much of it when I posted the news yesterday that a vintage David Bailey nude photo of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate was to be auctioned off soon.  But there are several places on the net that are reporting like it is big news:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091124/people_nm/us_polanski

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/11/photo-depicting-nude-roman-polanski-and-sharon-tate-heading-for-auction.html

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/3096407/Nude-Tate-Polanski-pic-to-be-auctioned

http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-44217020091124

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9168885

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/nude-photo-of-sharon-tate-roman-polanski-set-for-auction/31763

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/41447265.html



And the latest on the Polanski case:

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=443890>1=28101

Polanski wins bail in Switzerland, stays in jail

Nov. 25, 2009, 10:28 AM EST

GENEVA (AP) -- A Swiss court granted Roman Polanski bail on Wednesday, accepting $4.5 million to allow him to remain under house arrest at his chalet. The director will stay in prison for up to 10 days while the Swiss government decides whether to appeal.

The Swiss Criminal Court reversed its previous rejection of bail, saying it was confident the large cash guarantee would compel Polanski to remain at his chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad under house arrest and monitored by an electronic bracelet.


The court said it still viewed him as a high flight risk.

The verdict does not affect the Swiss Justice Ministry's ongoing assessment of whether Polanski should be extradited to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. Polanski fled sentencing in Los Angeles a year later.

"The 76-year-old appellant is married and the father of two minors," the court said as it considered Polanski's offer of a cash bail secured by his apartment in Paris. "It can be assumed that as a responsible father he will, especially in view of his advanced age, attach greater importance to the financial security of his family than a younger person."

The court said Polanski would be subjected to "constant electronic surveillance" at his chalet and an alarm would be activated if he leaves the premises or takes off the bracelet.

But Polanski wasn't immediately released by the Swiss Justice Ministry, which ordered him arrested Sept. 26 as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.

At least now he can spend some time with his family. 

Here is a great review of "The Fearless Vampire Killers" on a French site:
 
http://moviesintheatersc.blogspot.com/2009/11/dance-of-vampires-sublime-tragicomedy.html
 
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Photographer Otto Stupakoff and his photos of Sharon & Bailey's photo of Roman and Sharon to go on sale

I found out that one of the people who photographed Sharon died this year in April.  His name was Otto Stupakoff and he photographed Sharon during rehearsals for the dance sequence in "The Fearless Vampire Killers" and did a session with her for Cosmopolitan magazine.



He photographed many stars of the 1960s and did fashion photography.  Among the many he photographed are: Paul Newman, Bette Davis, Grace Kelly, and Richard Nixon.  He died on April 22nd and had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease. 



There is a great article on his life and work here (and also some of his photographs):

http://www.fashionlines.com/2005/jul/arFineOtto.php

However, he apparently never wanted to talk about the actresses he photographed.  "Sophia Loren, Sharon Tate!  Just ask me about my personal life on these actresses!"  he declared sarcastically.  I have no idea why he mentioned those two actresses in particular?  Or why he wouldn't want to discuss them?  Unless something got lost in the article I translated that information from?  It just sounds like an odd statement doesn't it?

Although having said that many of his photographs (including many of stars including the one of Tate shown here with her dog) were exhibited in later years and he is quoted to have said this: "This exhibition was a gift! The greatest tribute to my work today! 40 meters with several pictures! Without false modesty, I think I deserve!"

Here is his photograph of Sharon that has appeared in many of the exhibits. It was taken in Santa Monica:



Here are a few from his session of Sharon during the dance rehearsal for "Fearless Vampire Killers".  I have one with Polanski somewhere but have not been able to find it. I will see if I can find it and post it here soon.







Let me know what you think of his photographs and quotes?

Here is another interesting short article on David Bailey's famous nude photograph of Roman Polanski and Sharon being auctioned soon:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/24/naked-roman-polanski-shar_n_369963.html

Naked Roman Polanski & Sharon Tate Picture Going To Auction (NSFW PHOTO)
   

Christie's auction house is auctioning off a David Bailey photo of Roman Polanski and then-wife Sharon Tate taken shortly before her murder.
 
Christie's estimates it will sell for between $8,000-$12,000 at the December 7 auction.

From Reuters:

"It's an important image," said Laura Paterson, a vice president at Christie's auction house and a specialist in their photography department.

