The Real Karen Graham

People would always view Estée Lauder model Karen Graham in poses like this one back in the seventies, and they readily assumed she was as glamorous and as elite as she appeared.

In fact, Ms. Graham was never comfortable in evening gowns. What she really loved to do - and still loves to do - is go fly fishing, which photographer Victor Skrebneski took advantage of in an Estée Lauder ad for a perfume for active women.

Today Karen Graham runs a fly-fishing school in upstate New York, and spends as much time fishing as she does teaching it. :-)

Nancy Dutiel in Color

Here are two more pictures of former Lancôme model Nancy Dutiel in color, as opposed to the black-and-white photo I showed earlier. Both of them are from the early eighties.

Although Ms. Dutiel was stunning in color photos, black and white film seemed to accentuate her features better. My previous picture of her was edited from a two-page ad, which I am displaying in its entirety below. :-)

Actress Renée Zellweger

Renée Zellweger may be the cutest actress in Hollywood whose name isn't Reese Witherspoon. ;-) Ms. Zellweger has appeared in several movies in the past decade, notably Jerry Maguire, Chicago, Cold Mountain, and the Bridget Jones movies based on the work of chick-lit-Brit Helen Fielding. Renee's personal life has been more complicated, having briefly been linked with Jim Carrey and being even more briefly married to country singer Kenney Chesney.

Yeoh Yeah! Actress Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh is a Hong Kong-based Malaysian actress who has been keeping a considerable profile of late. Originally coming to the attention of many Western moviegoers as a "Bond girl" in the 1997 James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies, she recently played Mameha in the 2005 film adaptation of Arthur Golden's novel Memoirs of a Geisha.

British actress Rachel Weisz

Rachel Weisz is a continuing reminder of why I adore Englishwomen. As an actress, she's able to transform herself into any conceivable role, in the British thespian tradition. The first time I saw her, in 2003's Runaway Jury (loved her, liked Dustin Hoffman, didn't like the movie so much), she played an American; I thought she was an American! :-O More recently, she has appeared in The Constant Gardener and the recently released The Fountain, directed by her fiancé Darren Aronofsky.

Weisz probably lost a few American fans when she insisted that her American fiancé was two things most American men aren't; a cultured individual who is secure about his masculinity, and someone who can find Europe on a map. She was possibly taking a subtle dig at our President, George W. Bush. Not only is he an uncultured, macho lunkhead who doesn't know where Europe is, he probably doesn't care where Europe is! :-D

Eighties supermodel Louise Vyent

Am I the only person who fondly remembers this eighties model? Louise Vyent, a Dutchwoman of Surinamese heritage, graced many a magazine cover back then, and you couldn't pass a supermarket checkout stand without seeing her picture. Now in her forties, she's not in demand so much, but she does show up every now and then, if only to remind us that the eighties weren't completely terrible.

Actress Uma Thurman

Uma Thurman first caught most people's attention for her portrayal of Mia Wallace in 1994's Pulp Fiction, but her first big role was arguably in 1988's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, even though the only person who liked, or even saw, that movie, apparently, was me! :-O In addition to those two movies, Uma Thurman also starred in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, plus too many other movies to list. :-)

More Naomi Sims!

Naomi Sims is a woman of many faces, all of them gorgeous! Here she is from a photograph taken in 1969.

Here she is today.

Naomi Sims. . . even her name is beautiful. :-)

Naomi Sims: The First Black Supermodel!

Before there was Iman or Tyra, there was Naomi Sims.

Naomi Sims became the first black fashion model to break into the mainstream world of modeling. She parlayed her fashion experience into founding a successful cosmetic products business, proving that she had brains as well as beauty.

Although importance on looks might seem trivial today, Ms. Sims became an icon for proving to black women that they could be seen as beautiful and pushing aside racist standards of feminine beauty. She gave them dignity and self-worth, and as the pictures below illustrate, she proved that women of color were not only beautiful, but sexy!

This picture sums it up. :-D

Newswoman Darlene Rodriguez

If you live in the Greater New York area, and you get up very, very early, then Darlene Rodriguez is a familiar face to you. She co-hosts WNBC-TV's "Today In New York" from 5 AM to 7 AM. She has been a fixture in New York broadcast journalism - including radio - for several years.

