Auction Donations - Julie Newmar

We are so grateful to actress Julie Newmar for this autographed photo of her in her Catwoman costume for our 2010 Angel Ball!

Date of Birth

16 August 1933, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name

Julia Chalene Newmeyer

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Beauty, brains and a fantastic sense of humor. Julia Chalene Newmeyer (Chalane was her mother's maiden name) was born on August 16, 1933, in Los Angeles. Her father was a one-time professional football player (LA Buccaneers, 1926), her mother was a star of the Follies of 1920. From an early age, Julie studied piano, dance and classical ballet. She graduated from high school at the age of 15, and spent a year touring Europe with her mother and brother. Julie became prima ballerina for the Los Angeles Opera. She attended UCLA studying classical piano, philosophy and French. Julie went to New York and tried out for Broadway musicals; in 1955 Julie made her Broadway debut as the ballerina in "Silk Stockings." Julie won acclaim for her role as Stupefyin' Jones in "Li'l Abner." Though audiences and critics alike where stupefied by her good looks, that is not the compliment Julie wanted. Julie wanted to be known for her comedy, as she told the New York Times: "Tell me I'm funny, and it's the greatest compliment in the world." Promoting her various Broadway and off-Broadway show appearances, Julie often posed as a pinup girl. Making the transition to TV, Julie appeared in Rod Serling's science fiction series the "Twilight Zone" in 1963, playing Miss Devlin (devil). As physical perfection, Julie was perfect to play Rhoda the Robot in "My Living Doll, " the sitcom had an enthusiastic cult following. In 1966, urged on by her friends, she would try out for and be cast as Catwoman (a character she had never heard of) in the wildly popular TV series "Batman." Due to a movie commitment, Julie was unavailable to play TV's Catwoman in the 3rd season (her part was taken by Eartha Kitt). Julie was very busy in the 1960s and 1970s, making guest appearances in many TV shows and several TV-movies. Because of her love of the stage and live performances, Julie toured the country in stage productions of "Damn Yankees" and "Dames at Sea" and others. Becoming an entrepreneur, in 1977 Julie turned up in People Magazine wearing her new invention "Nudemar" pantyhose (due to an elastic back seam it provided fanny support). In the 1980s, Julie appeared in 9 films while she was busy raising her son and working in the real estate business. Julie went back to UCLA to take a few real estate courses. In 1991 Julie toured in a stage production of "The Women." Still very active, and very beautiful, Julie will appear at fan conventions occasionally.

Spouse

J. Holt Smith

(5 August 1977 - 1983) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

I.Q. of 135. Graduated high school (Los Angeles' John Marshall High School) at age 15.
Invented and marketed her own brand of pantyhose in the 1970s & 1980s
Gave birth to her only child, a son, while she was in her late 40s.

Holds three U.S patents: 3,914,799 and 4,003,094 for "Pantyhose with shaping band for Cheeky derriere relief" and 3,935,865 for "Brassiere."

Measurements: 37-23-37 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Has 37" legs (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Graduated from John Marshall High School in Los Angeles in 1951

Has her name mentioned in the title of the comedy To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), while the plot revolves, partly, around an autographed publicity photograph of her.

In November 2004, the former "Catwoman" had a different type of cat fight on her hands. Her next-door neighbor, actor James Belushi, sued her for $4 million alleging harassment and defamation of character. Their openly hostile neighborhood feud has been supposedly going on for years. Newmar, an avid community advocate who once fought restrictions against noisy leaf-blowers, once threw an egg at Belushi's house in retaliation for a noisy air conditioner. The suit includes vandalism and spying.
Her son John is deaf and has Downs Syndrome.

Was a friend of New York Mets pitcher Tracy Stallard, the man who as a member of the Boston Red Sox gave up Roger Maris' record-breaking 61st home run in 1961.

Accepted Worst Picture for Catwoman (2004) at the 25th Annual RAZZIE Awards.

Was the first actress to portray the DC comics character Catwoman in a live action adaptation of the Batman series.

Won the 1959 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actress in a Drama for "The Marriage-Go-Round".

Julie Newmar played in New York City with Hildegarde Neff in the Musical: "Silk Stockings".

Personal Quotes

I'm magnificent! I'm 5'11" and I weigh 135 pounds, and I look like a racehorse.
Tell me I'm beautiful, it's nothing. Tell me I'm intellectual - I know it. Tell me I'm funny and it's the greatest compliment in the world anyone could give me.

[on how she got her most famous role, Catwoman on "Batman" (1966)] I had lived in New York at the time on Beekman Place. I remember it was a weekend, Friday or Saturday, and my brother had come down from Harvard with five or six of his friends, and we were all sitting around the sofa, just chatting away, when the phone rang. I got up and answered it, and it was this agent or someone in Hollywood, who said, "Miss Newmar, would you like to play Catwoman on the 'Batman' series? They are casting it out here." I was insulted because he said, "It starts Monday." I said, "What is this?" That's how television is done: they never know what they are doing until yesterday. Well, my brother leaped off the sofa. I mean he physically levitated and said, " 'Batman'! That's the favorite show at Harvard. We all quit our classes and quit our studies and run into the TV room and watch this show." I said, "They want me to play Catwoman." He said, "Do it!" So, I said, "OK, I'll do it."