"It certainly is provocative because of who the characters are. But it's also a touching naked shot of a happy couple," she added. "And Bailey does capture the anything goes flavor of that period."

Polanski is currently in a Swiss jail.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Kerstien Matondang 's New Sharon Art, Rare Covers & More

Be sure to check out Kerstien's new art for Sharon on her website:

http://www.kerstien.se/sharoninart.htm

Here are some more rare covers I found online for Sharon:

This one is for Tony Scotti for his music 45 from the film, "Valley of the Dolls"


Here is a French book club cover of Sharon on "Valley of the Dolls:


And Sharon and Roman on a press brochure for "Vampire Killers":


Thanks to Melissa for sending the photo of Sharon and January Jones from People Instyle:



Vampires are all the craze and here is another list of films to see that includes "The Fearless Vampire Killers":

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/pains_in_the_neck_z7X6WwD8sqg8RGivfuSRYN


Sunday, November 22, 2009

Photo Comparison of the Week Story & More News

A Sharon fan sent me this comparison of Sharon to Actress/Model Tasha de Vasconcelos:













The fan who sent this to me said they thought they were look a likes in "physically in beauty and grace.  Tasha seems even look like sharon in her spirit!"

Tasha sounds like she is as kind as she is beautiful in her biography.  Here is her official page if you would like to learn more about her:

http://www.tashadevasconcelos.com/index.html

New book mentions Sharon:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20091121/FEATURES06/911210309/1010/FEATURES/Remembering+pivotal+1969

On flickr, someone has uploaded a photo of the Villa Bella, where the Cielo House used to be:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44863601@N00/4122041358/

Sharon pic in new People Style Watch magazine:

Hilary Duff's on the front cover. It's the Nov. issue. Open up the back cover, there's a pic of Sharon in 1965 compared to a recent pic of January Jones.  Anyone seen this?  I just heard about it.  If you find it, please email me a scan.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Another interview with Sharon at the beginning of her career & more

New York Sunday News December

December 18, 1966

Sharon Tate is on a crash program to get to the top

It's difficult to imagine Sharon Tate as having ever been shy.

Wearing an abbreviated miniskirt, she seems to enjoy the commotion she causes wherever she goes. Sharon also affects thick, black, false eyelashes, brown eye shadow around her lips, and long ash-blonde hair that falls freely about her shoulders. Her presence in a crowd is as insignificant as a floodlight in a blackout.

Yet just three years ago, Sharon was a "painfully shy girl of 20 with blonde pigtails," according to her own recollection. The Dallas-born youngster had never acted or had a smidgen of dramatic training. But that didn't faze Filmway's top executive, Martin Ransohoff. When he first glimpsed her in the reception room of his office, Ransohoff ordered that she be singed to a seven-year contract.

Today, Sharon Tate is an actress. Some even label her a star though she has yet to be seen in a movie. Her first two MGM films--"13" and "The Vampire Killers"--won't be released for at least two months, and Sharon's latest movie "Don't Make Waves," isn't scheduled for screening until next summer.

And so no one really knows whether Ransohoff's gamble to make an instant star with his crash program technique has succeeded. Sharon, naturally, is convinced that she has made the show business grade. "I'm sure the three years I spent in training to be an actress will pay off," she says.



The training consisted of intensive schooling (10 hours a day, five days a week) in dramatics, singing, dancing, body building, walking, talking--everything except breathing. Sharon soon began to lose her shyness and gain a sense of permanency in her surroundings.

Up to then, Sharon had led a tumbleweed type of existence. As an Army 'brat' (her father is Maj. Paul James Tate), she spent a great deal of her childhood packing and moving from one military base to another. Before Sharon was 15, she had lived in Tacoma, Houston, El Paso and San Francisco--just to name a few cities. When Maj. Tate was shipped overseas in 1959, he took his wife and Sharon with him. As a result, Sharon boasts a fluency in Italian and a diploma from a Vicenza, Italy, high school.

It was in Italy, too, that she met actor Richard Beymer, who was on location for the film, "The Adventures of a Young Man." Beymer gave her the old line that "she ought to be in pictures"--only he meant it. Sharon scoffed at the notion, but then came around to the idea when the actor introduced her to his agent.

