Maybelline - 20TH Century Fox and Betty Grable - 1940

Betty Grable was featured in a Maybelline Ad in the Sunday Paper doing a Before and After sequince while Grable was staring in Du Barry Was a Lady an Original Broadway Production in 1940. Grable was known for her million dollar legs posing as a famous Pin Up Girl during World War 11. 

Betty Grable on the cover of Life Magazine December 11, 1939 - A Musical Comedy in Two Acts

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter
Book by Herbert Fields and B. G. De Sylva

Tryouts began November 9, 1939 at the Shubert Theatre, New Haven
November 13, 1939 at the Shubert Theatre, Boston
November 27, 1939 at the Forrest Theatre, Philadelphia

Opened December 6, 1939 at the 46th Street Theatre, NYC
Transferred October 21, 1940 to the Royale Theatre
Closed December 12, 1940; Ran for 408 performances

In 1940 Grable was also featured in 20TH Century Fox Pictures "Down Argentine Way," as well as on this full page color Maybelline ad.  Down Argentine Way (1940) Musical. Cast: Betty Grable's first leading role, and introduced Carmen Miranda to America. Don Ameche, The Nicholas Brothers, Charlotte Greenwood and J. Carrol Naish. Director: Irving Cummings. Producer: Darryl F. Zanuck. Cinematography: Leon Shamroy and Ray Rennahan. Costumes: Travis Banton.

Read more about Betty Grable during the filming of Down Argentine Way and why she was chosen for the film and the Maybelline Ad over Alice Faye, in The Maybelline Story.  Purchase the book from Amazon or a signed copy from Sharrie on this website. 

Maybelline's Exotic Super Model, Hedy Lamarr 1945

Hedy Lamarr - known as the "Most Beautiful Woman in the World."  So naturally Tom Lyle chose her as one of his "Most Beautiful Maybelline Faces of the Decade."

Hedy Lamarr was was an Austrian-American actress known primarily for her extraordinary beauty and her celebrity in a film career as a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".

Exotic and liberated Hedy Lamarr was known as the ultimate Pin Up Girl during World War 11.  Maybelline used her image to target the 30 somethings rather than the teen market where up coming starlets ruled the day.  Tom Lyle targeted every aspect of the female market during the decades but none were more prosperous then the mature woman until the Baby Boom came of age in the 1960's. 

Hedy Lamar video. click here.

More Maybelline Super Stars during the 1940's next week...  also you can but the Maybelline Story and lean more about Tom Lyle's genius for advertising and marketing in The Maybelline Story.  Buy a copy from Amazon for a greatly reduced price today, you will love it.

Maybelline model and actress Marjorie Woodworth - 1941

Marjorie Woodworth, a true California Girl, born in 1923, captured the teen-market at 15, when she played a Baton Twirler in Alexander's Ragtime Band, (staring Tyrone Power, Alice Faye and Don Ameche in 1938.)  Woodworth was discovered and being groomed by 20Th Century Fox to be the next Blond Bombshell much like Jean Harlow, Bettie Grable and Alice Faye. 

Like so many young starlets Tom Lyle contracted to do full page, glossy color print ads for Maybelline, Woodworth aspired to be a Super Star but never made it to the top. However she did become a favorite GI Pin Up Girl during World War 11 and drove the youth-market into dime stores  where they purchased truck loads of Maybelline.

Woodworth played a featured role in the Musical Comedy, Broadway Limited is a 1941, (directed by Gordon Douglas, starring Victor McLaglen, Dennis O'Keefe, Patsy Kelly, and Zasu Pitts.)  She was known as the All American Co-Ed, and cast in the 1941 film All American Co-Ed.

The Girl Next Door, Pin Up Girl, Blond Bomb Shell and the next Jean Harlow - Woodworth created the perfect image for Maybelline during the early 1940's when teenage age girls gained spending power and developed their own identity.  The average high school girl with an extra dime for a 10 cent box of Maybelline might easily change herself into a glamorous Star with a few strokes of a little black brush. 

18 year old Marjorie Woodworth lead the parade as teenage girls came of age during the WAR YEARS. 

Pick up your copy of The Maybelline Story and see how my mother, Pauline Mac Donald, Bill Williams girl friend was transformed into his favorite high school sex symbol, Marjorie Woodworth, with a little Maybelline on her eyes when she was 15.

 Thank You to the 105 countries following The Maybelline Blog!

Maybelline - 1943 - American Beauty!

MAYBELLINE MODEL LOIS COLLIER and the Hollywood Star System.

Maybelline model and actress Lois Collier  represented the American ideal.

Lois Collier, one of Universal Studio's beautiful and talented actresses was showcased in Maybelline ads during World War 11.  She was discovered after winning a a contest sponsored by CBS Radio for a part in a radio play in Hollywood.

Collier, like many starlets during the War Era appeared on the cover of Yank, the Army Weekly as well as Maybelline print ads in various popular magazines. She was part of the Hollywood Star System that used companies like Maybelline to help promote movie stars careers.  

