 Dolores del Río Dolores Asúnsolo López Negrete (Victoria de Durango, 3 de agosto de 1904 - Newport Beach, California, 11 de abril de 1983), conocida profesionalmente como Dolores del Río, fue una actriz de cine, teatro y televisión mexicana. Dolores fue la primera estrella femenina latinoamericana en triunfar en Hollywood, con una destacada carrera en el cine estadounidense en los años 1920 y 1930. Es considerada también como una de las figuras femeninas más importantes de la Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano en los años 1940 y 1950. Fue reconocida como uno de los rostros más bellos que aparecieron en la industria fílmica de la época. Su larga y versátil carrera se prolongó por más de cincuenta años y abarcó cine mudo, cine sonoro, teatro, televisión y radio. Después de ser descubierta en México, Dolores comenzó su carrera cinematográfica en 1925 en Hollywood. Durante su etapa en el Cine mudo estadounidense, Dolores llegó a ser considerada la versión femenina de Rodolfo Valentino, una latín lover femenina. Tras la aparición del Cine sonoro, la actriz prosiguió su carrera en la industria fílmica estadounidense y participó en numerosas películas románticas, dramáticas y musicales. Cuando su carrera en Hollywood comenzó a declinar a principios de los años 1940, Dolores decidió regresar a México e incorporarse a la industria fílmica de su país natal, que en ese momento estaba en su apogeo. Cuando Dolores regresó a su país natal en 1943, se convirtió en una de las promotoras y principales figuras femeninas de la llamada Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano. Una serie de películas protagonizadas por Dolores en su país natal, bajo la batuta del cineasta Emilio Fernández, son consideradas obras maestras y ayudaron a impulsar la cinematografía mexicana alrededor del mundo. Durante el resto de la década de 1940 y a lo largo de la década de 1950, la actriz se mantuvo activa en el Cine Mexicano, aunque actuó también en Argentina y España. En 1960, Dolores regresó a Hollywood. Durante los próximos años, alternó su trabajo en el cine entre México y los Estados Unidos. Entre finales de los años 1950 y principios de los años 1970, la actriz desarrolló una exitosa carrera teatral en México y apareció en algunas series de televisión estadounidenses. Su último trabajo profesional como actriz lo realizó en 1978. Dolores del Río es una figura mítica del espectáculo en Latinoamérica y representación, por excelencia, del rostro femenino de México en el mundo entero.  "The two most beautiful things in the world are the Taj Mahal and Dolores del Río".  Dolores del Río en una foto publicitaria de 1961. La más bella, la más hermosa del oeste, del este, del norte y del sur. Estoy enamorado de ella al igual que cuarenta millones de mexicanos y ciento veinte millones de estadounidenses que no pueden estar equivocados.  Dolores del Río en peliula In Caliente, 1935 English: Profile Dolores del Río portrait, 1935. Dolores del Río (August 3, 1904 – April 11, 1983) was a Mexican actress, dancer and singer. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is regarded as the first major female Latin American crossover star in Hollywood, with an outstanding career in American cinema in the 1920s and 1930s. She was also considered one of the most important female figures in the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Del Río is also remembered as one of the most beautiful faces on screen of all time. After being discovered in Mexico, she began her film career in Hollywood in 1925. She had roles on a string of successful films, including Resurrection (1927), Ramona (1928) and Evangeline (1929). Del Río came to be considered a sort of feminine version of Rudolph Valentino, a "female Latin Lover", in her years during the American "silent" era. With the advent of sound, she acted in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to musical comedies and romantic dramas. Among her most successful films of that decade include Bird of Paradise (1932), Flying Down to Rio (1933) and Madame Du Barry (1934). In the early 1940s, when her Hollywood career began to decline, Del Río returned to Mexico and joined the Mexican film industry, which at that time was at its peak. When Del Río returned to her native country, she became one of the more important stars of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. A series of Mexican films starring Del Rio, are considered classic masterpieces and helped boost Mexican cinema worldwide. Of them stands out the critically acclaimed María Candelaria (1943). Del Río remained active mainly in Mexican films throughout the 1950s. In 1960 she returned to Hollywood. During the next years she appeared in Mexican and American films. From the late 1950s until the early 1970s she also successfully ventured into theater in Mexico and appeared in some American TV series. Del Río is now considered a mythical figure of American and Mexican cinema, and a quintessential representation of the female face of Mexico in the world.  "I have seen many beautiful women in here, but none as complete as Dolores del Río!" Biography María de los Dolores Asúnsolo y López-Negrete was born in Victoria de Durango, Mexico on August 3, 1904, the daughter of Jesus Leonardo Asúnsolo Jacques, son of wealthy farmers and director of the Bank of Durango, and Antonia López-Negrete, belonging to one of the richest families in the country, whose lineage went back to Spain and the viceregal nobility. Her parents were members of the Mexican aristocracy that existed during the Porfiriato (period in the history of Mexico when the dictator Porfirio Díaz was the president). On her mother's side, she was a cousin of the filmmaker Julio Bracho and of actors Ramón Novarro (one of the "Latin Lovers" of the silent cinema) and Andrea Palma (another prominent actress of the Mexican cinema). On her father's side, she was a cousin of the Mexican sculptor Ignacio Asúnsolo and the social activist María Asúnsolo. Her family lost all its assets during the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920). Dolores's father decided to escape to the United States, while she and her mother fled to Mexico City in a train, disguised as peasants. In 1919, a then 15-year-old Dolores saw a performance of the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, whose interpretation influenced her to become a dancer. In 1921, aged 17, Dolores was invited by a group of Mexican women to dance in a party to benefit a local hospital. At this party, she met Jaime Martínez del Río y Viñent, son of a wealthy family. Jaime had been educated in England and had spent some time in Europe. After a two-month courtship, the couple wed on 11 April 1921. Their honeymoon in Europe lasted two years. Jaime maintained close ties with European aristocratic circles. In Spain queen Victoria Eugenie gave Dolores a photograph. In 1924, the couple returned to Mexico and decided to settle in Mexico City. But in early 1925, Dolores met the American filmmaker Edwin Carewe, an influential director at the First National studio, Carewe was fascinated by Dolores and invited the couple to work in Hollywood.  