On Sharon's return to this country, she tried out for a TV cigarette commercial at the agent's urging. She landed the job despite the fact that she had never smoked before. (Today, she goes through half a pack a day.) "The commercial required many takes," Sharon recalls. "Just when they were ready for the final one, I passed out from taking too many puffs on my first attempt at smoking."

Sharon was still a bit dazed at the enormity of breaking into show business when she stepped into Ransohoff's Filmways office. Ransohoff felt instinctively that she had movie star potential. However, it was only after she had several months of acting lessons that he placed her in CBS-TV's "Beverly Hillbillies". Sharon portrayed Janet Trego on the series, but wasn't given any TV credit. Ransohoff wanted to spring her on movie audiences as a "surprise."

Now that Sharon is an actress in the technical sense of the word, anyhow, she has set her goal on becoming "a light comedienne in the Carol Lombard style." But the 5'5 1/2, 117 pound newcomer does not care to hear that she resembles the late actress. "I don't think I look a bit like her," Sharon pouts. "It's not that I think I'm a sexpot, either. I don't have voluptuous hips and I'm not heavy-chested."

For the time being, Sharon isn't giving movies a thought. She left recently for London to continue her romance with Poland's famed, shaggy-haired director, Roman Polanski. "I've known him for nine months," says Sharon. "We have a wonderful relationship. I don't know if I'll marry him. He hasn't asked me yet." If Sharon does wed, her film career and Ransohoff's half a million dollar investment in her will go down the drain. "I'll give up acting the second I'm married," says Sharon, which leads many observers to believe it won't happen for some time.

Most actresses would rather shed a husband than a career, but Sharon is an unusual girl. What actress, for example, would go out her way to point up the scars on her face? Sharon has a noticeable diagonal scar under her left eye. She also has a small one to the side of the left eye, and another one--"caused by chicken pox"--on her forehead.

"I suffered the big scar," says Sharon, "when I fell on a piece of corrugated tin when I was five. I wouldn't dream of having the scar removed. I am very proud of it. It's me."

More news:

There are two movies that have been filmed on location in Italy that are coming out soon.  I mention this because Sharon graduated High School there and some of the locations may very well be places that she saw and visited when she was there.

1)  Is a movie called "Letters to Juliet".  An American girl on vacation in Italy finds an unanswered "letter to Juliet" -- one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover's Verona courtyard, which are typically answered by a the "secretaries of Juliet" -- and she goes on a quest to find the lovers referenced in the letter.  It stars Vanessa Redgrave and Amanda Seyfried.

2)  Is a movie called "When In Rome".  Beth is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely unlucky in love. However, on a whirlwind trip to Rome, she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love, and is then aggressively pursued by a band of suitors.  It stars Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel.

Both will be released next year.

Tomorrow another special issue of Photo Comparison of the Week.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Photo of the Week and Vampire Stars of Today & More

Here is our lovely photo of the week:

Sharon on the set of "The Wrecking Crew"

With New Moon coming out this weekend I thought it would be interesting to compare Sharon's vampire character, Sarah, to some of the new celebrities of today shown as vamps:




Khloe Kardashian:


Paris Hilton:


Kate Gosselin:


Jennifer Aniston:


Jessica Simpson:

Hayden Pannettiere:

Reese Witherspoon

Heidi Montag:

Katherine Heigl:

Leighton Meester:

Another blogger has done a review of "The Fearless Vampire Killers" and he singles out Sharon as the best thing in it. He says: "She was utterly beautiful, of course, but there was a sweetness to her, as well. And although she doesn't have all that much to do in this film, it appeared that she had talent. Alas."


Here is the link for this:


And another photo of Sharon with food on this blog:


Thursday, November 19, 2009

Thomas John Kummer and Jay Sebring: The Meaning in a Name & More

I looked up both of Jay's names, his birth one and his professional one, to see it there were any differences?  Both appear to be an accurate conception of his personality:

You entered: Thomas John Kummer

There are 16 letters in your name.


Those 16 letters total to 69


There are 5 vowels and 11 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:Shakespearean Male 'Henry IV' Duke of Clarence. Thomas Wart, country soldier. 'Henry VI' Thomas Horner, armourer. 'Henry VIII' Sir Thomas Lovell. 'Measure for Measure' A friar. 'King Henry VI, III', 'Henry VIII' Duke of Norfolk. 'King Richard III' Sir Thomas Vaughan.


