Tales of a 150-lb Has-Been

The August 23, 1958 Saturday Evening Post caught my eye because of the beautiful artwork on the front cover.

visitors-to-cabin-in-the-woods-august-23-1958

Despite the dainty waving, it’s a lovely summer log cabin scene called Visitors to Cabin in the Woods. I ponied up the dollar for the magazine and peeked inside. I discovered a two-page article on Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber, aka Mitzi Gaynor. Most of us remember her from South Pacific.

www.lovemusicwineandrevolution.blogspot.com
http://www.lovemusicwineandrevolution.blogspot.com

The article featured this playful shot of her on the beach.

Mitzi5Ummm, am I blind? I think she could qualify as a raving beauty. I mean, come on. Fellas, would you kick this Technicolor lady out of your bed?

southpacific6

The article goes on to show a picture of her with her husband, Jack Bean. With his encouragement, she lost the disgusting 35 lbs she had been schlepping around like an elephant.

Mitzi006

Mitzi007

Thankfully, Jack transformed her into a 37-20-36 and revitalized her fledgling career. She was then able to make movies with Gene Kelly, where she posed in unnatural positions such as this for The Fart Whisperers.

Mitzi008

It seems that marrying Mr. Bean (not this one)–

mr-beanbut this one–

www.lastagetimes.com
http://www.lastagetimes.com

served her well, as they were married until his death in 2006. And as far as I can tell, she kept her figure. A round of applause, for you, 82-year-old Mitzi Gaynor. Not a has-been at all!

mitzi@79

10 thoughts on “Tales of a 150-lb Has-Been”

  1. Mitzi Gaynor was never a “has been”. I had a crush on her ever since I saw her in “Surprise Package”. What a talented lady. “Has been”-indeed. The nerve of some never have been so called journalists.

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  2. I love how everyone in the first picture is waving goodbye to just the yellow car. Clearly they were the favorite cousins. Red car relatives? Not so much. Maybe they brought their pet ferret or something.

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  3. Great post! Go, Mitzi. Glad to hear you’re still up and running.
    And that cabin looks like the bee’s knees. It makes me nostalgic for something I never had.

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