Dolores Del Río in film Ramona (1928) Del Río made her film debut in Joanna (1925), directed by Carewe and released that year. In the film del Río plays the role of Carlotta De Silva, a vamp of Spanish-Brazilian origin, but she appeared for only five minutes. In 1928, she was hired by United Artists for the third film version of the successful novel Ramona directed by Carewe. The film was a sucess and it helped her conversion to sound films. but her marriage with Jaime Martínez ended that same year. In 1930, del Río met Cedric Gibbons, an art director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and one of the most influential men in Hollywood, at a party at Hearst Castle. The couple began a romance and finally married on August 6, 1930. The del Rio-Gibbons were one of the most famous couples of Hollywood in the early thirties.  In 1933 she was cast in a musical comedy directed by Thornton Freeland: Flying Down to Rio starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In this film, Del Rio became the first major actress to wear a two-piece women's bathing suit onscreen.  Dolores Del Río dancing with Fred Astaire in film Flying Down to Rio (1933) Although Hollywood studio executives admired del Río's beauty, but her career did not interest them at a time when Latin stars had few opportunities to shine at the studio, and she was also put on a list entitled "box office poison", (along with stars like Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West and others).  Dolores del Río with Everett Marshall in film I Live for Love, (1935)  Dolores Del Río in film International Settlement (1938)  Dolores Del Río portrait by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, 1938 Amid the decline of her career, in 1940 Dolores del Río's met actor and filmmaker Orson Welles at a party organized by Darryl Zanuck. The couple felt a mutual attraction and began a discreet affair, which caused the divorce of del Río and Gibbons. She was at the side of Orson Welles during the filming and controversy of Citizen Kane (1941). The love affair ended unhappily in 1943 and Dolores del Río went back to Mexico.  Dolores del Río with Orson Welles in 1940. In Mexico, she filmed María Candelaria, the first Mexican film to be screened at the Cannes International Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix (now known as the Palme d'Or) becoming the first Latin American film to do so. In 1945 Dolores del Río filmed La selva de fuego by mistake as the film had been specially created for María Félix, another Mexican movie star of the day. Félix meanwhile, received the script for Dizziness (1946), a film originally created for del Río. When the two stars realized the mistake they refused to return the scripts. From this time the press began speculating a strong rivalry between del Río and Felix. In 1959, Mexican filmmaker Ismael Rodríguez brought del Río and María Félix together in the film La Cucaracha. The meeting of the two actresses, considered the main female stars of Mexican cinema, was a success at the box office. This same year, she married for the third time in New York to American millionaire Lewis A. Riley, whom she met in 1949 in Acapulco, Mexico. She remained with him until her death in 1983.  Dolores del Río portrait by Annemarie Heinrich, c. 1948 After 18 years Dolores Del Río returned to Hollywood and her first Hollywood role was the mother of Elvis Presley's character in the film Flaming Star (1960), and for the next 18 years, she worked both in films and tv shows, and her last film appearance was in The Children of Sanchez (1978).  Dolores Del Río with Elvis Presley in film Flaming Star (1960) In 1978, she was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, and in 1981 she was diagnosed with hepatitis B following a contaminated injection of vitamins. She also suffered from arthritis. On 11 April 1983, Dolores del Río died from liver failure at the age of 78, in Newport Beach, California. "Take care of your inner beauty, your spiritual beauty, and that will reflect in your face. We have the face we created over the years. Every bad deed, every bad fault will show on your face. God can give us beauty and genes can give us our features, but whether that beauty remains or changes is determined by our thoughts and deeds."  Dolores del Río's grave at Panteón de Dolores in Mexico City Dolores del Río always projected a special elegance with her beauty both on- screen and off-scree. She was considered one of the prototypes of female beauty in the 1930s. Women imitated her style of dress and makeup. She is also considered the pioneer of the two piece swimsuit. In 1952, she was awarded the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award and was called the "best-dressed woman in America". French couturier Jean Patou designed a dress inspired by her called Dolores.  Dolores del Río in two piece bathing suit  Dolores del Río in bathing suit  Dolores del Río(3 August 3 1905-11 April 1983) "I draped her naked body in jersey. She wanted no underpinnings to spoil the line. When I finished draping her she became a Greek goddess as she walked close to the mirror and said, It is beautiful. Gazing into the mirror, she said in a half-whisper, Jesus, I am beautiful. Narcissistic? Probably yes, but she was right. She looked beautiful".  Dolores del Río(3 August 3 1905-11 April 1983)  Dolores del Río(3 August 3 1905-11 April 1983)  Dolores del Río's star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame
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 Diane von Fürstenberg, the woman who created the wrap dress Profile of Diane von Fürstenberg Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg (German: Diane Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg; born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin; December 31, 1946), is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon von Fürstenberg. Following their separation in 1973 and divorce in 1983[citation needed], she has continued to use his family name. Her fashion company, Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) is available in over 70 countries and 45 free-standing shops worldwide, with the company's headquarters and flagship boutique located in Manhattan's Meatpacking District. She is president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), a position she has held since 2006; in 2014 was listed as the 68th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes; and in 2015 was included in the Time 100, as an Icon, by Time Magazine. In 2016, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from The New School.  Diane von Fürstenberg, the woman who created the wrap dress Biography of Diane von Fürstenberg Diane von Fürstenberg was born Diane Simone Michelle Halfin in Brussels, Belgium to Jewish parents. And 18 months before Fürstenberg was born, her mother, the Greek-born Liliane Nahmias was a prisoner at Auschwitz concentration camp. Fürstenberg has spoken broadly about her mother's influence in her life, crediting her with teaching her that "fear is not an option". Fürstenberg attended a boarding school in Oxfordshire. She studied at Madrid University before transferring to the University of Geneva to study economics. At university, when she was 18, she met Prince Egon von Fürstenberg, the elder son of Prince Tassilo zu Fürstenberg, a German Roman Catholic prince, and his first wife, Clara Agnelli, an heiress to the Fiat automotive fortune and member of the Italian nobility. She then moved to Paris and worked as an assistant to fashion photographer's agent Albert Koski. She left Paris for Italy to apprentice to the textile manufacturer Angelo Ferretti in his factory, where she learned about cut, color and fabric. It was here that she designed and produced her first silk jersey dresses.  Diane Simone Michelle Halfin with Prince Egon von Fürstenberg Diane Simone Michelle Halfin married Egon von Fürstenberg in 1969 and became Her Serene Highness Princess Diane of Fürstenberg. A year after marrying, Fürstenberg began designing women's clothes: After moving to New York, she met high-profile Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, who declared her designs "absolutely smashing". She had her name listed on the Fashion Calendar for New York Fashion Week, and so her business was created. In 1973, Diane von Fürstenbergs separated from her husband Egon von Fürstenberg. In 1974, she introduced the knitted jersey "wrap dress", an example of which, due to its influence on women's fashion, is in the collection of the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After the success of the wrap dress, Furstenberg was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1976. The accompanying article declared her "the most marketable woman since Coco Chanel." She launched a cosmetic line and her first fragrance, "Tatiana", named after her daughter. The New York Times reported that by 1979 the annual retail sales for the company were $150 million.   In 1983, Diane von Fürstenbergs and Egon von Fürstenberg divorced and two years later, Fürstenberg moved to Paris, France where she founded Salvy, a French-language publishing house. Fürstenberg started a number of other businesses including a line of cosmetics and a home-shopping business, which she launched in 1991. In 1992, Fürstenberg sold $1.2 million dollars of her Silk Assets collection in two hours on QVC. Fürstenberg relaunched her company in 1997, and reintroduced the wrap dress, which gained traction with a new generation of women. In 1998, she published her business memoir, Diane: A Signature Life.  Diane von Fürstenbergs with her second husband Barry Diller In 2001, Diane von Fürstenberg married American media mogul Barry Diller, and she built The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation with her husband for which she serves as director. It provides support to nonprofit organizations in the area of community building, education, human rights, arts, health and the environment. The foundation supports The DVF Awards, presented annually to four women who display leadership, strength and courage in their commitment to women's causes. In 2011, the foundation made a $20 million commitment to the High Line. In 2004, Diane von Fürstenbergs introduced the DVF by H. Stern fine jewelry collection, and launched scarves and beachwear. In 2006, she was elected as president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, a position she still holds. In 2008, she received a star on Seventh Avenue's Fashion Walk of Fame In 2009, Michelle Obama wore the DVF signature Chain Link print wrap dress on the official White House Christmas card. That same year, a large-scale retrospective exhibition entitled "Diane von Furstenberg: Journey of a Dress" opened at the Manezh, one of Moscow's largest public exhibition spaces. It was curated by Andre Leon Talley and attracted a lot of media attention. In 2010, the exhibition traveled to São Paulo; and in 2011, to the Pace Gallery in Beijing. In 2010, Fürstenberg was awarded a Gold Medal at the annual Queen Sofia Spanish Institute Gold Medal Gala. In 2011, DVF introduced a home collection, and a signature fragrance, DIANE. In 2012, Fürstenberg launched her first children’s collection with GapKids and a denim collaboration with CURRENT/ELLIOTT.  Her clothes have been worn by many celebrities including Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale, Madonna, Tina Brown, Jessica Alba, Susan Sarandon and Jennifer Lopez. Google Glass made its New York Fashion Week Debut at the designer's Spring 2013 fashion show.  Kate Middleton wearing DVF wrap dress In 2018, the brand banned mohair use after a PETA exposé showed workers mutilating and killing goats to obtain it. All fur, angora and exotic skins were also banned from future collections. Further reading
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Douglas Fairbanks Jr. portrait
name: Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
birth place: New York City, New York, USA birth date: 9 December 1909 zodiac sign: Sagittarius death place: New York City, New York, USA death date: 7 May 2000 languages: English, French 
Profile of Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., KBE, DSC (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000), was an American actor and producer, and a decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), Gunga Din (1939) and The Corsican Brothers (1941). He was the son of actor Douglas Fairbanks and was once married to Joan Crawford.