Hebrew Male Twin.


Biblical Male A twin


Aramaic Male Twin.

Your number is: 6

The characteristics of #6 are: Responsibility, protection, nurturing, community, balance, sympathy.

The expression or destiny for #6:


The number 6 Expression provides you a truly outstanding sense of responsibility, love, and balance. The 6 is helpful and ever conscientious, making you quite capable of rectifying and balancing any sort of inharmonious situation. You are a person very much inclined to give help and comfort to those in need. You have a natural penchant for working with the old, the young, the sick, or the underprivileged. Although you may have considerable creative and artistic talents, the chances are that you will devote yourself to an occupation that shows concern for the betterment of the community.

The positive side of the number 6 suggests that you are very loving, friendly, and appreciative of others. You have a depth of understanding that produces much sympathetic, kindness, and generosity. The qualities of the 6 make the finest and most concerned parent and one often deeply involved in domestic activities. Openness and honesty is apparent in your approach to all relationships.

If there is an excess of the number 6 in your makeup, you may exhibit some of the negative traits associated with this number. There may be a tendency for you to be too exacting and demanding of yourself. In this regard, you may at times sacrifice yourself (or your loved ones) for the welfare of others. In some cases, the over zealous 6 has difficulty distinguishing helping from interfering. You may have difficulty expressing your own individuality, because of involvement with responsibilities and causes. Like all with the Expression of the number 6, it's quite likely that you worry much too much.

Your Soul Urge number is: 3

A Soul Urge number of 3 means:


With the Soul Urge number 3 your desire in life is personal expression, and generally enjoying life to its fullest. You want to participate in an active social life and enjoy a large circle of friends. You want to be in the limelight, expressing your artistic or intellectual talents. Word skills may be your thing; speaking, writing, acting, singing. In a positive sense, the 3 energy is friendly, outgoing and always very social.

You have a decidedly upbeat attitude that is rarely discouraged; a good mental and emotional balance.

The 3 Soul Urge gives intuitive insight, thus, very high creative and inspirational tendencies. The truly outstanding trait shown by the 3 Soul Urge is that of self-expression, regardless of the field of endeavor.

On the negative side, you may at times become too easygoing and too optimistic, tending to scatter forces and accomplish very little. Often, the excessive 3 energy produces non-stop talkers. Everyone has faults, but the 3 soul urge doesn't appreciate having these pointed out.

Your Inner Dream number is: 3

An Inner Dream number of 3 means:


You dream of artistic expression; writing, painting, music. You would seek to more freely express your inner feeling and obtain more enjoyment from life. You also dream of being more popular, likable, and appreciated.

Next:

You entered: Jay Sebring

There are 10 letters in your name.


Those 10 letters total to 47


There are 3 vowels and 7 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:  Sanskrit Male Victorious.

Hindi Male Various deities in Hindi classical mythological writings are named Jay.


German Male Swift.


French Male Bluejay.


English Male To rejoice (from the Latin 'Gaius'). The name of a bird. Used as a diminutive for any name starting with 'J', and can also be used as a nickname for someone who talks a lot.

English Female To rejoice (from the Latin Gaius). The name of a bird. Used as a diminutive for any name starting with J, and can also be used as a nickname for someone who talks a lot.

Your number is: 11

The characteristics of #11 are: High spiritual plane, intuitive, illumination, idealist, a dreamer.

The expression or destiny for #11:


Your Expression number is 11. The number 11 is the first of the master numbers. It is associated with idealistic concepts and rather spiritual issues. Accordingly, it is a number with potentials that are somewhat more difficult to live up to. You have the capacity to be inspirational, and the ability to lead merely by your own example. An inborn inner strength and awareness can make you an excellent teacher, social worker, philosopher, or advisor. No matter what area of work you pursue, you are very aware and sensitive to the highest sense of your environment. Your intuition is very strong; in fact, many psychic people and those involved in occult studies have the number 11 expression. You possess a good mind with keen analytical ability. Because of this you can probably succeed in most lines of work, however, you will do better and be happier outside of the business world. Oddly enough, even here you generally succeed, owing to your often original and unusual approach. Nonetheless, you are more content working with your ideals, rather than dollars and cents.