It was so wonderful being on "Batman" (1966) because you could be nasty and mean, and in the '50S women could never--unless you were some 'B' picture actress--be mean, bad, and nasty. It was so satisfying; I can't tell you how satisfying it was.

[interview in Star Trek Magaazine, #1, Sept./Oct. 2006] "Star Trek" (1966)--oh my goodness, what a following that show has! I get asked about it all the time, and I receive lots of fan mail from it, even though I only did one episode.

(July 2008) Today, I walk - but very slowly. My balance is also affected. People might think I've had too much to drink, but I never drank, smoked or took drugs my entire life. If I'm out in public, I grab on to some charming, darling fellow who can steady me. I've been encouraged by the many men who have offered me their shoulders.

On Catwoman fans: It's an honor --- it really is -- that something stays for so long with people in the sweet depths of their feelings.

On seeing a Catwoman tattoo: I've seen some interesting flesh...It wasn't just the Catwoman. It was me.
Whenever I'm stopped on the street, men tell, 'Ms Newmar, did you know that you were my first turn-on?...How old were you?

Auction Donations - Janet Leigh

We are so grateful to the family of actress Janet Leigh for this autographed photo for our 2010 Angel Ball!

Biography from IMDB.com

Date of Birth

6 July 1927, Merced, California, USA

Date of Death

3 October 2004, Beverly Hills, California, USA (vasculitis)

Birth Name

Jeanette Helen Morrison

Height

5' 5½" (1.66 m)

Mini Biography

Janet Leigh was the only child of a couple who often moved from town to town. Living in apartments, Janet was a bright child who skipped several grades and finished high school when she was 15. A lonely child, she would spend much of her time at movie theaters. She was a student, studying music and psychology, at the University of the Pacific until she was "discovered" while visiting her parents in Northern California. Her father was working the desk at a ski resort where her mother worked as a maid. Retired MGM actress Norma Shearer saw a picture of Janet on the front desk and asked if she could borrow it. This led to a screen test at MGM and a starring role in The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). MGM was looking for a young naive country girl and Janet filled the bill perfectly. She would play the young ingénue in a number of films and work with such stars as Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Orson Welles and Judy Garland. She appeared in a number of successful films, including Little Women (1949), Angels in the Outfield (1951), Scaramouche (1952), Houdini (1953) and The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), among others. Janet would appear in a variety of films, from comedies to westerns to musicals to dramas. Of her more than 50 movies, she would be remembered for the 45 minutes that she was on the screen in the small-budget thriller Psycho (1960). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this 1960 classic would include the shower scene that would become a film landmark. Even though her character is killed off early in the picture, she would be nominated for an Academy Award and receive a Golden Globe. Her next film would be The Manchurian Candidate (1962), in which she starred with Frank Sinatra. For the rest of the decade, her appearances in films would be rare, but she worked with Paul Newman in Harper (1966). In the 1970s she appeared on the small screen in a number of made-for-TV movies.

Spouse

Robert Brandt	(15 September 1962 - 3 October 2004) (her death)
Tony Curtis	(4 June 1951 - June 1962) (divorced) 2 children
Stanley Reames	(1946 - 1948) (divorced)
John Kenneth Carlisle	(1942 - 1942) (annulled)

Trivia

Was 'discovered' by Norma Shearer from a photo on the desk of Janet's father.
Mother of Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#99). [1995]
Eloped at the age of 14 - marriage was later annulled. Thus, Tony Curtis was her 3rd husband when she married him in her 20s.

Measurements: 36C-21-36 (in 1953), 35 1/2-23-36 (measured in 1960s), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Actually made Touch of Evil (1958), with a broken arm. Her arm was in a cast when she showed up for production, so they took her arm out of the cast and used every trick they could to hide it.

She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California on May 14, 2004. She delivered an inspirational speech to graduating students, faculty, and administrators in accepting her award. Author Maxine Hong Kingston and US Solicitor General Ted Olson were also awarded honorary degrees on the same day.

Graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

She and her actress daughter Jamie Lee Curtis appear together in John Carpenter's The Fog (1980), though they do not meet until the film's end. They also appear together in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) early in the film when Janet reports to Jamie on a problem with the girls' shower at a private school.
In 2006, the city of Stockton, California renamed and dedicated a downtown cinema and plaza in her honor. "Janet Leigh Plaza" is in the central core of the redeveloped downtown 2 blocks away from the "Bob Hope Theater".

In Italy, most of her films were dubbed by either Renata Marini or Rosetta Calavetta. She was occasionally dubbed by Germana Calderini, Dhia Cristiani, Micaela Giustiniani and Fiorella Betti.
Daughter of Frederick Robert Morrison and wife Helen Lita Westergard.

