#31 Joi Lansing

The stereotypical '50s blonde bombshell, Joi Lansing extended her shtick into the '60s and even the '70s. Not a bad actress, she ended her career just over 100 credits (albeit with many of those in TV). Joi was also a decent singer, and had a popular nightclub act. You have to check out her "Scopitones" – '60s version of music videos – on YouTube.

Embarrassing Real Name

• Joy Brown
• Joyce Wassmansdorff  (her stepfather’s name)

Embarrassing Real Birthplace:  Salt Lake City

Cheesy Pageant Titles

• Miss Hollywood
• Miss Armed Forces Day of the World
• Queen of Candy

Embarrassing Movies

• So, You’re Taking in a Roomer
• Hot Cars *
• Bigfoot *
• Terror at Midnight
• Queen of Outer Space *
• Hillbillies in a Haunted Mansion *

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• Violence! Guilt! Drama! 
• The Screen's Spectacular Inferno of the Battle for Civilization!
• A Stop-at-Nothing Blonde ... A Buck-Hungry Guy ... A Red-Hot Racket ... Slam the Screen Head-On!
• America's abominable snowman ... breeds with anything!
• SEE! War of the planets! Astounding she-beasts of Venus!

Embarrassing Characters

• Blonde in Bar
• Blonde Bathing Beauty
• Blonde Babysitter
• Blonde Roomer
• Blonde Getting Ticket
• The Blonde

Number of Marriages:  4

Shortest Marriage:  4 months

Unlikely Spouses & Boyfriends

• Lance Fuller (Ed Wood favorite)
• George Raft
• George Jessel
• Frank Sinatra
• Howard Hughes
• Mickey Rooney

Whiffs of Scandal:  

• First marriage at age 17
• Second marriage was to someone who was not yet divorced
• Possible lesbian affair

Untimely Demise:  43, of breast cancer

Interesting Tidbits

• Signed at MGM at age 14
• Devout Mormon
• Referred to as the "Marilyn Monroe of television"
• Never posed nude
• Early devotee of yoga

Where can I learn more?

• Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen
• IMDb
• Wikipedia
• Brian's Drive-In Theater
• Fan site

Nice hat

<#32          #30>

#32 Karin Dor

Karin Dor was a German actress who specialized in Westerns. Yes, you heard that right. Now, let me explain …

Germany’s most popular author of all time is one Karl May (pronounced “my”). And his most popular genre just so happens to be westerns. No, he never actually lived in the American West. Yes, he pretty much made everything up on the fly. And, indeed, his stuff tends to be rather fantastic.

That said, there is no shortage of German movies based on May’s tales – with several of them featuring our Karin. She also did a number of Edgar Wallace stories (he’s often considered the father of the modern thriller), was in a Dr. Mabuse flick, and was a Bond girl as well.

Odd Real Name:  Katherose Derr

Embarrassing Movies

• The Valley of Death
• The Face of Fu Manchu
• The Monsters of Terror *
• The Carpet of Horror
• The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism  *

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• They spread a reign of terror from the badlands of Oklahoma to the hell-hills of the Dakotas!
• Obey Fu Manchu or Every Living Thing Will Die!
• June is busting out all over! In COLOR plus the new depth perception... it puts a girl in your lap!
• A mature person's trip through the ultimate in horrific wickedness
• Indian Gold! Blood-Red Fury! Lake of Terror! Battle of Vengeance!

Embarrassing Characters

• Manina
• Pepita
• Brunhilde
• Helga Heidebrink

Number of Marriages:  3

Shortest Marriage:  2 years

Whiffs of Scandal

• Married to a 45-year old when she was 16
• Substance abuse

Where can I learn more?

• IMDb
• Wikipedia
• Personal page from her booking agency (auf Deutsch)

Honestly, I have no idea

<#33          #31>

#33 Veronica Carlson *

* - author has her autograph

Veronica Carlson was the classic “English rose” – a fresh, blonde, buxom, pale-skinned beauty. As such, she fit the formula for a Hammer victim to a T. 

Unfortunately, though, Veronica’s career was rather short, lasting only eight years, and with only three Hammer flicks among her 20 credits. She retired at age 30 and eventually moved to the U.S. (she currently lives in South Carolina). She keeps herself busy these days with painting and is also popular on the convention circuit. And she still looks unbelievable today.

