Mark Harmon's Mother "Elyse Knox," Maybelline model, most popular word search on my blog.

Maybelline Pin Up Girl, Elyse Knox, 1944.

Maybelline ushers in The Pin Up Girl, The Bomb Shell and The Girl Next Door during World War 11 - creating an American Ideal for beauty, style and fashion.  Elyse Knox was one of Maybelline's World War 11 models contracted for her sexy yet innocent face during the 1940's.  Knox was a B-movie starlet in the Hollywood System playing secondary roles until she landed a role with Lon Chaney Jr. in The Mummy's Tomb; one of the series of Mummy horror films made by Universal Studios. 

Knox became well known after Maybelline placed her full page glossy autographed picture on the back of magazines after appearing as herself in Universal Studios 1944 production of "Follow the Boys."  One of the World War 11 morale-booster films made for both the soldiers serving overseas as well as civilians at home.

Knox was also a Pin Up Girl during the War, appearing in such magazines as YANK, a weekly put out by the United States Military.  Ads like this combined with Maybelline ads on the back of movie magazines, created a desire in all Service Men to return to the arms of their sweet All American girls - with those Maybelline eyes .

In Late 1944 Knox was signed by Monogram Pictures to portray Anne Howe, the love interest of fictional boxer Joe Palooka in Joe Palooka, Champ.  Based on the very popular comic strip.  The instant success of the May 1946 film led to  Knox appearing in another five Joe Palooka productions.  She retired from film making in 1946 after appearing in the musical There's a Girl in My Heart but continued doing Print ads like the one above for Maybelline while appearing on the Bing Crosby radio show where she met foot star Tom Harmon.  She married fashion photographer Paul Hesse one of Maybelline's official photographers, divorced and married Tom Harmon in 1944.

The couple had three children, Kristin, who married Ricky Nelson and had Tracy, twins Gunnar and Lars, and a son Sam who modeled and acted in film and TV (TJ Hooker.) And Kelly..... and Mark Harmon of NCIS.

Maybelline splashed magazines with glitz and glamour, using Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and Betty Grable in the 1940's.

Betty Grable Maybelline ad

The man who would become a cosmetics giant, Tom Lyle Williams, was a private man.....When TL launched the Maybelline Co. in 1915, mascara was deemed the “province of whores and homosexuals.”

He protected his Company and his family, by staying out of view from the public and an every intrusive press.  In the 1930's, Tom Lyle ran his empire from a distance, cloistered behind the gates of his Hollywood Villa Valentino and contracted Movie Stars to represent him in the  media.

From the earliest days of silent film, he sought Photoplay stars, like Viola Dana, Phyllis Haver, and Clara Bow.  Throughout the 1930’s “Golden Age of Hollywood,” TL splashed magazines with glitz and glamour, using Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and Merle Oberon.  World War ll brought in the Pin-up girls, including, Bettie Grable, Elyse Knox, Hedy Lamaar, Rita Hayworth, and Lana Turner.

The 1950’s, ushered in the Girl Next Door... represented by Debby Reynolds and Grace Kelly.  When Maybelline appeared on Television in the early 1950’s, Tom Lyle decided to appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated image..... Appealing to foreign as well as domestic markets.

     Joan Crawford – had her teeth pulled and replaced to have a more beautiful

     smile and became Maybelline’s spokesperson for years.

Merle Oberon – was in an accident that disfigured the skin on her face, yet in films she looked flawless because of pancake make up.

Betty Grable - took over for the leading song and dance actress Alice Faye and became a big star in musicals as well As one of Maybelline’s top models.

Debby Reynolds - was to be Maybelline’s leading model in the 1950’s until Tom Lyle decided to change his ad campaign from the all American Girl to a more international exotic sophisticate in his TV commercials and print magazines.

Maybelline was the sole sponsor for the Grace Kelly, Prince Rainier lll, wedding in Monaco appeal to a more universal image and rather than promote film stars created the cool, exotic, sophisticated woman who would appeal to foreign as well as domestic markets.  


Be sure to visit my new blog SAFFRONS RULE at http://saffronsrule.com/2013/08/19/today-i-was-in-a-good-mood-and-felt-real-popular/

Remembering Tom Mix, Marjorie Woodworth, Carole Lombard, Zoe Mozert, Elyse Knox and Tom Lyle Williams.

Here are a few of my favorite comments on the Maybelline Book Blog this year.

                             Dear Sharrie.....

