Jennifer Nitsch (born December 10, 1966, in Cologne, passed June 13, 2004, in Munich) was a German TV actress. She kicked things off with small parts in shows like Forsthaus Falkenau, Derrick, Der Alte, and Freunde fürs Leben in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
She also hit the big screen early, snaggin’ a minor role in Boomerang (1989) by Hans Wilhelm Geißendörfer. Her first major movie gig was a lead in Sönke Wortmann’s Alone Among Women (1990). Nitsch blew up in ’93 with the starring role in ZDF’s Nur eine kleine Affäre, earnin’ her the Adolf Grimme Prize and the Bavarian Television Prize the next year.
Carmen Miranda, GCIH • OMC (February 9, 1909 – August 5, 1955) was a Luso-Brazilian samba singer, dancer, Broadway actress, and film star who was popular from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Miranda became a popular radio and film star in Brazil in the late 1920s. Her first albums soon made her a national star. Miranda’s career in Brazil as a singer of samba was established in the 1920s and 1930s, when she recorded gramophone records, performed regularly on the radio stations of Rio de Janeiro, and was featured in many of the first sound films or chanchadas made in Brazil. By the mid-1930s she had become the most popular female Brazilian singer. Lee Shubert, a Broadway businessman, offered Carmen Miranda an eight-week contract to perform in The Streets of Paris on Broadway after seeing her perform in a casino in Urca, Rio de Janeiro in 1939.
In 1940, she made her first Hollywood film, Down Argentine Way, with Don Ameche and Betty Grable; her exotic clothing and Latin accent became her trademark. In the same year, she was voted the third most popular personality in the United States, and was invited to sing and dance for President Franklin Roosevelt, along with her group, Bando da Lua. Nicknamed “The Brazilian Bombshell”, Carmen Miranda is noted for her signature fruit hat outfit she wore in her American films, particularly in 1943’s The Gang’s All Here. By 1945, she was the highest paid woman in the United States.
Miranda made a total of fourteen Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953. Though hailed as a talented performer, her popularity waned by the end of World War II. She later grew to resent the stereotypical “Brazilian Bombshell” image she cultivated and attempted to break free of it, with limited success. Undaunted, Miranda focused increasingly on her nightclub appearances, also becoming a fixture on television variety shows—indeed, for all the stereotyping she faced throughout her career, her performances made huge strides in popularizing Brazilian music, while at the same time paving the way for the increasing awareness of all Latin culture.
Carmen Miranda was the first Latin American star to be invited to imprint her hands and feet in the courtyard of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, in 1941. She became the first South American to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is considered the precursor of Brazil’s Tropicalismo cultural movement of the 1960s. A museum was later constructed in Rio de Janeiro in her honor, and in 1995 she was the subject of the acclaimed documentary Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business.
Cynthia Jeanette Myers (September 12, 1950 – November 4, 2011) was an American model and actress. She made waves as Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Month for the December 1968 issue.
Chyna, born Joan Marie Laurer (December 27, 1969 – c. April 20, 2016), was an American professional wrestler, glamour model, pornographic film actress, and bodybuilder. Renowned for her groundbreaking role in professional wrestling, she became a prominent figure in the industry with her powerful presence and unique persona.
Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American actress and voice talent. She kicked off her career on the stage before jumpin’ into films in the late 1950s.
She starred in big-time movies like Rome Adventure (1962) and Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963). Later, she popped up in all sorts of TV gigs, often as a guest star, and played Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show from 1972 to 1978, nabbin’ several Emmy nods for her work. She kept actin’ until 2004, just four years before she passed.
Sherri Schrull, aka Sherri Martel or Sensational Sherri (born Sherri Russell, February 8, 1958 – June 15, 2007), was a pro wrestling star and manager. She kicked off her career in Mid South after trainin’ in Columbia, South Carolina.
Meet Louisa Moritz, born Luisa Cira Castro Netto on September 25, 1936, passed January 4, 2019, a Cuban-American actress and lawyer. After landing in New York from Cuba, she jumped into acting on the big and small screen, then leveled up with a law degree. She’s best known for her parts in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the TV show Love, American Style.
Get to know Elisa Rebeca Bridges (May 24, 1973 – February 7, 2002), an American actress and model. She was Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Month for December 1994 and Video Playmate of the Month for September 1996.
She starred in a bunch of Playboy Home Video productions from 1996 to 2000. After her Playboy gigs, she was always jet-settin’ for modeling jobs in Los Angeles, Miami, and Hawaii. She also rocked it as a model for Perfect 10. Born in Miami and raised in Houston, she left a mark.
Josephine Baker (3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, jazz and pop music singer, and actress, who came to be known in various circles as the “Black Pearl,” “Bronze Venus” “Jazz Cleopatra”, and even the “Creole Goddess”. Born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker became a citizen of France in 1937. She was fluent in both English and French.
Baker was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, Zouzou (1934), and to become a world-famous entertainer. Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. In 1968 she was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United States by Coretta Scott King, following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. Baker turned down the offer. She was also known for assisting the French Resistance during World War II, and received the French military honor, the Croix de guerre and was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.
Check out Carol Wayne (September 6, 1942 – January 13, 1985), an American actress who lit up TV and film. She was best known for crushin’ it as the Matinee Lady on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
