Posts Tagged: Greatest Celebrity of All Time

Marilyn Monroe Show Opening in London (Photo Gallery)

1, 2012 11:00am

Photo by M. Garrett/Getty Images

We’ve contemplated Was Marilyn Monroe the Greatest Celebrity of All Time? and had, until recently, been busy speculating whether the re-imagining of Marilyn will lead to an Oscar statuette for Michelle Williams over Meryl Streep and Viola Davis.

But, over on the other side of the Atlantic, the Getty Images Gallery has been busy assembling images and memorabilia to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the icon’s tragic passing. Costumes worn by, and photographs of the glamorous actress/muse will be on display from March 9 – May 24, 2012. Admission is free.

For some images from the exhibition of the current titleholder of “Greatest Celebrity of All Time,” check out the gallery below:


 

Was Brigitte Bardot the Greatest Celebrity of All Time (GCOAT)?

10, 2012 9:02pm

We’ve asked the question, “Was Grace Kelly the Greatest Celebrity of All Time?” And, we considered a likely contender in the post Was Marilyn Monroe the Greatest Celebrity of All Time?

While Princess Grace was an Oscar-winner, a fashion icon and a very real princess before she passed away at the age of 52, Marilyn Monroe remains an undeniable force in our pop culture who was on her way to proving herself within her acting profession.

For sex-symbol status alone, Monroe had few rivals, but amongst those whose impact has scorched the eyebrows of feminism, inspired animal rights activism and perhaps personified a “Lolita” as closely as any before her or since, Brigitte Bardot must also be considered a Top 10 contender for the title “Greatest Celebrity of All Time.”

Born in 1934, Bardot landed headlines by appearing in her then-husband Roger Vadim’s film “And God Created Woman.” Working with French auteur-greats like Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle, Bardot was nominated for a British Academy Award, became the official face of liberty in France, starred in 47 films and recorded dozens of songs, some in collaboration with another French icon, Serge Gainsbourg.

Now known as much for her animal rights activism (the Sea Shepherd conservation group have a boat named after her), Bardot has recently found herself in the press for inciting racial hatred against the Islamization of France.

GCOAT? The breadth of Bardot’s achievements and notoriety must land her in proximity to the crown and, at 77 years of age, Bardot is also the first of our contenders to still be generating new reasons for consideration.

The latest appreciation of all things Bardot is a photographic tribute to the icon titled “BB forever,” and which will be exhibited at four different Sofitel hotels in the U.S. this year- Los Angeles (Feb-Mar), Chicago (Apr-May), Washington DC (Jun-Sept) and New York (Oct-Dec).

The Los Angeles show, kicking things off during Oscar week – February 21, 2012, represents the first ever North American photographic exhibition dedicated to Bardot, and is accompanied by a 45-page catalog serving up anecdotes of Bardot’s career.

Can you rank them so far? Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe & Brigitte Bardot – who gets your vote?

Title photo above - Muse © Tirage numérique d’après le tirage original de Sam Lévin – Médiathèque de l’architecture et du patrimoine, France

Was Marilyn Monroe the Greatest Celebrity of All Time (GCOAT)?

11, 2011 12:30pm


Last week we asked the question, “Was Grace Kelly the Greatest Celebrity of All Time?” Princess Grace was an Oscar-winner, lived large amidst acting luminaries of her era, was a fashion icon and a muse to many, and became a very real princess before she passed away tragically at the age of 52 in 1982.

One most likely contender to challenge the G.C.O.A.T. crown is an undeniable force in our pop culture still today. She was on her way to proving herself within her acting profession, definitely lived very large amidst undeniably talented peers, inspired many to dress her hourglass frame, was married three times, including nuptials to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, and if she indeed wooed a Kennedy then can also be said to have been involved with royalty of the American sort. …Read More