Oh, to be a fly on the wall - #943 in a series...

Romy Schneider and Sophia Loren

Jayne Mansfield, Liza Minnelli, Mitzi Gaynor, Kaye Ballard

Edith Piaf reading the palm of Django Reinhardt

Ramon Novarro and Robert Montgomery

Divine makes her thoughts known on the Trumps

I was a Lady before I was a Dame

"My mother said to me, ‘You’re no oil painting, my girl, but you have the spark. Thank God you’ve got my legs and not your father’s!’”

"I have always resented the comments that it was I who was the homewrecker of Larry's marriage to Vivien Leigh. Danny Kaye was attached to Larry far earlier than I."

Sad news. Another of our eminent Dames has departed these shores to preside over Fabulon - Dame Joan Plowright.

Never the huge international star her late husband Sir Laurence Olivier became, her world was that of one of the pre-eminent doyennes of the theatre. In her own words:

"You do films if the roof needs mending."

As well as being a fine actress, and instrumental in the overhaul of British theatre - first in the "Angry Young Men" era at The Royal Court, then (as Mrs Olivier) she played a pivotal role in the establishment of The National Theatre - she was also a very witty and entertaining raconteuse, as our late friend Alistair and I discovered when we went to "An Evening With..." the Great Dame back in 2014.

And here she, is, having a great time with her old chums and fellow Dames in one of the most charming documentaries we watched in the last decade:

Nothing Like A Dame [known as Tea with the Dames in the USA] - Who was the First Dame?

RIP, Dame Joan Ann Plowright, the Baroness Olivier.

The Surrealist

RIP, David Lynch (20th January 1946 – 16th January 2025)

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme

Genius.

That face

"I love that face, that face, it just isn't fair
You must forgive the way that I stare
But never will these eyes behold a sight that could replace
That face, that face, that face."

In a final flourish of attention-grabbing - surely what her entire tragic, plastic-surgery-enhanced existence was all about - the final entry in 2024's "Book of the Dead" has departed for the "Beauty Salon Reject Area" of Fabulon. RIP, Miss Jocelyn Wildenstein (née Jocelyne Périsset, 5th August 1940 – 31st December 2024)!

Banging in the New Year

London Fireworks, New Year 2025

Once again, London's fireworks display was utterly breathtaking! But what were all those graphics in the middle of the London Eye all about? Were they really there - or were they AI? We should be told...

Happy New Year, dear reader!