The Art Bungalow at the Lafayette

On the last Friday of each month, I typically attend the Creative Mornings breakfast lecture. Mashonda Tifrere, artist advocate, singer, curator, and writer, spoke at the October event and I was deeply impressed by her poise, grace, and support/participation in the arts. She also talked briefly about her book, Blend: The Secret to Co-Parenting and Creating a Balanced Family, which describes the journey of co-parenting with her ex. Rarely an easy situation to navigate. When I thanked her for her talk, she suggested I attend The Art Bungalow event at the Lafayette Hotel, put on by Art Genesis, which presents unique opportunities for emerging artists committed to advancing the culture. Art? The Lafayette? Say no more. I was there, with camera in tow. Held in Bungalow 191, it was an experience well worth leaving the comfort of my couch for!



Featuring the works of 15 international artists with music curated by DJ Tokyo Rose, it was a unique way to present art. Since it’s renovation a few years back, The Lafayette has become a beacon for creatives impressed with the artistic details that are sprinkled throughout the historic property.



Inside the two-story bungalow, paintings and photographs were hung, almost blending into the background of the already heavily decorated suite.



This piece was probably my favorite.



The one drawback was that the art too often blended into the background of the busy walls, or was not easily accessible to view because of where it was hung. The piece below is a prime example. The harsh light of the sconce next to it did it no favors.



The Lafayette itself already has a number of accessories and fixtures that one could call art.



It was a bit difficult to ascertain what belonged to the exhibit and what was a permanent part of the bungalow.



This serpent carpet is something every home should have!



Overall, it was a more than worthwhile experience. The bungalow was jam-packed with attendees and the energy was all positive. I hope this is something that continues there on a regular basis.



On another note, how did we skip November and already slide in to the Christmas holiday season?



See more Lafayette Hotel in San Diego photos at my main website.

More Janet Leigh and kids at Disneyland, 1962

Today I am sharing a few new additions to my Janet Leigh at Disneyland circa 1962 collection. Poor little Jamie Lee appears to be suspicious of the little boy in the foreground. Janet is not really paying attention to the storm brewing.



Will a smooch from mom help?



My eye instead went directly to the cool hat this young gent is wearing:



He can be seen in all his retro glory in this shot, too:



…and this one:



Check out the ticket book and camera clutched in his left hand:



Is it time to go home yet? Jamie looks like she could be ready.



A lovely portrait of Janet and Jamie, with Kelly in the foreground:



The negatives obviously have no date/time stamp, but I would guess that by the time Janet and the girls took a ride on Nature’s Wonderland, judging by the look on her face, mama needed a cig.



Yup…let’s get those kids on the Monorail and take them back to the hotel!



See more Janet Leigh at Disneyland photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Aloha Shirley, 1969

Hawaii was a very special place for Shirley Temple, and not just because she danced the hula in “Curly Top” (1935)! Below, a seventeen year old Shirley gushed about it in her first autobiography, My Young Life (1945):

I’ve been able to do quite a lot of traveling. The three trips we’ve made to Hawaii were the best. I’m actually insane about Hawaii. The first time we got on that big boat I was so excited I nearly popped, and I’ve been hardly less excited on other trips. It’s definitely thrilling to go to sleep in a stateroom and know that while you’re sleeping, the boat is taking you closer and closer to Hawaii. The captain took me up to the bridge, and generally gave me the run of the ship. He usually let me hold the wheel at least once a trip. Then the boat gets in, and there’s a band playing on the dock, and everybody heaps you with flower leis. And the scenery is so beautiful. It’s the way a movie set looks when you see it on the screen—not like it looks when you’re working on it.

Shirley’s first trip to Hawaii took place after she wrapped filming on “Curly Top” in July 1935. It was the first time the little girl had left her native state of California.



Two years later, she would return with her family in July/August 1937. In the photo below, Shirley poses with Evelyn and Florence Loo at a welcome party held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in her honor on August 5, 1937. The girls were the daughters of Tai Sing Loo, a photographer for the Navy who captured photos of Pearl Harbor before and after the 1941 bombing, as well as many other celebrities and dignitaries who visited the island. Many thanks to Shirley expert supreme, Rita D, for identifying this photo!