Real Name:  Veronica Glazer

Embarrassing Movies

• The Horror of Frankenstein
• Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
• Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
• Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You

Embarrassing Taglines

• Step Right Up! The Freakmaster will scare the very life out of you!
• ALL NEW AND ALL TOO TERRIFYING! THE MOST FRIGHTENING 'FRANKENSTEIN' MOVIE EVER FILMED!
• Inflamed with his Vampire thirst for blood and evil and beautiful girls.

Embarrassing Characters

• Ulla
• Ritva
• Tall Blonde
• Revolutionary

Interesting Tidbits

• Got her first modeling job because she knew judo
• Was discovered in a newspaper ad by the head of Hammer
• Was a genuine Hammer fan before starring in their movies
• Was the only female lead to play opposite Christopher Lee's Dracula and Peter Cushing’s Dr. Frankenstein
• Refused to appear nude, which may have had something to do with her early retirement
• Has been married to the same guy for over 40 years

Where can I learn more?

• Interview
• Interview 2
• IMDb
• Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen
• Wikipedia

Veronica and friend

<#34          #32>

#34 Margaret Lee

Though British-born, Margaret Lee moved to Italy before her first picture. There, she did sword and sandal epics, eurospy flicks, giallos, and a surprising amount of Italian TV. She would eventually move to the US, but she always seemed much more a continental presence than an Anglo-Saxon one.

Embarrassing Real Name:  Margaret Box

Embarrassing Real Birthplace:  Wolverhampton 

Embarrassing Movies

• Agent 077: From the Orient with Fury
• Asylum Erotica
• Colossus of the Stone Age
• Night of the Blood Dragon
• Secret Agent Superdragon *
• The Twelve-Handed Men of Mars
• Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules
• The Tiger Sprays Himself with Dynamite
• Excuse Me, Padre, Are You Horny?

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• A Masterpiece of Supernatural Sex
• Mad menace in Rio! Wow women & Pow action! 
• Sizzling kisses and swinging adventure! The ultimate weapon! The ultimate plot! Watch out for everything!

Embarrassing Characters

• Lady Lister
• Fanny Fonseca
• Baby Eva
• Sayonara

Whiffs of Scandal:  Nude scenes

Interesting Tidbits

• Also the name of a contemporary US artist, 60s tennis star, Singaporean actress, and Hong Kong actress
• Co-starred with Klaus Kinski in 12 films
• Was Marilyn Monroe’s double in Something’s Got to Give
• Has two sons in the film industry

Where can I learn more?

• Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973, Tom Lisanti, Louis Pau
• Interview
• Film Star Postcards
• Brian’s Drive-In Theatre
• IMDb
• Wikipedia

Oopsies!

<#35          #33>

#35 Shirley Eaton

Shirley Eaton will always be remembered for getting painted in gold and then expiring on James Bond’s bed. If you’re a real Bond fan like me, you may have a hard time understanding that she was actually in a number of other movies (primarily comedies, by the way) and had an acting career that spanned almost 20 years.

Shirley’s Wikipedia article notes that “she was considered a sex symbol in the 1960s.” In other late-breaking news, Wikipedia also announced that the pope is, indeed, a Catholic and that bears have actually been spotted going number two in certain sylvan settings.

Embarrassing Movies

• Dentist on the Job (yup, the thing that begins Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
• The Million Eyes of Sumaru *
• The Blood of Fu Manchu
• The Naked Brigade

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• Trapped in the quicksand of love...Caught up in a nightmare of murder and intrigue!
• Terrific... Shocking... Scandalous...
• LUSCIOUS LIPS - Lethal in their biting sting of death!
• SHE is the most SADISTIC...DIABOLICAL...WOMAN WHO EVER LIVED!

Embarrassing Characters

• Deirdre Proudfoot
• Millicent Groaker
• Sophie Clutterbuck
• Angel Dream
• Black Widow

Interesting Tidbits

• First appearance on stage at 12, TV at 14, and the big screen at 17
• Trained in ballet and voice
• Appeared in Goldfinger for only five minutes, with her death coming at minute 16
• Has actually worked with two Bonds, Connery and Moore (on The Saint, for the latter)
• Gave it all up to be a mom at age 32
• Also paints and sculpts and has published a book of poetry
• Got painted in gold again, at age 78, to mark the 50th anniversary of Goldfinger
• You cannot suffocate from being covered in paint (Snopes)

Where can I learn more?

