While not a burlesquer, Ms. Mansfield certainly appealed to the American male like one. A beautiful woman, bright, with a great sense of humor and style.
Jayne Mansfield may have been one of the
most photographed women in the world during her brief lifetime, but
even fifty years after her death they are “still out there” pun
intended. A recent auction reveals numerous unseen and unpublished
photographs of the woman who put the blonde bomb in bombshell.
Vera
Jayne Palmer was born in 1933 and passed away in 1967 leaving behind a
massive celebrity legacy and a plethora of photographs, yet no one
complains when more turn up. The photos here are attributed to Milt
Palmer, at one time a photographer working for the Las Vegas New
Bureau. Other photographers working for the bureau included Don English,
Jerry Abbott and Joe Buck. Many of their photos are deposited at the
University of Nevada Las Vegas Digital Collections department of the
library, who provide free online access to the images, and they do
include several images likely from the same events as these dated
1956. Sure enough one of the images here has been dated with a grease
pen.
The pictures shown come from original
working contact sheets retained by a friend of the photographer, so it
is unlikely they are in the archive.
Similarly,
the Las Vegas News Bureau, still operating (but incorporated into the
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority) allows access for
non-commercial use of images from the working photographers who
documented the growth and splendor of the city. Again, these pictures
are not indexed in their collection, but many are. The Las Vegas News
Bureau has been working with agencies and planners to promote news and
events in Southern Nevada for sixty years. Their online exhibition “A
Photo History of Vegas”) contains images dating back to 1905, when the
city was established.
Most notable are the bureau’s
photographs of the city architecture, but Jayne here was built like a
brick too. Although not generally credited with the concept, it was
Jayne who invented the Wardrobe Malfunction, and the photo of Sophia
Loren miffed at Ms. Mansfield’s breasts has to be one of the most famous
photographs of the 20th Century.
Miss Mansfield was victim of more than a
tragic accident. A purported nude stag film was openly offered for sale
after her death in men’s magazines, but it was mostly a ruse. There
were likely several versions of the spurious product, but one consisted
of bubble baths and “walking” shots of the actress cribbed from her
films with some extended footage. One of the bogus films has been
loaded HERE.