I am not a socialite, although I seem to have got the reputation for being one. I have some very good friends who happen to be in the so-called Society; but Society as such is a bore and holds no fascination for me.¨` Biography of Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as child
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was born in New York City; he was the only child of actor Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully. Fairbanks's father was one of cinema's first icons, noted for such swashbuckling adventure films as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood and The Thief of Bagdad.
His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and he lived with his mother in New York, California, Paris and London. 
Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Largely on the basis of his father's name, in May 1923 Fairbanks Jr. was given a contract with Paramount Pictures at age 13, at $1,000 a week for three years.
Paramount and he parted ways by mutual consent and Doug went to Paris to resume his studies. A year later he returned to the studio, hired at what Fairbanks called "starvation wages" also having him work as a camera assistant. 
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in train station in 1927
In 1927 Fairbanks made his stage debut in Young Woodley based on a book by John Van Druten. Fairbanks Jr received excellent reviews and the production was a success - the play did much to improve his reputation in Hollywood. A regular audience member was Joan Crawford with whom Fairbanks would become romantically involved and then married on June 3, 1929 at St. Malachy in New York City.
They travelled to Britain on a delayed honeymoon, where he was entertained by Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Prince George, Duke of Kent. He became active in both society and politics, but Crawford was far more interested in her career and had an affair with Clark Gable. The couple divorced in 1933, but the divorce would not become final for another year. 
Douglas Fairbanks Jr with his first wife Joan Crawford Douglas Fairbanks Jr with his first wife Joan Crawford
In 1930, Fairbanks Jr. went to Warner Bros. to test for the second lead in Moby Dick (1930). Although he did not win the part, head of production Darryl F. Zanuck was impressed with Douglas's screen test, and cast him in an important role in The Dawn Patrol directed by Howard Hawks.
Fairbanks had an excellent role supporting Edward G. Robinson in Little Caesar (1931), filmed in August 1930. The movie was a big hit, and Warner Bros. offered Fairbanks Jr. a contract with cast and script approval. 
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in film Little Caesar (1931)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. portrait in 1931
"By sheer accident, I had four successes in a row in the early '30s, and although I was still in my 20s, I demanded and received approval of cast, story and director. I don't know how I got away with it, but I did!" 
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Kathrine Hepburn in film Morning Glory 1933
"The original script for Morning Glory, included the fantasy dream sequence in which Miss Hepburn and I would play at least two scenes, and possibly a third, of the greatest scenes between Romeo and Juliet. That certainly intrigued and tempted me. It seemed a unique opportunity for me to play Romeo, a dream part.
In 1934, Warner asked all its stars to take a 50 percent pay cut because of the Depression. Fairbanks Jr. refused and was fired from the studio. He received a job offer from Britain and spent the next few years there, taking a residence in London's Park Lane.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with Gertrude Lawrence in 'Moonlight is Silver'
In 1934, Warner asked all its stars to take a 50 percent pay cut because of the Depression. Fairbanks Jr. refused and was fired from the studio. He received a job offer from Britain and spent the next few years there, taking a residence in London's Park Lane.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with Coral Browne, Elissa Landi, and Basil Sydney in The Amateur Gentleman (1936)
Fairbanks Jr. returned to Hollywood when David O. Selznick offered him the role of Rupert of Hentzau in The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). He had been reluctant to accept the role but his father urged him to do it, saying it was "actor proof".The movie was a big success.
In December 1937 he signed a non-exclusive contract with RKO to make two films a year for five years, at $75,000 a film. Fairbanks had his biggest-ever hit with RKO's Gunga Din (1939), alongside Cary Grant and Victor McLaglen. 
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. with second wife Mary Lee Hartford on their wedding day
On April 22, 1939, Fairbanks married Mary Lee Hartford (née Mary Lee Epling), a former wife of Huntington Hartford, the A&P supermarket heir. He remained devoted to her until her death in 1988.
ouglas Fairbanks Jr. in uniform
Although celebrated as an actor, Fairbanks was commissioned as a reserve officer in the United States Navy when the United States entered World War II and was assigned to Lord Mountbatten's Commando staff in the United Kingdom.
Fairbanks returned to Hollywood at the conclusion of World War II. But the few movies he made during the next two years were not very successful.
As a confirmed Anglophile, Fairbanks spent much time in the United Kingdom, where he was well known in the highest social circles. He was made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1949 and moved there in the early 1950s. 
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. photo 1949
On May 30, 1991, Fairbanks married Vera Lee Shelton, a merchandiser for QVC Network Inc.
On the morning of May 7, 2000, Fairbanks died at the age of 90 of a heart attack and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California, in the same tomb as his father. 
 Profile of Dolores GuinessDolores Guiness was a German born "Freiin" (Baroness), socialite, fashion icon and jet set member of the 1950s and 1960s. She has been a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1970. Her mother was the famous Mexican-born socialite Gloria Guinness.  Biography of Dolores GuinessBorn Dolores Maria Agatha Wilhelmine Luise, Freiin von Fürstenberg-Herdringen on 31 July 1936 in Berlin-Charlottenburg, Dolores von Fürstenberg is the second daughter of Franz-Egon Maria Meinhard Engelbert Pius Aloysius Kaspar Ferdinand Dietrich, 3rd Graf von Fürstenberg-Herdringen (1896–1975) and his second wife, Gloria Guinness (1912–1980). Though some published sources have described Dolores von Fürstenberg as a countess and a princess, she is, in fact, a Freiin (baroness) by birth, according to the last published issue of the Almanach de Gotha.  Dolores Guinness with her mother Gloria Guinness At age 19 Dolores von Fürstenberg married her stepbrother Patrick Benjamin Guinness(1931–1965), son of Loel Guinness and Joan Yarde-Buller, on 22 October 1955 in Paris. Patrick was killed in a car accident in Turtig near Raron, Switzerland 1965.  Dolores Guinness, 1958 After Patrick's death Dolores fell madly in love with Karim Aga Khan, the son of Joan Barbara Yarde-Buller (1908–1997) by her marriage to Aly Khan (1911–1960), and wanted to marry him, but nothing came of that eventually.  Dolores Guinness with Karim Aga Khan in Monte Carlo, 1966  Dolores Guinness with Karim Aga Khan in Monte Carlo, 1966 Dolores was often seen in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Town and Country and Life magazine dressed in designer clothes from Givenchy, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga during the 1950s and 1960s, photographed by Cecil Beaton, Bert Stern, Henry Clarke, Mark Shaw, Richard Avedon and William Klein. She often appeared on the International Best Dressed List during these years.   Dolores Guinness in Christian Dior red dress  Dolores Guinness in dress of Hubert de Givenchy, photo by Henry Clarke  Dolores Guinness died in Lausanne Switzerland on 20 January 2012, at the age of 75.
 Diana Mitford portrait Original name: Diana Freeman-Mitford birth place: Belgravia, Westminster, London, UK birth date: 7 January 1910 zodiac sign: death place: Paris, France death date: 11 August 2003 Height: Weight: Measurements: Occupation: Languages: English, French, German  Profile of Diana MitfordDiana Mitford was one of the Mitford sisters born in the British upper class Mitford family. She was first married to Bryan Walter Guinness, heir to the barony of Moyne, and upon her divorce from him married Sir Oswald Mosley, 6th Baronet of Ancoats, leader of the British Union of Fascists. This her second marriage took place at the home of Joseph Goebbels in 1936, with Adolf Hitler as guest of honour. Subsequently, her involvement with Fascist political causes resulted in three years' internment during the Second World War. She later moved to Paris and enjoyed some success as a writer. In the 1950s she contributed diaries to Tatler and edited the magazine The European. In 1977, she published her autobiography, A Life of Contrasts, and two more biographies in the 1980s. She was also a regular book reviewer for Books & Bookmen and later at The Evening Standard in the 1990s.  The six Mitford sistersThe Mitford sisters (clockwise from top left): Unity; Jessica; Diana; Nancy; Deborah; Pamela Biography of Diana MitfordDiana Mitford was the fourth child and third daughter of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (1878–1958), and his wife, Sydney (1880–1963), daughter of Thomas Gibson Bowles, MP. She was a first cousin of Clementine Churchill, second cousin of Angus Ogilvy, and first cousin, twice removed, of Bertrand Russell.  Rear view of Asthall Manor in Oxfordshire Diana Mitford was born in Belgravia and raised in the country estate of Batsford Park, then from the age of 10 at the family home, Asthall Manor, in Oxfordshire, and later at Swinbrook House, a home her father had built in the village of Swinbrook. She was educated at home by a series of governesses except for a six-month period in 1926 when she was sent to a day school in Paris.  Bryan Walter Guinness and Diana Mitford Guinness on their wedding At the age of 18, shortly after her presentation at Court, she became secretly engaged to Bryan Walter Guinness, an Irish aristocrat, writer and brewing heir, who would inherit the barony of Moyne. They married on 30 January 1929, and the couple had an income of £20,000 a year (the equivalent of £1,132,535.70 in 2016, adjusted for inflation), an estate at Biddesden in Wiltshire, and houses in London and Dublin.  Bryan Walter Guinness and Diana Mitford Guinness The couple was well known for hosting aristocratic society events involving the Bright Young People. The writer Evelyn Waugh exclaimed that her beauty "ran through the room like a peal of bells", and he dedicated the novel Vile Bodies, a satire of the Roaring Twenties, to the couple. Her portrait was painted by Augustus John, Pavel Tchelitchew and Henry Lamb.  Diana Mitford portrait by Paul Helleu "She was the nearest thing to Botticelli's Venus that I have ever seen.¨   Diana Mitford and her first husband Bryan Guinness had two sons, Jonathan (b. 1930) and Desmond (b. 1931).  In February 1932, Diana Mitford met Sir Oswald Mosley at a garden party at the home of the society hostess Emerald Cunard. He soon became leader of the newly formed British Union of Fascists, and Diana's lover.  