A surfeit of babies

Convoluted connections, #587 in a series...

It is the end of a mad, hectic week - I was at the splendid Stonewall Awards at the V&A last night, and it's Peter Tatchell's annual "state of the nation address" tonight - but we know what le weekend means. Party time!

It also happens to be the centenary today of the lovely Miss June Havoc, who was the original "Baby June", as featured in the classic musical Gypsy (she was Gypsy Rose Lee's sister in real life).

Baby June, Baby Jane - you can see where this is leading... Here's a fab video mash-up of clips from the magnificently camp Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, as a showcase for the reissue of a Hi-NRG gem - One Less Bell To Answer by Pearly Gates...

Whew. Thank Disco It's Friday!

Pearly Gates - One Less Bell To Answer (featuring Whatever Happened To Baby Jane)

Read my tribute to June Havoc on news of her death in 2010.

But ya are, Blanche!

105 years ago today, a certain Miss Joan Crawford was born. Former soft porn star, starlet, vamp, Hollywood luminary and eventually Grand Guignol melodrama star extraordinaire, Miss Crawford was indeed one of those rare individuals worthy of the name "legend".

Yet it comes to pass that we remember her most, not as Lucille LeSueur the dancer, not for her 50+ films before Mildred Pierce, not for her Oscar nominations as an actress, not for her clever command of the Pepsi Cola company after her husband's death, but for this most marvellously camp piece of cinema history...

Bette Davis, Joan Crawford - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

The Best of Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia website