Jim Byron | |
|---|---|
 Byron in 1954 | |
| Born | James Byron |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Publicist |
Jim Byron was an American publicist known for working with female models and actresses during the 1950s and 1960s, including Jayne Mansfield and Yvette Mimieux. Prior to working with actresses, Jim Byron worked as a promoter for the West Hollywood club Ciro's. [1]
Byron was hired as Jayne Mansfield's publicist at her request on Christmas Eve 1954. [2] She was an unknown in Hollywood at the time and he considered her a diamond in the rough—one who needed a little polish and promotion in order to become a sensation. To bring the newspapers on her side, he had her visit newspaper offices over Christmas in order to cheer up the writers there who had to work over the holiday period. The plan worked, [3] and images of Mansfield began to appear in print. In response, Byron's contract was extended to five years and planned her big break, which took place at a press event for Jane Russell's 1955 film Underwater! [4]
During the event in Florida at a pool, the press were milling around and Mansfield jumped into the pool as she removed her bikini top. The press took immediate note, and Byron took the credit for the move. Although not her agent, [5] he was responsible for her signing a seven-year deal with Warner Brothers Studios. [6]
Byron personally discovered Yvette Mimieux when the actress was 16 years old. She was riding a horse down a bridle path in the Hollywood Hills when Byron came across her and gave her his business card and an offer to get her into films. [7] He began to publicize his new client by having her enter local beauty competitions, where she was successful winning several Los Angeles area titles. This generated interest from MGM in 1959, who signed her to a seven-year contract. [8]
Byron was not universally liked in Hollywood; Frank Sinatra referred to him as a "fucking parasite", [9] and the pair came to blows in 1954 on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. It was as a result of Byron asking Sinatra's guest, Bob Neal, who his date was. Both Sinatra and Byron landed blows before the fight was broken up. [10] Subsequently, Byron declined to press charges. [11]
Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales.
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her performance in Robert Siodmak's film noir The Killers. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in John Ford's Mogambo (1953), and for best actress for both a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award for her performance in John Huston's The Night of the Iguana (1964). She was a part of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Jill St. John is a retired American actress. She is best known for playing Tiffany Case, the first American Bond girl of the James Bond film franchise, in 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. Additional performances in film include Holiday for Lovers, The Lost World, Tender Is the Night, Come Blow Your Horn, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination, Who's Minding the Store?, Honeymoon Hotel, The Liquidator, The Oscar, Tony Rome, Sitting Target and The Concrete Jungle.
Jayne Mansfield was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and Playboy Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s, Mansfield was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. Although her film career was short-lived, she had several box-office successes, and won a Theatre World Award and Golden Globe Award, and soon gained the nickname of Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde."
Angie Dickinson is an American retired actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in Gun the Man Down (1956) with James Arness and the Western film Rio Bravo (1959) with John Wayne and Dean Martin, for which she received the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year.
Yvette Carmen Mimieux was an American film and television actress who was a major star of the 1960's and 1970's. Her breakout role was in The Time Machine (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career.
Where the Boys Are is a 1960 American CinemaScope comedy film directed by Henry Levin and starring Connie Francis, Dolores Hart, Paula Prentiss, George Hamilton, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Hutton, and Frank Gorshin. It was written by George Wells based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Glendon Swarthout. The screenplay concerns four female college students who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale. The title song "Where the Boys Are" was sung by Connie Francis, who also co-starred in a supporting role.
Joy in the Morning is a 1965 American romance film starring Richard Chamberlain and Yvette Mimieux and directed by Alex Segal. Adapted from the 1963 novel of the same name by Betty Smith, the film tells the story of a young newlywed couple, Carl and Annie Brown, who marry against their parents' wishes while Carl is still in law school and struggle to maintain their relationship.
Promises! Promises! is a 1963 American sex comedy film directed by King Donovan and starring Tommy Noonan and Jayne Mansfield. Released at the end of the Production Code era and before the MPAA film rating system became effective in 1968, it was the first Hollywood film of the sound era to feature nudity by a mainstream star (Mansfield).