I live in Florence AZ where Tom Mix had his accident, there are still local residents who remember seeing the Cord being  towed into town and having a close up look at the vehicle,  there is also one resident who was friends with the coroners  daughter and says it was just as much the steering wheel  as the metal suitcase that killed him. on Maybelline cousins  worship Tom Mix, as little boys   Anonymous Thanks for this fascinating material. I just saw Marjorie  Woodworth in "Broadway Limited" and thought she was  terrific. I had previously seen her in "All American Coed."  Looking at her career, I was surprised that it was so short.  She seems to have suddenly become a star in 1940, and  was in demand in 1941 and 1942, but suddenly she flamed  out in 1943. Hollywood in the Golden Age (1920's-1950's)  was a brutal system. Typically, most women stars started  around 20, rose for four or five years, starred in five-ten  movies from 25-30 and then faded out of the business after  getting smaller and smaller roles for another five years. She  seems to have condensed this arc to 1/3 of its normal life  span. Of course there were the exceptional actresses who  continued in the business their whole lives, like Bettie Davis  and Katherine Hepburn. I am curious why she quit. She  was beautiful and talented and absolutely star material.  Why did she give up such a promising career at 24? I hope  it was not because she got married and her husband  forced her to quit. That happened to many promising  actresses back then.  Maybelline model and actress Marjorie Woodworth -  1941  Jay Raskin

Sharrie, I am grateful to Twitter. Without Twitter, I would never have found you. Your uncle would have ruled the world if he were starting out today. Think about how starved the world is for glamor. He walked, talked and breathed it into existence. I wish I had met him. I truly believe that after I get and read your book, I will feel like part of the family. Ameikins on MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK SEPT 6 - 13 Maybelline New York’s Colossal Cat Eyes Mascara will officially launch in October. Anonymous

The posters and magazine covers of the beautiful young models and starlets painted by Zoe Mozert, are very glamorous! Maybelline had such a presence in the Era of Elegance! Today Maybelline New York remains the No. 1 brand globally and that includes my home too! on 1930's Maybelline ad painted by Zoë Mozert, the most famous female pin-up artist of her day Shellyfire04

It seems like a pretty ruthless system doesn't it? There must have many beautiful & sometimes talented young girls that were shot into the glamorous world of Hollywood only to be cast aside 5 minutes later ,it must have been hard for a lot them to return to the normal world after all that promise & excitement. I can't believe how dashing Fred McMurray is,quite different from My 3 Sons. Carol Lombard is just beautiful ,it is so sad that she died the way she did. I adore those Maybelline ads ,i am on a mission to collect as many as i can:) on Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray star in 1938 film, True Confession, introducing "Miss Typical America" Eleanor Fisher.  Mrs. Cleaver


She certainly was a beautiful girl.It's sad that her fame was so fleeting.I hope she had a good life after all that,I'll have to look it up. Hi Sharrie,i hope you are well.My apologies for my absence,things have just been very busy as usual with my family. I wanted to tell you that i am now the proud owner of a 1930's?(i think) box of Maybelline.It still has the brush and mascara,the mascara has been used a few times.I was so thrilled when i bought it on ebay i think the seller thought i was a little odd lol! I am also looking at purchasing a Maybelline ad featuring Elyse Knox. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! :) on SEXY GLAMOR SHOT OF MAYBELLINE MODEL MARJORIE WOODWORTH - HAND SIGNED BY HER - HAL ROACH PLAYER  Mrs Cleaver

Wasn't Mark's Mother originally from KY. My mother always told me about them being friends before she went to Hollywood. Mother knew her from Fleming or Mason County, I think & they were friends. I would love to be able to contact Mark to see if he had ever heard of my mother, who would probably at that time have been called Doug (Douglas) Royce, Her "given name was Lola Douglas Royce... then she married & her last name was Fawns. When her first husband died during the war, she married my father, Oscar P Whitton, (Buster). I am Doris Whitton  on MARK HARMON'S MOTHER, MAYBELLINE MODEL, ELYSE KNOX DIES AT 94  

MARK HARMON'S MOTHER, MAYBELLINE MODEL, ELYSE KNOX DIES AT 94.

During the ’30s to the ’60s movie magazines around the world were overflowing with glamorous photographs of movie stars. One of the most interesting photographers working during this period was Paul Hesse who helped pioneer the use of color film in commercial art. (Old Movies Nostalgia.)

Paul Hesse and Elyse Knox.

Elyse Knox married fashion photographer
Paul Hesse, who had shot many of her print ads and magazine covers. 

                                            Elyse Knox

MAYBELLINE LIGHTS THE WAY TO NEW EYE BEAUTY, signed Elyse Knox.  By 1938 Paul Hesse had earned his reputation as one of the best commercial photographers working in New York. He was traveling to Hollywood several times a year to shoot glamorous photos of the stars for Photoplay magazine and he became the first photographer to use color in a national advertising campaign. 

