Fascinating Black and White Publicity Photos of Annette Funicello in Bikini for "Beach Party" (1963)

In 1963, Beach Party, the first official "beach party" movie, was released and became a box-office smash. It starred the most popular beach party couple: Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. (Oddly, Frankie always played a character named "Frankie," but Annette was inevitable dubbed either "Didi" or "Dolores.")

Frankie was already well into his twenties when the film was made, but played a "teen" for the next several years. Annette was fresh from her days as a Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club with Walt Disney and became the epitome of the sweet, wholesome beach girl. According to Annette, old Walt was severely against her even donning a bikini, as he thought it would tarnish her image, as well as Disney's.

Nonetheless, the fact is that Annette, more than any other single figure, made the bikini acceptable and popular with American women and untold women and girls all over the world. From its introduction in 1946 to when Annette began donning bikinis in the beach party movies, bikini sales in America actually rose an incredible 3000 percent. The films also helped generate a huge spike in the mid-'60s in the sale of surfboards to guys.

45 Vintage Photographs of Frances Shea, the First Wife of East End Gangster Reggie Kray, in the 1960s

Born 1943 in Ormsby Street, Bethnal Green, East London, of Irish descent, Frances Shea was the beautiful, but doomed, first wife of Reggie Kray, one half of the infamous British gangster twins The Krays. Her father, Frank, had run the gambling at the Regency Club in Stoke Newington, which is how she came to the attention of the Kray twins.

Reggie Kray and Frances met when she was just 16. He proposed to her in 1961, at Steeple Bay in Essex, when she was eighteen and he was twenty-seven. She refused, considering herself to be too young for marriage. The next year, he took her to Barcelona and to Milan and, in February 1965, he proposed to her again; this time, she accepted. The first priest they asked to officiate refused to do so, but a second one accepted, and they were married on the 20th of April 1965, at St. James's Church in Bethnal Green.

Frances Shea in the 1960s

Their honeymoon was spent in Athens, Greece. Two months after the marriage, the bride left her husband and returned to live with her parents. One month after that, she attempted suicide by taking an overdose of barbiturates. On this occasion and on one subsequent, she was revived; however, on the 7th of June 1967, she succeeded in killing herself with sleeping tablets two years after their wedding and died aged 23.

Frances was said to be a pampered doll, controlled by a possesive Reggie Kray. Reggie became obsessed with trying to get her back. Frances hated what The Kray's did. Her parents told Reggie Kray that their daughter's last wish had been to revert to her maiden name, but he insisted that she be buried under her married name and wear her white satin wedding dress. However, Mrs. Shea persuaded the undertaker to clothe the corpse in tights and a slip, so that as little of her body as possible would be in contact with the hated dress.

It is worth mentioning that, before his arrest, Reggie visited her grave, sometimes several times a day; and that, six months before his own death, when he was let out of prison to attend the funeral of his brother Charlie, he was photographed kissing her tombstone.

 Frances Shea and gangster Reggie Kray (third and fourth from left) with friends at a London nightclub, circa 1962

Frances Shea and Gangster Reggie Kray at a London nightclub, circa 1962

Frances Shea and Gangster Reggie Kray at a London nightclub, circa 1962

Frances Shea and Gangster Reggie Kray at a London nightclub, circa 1962

Frances Shea and gangster Reggie Kray with friends at a London nightclub, circa 1962

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Pixie Cut: Dynamic Hairstyle of Women From the 1950s

A pixie cut is a short hairstyle generally short on the back and sides of the head and slightly longer on the top. It is a variant of crop.

Pixie cuts were popularized first in the 1950s when Audrey Hepburn wore the style in her debut film Roman Holiday, and later in the 1960s by actress Mia Farrow and British supermodel Twiggy, then even later by Laugh-In star Goldie Hawn. Jean Seberg also sported a pixie cut for Otto Preminger's melodrama film Bonjour Tristesse.

The crop became fashionable again in the late 1970s and 1980s, with one of its most notable wearers being the actress Jacqueline Pearce in the British TV series Blake's 7. The crop also was big in the mid 1990s, and Halle Berry appeared in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day wearing a crop. In 2010, Cate Blanchett and Hayden Panettiere also sported cropped hair.