• Golden Girl (her autobio)
• Official website
• Facebook page
• MI6 (Bond site)
• IMDb
• Sunday Express interview
• Wikipedia
• Brian’s Drive-In Theater

"He [makeup artist Paul Rabiger] was as impersonal
about gilding me as if he was painting a barn."

<#36          #34>

#36 Luciana Paluzzi

Curvaceous redhead Lucianna Paluzzi will probably always be associated with the character of Fiona Volpe, the bad girl in the Bond flick Thunderball. That said, she has 80-some other credits – as well as an active career that spanned over 25 years. 

I also don’t think Luciana ever saw a genre she didn’t like. She’s done spy, war, western, peplum, comedies, soaps, beach flicks, action, sci fi, softcore, horror, crime, babes behind bars, TV … Did I leave anything out?

Embarrassing Movies

• Captain Nemo and the Underwater City
• The Sensuous Nurse
• Carnal Circuit
• Muscle Beach Party
• The Green Slime

Embarrassing Taglines

• Invaders From Beyond The Stars!
• A Hurricane of Adventure Storms the Screen!
• The most deadly plot ever snatched from the minds of evil!
• 99 WOMEN... behind bars -- without men!
• See the heroic Hercules rip down the Age of Orgy's lavish palace of lustful pleasure! See the seductive Amazons lure men to voluptuous revels and violent deaths!

Embarrassing Characters

• Nanu
• Baharani, Seetha's servant
• Her Serene Highness Princess Ilyena
• Little Fawn
• Tuesday Hajadakis

Shortest Marriage:  2 years

Whiffs of Scandal

• Married her husband before his divorce actually went through
• In their divorce proceedings, claimed he physically abused her

Interesting Tidbits

• Redhead
• Her mother was one of Mussolini’s mistresses
• Began her film career at age 16
• Studied to become a naval engineer
• Her divorce just so happened to be the first ever recorded in Italy (which had just made divorce legal)

Where can I learn more?

• Facebook page
• IMDb
• Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen
• Wikipedia
• Brian’s Drive-In Theater
• Great pix
• 007 Wikia

<#37          #35>

#37 Quinn O'Hara

Like redheads? Well, you’re in luck. Quinn O’Hara is about as ginger as they get. A decent comedienne, Quinn’s career included lots of TV, but also a little horror, a couple of beach movies, and a surprising number of Jerry Lewis flicks. Whoever said Jerry Lewis had bad taste? BTW, Quinn still looks amazing today!

Embarrassing Real Name:  Alice Jones

Cheesy Pageant Titles

• Miss Am-Vet of Post 48 
• Queen, Riverside International Raceway
• Grand Marshal, All-Southland Band Review
• Miss Port of Long Beach
• Most Promising Teenage Personality (Teen Screen Magazine)
• Miss Scotland (Miss International Beauty Congress)

Embarrassing Movies

• A Swingin’ Summer
• Cry of the Banshee *
• The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini *

* - author has seen

Embarrassing Taglines

• When a pretty ghoul trades in her bed sheet for a bikini!
• They're Lovin', Laughin' and Livin' it up and for kicks playing "Chicken on Water Skis!"
• She Corrupted the Youthful Morality of an Entire School!

Embarrassing Characters

• Zenda
• Lulu Mae Devereaux
• Sinistra

Unlikely Spouses & Boyfriends

• Fabian
• Lee Majors (The 6 Million Dollar Man)
• Frank Sinatra
• Adam West (Batman)
• Sandy Koufax

Whiffs of Scandal:  Alcoholism

Interesting Tidbits

• Was born on a hospital elevator
• Born in Scotland, she moved to Canada at age 14, then to California 3 years later
• As an adult, she later moved to the UK and Italy
• Was on the Dating Game no less than 3 times
• Has a husband who is 20 years her junior
• Works today as a nurse
• Likes ballroom dancing, animals, gardening, and Tai Chi

Where can I learn more?

• Personal site
• Facebook page
• Tom Lisanti
• Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen
• IMDb
• Brian’s Drive-In Theatre

Quinn and admirers

<#38          #36>