Mamie, wonderful Mamie

Among another peculiar mix today of birthday boys'n'girls, including Queen Anne, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Bob Marley, Rip Torn, Patrick Macnee, Natalie Cole, Denis Norden, Ramon Novarro, Gayle Hunnicutt, Leslie Crowther, Axl Rose, François Truffaut, Mike Farrell, Ronald Reagan, Eva Braun, Babe Ruth, Jimmy Tarbuck, Mike Batt, Rick Astley (who is 55) and our very own Madam Arcati...

...it's the 90th birthday of the "Blonde Bombshell" herself, Miss Mamie Van Doren!

From an article on the Salon.com site (via the Wayback Machine):

To understand why Mamie Van Doren is who she is and how she has held on to what she was, we first must examine the breasts. Lordy, those breasts. Fashioned by God and fondled by Elvis. Born during the New Deal and bloomed during Nagasaki. Coaxed Howard Hughes out of reclusion. Got action in the back seats of cars America hasn't made in half a century. Even brought down the house in Vietnam. Bigger than Marilyn's, more buoyant than Jayne Mansfield's - and they're still here.

Boy, are they still here - even though it's been decades since Mamie Van Doren was on Hollywood's A-list of pinup girls and B-list of movie starlets. They were showcased in a string of drive-in quickies and sexploitation films throughout the '50s, including Sex Kittens Go to College (subtitled "You Never Saw a Student Body Like This!") and Untamed Youth ("Youth Turned Rock 'n' Roll Wild and the Punishment Farm that Makes Them Wilder!") They were just about the only facet of Van Doren's career that stayed afloat during the '60s. They've outlasted - she's outlasted - not only her fellow '50s bombshells but the leading men who pursued them: Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, even Rock Hudson (who, she claims, left a Clinton-esque stain on her dress).

Yes indeed, if ever there was a girl whose reputation went before here, it's Mamie. And here are some prime examples of her - ahem - outstanding talents...

Mamie Van Doren - Hey Mama

Mamie Van Doren - Go, Calypso, Go

...and, finally, here's the "lady" herself - aged 80 - in a most (ahem) tasteful tribute to... her mobile phone!

Mummy, I'm scared...

Many happy returns, Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander, 6th February 1931)!

[And to the Madam, as well, of course - who I just know will love this trash-fest.]