The positive aspect of the number 11 expression is an always idealistic attitude. Your thinking is long term, and you are able to grasp the far-reaching effects of actions and plans. You are disappointed by the shortsighted views of many of your contemporaries. You are deeply concerned and supportive of art, music, or of beauty in any form.

The negative attitudes associated with the number 11 expression include a continuous sense of nervous tension; you may be too sensitive and temperamental. You tend to dream a lot and may be more of a dreamer than a doer. Fantasy and reality sometimes become intermingled and you are sometimes very impractical. You tend to want to spread the illumination of your knowledge to others irrespective of their desire or need.

Your Soul Urge number is: 6

A Soul Urge number of 6 means:


With a number 6 Soul Urge, you would like to be appreciated for your ability to handle responsibility. Your home and family are likely to be a strong focus for you, perhaps the strongest focus of your life. Friendship, love, and affection are high on your list of priorities for a happy life. You have a lot of diplomatic tendencies in your makeup, as you a able to rectify and balance situations with an innate skill. You like working with people rather than by yourself. It is extremely important for you to have harmony in your environment at all times.

The positive side of the 6 Soul Urge produces a huge capacity for responsibility; you are always there and ready to assume more than your share of the load. If you possess positive 6 Soul Urges and express them, you are known for your generosity, understanding and deep sympathetic attitude. Strong 6 energy is very giving of love, affection, and emotional support. You may have the inclination to teach or serve your community in other idealistic ways. You have natural abilities to help people. You are also likely to have artistic and creative leanings.

If you have an over-supply of 6 energy in your makeup, you may express some of the negative traits common to this number. With such a strong sympathetic attitude, it is easy to become too emotional. Sometimes the desires to render help can be over done, and it can become interfering and an attitude that is too protective, rather than helpful. The person with too much 6 energy often finds that people tend to take advantage of this very giving spirit. You may tend to repress your own needs so that you can cater to the demands from others. At times, there may be a tendency in this, for becoming over-loaded with such demands, and as a result become resentful.

Your Inner Dream number is: 5

An Inner Dream number of 5 means:


You dream of being totally free and unrestrained by responsibility. You see yourself conversing and mingling with the natives in many nations, living for adventure and life experiences. You imagine what you might accomplished.


More in the news:

A great article on Polanski's artistic work in two parts with some wonderful photographs:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/pola-n18.shtml

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/nov2009/pol2-n19.shtml

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Article on Jay Sebring from 2002

Here is a nice article I found on Jay that also mentions Sharon:

New York Times Sunday Magazine August 18, 2002

Message In A Shampoo Bottle
By Mary Tannen

I have interviewed many celebrity hairstylists in my day, but this would be my first dead one. I figured it would be challenging but not impossible, since the initial contact had come from him -- or at least, from his products, which had come to me through an intermediary: black packages with red lettering. I held the shampoo like a talisman, noting the cross surmounted by a circle, the Egyptian ankh, sacred symbol of life.

Up until Aug. 9, 1969, the name beneath the ankh had stood for Jay Sebring, the No. 1 haircutter to the stars, the guy who came out of beauty school and invented a whole new way of cutting men's hair. Who went into a white-coated profession dressed in hip-hugger jeans and chambray shirts. Who studied martial arts with Bruce Lee and raced sports cars with Paul Newman. Before Aug. 9, 1969, it was a name known only in select circles; afterward it was known everywhere, as the name of the man who was butchered with Sharon Tate and three others in the notorious Manson murders.


Now, here was the name again, on a bottle of shampoo, where it had been leading a parallel existence for more than 30 years. To look at it, you would not have known that the events of that heinous night had ever occurred. I felt like Jay Sebring was calling me on a mission: to restore the name to the man, to devictimize the victim.

Where to begin?
 
It didn't take the deductive powers of a Philip Marlowe to call the toll-free number on the side of the package. Right away I got lucky. Nancy Papin, executive vice president of Sebring Products, answered the phone. Her husband, Robert, had been distributing the products for two years before Sebring died. They now own the company. The products go to about 2,500 shops across the United States. Not only that, there is a certified Sebring method that is still being taught and followed. Nancy gave me a number in Houston.