In the Spring of 1939, Shirley had no firm projects on the horizon and tensions had been building between 20th Century-Fox and the Temple family. As she described in Child Star (1988): 

Summertime and end of school left me with nothing to do and a future utterly blank, a situation never experienced since my start five and a half years earlier at Fox. Also never before had I had a real summer vacation. To my parents’ surprise, I suggested that we go to Hawaii for a third trip, this time for change, not work.

As always, she was surrounded by the Press. Her expression says it all!



Describing her first trip to Hawaii, Shirley let it be known that these “vacations” typically meant she was still hard at work:

The concept of vacation was almost meaningless for me. Routines of work and pleasures of leisure had always been commingled. In fact, this was what the studio had in mind—piggyback a maximum publicity program on our private plans for a Hawaiian vacation. Photographic opportunities and official contacts were carefully interwoven with press and radio interviews. Intense public exposure was the objective, at minimum cost. It would be our vacation, and so were all the expenses.

By 1950, Shirley’s career had fizzled along with her marriage to John Agar. Looking for change again as in 1939, she chose to get away from it all with daughter, Linda Susan, by traveling to her beloved vacation spot, Hawaii.



In My Young Life (1945), she had prophetically written:

After the war, I want to go to Hawaii again. Maybe it has honeymoon possibilities.

On that fateful trip in 1950, she met the love of her life, Charles Alden Black. The two had a whirlwind romance and married that same year.



Flash forward to August 1969, and we find Shirley back in Hawaii, ready to embark on a new career:

Mrs. Shirley Temple Black smiles as she  arrives at Kewalo Basin after a fishing excursion aboard the “Cutty Sark,” 8/29. Mrs. Black was named by President Nixon as one of the five U.S. representatives to the United Nations.



Although no longer the world famous “child star” of the 1930s, Shirley still generated her fair share of press coverage. From the Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 27, 1969:

[Postmaster General and Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe] will attend the testimonial dinner for Sen. Hiram L. Fong Saturday night at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where they stand to be outshone by two other loyal Republicans, former child star, Shirley Temple Black and former governor, William F. Quinn, especially if the latter work up a duet, “On the Good Ship Lollypop in Blue Hawaii.”

Two days later, the Honolulu Star announced Shirley’s appointment to the United Nations:

President Nixon today named Shirley Temple Black, former child movie star, as one of five United States representatives to the 24th regular session of the United Nations General Assembly. Mrs. Black was deep sea fishing in Hawaii’s waters when the Presidential announcement was made at the Western White House. She arrived in Hawaii yesterday to take part in tomorrow’s testimonial fund-raising dinner for GOP Sen. Hiram L. Fong. She will share master of ceremonies duties with Gov. William F. Quinn. A top appointment by the Nixon Administration had been expected, and Mrs. Black has been sidestepping comment for days by saying she was not at liberty to discuss it.…Mrs. Black, who is now a society matron in San Francisco with three teenager-children, was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress last year in California. She has been exceptionally active in public service. Mrs. Black is staying at the Halekulani Hotel.

How the Halekulani looked in 1969 when Shirley stayed there:



The event was held at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which I visited back in 2004:



The Honolulu Star gave this report of the evening:

At a fund-raising testimonial dinner last night, Republican U.S. Sen. Hiram L. Fong was praised, toasted and—in a surprisingly early turn of events—endorsed by the strong ILWU for re-election in 1970.…About 1,500 persons attended the $50-a-plate affair at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel highlighted by the appearance of two Nixon Cabinet members, top Federal employee union officials, and [Jack] Hall’s [ILWU vice president] electoral pats-on-the-back.

