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May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: 'Noodles,' Asian style is a carb sub, sure. But they are also amazingly delicious and colorful

April 19, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: When violence seems the only answer

Caroline B. Glick: Why Obama's visit to Israel had no impact on public opinion or government policy

Morgan Housel: Gold collapse: The start of something big?
Harvard Health Letters: Can you die of a broken heart?

Pete Spotts: Livable super-Earths? Two candidates among Kepler's latest finds

Nora Schultz: Oxytocin helps beat booze cravings

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: Middle Eastern cuisine meets Italian delicious with this lentil and eggplant pastitsio

April 17, 2013

Shira Rubin: Too much of a good thing? 'Palestinians' realize downside of foreign aid boom

Geoffrey Mohan: Can computers decode dreams? Researchers take a first step

Morgan Housel: BAD NEWS: EVERYONE IS RIGHT!
Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 heart-healthy eating tips help cut saturated fat but not taste

Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Told your child has sensory processing disorder? Seek a second opinion

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Corn and Curry Add Zing to Chilled Soup

April 15, 2013

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Death of Education?

Kristen Chick: Egyptian Christians respond with harsh words to attack -- rocks, Molotov cocktails, and gunfire -- against main cathedral

Marcy Darnovsky and Karuna Jaggar: High Court to decide if you should own your DNA
Howard LaFranchi: US bracing for more Russian blowback after taking action against 18 more human rights violators

Kristin Ohlson : The loneliest fight

The Kosher Gourmet by Dana Velden: A tasty, rich dish that hints at spring's arrival while still anchored in a favorite winter staple


Jewish World Review January 8, 2010 / 22 Teves 5770

Brassy blondes

By Greg Crosby



http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | In every era the movies have had their glamour girls. The 40's had the bouncy, gutsy types like Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, and Joan Crawford; the 50's had the voluptuous types, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and Kim Novak; and today we have the "new woman," the super woman who is capable of anything whether it be fighting corruption, running a business, or saving the world. But there's another kind of movie girl that predates them all. She's the wisecracking, floozy, flirty movie girl that was popular about 75 years ago. Of course I'm referring to the brassy blondes of the 30's!


The most famous four (in my opinion) were Jean Harlow, Carole Lombard, Ginger Rogers, and Joan Blondell. There were others of course like Glenda Farrell, Ann Sothern, and Una Merkel. As a matter of fact, the brassy blonde type was so popular that the studios put many of their contract actresses under the peroxide bottle before they went on to make their names with their own personas. Bette Davis, Alice Faye, Jane Wyman, Barbara Stanwyck, and Ida Lupino are a few that come to mind.


But Jean Harlow was filmdom's first blonde bombshell (although a case could be made for Mae West, but she was more of a lampoon of a sex symbol than the real deal). Born Harlean Carpenter in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3, 1911, Jean was the daughter of a successful dentist and his wife. At the age of 16, she ran away from home and never looked back. She came to Hollywood and began as an extra in films around 1927; her big break came in 1930, when she landed a role in Howard Hughes' "Hell's Angels." Hughes then sold her contract to MGM and it was then that her career really took off.


After "Platinum Blonde" (1931) she was famous. Jean was America's hot sex symbol throughout the early and mid 1930's, working with all the top MGM players, but most notably with Clark Gable in six films. Her pictures included "Red Dust," "Dinner at Eight," "China Seas," "Wife vs. Secretary," and "Saratoga." Sexy yes, but Jean had a great comedy sense too. Check out her role as the battling wife of Wallace Berry in "Dinner at Eight." She's hysterical. It was probably that picture which first established the typical dumb blonde persona that is still used so much even today. Sadly, she died at the young age of 26 of uremic poisoning in 1937, but her films live on and continue to entertain audiences worldwide.

Letter from JWR publisher


Carole Lombard was born Jane Alice Peters in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on October 6, 1908. Although she began in silent movies, including a stint with slapstick comedy director Mack Sennett, Carole really came into her own with the "talkies." Her snappy, sexy voice proved an asset in making her transition into the sound era. A natural comedienne, she hit it off with William Powell in their first film together, "Man of the World," and the two were soon married.


Carole soon became a major Paramount Studios star but one of her biggest hits was for Colombia starring opposite John Barrymore in "Twentieth Century" where her comedic talent was really showcased. Carole Lombard was equally talented in drama as she was in comedy, and she had naturalness in her acting style that really set her apart. Powell and Lombard were teamed up again in "My Man Godfrey," and Carole was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her work in that picture. She was in one of the first Technicolor comedies, the classic "Nothing Sacred," opposite Fredric March.


Paramount kept her busy playing opposite some of Hollywood's brightest stars such as Bing Crosby and Fred MacMurry for most of the decade. Some of her other films included "No Man of Her Own" opposite Clark Gable (whom she would marry in 1939), "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" co-starring Robert Montgomery for director Alfred Hitchcock, and what was to be her last picture, "To Be or Not To Be," an anti-Nazi Ernst Lubitsch farce starring opposite Jack Benny.


The film was completed in 1941 just at the time the US entered World War II, and was slated for release in1942. Carole went home to Indiana for a war bond rally. On January 16, 1942, Carole, her mother, and 20 other people were flying back to California when the plane went down outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. All were killed. The highly acclaimed actress was dead at the age of 33. It was reported that Gable was inconsolable.


It's interesting and sad that two of the movies' brightest young brassy blondes died at such early stages of their promising careers. We'll never know what their ultimate potential might have been but thankfully their work speaks volumes for their talent and us younger folk, who never saw their pictures on first run in theaters can discover them and enjoy them today on DVD.


Our next two blondes fortunately had longer careers and healthier life spans. Stay tuned. Next time, Ginger Rogers and Joan Blondell.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

Greg Crosby Archives

© 2008, Greg Crosby

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