Diana Mitford's second husband, Sir Oswald Mosley, by Glyn Philpot. Diana left her husband, 'moving with a skeleton staff of nanny, cook, house-parlourmaid and lady's maid to a house at 2 Eaton Square, round the corner from Mosley's flat', and was briefly estranged from most of her family. Her affair and eventual marriage to Mosley also strained relationships with her sisters. Nancy Mitford, sister of Diana Mitford satirised Mosley and his beliefs in her novel Wigs on the Green published in 1935, and the relations between the sisters became strained to non-existent until the mid-1940s. Diana Mitford and Oswald Mosley wed in secret on 6 October 1936 in Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels' drawing room.  After the war, the couple first lived in Ireland then settled permanently in France, at the Temple de la Gloire (built in 1801 to honour the French victory of December 1800 at Hohenlinden, near Munich) , a Palladian temple in Orsay, southwest of Paris, and became neighbours then close friends of Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who lived in the neighbouring town Gif-sur-Yvette. The Duchess of Windsor, upon seeing the "Temple de la Gloire" for the first time, was said to have remarked, "Oh, it's charming, charming but where do you live?" Once again Diana Mitford and her husband were well known for entertaining, but were barred from all functions at the British Embassy. During their time in France, the Mosleys quietly went through another marriage ceremony. Mosley was also shunned in the British media for a period after the war and the couple established their own publishing company, Euphorion Books, named after a character in Goethe's Faust. Diana initially translated Goethe's Faust. Other notable books published by Euphorion under her aegis included La Princesse de Clèves (translated by Nancy, 1950), Niki Lauda's memoirs (1985), and Hans-Ulrich Rudel's memoirs, Stuka Pilot. Diana also edited the fascist cultural magazine The European for six years, and to this magazine she herself sometimes contributed material. She provided articles, book reviews, and regular diary entries.  In 1965, Diana Mitford was commissioned to write the regular column Letters from Paris for the Tatler. She was an avid reader and critic of contemporary literature, reviewing for many publications, such as the London Evening Standard, The Spectator, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Sunday Times and Books & Bookmen. She specialised in reviewing autobiographical and biographical accounts as well as the occasional novel. Characteristically she would provide commentary of her own experiences with and knowledge of the subject of the book she was reviewing. She was the lead literary reviewer for the London Evening Standard during A.N. Wilson's tenure as literary editor. She also wrote the foreword and introduction of Nancy Mitford: A Memoir by Harold Acton. She produced her own two books of memoirs: A Life of Contrasts (1977), and Loved Ones (1985). The latter is a collection of pen portraits of close relatives and friends such as the writer Evelyn Waugh among others. In 1980, she released The Duchess of Windsor, a biography.  In 1989 Diana Mitford was invited to appear on the BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs with Sue Lawley, Her choices of music to be played on Desert Island Discs were: Symphony No. 41 (Mozart), "Casta Diva" from Norma by Vincent Bellini, "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven, Die Walküre and Liebestod by Wagner, "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" from Carmen of Bizet, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum and Polonaise in F-sharp minor by Chopin.  Diana Mitford Mosley with her husband, the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley In 1998, due to her advancing age, Diana Mitford moved out of the Temple de la Gloire and into a Paris apartment. Temple de la Gloire was subsequently sold for £1 million in 2000. Throughout much of her life, particularly after her years in prison, she was afflicted by regular bouts of migraines. In 1981, she underwent successful surgery to remove a brain tumour. She convalesced at Chatsworth House, the residence of her sister Deborah. In the early 1990s, she was also successfully treated for skin cancer. In later life, she also suffered from deafness.  Diana Mitford died in Paris in August 2003, aged 93. Her cause of death was given as complications related to a stroke she had suffered a week earlier, but reports later surfaced that she had been one of the many elderly fatalities of the heat wave of 2003 in mostly non-air-conditioned Paris. Diana Mitford was buried at St Mary's Churchyard, Swinbrook, Oxfordshire,alongside her sisters.  Diana Mitford's grave at far right, next to those of her sisters, Unity and Nancy, at St Mary's Church, Swinbrook in Oxfordshire Further readingArticles Books  Diana Mitford is one of the surprise discoveries of the phenomenally successful collection of Mitford letters published for Christmas 2007. Like her five literary sisters, Diana Mitford has written widely not only on her own fascinating, controversial life, but has recorded her intimately-placed observations of friends who also happened to have been leading political and social figures of the day. The majority of these scintillating articles circulated privately to a small group of people, and are published for the very first time in this volume.  The hilarious autobiography of the most glamorous of the Bright Young Things. Diana Mitford describes in the inimitable Mitford way how it came about that both Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler adored her, and Evelyn Waugh and Oswald Mosley fell in love with her.  Before Diana Mitford's disgrace as a social pariah, she was a celebrated member of the Bright Young Things, moving at the centre of 1920s and '30s London high society. She was a muse to many: Helleu painted her, James Lees-Milne worshipped her, Evelyn Waugh dedicated a book to her and Winston Churchill nicknamed her 'Dina-mite'. As the young wife of Bryan Guinness, heir to the Guinness brewing empire, she lived a gilded life until fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley turned her head. Unpublished letters, diaries and archives bring an unknown Diana to life, creating a portrait of a beautiful woman whose charm and personality enthralled all who met her, but the discourse of her life would ultimately act as a cautionary tale.This groundbreaking biography reveals the woman behind the myth.