Below, Shirley poses with Senator Fong and former Gov. William F. Quinn:





Nancy Harlocker reported in the Honolulu Star Advertiser on September 1, 1969 about another reception that Shirley attended:

Washington Place was buzzing with a surprising number of Republican leaders at a reception Thursday night which seemed fitting considering Democrat Gov. John A. Burns’ and Mrs. Burns’ guests of honor. They were Postmaster General Winston M. Blount and Secretary of Transportation John A. Volpe, two of President Richard M. Nixon’s recent cabinet appointees. The two Washington VIPs and their wives were here over the long weekend to attend U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong’s testimonial dinner at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel Saturday night.…Shirley Temple Black was there — warm and friendly as ever and a standout in a two-piece white pique dress that showed off her tanned midriff. Lee Gray told Shirley that his father, Harry Joe Brown, a 20th Century-Fox producer, had directed her first movie, “Little Miss Marker,” a fact that Shirley, indeed, remembered. She was pleased to hear about Brown again. Mrs. Phillip Swatek told Mrs. Black that her 5-year-old daughter was a real fan of her early movies that are shown on local television Sundays. “I can’t wait to tell my daughter that I met you,” Mrs. Swatek told Mrs. Black. “Oh, don’t tell her you met me, just tell her you met my daughter,” replied the former child film star. Mrs. Black and Mrs. Emil Offer greeted each other like old friends, which they are. “We used to play with our Shirley Temple dolls together,” Mrs. Black recalled. The girls had played at the Diamond Head home of June Offer’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Renton when Shirley vacationed here as a child. “We even exchanged our dolls,” recalled Mrs. offer. “I took Shirley’s and cut off all the curls.” Mrs. Black was in Hawaii to be mistress of ceremonies at Senator Fong’s party.

Actually, Harry Joe Brown’s first Temple movie was “Young People” (1940), her LAST film at 20th Century-Fox, for which he served as producer. Shirley was obviously being kind in agreeing with Lee Gray. Alexander Hall directed “Little Miss Marker” (1934), which was made at Paramount, not Fox, and definitely not Shirley’s first film!

Back to Hawaii! Below is a shot I took of Washington Place back in 2004, which was designated a National Historic Landmark three years later. I’m sure my photograph played a part in that! Washington Place is best known as the home of Hawaii’s beloved Queen Liliʻuokalani. Later it became the official residence of the governor of Hawaii.



Dave Donnelly told an amusing story in the Honolulu Star Bulletin on September 1, 1969:

Star-Bulletin photographer Jack Matsumoto asked A.P. Bureau Chief George Zucker to snap a picture of him with Shirley Temple Black at Washington Place last week. Jack first met Shirley in 1935 when she was the curly-haired film star and he was a bellboy at the Royal Hawaiian. Her parents were concerned because of a flock of fans at the hotel so they asked Jack to carry her up to her room. He did and now 34 years later Shirley thanked him for it.

Even after Shirley’s vacation was over, the Honolulu Star Bulletin continued to report on Shirley. From September 17, 1969:



Shirley Temple Black has been sworn in as one of the 10 U.S. delegates to the U.N. General Assembly and will specialize on environmental and social questions. After the ceremony yesterday, the former child actress told a news conference she was concerned with “air pollution and water problems.…I would hope we could work toward peace and human brotherhood and to improve the environmental situation in the world,” she said.



We could still use Shirley’s help today!

See more photos of Shirley Temple in Hawaii at my main website.

Tuna, Star Trek, Marilyn, and Project Runway

How do you combine Tuna, Star Trek, Marilyn Monroe, and Project Runway all into one post? If you’re asking, you’re apparently new to the Daveland rabbit holes. Welcome aboard! While doing my usual dinner on the couch with Willis and a movie/TV show, I put my Star Trek season one discs into the blu ray player. Watching the episode “Charlie X” (September 15, 1966) caused me to wonder what happened to Grace Lee Whitney, who played Yeoman Janice Rand. She is pictured above with Robert Walker, Jr. (son of Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones), who played Charlie. She was a more than capable actress and her chemistry with Kirk (William Shatner) seemed like it could have generated some interesting story lines. And yet, she disappeared before the first season was over. The official reason was that producer Roddenberry didn’t want to limit Kirk’s romantic adventures to Rand; the real reason was more rooted in budgetary concerns. In looking her up, I discovered an amazing (to me, at least) tidbit: Grace Lee Whitney was the original model for the Chicken of the Sea mermaid!