Mike Guessfeld picked up. He had the soft voice of a well-raised Southern boy, and didn't stint on the ''Yes, ma'am'''s and ''No, ma'am'''s. Guided by the phantom hand of Sebring, he has been cutting hair for over 30 years. He learned the Sebring method from the two hottest barbers in New Orleans, who had once sought out Steve McQueen on location, hoping to cut his hair and establish their reputations. But when they saw McQueen, it was clear that he didn't need a haircut. In fact, they were so blown away by how good his hair looked that they went to Los Angeles to meet the man who cut it. They learned the technique and opened a Jay Sebring franchise in the Big Easy.

One of my favorite Web sites -- www.findagrave.com -- listed Jay Sebring, born Oct. 10, 1933, and revealed a simple headstone in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield, Mich., for Thomas J. Kummer. The accompanying head shot could have been that of a movie star, a three-quarter profile with half the face in shadow. The expression was thoughtful, even moody. The hair was impeccable. The man who had renamed himself after an auto race in Florida, who had scored big in Hollywood, had been carried back to where he started. I was not certain he would be pleased.

It had been years since I'd been to the City of Angels. Because Sebring had driven a Mustang Cobra, I thought I should, too, but Hertz could offer only a Toyota Camry, so I took it and immediately drove to Benedict Canyon, to what had become known as the Sharon Tate house, although she and her husband, Roman Polanski, were renting it at the time she died. The low, rambling ranch house was gone, replaced by one of those mutant behemoths that seem to be spreading across the country. Farther up the canyon, I turned on Easton, looking for Sebring's Tudor, once owned by Jean Harlow. It had the head of John Barrymore carved into the rafters, secret ways to get out of the house in a hurry, sprinklers over the windows to make it look as if it were raining outside.
 
I gunned the Camry up the steep, narrow road, trying to imagine Sebring and Tate roaring up in the Cobra on their first date. According to Larry Geller, Elvis's memoir-writing hairstylist, who originally worked for Sebring, it was Gene Shacove, then the hottest women's hairstylist in Los Angeles, who first told Sebring about Tate. They were at the Luau, a restaurant next door to Shacove's salon. Geller says: ''Gene was telling us how beautiful this new starlet was, and Jay started pounding the table, saying: 'I'm going to get her. I'm going to get her.' ''


Sebring asked Joe Hyams, at that time the West Coast bureau chief and columnist for The New York Herald Tribune, to introduce him. Hyams arranged an interview with Tate at Frascati's, a restaurant on the Sunset Strip. Hyams says: ''As I was finishing the interview, Jay came in and sat down next to Sharon. After a while I left. The next day I called Jay to see how it went, and she answered the phone, so I assumed it went well.''


It was in Sebring's house that Jean Harlow's husband had committed suicide, about two months after they married. Geller remembers that when Sebring bought it, he showed him the bathroom where the body had been found, and said, ''When I go, the whole world's going to know about it.''

Is it the manner of Sebring's death that casts a Gothic shadow over his life, or was it always there? I longed to see the half-timbered house but was foiled once again. I stopped the car and looked up to where the house should have been. The California sun blinded and confused. The vegetation obscured. Frustrated, I turned back to Beverly Hills and the salon of Joe Torrenueva at Camden and Wilshire.

Torrenueva went to work at Sebring's right out of beauty school. He was 18; Sebring was in his mid-20's but already a star with his own shop on Fairfax in West Hollywood. The shop had three doors, one to the main salon, one to the private room where Sebring and Torrenueva worked and one to the office on the second floor. It would be 3:15 p.m. Torrenueva would be finishing with a client and taking the next one. Over in the other chair, waiting since 3 o'clock, would be Henry Fonda, looking at his watch. In the meantime, Torrenueva would have heard the Cobra pulling in at 2:50. At 3:20 Sebring would rush in from the outside with his cutting tools, muttering that it was crazy out there on the set, he couldn't get away...

''I idolized him,'' Torrenueva said. Sebring took him along when he went to Las Vegas every three weeks to cut hair -- Sinatra's, Sammy Davis Jr.'s, the casino owners'. Sebring would fill him in on the clients: ''These guys are from the Purple Gang in Detroit. Just keep quiet and cut. You'll be O.K.''

After the killings, the police and the F.B.I. went to see Torrenueva. He got a call from a client in Las Vegas: ''Joe, I know you're worried. Listen, you're a good guy, you never hurt no one. No one's gonna hurt you.''
 