 Name: Dirk Bogarde Birth place: London, England Birth date: 28 march 1921 Nationality: British Languages: English Height: 174cm Weight: Death place: London, England Death date: 8 may 1999  Profile of Dirk BogardeSir Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde (28 March 1921 - 8 May 1999), known professionally as Dirk Bogarde, was an English actor and writer. Initially a matinée idol in films such as Doctor in the House (1954) for the Rank Organization, he later acted in art-house films. In a second career, he wrote seven best-selling volumes of memoirs, six novels and a volume of collected journalism, mainly from articles in The Daily Telegraph. Bogarde came to prominence in films including The Blue Lamp in the early 1950s, before starring in the successful Doctor film series (1954–1963). He twice won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for The Servant (1963) and Darling (1965). His other notable film roles included Victim (1961), Accident (1967), The Damned (1969), Death in Venice (1971), The Night Porter (1974), A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Despair (1978). He was appointed a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1990 and a Knight Bachelor in 1992.  I just really like to be on my own.”  Biography of Dirk BogardeDirk Bogarde was born to Ulric van den Bogaerde (1892–1972) of Flemish ancestry and Margaret Niven (1898–1980) who was Scottish. His father was Art Editor of The Times from Glasgow, and her mogher was a former actress. Dirk Bogarde had a younger sister, Elizabeth (born 1924) and a brother, Gareth Ulric Van Den Bogaerde(later an advertising film producer) born in July 1933, in Hendon. He attended University College School, and the former Allan Glen's High School of Science in Glasgow, a time he described in his autobiography as an unhappy one. From 1937 to 1938 he studied at the Chelsea School of Art. He began his acting career on stage in 1939, shortly before the start of the Second World War, with his first on-screen appearance being as an uncredited extra in the George Formby comedy, Come On George! (1939).   During the war, Derek "Pip" Bogaerde served in the British Army, initially with the Royal Corps of Signals before being commissioned at the age of 22 into the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) as a second lieutenant in 1943. He served in both the European and Pacific theatres, principally as an intelligence officer.  In 1939, he debuted in London West End theatre, with the stage name "Derek Bogaerde", in J. B. Priestley's play Cornelius. the war, Bogarde's agent renamed him "Dirk Bogarde" and he was handsome enough to begin a career as a film actor. He was contracted to the Rank Organisation under the wing of the prolific independent film producer Betty Box, who produced most of his early films and was instrumental in creating his matinée idol image during the 1950s.  His Rank contract began following his appearance in Esther Waters (1948), his first credited role, replacing Stewart Granger. Bogarde featured as a medical student in Doctor in the House (1954), a film that made him one of the most popular British stars of the 1950s. The production was initiated by Betty Box, who picked up a copy of the book at Crewe during a long rail journey, and saw its possibility as a film. But Box and Ralph Thomas had difficulties convincing Rank executives that people would go to a film about doctors, and that Bogarde, who up to then had played character roles, had sex appeal and could play light comedy. They were allocated a modest budget, and were only allowed to use available Rank contract artists. The film was the first of the Doctor film series based on the books by Richard Gordon. He did his second Doctor film, Doctor at Sea (1955), co-starring Brigitte Bardot in one of her first film roles; then he did Doctor at Large (1957), again with Donald Sinden, another entry in the Doctor film series, with later Bond-girl Shirley Eaton.  Dirk Bogarde with Brigitte Bardot in film Doctor at Sea (1955) Some of other memorable movies Bogarde did during the 50s include: The Spanish Gardener (1956), with Michael Hordern; A Tale of Two Cities (1958), a faithful retelling of Charles Dickens' classic; The Wind Cannot Read (1958)where he plays a flight lieutenant in the Far East who falls in love with a beautiful Japanese teacher Yoko Tani; The Doctor's Dilemma (1959), based on a play by George Bernard Shaw and co-starring Leslie Caron and Robert Morley.  