From the Chicken of the Sea website:

The first products sold under the Chicken of the Sea brand appeared in 1930. A little over 20 years later, in 1952, our mermaid mascot made her debut. The original illustration, with her tall blonde beehive and button nose, was modeled after Grace Lee Whitney—the actress who played Yeoman Janie Rand on the original Star Trek series. Over the decades, the mermaid has changed up her hairstyle and even the color of her tail, but her blonde hair and wand (or, most recently, her trident) have remained fixtures of her look.

She made radio show appearances with Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy wearing the mermaid suit and a ton-o-hair! As she recalled:

Even though “Bergen and McCarthy” was radio, we did the show on a stage before a large studio audience, so the visual part of the show was still important. It was important that the mermaid who sang the tuna jingle look the part. Because I couldn’t walk in that costume, stagehands had to pick me up and carry me out onstage. I would sing the commercial, then they’d pick me up and carry me off again as I waved my wand to the audience.

She even had a doll modeled after; that’s how you know you’ve made it big!



All good things must come to an end, and in 2023, Chicken of the Sea changed their mermaid. Where was the outcry?!?



To think that at Disneyland, there was a Star Trek connection! The Mermaid on the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship restaurant was originally painted in all gold:





Eventually, she got the full-color treatment, as seen in this October 1966 image:





She could also be found on the bow of the ship:



When Chicken of the Sea left as a sponsor, the mermaid was turned into a ginger:



Finally, in a move of economy, she was converted back to all-gold again. No real craftsmanship needed to upkeep that!



Back to Grace…

She also had a bit part in one of my favorite Marilyn Monroe movies, “Some Like It Hot” (1959). As a member of the all-girl band, she can be seen at far left, along with Jack Lemmon and Marilyn.



And finally, the Project Runway connection. When I was looking at Grace’s hair in high definition during the “Star Trek” episodes, I couldn’t help but think it looked familiar. As Whitney later recalled:

It was so heavy it kept listing to the left, I swear they had to nail that thing to my head! It was gorgeous Max Factor hair. It cost a lot of money and somebody stole it. I still have visions of that damn wig turning up. I go down to Skid Row for my recovery program - I'm clean and sober now - and I keep expecting to find some bag lady or drag queen wearing it!



I’m not sure where the wig ended up, but it surely was the inspiration for this outfit from Project Runway, season 5, episode 7, where designer Korto Mormolu wove car seatbelts together to create a coat.



And there you have it. Another rabbit hole completed. I’ll leave this post with Whitney’s 2015 obituary from the ​​​Hollywood Reporter:

Grace Lee Whitney, who played the loyal Janice Rand, the personal assistant who served Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) aboard the USS Enterprise during the first season of Star Trek, has died. She was 85. Whitney, who reprised her role as Rand in four Star Trek films and in a 1996 episode of Star Trek: Voyager, died Friday at her home in Coarsegold, Calif., her son told The Fresno Bee. The attractive blond also appeared in two Billy Wilder films that starred Jack Lemmon: 1959’s Some Like It Hot (as one of the members of the all-girl band) and as Kiki the Cossack in 1963’s Irma la Douce. There was much sexual tension between Whitney’s Yeoman Rand and Shatner’s Kirk as the actress appeared in eight of the first 13 episodes of the 1966-69 NBC space drama. But then she suddenly was released from her contract. “There was a scene that Shatner and I did — and I remember when it happened — that scared the producers, because they said, ‘Uh-oh, they’re getting too close. This is getting too hot,’” she recalled in a 2011 interview. “We have to remove her because he’s going to look like he’s cheating when he falls in love with other women on other planets.” Whitney wrote in her 1998 book, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, that she was sexually assaulted by an executive at Desilu, the production company behind Star Trek, and suffered from drug and alcohol abuse for years before turning her life around.

See more pop culture photos at my main website.