Elyse Knox

Hesse enjoyed working with actors and he created many popular celebrity endorsed ad campaigns for companies such as  Maybelline, Rheingold Beer, Chesterfield Cigarettes, Lipton Tea, Royal Crown Cola and Studebaker automobiles. He also shot many photos for American Magazine.

     Elyse Knox

His colorful and hyper-realistic portraits of celebrities had a very distinct style that is still noticeable today. 

Elyse Knox.

The actress Greer Garson once said that Paul Hesse was, “greatly in demand by the leading national magazines to create cover-portraits to delight the eye. The result would be a true-to-life likeness but idealized, or glamorized if you will, by his superb technique in producing only delectable color values.”

Elyse Knox.

In 1940 Hesse decided to move to Los Angeles where he opened a new studio on Sunset Boulevard that became a gathering place for Hollywood stars and industry bigwigs. According to the book Masters of Starlight: Photographers In Hollywood, he was awarded the title of “Hollywood’s Photographic Ziegfeld” by a committee of unnamed movie stars in recognition of his contribution to their careers. 

Elyse Knox dies at 94; 

B-movie actress inthe 1940s.

Elyse Knox appeared in nearly 40 films. She was

perhaps best known for the only horror film she ever 

made, 'The Mummy's Tomb,' with Lon Chaney Jr. as the

 

monster who kidnaps her.

Elyse Knox and Tom Harmon.

While appearing on the Bing Crosby radio show, Elyse 

Knox met football star Tom Harmon. 

They were engaged to marry, but ended the relationship 

when Harmon entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942.

Later that year, Knox married fashion photographer

Paul Hesse  The marriage was brief. Following her

divorce and Tom Harmon's return from World War II

during which he survived two plane crashes and being 

(lost in the jungle), she and Harmon married in 1944.

Knox's wedding dress was made from silk from the

parachute Harmon used when bailing out of his crippled 

plane.

   

Tom Harmon

 The couple remained together until his death in 1990. 

Please click on link below for past post on Elyse Knox.

http://www.maybellinebook.com/2011/06/maybelline-pin-up-girl-elyse-knox-1944.html

Link to past post about NCIS and Maybelline cousin, Brian Dietzen, Jimmy Palmer in the show.

http://www.maybellinebook.com/2012/02/congratulations-ncis-and-brian-dietzen.html

Stay tuned for more Maybelline Stars

 photographed by the Great Paul Hesse.

Congratulations NCIS and my cousin, Brian Dietzen for your 200th episode.

I'm very proud to say that Brian Dietzen, "Jimmy Palmer," on NCIS, is Mabel Williams-Hewes and her husband Chet Hewes, great grandson, and one of my cousins. 

Brian Dietzen, David McCallum, Pauley Perrette, Mark Harmon, Sean Murray, Cote de Pablo, and Michael Weatherly attend CBS' "NCIS" celebration of their 200th episode on January 3, 2012 in Valencia, California.Mark Davis/Getty Images -

If you have followed my blog, you know who Mabel and Chet are.  If not, here's what you've missed.

Tom Lyle Williams, sister Mabel, (Maybelline's namesake,) married Chet Hewes and had

 three children.Shirley, Tommy and Joyce. 

Tommy grew up, married Mary Lee, had Trudy..... Trudy grew up, married Keith Dietsen and had Brian.....

Brian was such a cute kid, Hollywood took a glance, and.....

cast him as Jimmy Palmer, on NCIS.  However, "When Brian auditioned for the part, he was almost turned down because the casting director said he was too good looking.  Brian convinced them he could play nerdy.  Maybe that's why he wears those goofy glasses."  (story from Brian's aunt, Linda Hughes.)

NCIS just celebrated it's 200th episode.

 

Chuck the Movie-guy talks to Brian Dietzen who plays Jimmy Palmer on NCIS at the William S. Paley 

Paleyfest TV Festival.

Brian, here's to another 200 episodes on NCIS...

And top it all off, Mark Harmon's mother, Elyse Knox was a Maybelline Model...  Small world!!

So now you know what you missed!!!!

Stay tuned for more fascinating news from
The Vintage Maybelline Docu-Blog.

Maybelline Pin Up Girl, Elyse Knox, 1944.

Maybelline ushers in The Pin Up Girl, The Bomb Shell and The Girl Next Door during World War 11 - creating an American Ideal for beauty, style and fashion.

Maybelline model and Pin Up Girl Elyse Knox 1943, photographed by Paul Hesse. "Maybelline lights the way to new eye beauty, signed Elyse Knox."