Emily Procter

Emily Procter first gained attention as conservative Republican pundit Ainsley Hayes in "The West Wing," who ends up working in the White House for Democratic President Josiah Bartlet. The native North Carolinian currently stars as Calliegh Duquesne (gotta love those TV character names!) on CBS's "CSI: Miami."

The Adorable Amanda Peet!

Amanda Peet is definitely among the more enjoyable actresses to watch these days. She's appeared in movies such as Something's Gotta Give, and she currently plays a television executive on the NBC series "Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip."

Newswoman Jeannie Ohm

Jeannie Ohm is a television reporter for MSNBC, usually covering the United States Defense Department. Before joining MSNBC, she worked for local TV stations in Chicago and Houston.

Actress Parminder Nagra

Parminder Nagra is a British actress of Indian descent. Born in Leicester, she pursued a theatrical career in London before her breakthrough in the soccer movie Bend It Like Beckham. From there she went on to appear in the American television series "ER."

Meet Virginia: Part Two

Believe it or not, these two pictures are of the same woman.

Virginia Mesones is a stage actress from Argentina who is based in the Greater New York area. She also performs as a living statue throughout New York City, both as a street performer and for private functions. She's the only woman on this blog (so far) who's not famous (yet!). She's also the only one I've actually met. :-)

The top picture is a candid shot posted by someone on the Internet; the bottom is Miss Mesones's professional portrait, also found online.

Meet Virginia: Part One

Virginia Madsen is an actress who's been a roll of late. After toiling for years in obscurity, she wowed critics and audiences alike in the 2004 movie Sideways, gaining her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and a Broadcast Film Critics. More recently she starred with Harrison Ford in Firewall, as well as a the movie adaptation of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Her Midas Touch, however, hasn't translated to television; her drama series "Smith" was cancelled after only a few weeks.

Eva Longoria A Little Longer

I couldn't resist. . . .

Here are two more pictures of Eva Longoria, one in a low-cut backless dress, and another in a swimsuit with a plunging. . . well, I hesitate to call it a neckline!

WHOA! :-D

Eva Longoria: The Intimate Apparel Edition!

What did I tell you?

Here's Mexican-American actress Eva Longoria in a photo displaying as much of her fantastic body as possible without being considered dirty. How do you say "Yowsa!" in Spanish? :-D

Eva Longoria: Passion Is No Ordinary Word!

How can I have a blog devoted to pictures of beautiful women without a picture of Eva Longoria? :-)

The 31-year-old star of ABC's "Desparate Housewives" looks stunning enough in a dress, so you can imagine how she looks wearing even less than that!

Actress Catherine Keener

Beautiful in a mature, more womanly way, Catherine Keener has established herself solidly as an actress in a town (Hollywood) where maturity and womanliness take a back seat to demographics driven by youth and girlishness.

She starred in Capote, and she played opposite Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. (Spoiler alert: Keener's character deflowers him!)

Kiara Kabukuru

Kiara Kabukuru is a fashion model of Ugandan decent who first burst upon the runway and on magazine covers about a decade ago. She's so exotically beautiful, you expect to find her picture upon looking up the word "exotic" in the dictionary, as these photos - one color, one black and white - clearly demonstrate.

Scarlett Johansson: Esquire Magazine's Choice For "Sexiest Woman Alive!"

When Esquire magazine announced in its November 2006 issue that actress Scarlett Johansson was its choice for the "sexiest woman alive," I was scared. I thought, "Did something happen to Catherine Deneuve?" (Relax, fellow Deneuvians, I'll post a picture of her later.)

Still, as you can see, Scarlett Johansson is so undeniably gorgeous. And, oh yes, she can act, too. Check her out in Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation with Bill Murray. She's still in her early twenties, so she undoubtedly has a long career ahead of her! :-)

My Beautiful Astrological Twin: Famke Janssen!

Famke Janssen is a Dutch actress who first got noticed as a top fashion model but has since established herself as a movie star, having appeared in everything from independent films to a James Bond movie (1995's Goldeneye) to the X-Men movies. Both she and I have something in common.

We both turned 41 today!

That's right, we're "astrological twins," a phrase which refers to any pair of individuals who share a common date of birth. So, it's quite obvious why I waited until today to post a picture of her. :-)

Happy birthday to Famke Janssen, and happy birthday to me.