Torrenueva, half Puerto Rican and half Filipino, showed me his scrapbook with photos of Sebring and the celebrities, many of whom now come to Torrenueva. He's small, with a complexion as clear and fine as a baby's, short dark hair just touched with silver. I felt that if he were cutting my hair and looking into the mirror instead of my eyes, the words would flow; instead they stumbled and halted.

''Sharon Tate was his girlfriend for a long time,'' he said. ''To me he always loved her. There was a mystique about him. He was very shy, except with close friends. He was guarded. He had a lot of things going on that were just ready to click.''

In the pauses and non sequiturs, I sensed the restlessness, the discontent, that haunted Sebring. Torrenueva -- married since 19, a father and grandfather -- seemed to be still puzzling over Sebring's state of mind. The handshake from this soft-spoken man was a surprise but made sense. The power was in his hands.

A block away, on Rodeo Drive, I headed into DBL Realtors. (When pursuing the deceased, it pays to play the hunches.) I described my mission to the young receptionist. Would anyone there know what happened to the Tate house? The receptionist suppressed a smile. There was someone who worked there but was out; she claims she rented the house to Sharon Tate. I left the number of my hotel.

There are still three doors to the shop on Fairfax, and it is still a salon, only now it serves women. A beautician was escorting an elderly client to the door -- red-tinted hair back-combed and lacquered to last two weeks. Blotting the vision from my mind, I tried to recall the stories about the way it had been. Larry Geller: ''One afternoon, I had just graduated from beauty school, and I saw this stained-glass window with an Egyptian ankh on the door. My first thought was that it was a beauty salon, but it was wood-paneled inside. Jay was on a ladder hanging a plant. He said this was something new, hair architecture for men. I started the next day. They shampooed. No one had ever shampooed men before. The problem was how to dry the hair. You couldn't put men under those helmets. Heat lamps were slow. Then someone heard about a hand-held plastic contraption from Europe. They began blow-drying hair, and selling the dryers to clients at cost.'' Geller adds with a laugh, ''We were artistes, not businessmen.''

Hyams once arrived on his motorcycle. While cutting his hair, Sebring asked if Hyams would show him how to ride the bike. So Sebring appeared at Hyams's house off Coldwater Canyon on a Saturday morning. Hyams said, ''He was wearing full-tailored black leather, down to the black helmet and sunglasses.'' Sebring rode up and down the street, and then asked if he could borrow the bike for the weekend. ''I got a call an hour later,'' Hyams continued. ''He had had an accident on the first turn.'' The motorcycle was pretty badly banged up, and Sebring said he couldn't afford to pay to have it fixed; would Hyams take free haircuts in exchange? At the time barbers charged around $1.50 for a haircut, and Sebring's went for $25. ''Henry Fonda would be there when I went in; there'd be starlets shampooing hair. It was the hottest place in Hollywood in the afternoon. There was gossip, coffee, pretty girls and the haircuts were damned good. It was worth the few hundred dollars in damage to get the bike repaired.''

Around the corner from Fairfax is Fred Segal, a fashion mecca then and now. At that time, Fred Segal's big idea was to tailor bluejeans. Sebring, recognizing a fellow visionary, bought the hip-hugger straight-bottom jeans and faded blue chambray shirts, and sent his staff to get them, too. Within six months, all of Hollywood was coming in. As I drifted around, looking at the artistically ripped, dyed and wrinkled street clothes for millionaires, I imagined Sebring coming by for some tight-fitting bell-bottoms to wear out to the many clubs he frequented at night: the Daisy, the Factory, the Candy Store. He was friend and barber to Warren Beatty, and some say he was, with Shacove, the inspiration for the frenetic hairdresser Beatty played in ''Shampoo.''

Back at the hotel there was a message from a realtor, Elaine Young, and three numbers. I called, and she gave me a private number to call her back. She was clearly rattled that I found her by just walking in off the street. ''I was his best friend!'' she exclaimed. She was married to Gig Young and used to go with him when he had his hair cut, to gossip and see the stars.

''Jay was very good-looking. He was crazy about Sharon. The biggest mistake he ever made was not marrying her. She left him and went to Europe and married Roman, who treated her like dirt.''