Matt Cimber is an American producer, director, writer, He also occasionally acts in films, television, and theatre. He is known for directing genre films including The Candy Tangerine Man, The Witch Who Came from the Sea,Hundra, and the controversial drama Butterfly. Cimber has been called "an unsung hero of 70s exploitation cinema." He was co-founder and director of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW) professional wrestling promotion and syndicated television series. Cimber was also the last husband of actress Jayne Mansfield, directing her on stage and in the film Single Room Furnished (1968), which was released after her death.
Irene Tsu is an actress who started in the film Flower Drum Song in 1961. She was featured in an advertising campaign in the 1960s. She speaks English and three varieties of Chinese.
Jayne Mansfield was an actress, singer, playmate and stage show performer who had an enormous impact on popular culture of the late 1950s despite her limited success in Hollywood. She has remained a well-known subject in popular culture ever since. During a period between 1956 and 1957, there were about 122,000 lines of copy and 2,500 photographs that appeared in newspapers. In an article on her in the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (1999), Dennis Russel said that "Although many people have never seen her movies, Jayne Mansfield remains, long after her death, one of the most recognizable icons of 1950s celebrity culture." In the novel Child of My Heart (2004) by Alice McDermott, a National Book Award winning writer, the 1950s is referred to as "in those Marilyn Monroe/Jayne Mansfield days". R. L. Rutsky and Bill Osgerby has claimed that it was Mansfield along with Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot who made the bikini popular.
Jayne Marie Mansfield is an American actress and model. She is the first child and eldest daughter of 1950s Hollywood sex symbol and Playboy Playmate Jayne Mansfield and Mansfield's ex-husband Paul. Mansfield is also the elder half-sister of actress Mariska Hargitay. In July 1976, Mansfield became the first daughter of a Playmate to be a featured model in Playboy. To date, only one other daughter of a Playmate has been featured in the magazine. Additionally, Mansfield is the only model who was featured in 100 Beautiful Women along with her mother in the magazine's 1988 special issue. She has acted in the film Olly, Olly, Oxen Free (1978) and TV production Blond in Hollywood (2003).
Frank Sinatra had many close relationships throughout his life. He was married four times and had at least six other notable relationships in between. He had three verified children, as well as more than one of questionable paternity.
The Jayne Mansfield Story is a 1980 American made-for-television biographical drama film directed by Dick Lowry starring Loni Anderson as the actress, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as her bodybuilder husband, based on the life of Jayne Mansfield. The film was originally titled Jayne Mansfield: A Symbol of the '50s. The script is based on the book Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties by Martha Saxton.
The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield is a 1968 mondo documentary film chronicling the travels of actress Jayne Mansfield. It was directed by Charles W. Broun, Jr., Joel Holt and Arthur Knight.
Jayne Mansfield's Pink Palace was a mansion bought and refurbished with pink paint and fixtures by American actress Jayne Mansfield in 1957. The mansion was demolished in 2002.
Jayne Mansfield's leopard spot bikini was regular wardrobe for actress and blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield in her publicity stunts. Because of the costume she came to be known as "the girl in the leopard bikini" at times. Throughout the 1950s, she and her husband Mickey Hargitay posed for photos with her in the leopard spot bikini. The couple wore matching leopard spots to announce their closeness, and the costume won them a prize at a Hollywood costume party. Mansfield often walked down the Hollywood Boulevard in the leopard bikini signing autographs, once went shopping in the leopard bikini, and attended parties in it.
In 1957, Jayne Mansfield, an American actress and model known for her publicity stunts, attended a dinner in Beverly Hills at the exclusive Romanoff's restaurant hosted by Paramount Pictures to officially welcome Italian actress Sophia Loren to Hollywood. A photograph of the two women, with Loren casting a sideways glance at Mansfield's cleavage, was distributed world-wide and became an international sensation.