After leaving the Rank Organisation in the early 1960s, Bogarde abandoned his heart-throb image for more challenging parts. He starred in the film Victim (1961), playing a London barrister who fights the blackmailers of a young man with whom he has had a deeply emotional relationship. The young man commits suicide after being arrested for embezzlement, rather than ruin his beloved's career. In exposing the ring of extortionists, Bogarde's character risks his reputation and marriage in order to see that justice is done. Victim was the first British film to portray the humiliation gay people were exposed to via discriminatory law, and as a victimized minority. Other roles included decadent valet Hugo Barrett in The Servant (1963), which garnered him a BAFTA Award, directed by Joseph Losey and written by Harold Pinter; The Mind Benders (1963), a film ahead of its times in which Bogarde plays an Oxford professor conducting sensory deprivation experiments at Oxford University (precursor to Altered States (1980)); as German industrialist Frederick Bruckmann in Luchino Visconti's La Caduta degli dei, The Damned (1969) co-starring Ingrid Thulin; as ex-Nazi, Max Aldorfer, in the chilling and controversial Il Portiere di notte (a.k.a. The Night Porter) (1974), co-starring Charlotte Rampling, directed by Liliana Cavani; and most notably, as Gustav von Aschenbach in Morte a Venezia, Death in Venice (1971), also directed by Visconti;and as Daddy in Bertrand Tavernier's Daddy Nostalgie, (a.k.a.These Foolish Things) (1991), co-starring Jane Birkin as his daughter, Bogarde's final film role.  Dirk Bogarde with Audrey Hepburn and Rachel Roberts  Dirk Bogarde in film Morte a Venezia, Death in Venice (1971) by Luschino Visconti For many years Bogarde shared his homes, first in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and then in France, with Anthony Forwood. Forwood, who had been married to actress Glynis Johns during the 1940s, was the father of the actor Gareth Forwood, their only child.  Anthony Forwood Between 1939 and 1991 Bogarde made a total of 63 films. Bogarde was nominated five times as Best Actor by BAFTA, winning twice, for The Servant in 1963, and for Darling in 1965. In 1983, he received a Special Award for service to the Cinema at the Cannes Festival. In 1984, Bogarde served as president of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. He was the first British person to serve in this capacity. On 4 July 1985 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature by St Andrews University in Scotland. In 1987 he was Awarded the British Film Institute Fellowship. In 1988, Bogarde was honoured with the first BAFTA Tribute Award for an outstanding contribution to cinema. In 1990 he was awarded the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. In 1991 he received the London Film Critics Circle Lifetime Award. In 1992 Bogarde was created a Knight Bachelor in the United Kingdom, and in 1993 was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Sussex in England.  Bogarde had a minor stroke in November 1987, while Forwood was dying of liver cancer and Parkinson's disease. In September 1996, he underwent angioplasty to unblock arteries leading to his heart and had a massive stroke following the operation. He was paralysed on one side of his body, which affected his speech. After the stroke he used a wheelchair. He then completed the final volume of his autobiography, which covered the stroke's effects. He died at his home in London from a pulmonary embolism on 8 May 1999, age 78. His ashes were scattered at his former estate in Grasse, Southern France.   Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba was born in Queens, New York, the daughter of a Polish-American policeman and his Irish-born wife. She contracted rheumatic fever when she was a small girl, and spent seven years bedridden. Dovima was discovered on a sidewalk in New York by an editor at Vogue, and had a photo shoot with Irving Penn the following day. she named herself Dovima, composed of the first two letters of her first three given names, and would be the first model with a single name. In less than one year, Dovima became the highest-paid model of her time; she commanded $60 per hour when most of the top models were receiving anything up to $25 per hour. And she became known as the Dollar-a-Minute Girl. During her modelling career, Dovima appeared on all fashion magazines, worked with all the best couturiers including Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, etc. And was photographed by all major photographers of her times like Irving Penn, Henry Clarke, Horst P. Horst, but the photographer mostly related to her was Richard Avedon, whose photograph of her: “Dovima with Elephants”, originally published in the September 1955 issue of Harper’s Bazzar, has become the most iconic fashion photograph In 20th century and sold for $1,151,976 in 2010. The photo was taken in the circus of Paris, and in the photo Dovima was wearing Christian Dior gown, the first evening dress designed by his new assistant, Yves Saint-Laurent.  In the Paramount movie Funny Face (1957) featuring Audrey Hepburn, Dovima had a minor role as an aristocratic-looking, but empty-headed, fashion model named Marion.  Dovima and Audrey Hepburn in movie Funny Face Dovima was married three times, all ending in divorce, and gave birth to a daughter with her second husband who abused her and made her penniless when they divorced. Dovima first tried acting then attempted working as an agent during the 1960s. Eventually, by the 1970s, she found herself moving in with her parents who had relocated to Florida, and was working as a hostess at The Two Guys Pizza Parlor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida by the 1980s. She died of cancer in 1990. Further Reading: |