Interviewed in Tom Weaver's book "Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes" (McFarland & Co., 1991).
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 326-329. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Personal Quotes

[when asked if it was true that she doesn't take showers] It's actually, honestly true. And not because of the shooting of it. It was the seeing of it. It never dawned on me how truly vulnerable we are. But that's what [Alfred Hitchcock] did. A shower. A bird. All these things that are absolutely ordinary, he made extraordinary.

Psycho (1960) gave me very wrinkled skin. I was in that shower for seven days - 70 setups. At least, he [Alfred Hitchcock] made sure the water was warm.
I don't know what it is I exude. But whatever it is, it's whatever I am!

[on working with Alfred Hitchcock on Psycho (1960)] Hitch relished scaring me. When we were making "Psycho," he experimented with the mother's corpse, using me as his gauge. I would return from lunch, open the door to the dressing room and propped up in my chair would be this hideous monstrosity. The horror in my scream, registered on his Richter scale, decided which dummy he'd use as the Madame.
[on her Psycho (1960) co-star, the late Anthony Perkins] To me he was a leading man. But to the rest of the world, he'll always be "Norman Bates". People just wouldn't let him be anything else.

Auction Donations - Betty White

We are so thankful to actress Betty White for the donation of an autographed photo for our 2010 Angel Ball!

Biography from IMDB.com


Date of Birth
17 January 1922, Oak Park, Illinois, USA

Birth Name
Betty Marion White

Height
5' 4" (1.63 m)

Mini Biography

Although best known as the devious Sue Ann Nivens on the classic sitcom "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970) and the ditzy Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls" (1985), Betty White had been in television for a long, long time before those two shows, having had her own series, "Life with Elizabeth" (1952) in 1952. The widow of TV game-show host Allen Ludden, she has been inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and is known for her tireless efforts on behalf of animals.
IMDb Mini Biography By: A. Nonymous

Spouse
Allen Ludden (14 June 1963 - 9 June 1981) (his death)
Lane Allan (8 November 1947 - 1949) (divorced)
Frederick R. (Dick) Barker (9 July 1945 - December 1945) (divorced)

Trivia

Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1988.

Started career as the "Phone Girl" on Al Jarvis's afternoon TV show in L.A.

James L. Brooks offered her the role of Helen Hunt's mother in As Good as It Gets (1997). She turned it down because she objected to the treatment of the dog in the film.

Beloved frequent guest celebrity/panelist on numerous game shows, including every version of "Password All-Stars" (1961), "The Hollywood Squares" (1965), "Match Game 73" (1973), "The $20,000 Pyramid" (1973), and countless others.

Per her autobiography, White was named "Betty" at birth not "Elizabeth" because her parents did not want her to be saddled with any of the nicknames and derivatives of Elizabeth -- i.e. Beth, Liza, Ellie, etc.

Moved to Los Angeles when she was only two years old.

Played the same character, Rose Nylund, on four different TV series: "The Golden Palace" (1992), "The Golden Girls" (1985), "Nurses" (1991), and "Empty Nest" (1988).

Is an avid Animal Rights activist and is a sponsor for Farm Animal Reform Movement and Friends of Animals.

Attended the same high school as Angelina Jolie, Michael Klesic, Nicolas Cage, Lenny Kravitz, David Schwimmer, Jonathan Silverman, Gina Gershon, Rhonda Fleming, Jackie Cooper, Rob Reiner, Antonio Sabato Jr., Pauly Shore, Michael Tolkin, Corbin Bernsen, Elizabeth Daily, Albert Brooks, and Crispin Glover.

Is strongly critical of reality television.

Admits to having surgery before "The Golden Girls" (1985), even though the program was about growing old and not having a problem with it.

Parents' names were Horace and Tess White.

Is of German and Greek ancestry.

Is an avid animal welfare activist and works with a number of organizations; including the Los Angeles Zoo Commission, the Morris Animal Foundation, and Actors & Others for Animals.

Betty was originally considered for the role of the sexpot, "Blanche," on "The Golden Girls" (1985). However, Betty had already been the aggressive "Sue Ann Nivens" on "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970) and Rue McClanahan had played the introverted "Vivian" on "Maude" (1972). It was thought best not to have these two actresses reprise similar characters. Therefore, Betty got the part of naive "Rose Nylund" and Rue played the oversexed "Blanche".

Was portraying the conniving, gold-digging Ellen Harper, the niece of Rue McClanahan, who played the prudish Aunt Fran, On "Mama's Family" (1983) at the same time as they were working together on "The Golden Girls" (1985) in almost opposite roles.

Attended the same school as Jamie Luner.

Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1988. The star is next to her late husband, Allen Ludden,'s star.

Made several appearances on "Santa Barbara" (1984) as part of a contest.

In 1955, Betty was the honorary mayor of Hollywood, California.

With Rue McClanahan's death in June 2010, White became the last surviving member of the four "The Golden Girls" (1985).