Polanski never returned to the house in the canyon. The owner of the house moved in and stayed for years. ''He said the house had good vibes.'' It sold not long ago to a developer who tore it down to build an 18,000-square-foot house that just sold for about $8 million.

The week before the murders, Young had been to see Tate. Tate wanted to redecorate a room for the baby she was expecting in a month and asked for Young's advice. ''Jay was half staying there with her,'' Young said. ''Anyone could walk in and out.'' Young was in the car when she heard the news on the radio. ''I was devastated.'' She was still a little shaken at the coincidence of my finding her, but over the years she's come to accept that her real estate karma leads to strange places: ''I sold the O.J. place to O.J.''

Before heading out to the airport, I stopped on Rodeo Drive to check out the clothes at Theodore, just as I did in the summer of '69, when I purchased a string bikini in purple panne velvet. Yes, I was in Los Angeles then, cooling off in turquoise pools high above the city, breathing in the blood-warm air heavy with jasmine, eucalpytus and sweet-smelling herb. I was riding on the Marrakesh Express with Crosby, Stills and Nash,
and although I didn't know Sebring, I was living in a world already altered by him. As Geller says: ''Jay was on top of Mount Everest. I would love to watch him style hair -- what he could do with scissors. Every movie I see from the 60's, that was our work. We created the look of the 60's.''

Until I'd made my journey guided by a ghost, I had known only the name of the victim of the man with the crazy eyes. Now I understood how much of what I had been seeing that summer had been shaped by Sebring's spirit, and how much the name lives on. The bottle of shampoo only begins to tell the story.

THE SHAMPOO BOYS

If you have to ask how much it costs to get your hair cut by a celebrity stylist, maybe you should think about going to your local star and using the money you save to buy the celebrity hairstylist's products.

VIDAL SASSOON

He came out of a London ghetto to create the swinging hair that every woman had to have in the 60's. (He did Mia Farrow's hair on the set of ''Rosemary's Baby.'') His extensive product line includes new styling appliances designed by the internationally known industrial designer Marc Newson. Blow-dryer and curling and straightening irons, from $20 to $25 each.

BRAD JOHNS

For Uma Thurman, Natasha Richardson and Talisa Soto,he's the colorist of choice. Johns calls color ''the accessory you never take off'' -- and a valuable accessory it is. Colorsave is his line, with five products to keep that expensive color job looking good, including Intense conditioner, $22, and Postconditioning spray, $18.

FRÉDÉRIC FEKKAI

This charmer from Aix-en-Provence focuses on the complete picture. He asks clients to stand while he cuts, so he can see how the hair fits the woman. His spas and accessory shops further extend the Fekkai style. Salons on 57th Street in Manhattan and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills serve clients like Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Connelly and Kim Basinger. Newest products are his Protein RX line, to repair frayed, beat-up hair cuticles. They smell comfortingly of vanilla frosting with a hint of milk of magnesia. Shampoo, $20. Treatment mask, 5.5-ounce jar, $28.50.

GARREN
 
Man of 1,000 magazine covers, who ministers to the likes of Madonna, Gwyneth and Oprah, Garren can also do you in his Henri Bendel atelier. While you're saving up your pennies, why not invest in his Designing Spray Tonic, $26, which adds volume and shine before an attack of the blow-dryer. You also might consider his new Hair Fragrance. Smell like Sheer Fig, for $35.

CHARLES WORTHINGTON

The sun never sets on this British stylist's product empire. Beginning with his first salon in London, opened in 1986, he has reached out to women around the world, offering products to solve every hair dilemma. His latest group is called Dream Hair, with ingredients to strengthen, moisturize and protect from the sun. Perfect Reflection texturizer can turn hair crises into opportunities. A little dab, and wayward locks are suddenly brilliant, $12.

JOHN SAHAG

Like Michelangelo cutting into marble, Sahag snips the shape ''demanding to be born.'' Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker and Winona Ryder are a few of his name clientele, who swear by Air Lift, a fast-drying styling lotion that gives them volume at the roots and lift at the crown, $13.50. Wavy and curly types are devoted to Zero Weight, $13.50 for shiny, separated bends. And everyone goes for Revitalizing Drops, for sheen and to take away frizz, $22.50.

Mary Tannen is the beauty editor of The New York Times Magazine.  Note: she will also be seen in the new Sebring Documentary.