Depending on the style, pixies range from as short as a half inch in some places to two or three inches long in others. Pixies are very easy to maintain and can be worn casually, or dressed up for special occasions.

These snapshots that show women in pixie cuts in the 1950s.

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The Lost Janis Joplin Topless Photos in Copacabana, Rio De Janeiro in the Summer of 1970

The Brazilian magazine Trip published for the first time the lost Janis Joplin topless photos in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, in the summer of 1970.

Pretty much unknown in Brazil, the singer landed in Rio de Janeiro to have some fun during the Carnival, sunbathe and get away from heroin, which at the time was rare to find in South America.

It didn’t work out that well – Janis drank like crazy, had sex on the beach, sang in a whorehouse and was almost sent to jail.

From a young age, she would gladly get hammered: whisky, weed, amphetamines, acid, tobacco, vodka, cocaine, methadone, heroin and anything that would make her go crazy. Her only boyfriend died in Vietnam. She used to rip her clothes off on stage and tell that, after “making love” with a thousand people in a show, she would go back to her room and sleep alone.

The pictures are from a Brazilian photographer, Ricky Ferreira, who hosted Janis Joplin in his apartment: – “Ah, she knew she was a genius. She could be stoned, but she was aware of her role as an artist, she knew she was wonderful. But she had a depressive side, low self-esteem. She was rejected in Port Arthur, Texas, where she was born because she would only go out with musicians, most of which were black. She was fragile, very distressed, really down. She had happy moments, laughing like a little girl, but she had a hard life. Now, imagine this woman coming to Brazil at that time! What was Brazil for her? What is Brazil for the average American? Snakes on the streets, Indians with their butts off? Imagine, in 1970, in the middle of the military dictatorship! ”

Eight months after coming to Rio de Janeiro, Janis Joplin passed away, at the age of 27, the same age as Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Brian Jones.

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30 People Share Their Most Embarrassing Childhood Photos

Looking at pictures from your childhood can bring back lots of fun memories, especially when you find evidence of embarrassing fashion choices you made, first selfies, or pictures that capture one of those awkward phases you went through as a teenager.

Folks at Bored Panda have asked their members to post their most regretful childhood pictures; we also collected some cringe-worthy childhood photographs from So Bad So Good and merged them into a list. Scroll down to enjoy the photos!

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Jane Fonda Photographed by Bob Willoughby For "Klute" in 1970

What is it about Jane Fonda that makes her such a fascinating actress to watch? She has a sort of nervous intensity that keeps her so firmly locked into a film character that the character actually seems distracted by things that come up in the movie. You almost have the feeling, a couple of times in Klute, that the Fonda character had other plans and was just leaving the room when this (whatever it is) came up.

The movie is about a skilled, intelligent, cynical, and personally troubled New York call girl who does not, for once, have a heart of gold. She never feels anything when she's with a man, she tells her shrink, but she does experience a sense of professional pride when she's able to satisfy a client. And some of her clients have very complicated needs, which challenge the girl's imaginative acting ability. One old garment industry tycoon, for example, has spent all his life making clothes. But he fantasizes an idealistic sort of pre-World War I existence in Europe, in Vienna maybe, and the girl describes it to him in quiet, warm images while she disrobes. He never touches her.

Here are some beautiful publicity photos of Jane Fonda taken by Bob Willoughby for Klute in 1970.

Beautiful Photographs of Hong Kong in 1975 by a 20-year-old Canadian Guy

Hong Kong in the 1970s underwent many changes that shaped its future, led for most of the decade by its longest-serving and reform-minded Governor, Murray MacLehose. Economically, it reinvented itself from a manufacturing base into a financial centre.

20-year-old Canadian traveler Blake Smith took these beautiful photos of Hong Kong when he visited in December 1975.

Hong Kong street scenes

Hong Kong street scenes

Hong Kong street scenes

Hong Kong waterfront

Hong Kong waterfront

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