MARILYN MONROE – CARLYLE BLACKWELL JR – BRUNO BERNARD.

Name: The Maybelline Story and the Spirited Family Dynasty Behind It
Availability: InStock
Author: Sharrie Williams
ISBN: 0984308113

By Sharrie Williams · Written May 2012 · 3 min read

Maybelline photographer Carlyle Blackwell Jr., Hollywood actor, race car driver and innovator of natural color photography in the 1950’s.

MARILYN MONROE – CARLYLE BLACKWELL JR – BRUNO BERNARD.

Carlyle Blackwell posing Marilyn Monroe in 1952.

Black and White photos by Carlyle Blackwell, 1952.

Below are several pictures of Marilyn Monroe by Carlyle Blackwell Jr., using natural color, natural lighting and

Maybelline….. of course!!!!

Carlyle Blackwell Jr. collection of Marilyn Monroe using natural light and color in 1953.

Below, Marilyn Monroe’s pictures are discovered by Hugh Hefner.

When 27-year-old Hugh Hefner launched his debut Playboy Magazine, with “Sweetheart of the Month” Marilyn Monroe gracing the cover in December of 1953, he had no idea that it would become a world wide success.

The famous women of the 1950’s that appeared in Playboy Magazine include Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Tina Louise, Joan Arnold, Kim Novak, and Brigitte Bardot.

Playboy Magazines first centerfold in the 1954 Issue.click.

Photographers and artists like Carlyle Blackwell, Bruno Bernard and Zoe Moezert paid $50/hr for nude models to pose….. Many of their models became Hollywood Stars.

Today Bruno Bernard is remembered as the man who immortalized and mastered the art of pin-up photography. He has been called “King of Glamour” and Rembrandt of Photography.

His daughter Susan Bernard is in charge of his photographs. His website can be viewed at Bernard of Hollywood. Susan Bernard’s book Marilyn Intimate Exposure is available on amazon.com.

Zoe Moezert

In the late 1930’s Mozert also became famous as a movie poster artist. She painted the poster for Carole Lombard’s “True Confession”, and the Howard Hughes film “The Outlaw” with Jane Russell.

My Dream Girl: A Collector’s Guide to Zoe Mozert, by Norm Platnick and Rick Huisking. Twelve years in the making, this new volume attempts to bring together everything known about Zoe Mozert’s printed works,

Dolores Del Monte, March 1954 Playmate and The Maybelline Story.

Playboy centerfold Dolores Del Monte didn’t even know that she was a Playmate until 1979. She used to pose for Bruno Bernard and Zoe Moezert and was glad she was receiving $50/hour.

Dolores Del Monte, Miss March 1954 Centerfold.

Bruno sold some of her pictures to The Baumgarth Calendar Company, which in turn sold the pictures to a young man named Hugh Hefner

t was Dolores’s son, Steve who found out when he was browsing the contents of the 25th Anniversary

issue of Playboy. He called his mother from College and informed her that she was one of Playboy’s first centerfolds. For 25 years she had no idea what had happened to the picture she had posed for so long ago. Today she is a regular at Playboy Mansion parties.

I met Dolores Del Monte last year at a book signing in Laguna Beach at the 484 North Gallery and found her story absolutely fascinating. Imagine not knowing you were Miss March, 1954 until 1979. She turns 80 this year and still is a great beauty with the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen.

Delores Del Monte’s story made me curious to see if any Maybelline ads were shot by these famous Hollywood Photographers….. Paul Hesse and Carlyle Blackwell are two I can document, however I’m sure Tom Lyle used a variety of the best, to capture the perfection he demanded.

Check in tomorrow to see the final day of Hollywood’s Glamour Photographers and…..Photographer and Race Car Driver Carlyle Blackwell Jr’s pictures on the track.

Coming soon · Next from Sharrie Williams

Maybe She’s Born With It

The next chapter of the Maybelline family story. Get a text the day it’s out.

Where it began: The Maybelline Story — Amazon · Ebook · Signed copy