From 1940 through 1949 Collier's career would be active and somewhat successful, with her playing mostly heroine roles in B-movies, including Westerns, Horror and Science Fiction thrillers. 

.
Collier held the second female lead in what is considered the best of the Maria Montez adventure films, “Cobra Woman.” She also joined Loretta Young, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Anne Gwynne and Evelyn Ankers in the wartime drama “Ladie’s Courageous.” The Walter Wanger production told the story of the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadrons of the Second World War.

Collier appealed to young movie-goer's who balanced the horror of war with escapism.  Collier was young, beautiful and captivated her audience with those beautiful Maybelline Eyes!  She brought loads of young women into dime stores with disposable money ready to spend on Maybelline so they too could have "The Collier Look."   

Read more about Tom Lyle Williams contribution to the Hollywood Star System in

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.

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!!!!

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Maybelline Wins Runner-Up in 2011 Best Beach Read

2011 BEACH BOOK FESTIVAL NAMES WINNERS


BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY


RUNNER-UP: The Maybelline Story – Sharrie Williams with Bettie Youngs





NEW YORK _ The 2011 Beach Book Festival has named “Damn You, Scarlett O’Hara: The Private Lives of Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier” as the grand prize winner of its annual competition honoring the summer’s hottest reads.


Written by celebrity journalists Darwin Porter and Roy Moseley, the book is the quintessential juicy beach read, tracing the story of the couple once dubbed the Romeo and Juliet of their era. The book spares no punches, detailing the sordid side of the Hollywood legends in their public and private lives. Published by Blood Moon Productions, the publishing house that specializes in celebrity scandal, the book is a page-turner of the first order and perfect for a fun vacation read.


The winners will be honored at a gala awards ceremony on June 10 at the Algonquin Hotel in New York.


Be sure to purchase Summer's Best Beach Read, "The Maybelline Story"  a fun ride through Vintage Chicago and Hollywood!!!

Maybelline family honors Noel A. for his duty in the Navy - 1945.

In Memory of Noel Allen Williams for his service to his Country during WW11.

Born and raised in Chicago, the son of Maybelline Vice President Noel J. Williams, Noel A. Williams grew up in a sheltered world of comfort, stability and opportunity.  He and my father, Bill Williams were close first-cousins their entire life and when Bill moved to California with his mother Evelyn in 1936 to be near Tom Lyle, it was just a matter of time before Noel A. would follow.

Noel joined the Navy, left Chicago and headed to Southern California where he was stationed in San Diego, close enough to visit his uncle Tom Lyle at the Villa Valentino and Bill of Course.

Noel A. at the Villa Valentino with his uncle Tom Lyle Williams and TL's private Secretary Dorothy Mullander.

Here is a picture of my father Bill in civilian clothes on the left standing next to Dorothy Mullander, Maybelline's executive secretary with Noel A. in his Navy uniform at Tom Lyle's Villa Valentino in the Hollywood Hills.

Noel J. visits California to say goodbye to his 18 year old son before he ships overseas.  Dad looks forward to Noel A. returning home safely, going College and taking a position in the Maybelline Company. 

"Not so fast dad," as Noel A. has other plans which might include a girl he's leaving behind and maybe moving to California.  But for now status-quo is the word.

The girl he leaves behind is his 17 year old childhood sweetheart, Jean Kilroy. 

While Noel A. is overseas his uncle Tom Lyle creates this beautiful Maybelline advertisement targeting young women like Jean who are waiting for their men to return.  Noel A. does return home but not before being wounded by shrapnel on his thigh.  He was one of the lucky ones. 





Noel A. Williams 1925 -1994.

If you'd like to know more about Noel A. and why he gave

 up an opportunity to take over his father's position

in the Maybelline Company - for a life in California - pick up your copy of The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It and walk through the 20Th Century with the family who put the first

 eye beautifier on the market in 1915 to 1967. 

Thank you for following The Maybelline Blog and be sure to tell your friends!!!       

PS: Noel Allen Willliams is Chuck, Nancy and Jim Williams father.                                                                                                          

Maybelline's Soldier Boy, Bill Williams, 1945.

Like his father, William Preston Williams, a WW1 Vet - my father William Preston Williams Jr. served his country fighting in the Philippines during WW11. 

Bill was working as an apprentice artist at MGM painting back drops - hoping to work his way into a career at the studio - when he was drafted into the Army in 1944.

A Sad Sack - Bill wasn't exactly happy leaving West Los Angeles, the beach and MGM - for Fort Riley Kansas in Jan of 1945.

After all that meant saying goodbye to his sweetheart Pauline Mac Donald.

and his Car-Guy buddies, (Bill is second on the right.)

His uncle Tom Lyle Williams.

His mother Evelyn Williams and his 36 Ford.

His life at The Villa Valentino with his uncle Tom Lyle, his mother and Pauline.

So he married his childhood sweetheart Pauline Mac Donald and shipped off to the Philippians in March of 1945 not knowing if he'd ever return to California and those he loved so much.

