Marilyn Monroe & Those in Her Shadow (1 Viewer)

[Emcee]

Marilyn Monroe was undisputed when it came to being the most popular film blonde back in the 1950s. So popular was she that many other movie studios tried their best to have their own version of her. This page is dedicated to Monroe and the women that were "created" in her shadow. Of course, some of these ladies had talent and a successful career outside of the Monroe mold, but others did not.

What do you think of these ladies?
Big Picture: Marilyn Monroe
Top Right: Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren
Middle Row (L--R): Sheree North, Cleo Moore, and Joi Lansing
Bottom Row (L--R): Diana Dors, Greta Thyssen, and Barbara Nichols

 

[Emcee]

I just found this picture of Jayne Mansfield and I loved it! Say hello to my new profile picture!

 

[Johnny Angell]

My recollection is that Jayne Mansfield had very little talent. She relied on her obvious physical attributes for any success she achieved. I believe it was Jack Parr who once introduced here: "Here they are, Jayne Mansfield." I believe Dick Cavett wrote that line.

 

[Emcee]

My recollection is that Jayne Mansfield had very little talent. She relied on her obvious physical attributes for any success she achieved. I believe it was Jack Parr who once introduced here: "Here they are, Jayne Mansfield." I believe Dick Cavett wrote that line.

That's where I'll beg to differ. Jayne actually showed great potential in two classics: THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT and WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? She seemed to be at home with the satirical and over-the-top comedy that these two successes possessed. Besides from Frank Tashlin (who directed both films), however, no other director/producer seemed to know how to use her to her fullest. When Fox lost interest her, she was shipped overseas for one cheap production after another. She wasn't ever really given the chance to shine as brightly as she could have.

 

[Vic Pardo]

Marilyn Monroe was undisputed when it came to being the most popular film blonde back in the 1950s. So popular was she that many other movie studios tried their best to have their own version of her. This page is dedicated to Monroe and the women that were "created" in her shadow. Of course, some of these ladies had talent and a successful career outside of the Monroe mold, but others did not.

What do you think of these ladies?
Big Picture: Marilyn Monroe
Top Right: Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren
Middle Row (L--R): Sheree North, Cleo Moore, and Joi Lansing
Bottom Row (L--R): Diana Dors, Greta Thyssen, and Barbara Nichols
View attachment 45339

I like all the ones you mention. Other than Mansfield and Van Doren, I've never thought of any of the others as Monroe knock-offs, although they may have been promoted that way early in their careers. By the time I discovered them on local TV stations, those days were long gone. To me, what they each did seemed very different from Monroe and each other. Diana Dors is great as the cheating wife of Rod Steiger (giving one of his usual over-the-top performances) in THE UNHOLY WIFE (1957). Of all of the non-Monroes, I have the fondest feelings for Van Doren and I'm not entirely sure why. I've seen her in a bunch of movies but the only ones I recall without looking up her filmography are YANKEE PASHA (1954), in which she had an Arabian harem catfight with Rhonda Fleming, and HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (1958), in which she played the unlikely hot-to-trot "aunt" of undercover high school narc Russ Tamblyn. (Van Doren was only three years older than Tamblyn.) A wild movie by any standard.

 

[Emcee]

I like all the ones you mention. Other than Mansfield and Van Doren, I've never thought of any of the others as Monroe knock-offs. What they each did was very different from Monroe and each other. Of all of the non-Monroes, I have the fondest feelings for Van Doren and I'm not sure why. I've seen her in a bunch of movies but the only ones I recall without looking up her filmography are YANKEE PASHA (1954), in which she had an Arabian harem catfight with Rhonda Fleming, and HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (1958), in which she played the unlikely hot-to-trot "aunt" of undercover high school narc Russ Tamblyn. A wild movie by any standard.

Mansfield and Van Doren were the two most closely associated with Monroe.

Sheree North, however, was signed to 20th Century-Fox to "stand-in" for Monroe. Marilyn had rejected a top role in a movie called PINK TIGHTS, and Sheree was signed to replace her. As North has said in many interviews, she never felt like she was replacing Marilyn, but was being used as a threat to get her "in line" and behave more obediently to studio executives. PINK TIGHTS was never made; North did end up replacing Monroe in HOW TO BE VERY, VERY POPULAR and even shared the same leading man --- Tom Ewell --- in THE LIEUTENANT WORE SKIRTS. North had a successful career in the mid-to-late 1950s, but when Fox didn't renew her contract in 1958, her light dimmed, and it never sparkled as brightly again.