Elyse Knox was one of Maybelline's World War 11 models contracted for her sexy yet innocent face during the 1940's.  Knox was a B-movie starlet in the Hollywood System playing secondary roles until she landed a role with Lon Chaney Jr. in The Mummy's Tomb; one of the series of Mummy horror films made by Universal Studios. 

Knox became well known after Maybelline placed her full page glossy autographed picture on the back of magazines after appearing as herself in Universal Studios 1944 production of "Follow the Boys."  One of the World War 11 morale-booster films made for both the soldiers serving overseas as well as civilians at home.

Knox was also a Pin Up Girl during the War, appearing in such magazines as YANK, a weekly put out by the United States Military.  Ads like this combined with Maybelline ads on the back of movie magazines, created a desire in all Service Men to return to the arms of their sweet All American girls - with those Maybelline eyes. 

In Late 1944 Knox was signed by Monogram Pictures to portray Anne Howe, the love interest of fictional boxer Joe Palooka in Joe Palooka, Champ.  Based on the very popular comic strip.  The instant success of the May 1946 film led to  Knox appearing in another five Joe Palooka productions.  She retired from film making in 1946 after appearing in the musical There's a Girl in My Heart but continued doing Print ads like the one above for Maybelline while appearing on the Bing Crosby radio show where she met foot star Tom Harmon.  She married fashion photographer Paul Hesse one of Maybelline's official photographers, divorced and married Tom Harmon in 1944.

The couple had three children, Kristin, who married Ricky Nelson and had Tracy, twins Gunnar and Lars, and a son Sam who modeled and acted in film and TV (TJ Hooker.) And Kelly..... and Mark Harmon of NCIS.

Read more about the Pin Up Girls Tom Lyle contracted during World War 11 in The Maybelline Story and stay tune for more Maybelline Pin Up Girls, Film Stars and Girls Next Door during the 1940's, all this week.

Thanks for following The Maybelline Blog, see you tomorrow and tell your friends to check in as well!!!!

What's in a Maybelline slogan?

Look at these eyes, what do you see.  Captivates and takes your breath away.  That's what Maybelline was all about.

Viola Dana - Beautiful Photoplay Star, 1925.  Read all about her in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.  Order now on Amazon.

Today when you think of Maybelline, you think of Maybelline New York's catchy slogan, "Maybe She's Born With It?  Maybe It's Maybelline?"   But over the last 95 years there have been many other wonderful slogans, with beautiful stars from stage and screen.  Here are a few: 

      
In 1917, The slogan "Maybelline, Darkens and Beautifies Eyelashes and Brows Instantly," splashed onto the pages of movie magazines for the first time with lovely Mildred Davis as Maybelline's fetching face of the decade. 

       
During the 1920's, the slogan, "Eyes That Charm" seduced women to mail order Maybelline, after being captivated by vampish silent  screen star Viola Dana.

      
In the 1930’s Maybelline ads went from black and white to beautifully colored art deco illustrations of glamorous women, inspired by actress Natalie Moorhead. They read:
-"It's Easy now to have Bewitching Eyes!" 
- "Alluring eyes may be instantly yours by the magic of Maybelline. 
- "Only genuine Maybelline can give you truly alluring eyes." 
- "Your eyes should be your most alluring feature."     

Another ad in the 30’s read "Old as ancient Egypt New as modern Paris," and had an illustration of Cleopatra on one half of the page and a modern 1930’s beauty on the other.

      
By the 1940’s Maybelline’s slogan became "Isn't She, or Isn't She," with before and after photography and, the most famous slogan for several decades,  "Quality Yet Sensibly Priced."  These ads featured full page colored, glossy photographs of Pin up girls like Betty Grable, Rita Haworth, Hedy Lamaar and Elyse Knox, bombshells of the WW11 era. 
       
By the 1950’s, TV slogans became more international and reached a new type of woman, the independent modern woman.  The catch word became "Exotic," and the new slogan became "Achieve the new Exotic eye make up with Maybelline."  Tom Lyle was the first to do "before and after" ads using the slogans:  
- "What a difference Maybelline makes." 
- "Be Fashion-wise accent your eyes with Maybelline." -Maybelline was now about fashion, being smart and accenting your beautiful eyes. "Preferred By Smart Women The World Over"
      
In 1964, Emery Shaver, the genius wordsmith who fashioned every Maybelline slogan from 1915 to 1964, died from a massive heart attack.  His last slogan for Tom Lyle's prized, Ultra Lash launched that year was, "Maybelline the most prized eye cosmetics in the world".  And never forget his famous,  "A woman's most prized possession is a man's imagination."  So, I guess the answer to "What's in a slogan?" was and still is today,  SEX APPEAL!

Thank you for following the Maybelline Vintage Docu-Blog, the most extensive, living documentary
Blog on the Internet.