While Bill was overseas his uncle Tom Lyle Williams created War Time Maybelline Advertisements like this one to sell U.S. War Bonds.

Bill in the Philippians working on a reconnaissance plane.  The war ended in August of 1945, but not without leaving it's mark on him.  He came home with a scar on the back of his head from shrapnel which could have easily killed him.  The amazing thing is, after living a long life, he died at 82 from a head injury.  I guess my father like so many Vets who came back to America to create the Baby Boom were actually on borrowed time until they finished their work on earth.  Maybe that's way they were called "The Greatest Generation."

If you want to read more about Bill and his adventures overseas during WW11, his life in the Maybelline family and the Hay-Day after the sale of the company, please pick up a copy of The Maybelline Story from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or buy a signed copy from me from this www.maybellinebook.com.  Stay tuned for Noel Allen Williams story tomorrow.  We're in the Navy now!

Maybelline family Veteran William Preston Williams, WW1.

This Memorial Day marked the 5TH anniversary of my father's death and brought to mind the War Heroes in the Maybelline Family.  Here are a few pictures of my grandfather Williams Preston Williams as he prepared to leave his home and family and fight for our Country during World War l.

This is what Chicago looked like when my grandfather William Preston Williams joined the Navy in 1917.  He was just 18 years old with visions of being a War Hero.  Like so many boy's from the Lost Generation he imagined the war would quickly end and he'd return unscathed by the ravages of battle - only to be greatly disillusioned with a broken spirit.

This is what was going on in the Maybelline Family at the same time.  Tom Lyle introduced Maybelline to the public as Silent Film became popular and Silent Film Stars were seen on screen with heavily made up eyes.

Theda Bara "THE VAMP" - 1917.  This is what was going on in Hollywood when WW1 broke out.  Women began to be conscious of the their eyes and buy Maybelline.  An interesting fact -  Maybelline was sent in an unmarked package insuring the buyer her privacy since Maybelline was so frowned upon at the time.

1917 Maybelline became available through mail order. 

Screen from the Silent Film WINGS.  This is what Preston was heading into.  He was a rear gunner on one of those Flying Sticks in the sky.




Preston with his parents Susan and TJ.  His mother was grief stricken after already losing her first son, Pearl to TB and the thought of losing another son to War was too much for her.  TJ on the other hand was proud his son was fighting for his Country like so many Patriots that went before him in the Williams Family.  He also thought the Navy might straighten his wild card son up a bit. 
                                                                               

Preston was leaving his family to go fight the enemy, an enemy he and so many young American boys thought would be easy to destroy.  It was far from easy, and Preston came home with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, never to be the same again.  Here he is with his little sister Eva on the left, Frances Allen, Tom Lyle Williams Noel James Williams and Bennie Gibbs.

Mabel Williams on the left with her brother Preston, Helen, one of the first Maybelline models, Frances Allen Williams, Bennie Gibbs and Tom Lyle Williams in front of his new "PAGE "Convertible in Chicago. 

Tom Lyle enlisted as well but was denyed service because he was the sole supporter of his entire family according to his draft card in 1917.  Noel was married to Frances and also supported the family managing the Maybelline Company. He might have been too old for service at the time. 

 If you have read The Maybelline Story these pictures will enhance the visual for you.  If you haven't purchased a signed copy yet just click on maybellinestory.com and one will be mailed to you directly.  I will continue with WWll Maybelline family Veterans tomorrow.  Stay tune for more wonderful pictures and stories.

Maybelline Family Glitz and Glamour in California, 1938.

For nearly a century, "Maybelline" has been synonymous with "eye cosmetics"-- yet little is known about how a tiny company offering a single product by mail order managed to grow into an international institution.

The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It,  aims to change that.  It could only be written by someone with insider knowledge. Sharrie Williams is the great-niece of Tom Lyle Williams, the charming and creative, yet remarkably secretive man who founded Maybelline along with his tight knit family, including his brothers and sisters -Noel, Preston, Mabel and Eva - catapulting a little mail order business in 1915 into the most successful and famous eye cosmetic company in the world.   

By digging through family documents, her own memories and the memories of the few remaining people intimately familiar with the founders of Maybelline, Sharrie slipped beneath the public facade of the company to reveal the amazing personalities at its heart. This is an exciting and thoughtful book, part memoir, part history, part family saga, that reveals the triumphs and tragedies behind the beautiful public face of Maybelline.

Chet and Mabel (Willliams) Hewes, and Ches and Eva (Williams) Haines, Hollywood, 1938.

Tom Lyle Williams with Mabel, Chet, Ches and Eva at The Villa Valentino - Hollywood, 1938.

Catalina California 1938 - left to right, My father Bill, great uncleTom Lyle, my Grandmother Evelyn and my auntie Eva, auntie Mabel and uncle Chet.

Read more about the founding of The Maybelline Company from 1915 to 1968 and beyond in The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It.  Buy a signed copy from Sharrie Williams by clicking on www.maybellinestory.com.  Thank you for following the Maybelline Blog.