The Pin Up Database

Carmen Miranda – Historical Pin Up
Full Bio

Born

Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha
9 February 1909
Marco de Canaveses, Portugal

Died
5 August 1955 (aged 46)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.

Resting place
São João Batista Cemetery, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Other names
The Brazilian Bombshell
The Chiquita Banana Girl
A Pequena Notável (in Brazil)

Education
Convent of Saint Therese of Lisieux

Occupation

Singer
dancer
actress

Years active
1928–1955

Spouse(s)

David Alfred Sebastian (m. 1947)

Relatives

Aurora Miranda (sister)
Cecilia Miranda (sister)

Musical career

Genres
Samba

Instruments

Vocals

Labels

RCA
Brunswick Records
EMI-Odeon
Decca Records
PolyGram

Website
www.carmenmiranda.com.br

Signature

During the 1930s Miranda performed on Brazilian radio and appeared in five Brazilian chanchadas, films celebrating Brazilian music, dance, and the country's carnival culture.[4] Hello, Hello Brazil! and Hello, Hello, Carnival! embodied the spirit of these early Miranda films. The 1939 musical Banana da Terra (directed by Ruy Costa) gave the world her "Baiana" image, inspired by African-Brazilians from the northeastern state of Bahia.[5]

In 1939, Broadway producer Lee Shubert offered Miranda an eight-week contract to perform in The Streets of Paris after seeing her at Cassino da Urca in Rio de Janeiro.[6] The following year she made her first Hollywood film, Down Argentine Way with Don Ameche and Betty Grable, and her exotic clothing and Lusophone accent became her trademark.[7] That year, she was voted the third-most-popular personality in the United States; she and her group, Bando da Lua, were invited to sing and dance for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[8] In 1943, Miranda starred in Busby Berkeley's The Gang's All Here, which was noted for its musical numbers with the fruit hats that became her trademark. By 1945, she was the highest-paid woman in the United States.[9]

Miranda made 14 Hollywood films between 1940 and 1953. Although she was hailed as a talented performer, her popularity waned by the end of World War II. Miranda came to resent the stereotypical "Brazilian Bombshell" image she had cultivated, and attempted to free herself of it with limited success. She focused on nightclub appearances and became a fixture on television variety shows. Despite being stereotyped, Miranda's performances popularized Brazilian music and increased public awareness of Latin culture.[10] In 1941 she was the first Latin American star to be invited to leave her hand and footprints in the courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and was the first South American honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[11] Miranda is considered the precursor of Brazil's 1960s Tropicalismo cultural movement.[12] A museum was built in Rio de Janeiro in her honor,[13] and in 1995 she was the subject of the documentary Carmen Miranda: Bananas is My Business.[14]

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Marco de Canaveses
Cocoa Delight
Pin Up Name
Full Bio

Mrs Cocoa Delight,, transplant from Germany , found my true self through Pin up a little later in life.
I am part of an amazing group of women , Pin Up & Pumps. Embracing my inner Queen ,come find yours

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Albemarle
Pin Up Group Membership
Pin Up & Pumps
Daisy Donovan
Pin Up Name
Pin Up Group Name
Peach State Pinups. Curvy Silhouettes. Aviation Angels.
Full Bio

Aviation Angel, Daisy Donovan, is an Atlanta-based pinup. She is published in calendars for Curvy Silhouettes, American Warrior Garage, & Aviation Angels, as well as multiple magazine titles.

In her free time, she enjoys sewing; outdoor activities; & volunteering with the Commemorative Air Force. During the summer you will find her at car shows, air shows, or on the beach.

Visit her social media accounts & follow for more.

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Peachtree City
Province
GA
Pin Up Group Membership
Peach State Pinups. Curvy Silhouettes. Aviation Angels.
Published in the Following Publications
Lipstick & Lashes. Modern Day Pinup. RetroLovely. The Social Pin.
Faye Fatale
Pin Up Name
Short Bio
The lady is a vamp.
Full Bio

Dancer, pinup goth, actress--the Bay Area’s resident femme fatale is a real triple threat! Starting in 2013 with two seasons of Creepy KOFY Movie Time, Faye is a veteran of the local horror scene, appearing on Psychotropic Theater, Circus of Chaos, Creature Features, and Shadow Circus Creature Theatre. With a confident strut and a pair of very high heels, Faye is following in the footsteps of other San Francisco horror hosts like the legendary Bob Wilkins and John Stanley. Her unique combination of brains, beauty, kookiness, and spookiness has made her a real fan favorite. That’s why the lady is a vamp!

Rating (average)
(0)
City
San Francisco
Published in the Following Publications
Pink Bow City, Bombshell Magazine, Modern Day Pinup, Retro Lovely
Glitter Glam Studios
Photography Studio Name
Glitter Glam Studios
Short Bio
Glitter Glam Studios
*Glam photography
*Pin Up Classes & Shoots
*Themed Photoshoots
DM for inquires or book one of our monthly shoots!
Based in Vero Beach, Florida
www.glitterglamstudios.com
Full Bio

Glitter Glam Studios
*Glam photography
*Pin Up Classes & Shoots
*Themed Photoshoots
DM for inquires or book one of our monthly shoots!
Based in Vero Beach, Florida
www.glitterglamstudios.com

Glitter Glam Studios, a Florida based photography studio, specializes in Pin Up, Glam & Boudoir Photography. Follow them to see where they are Touring or book a shoot in Vero Beach, Florida. Glitter Glam Studios work can be seen in Internationally landing on multiple magazine covers including; Retrolovely, Bombshell, The Social Pin Up Magazine, Halloween, Modern Day Pin Up Magazine, Nylzonzine, Twisted Pin Up, Chica Boom Magazine and so many more! Offering Pin Up Classes, Themed Photoshoots and Burlesque Dance Classes too! DM for inquires or book one of our monthly shoots!

Rating (average)
(0)
City
VERO BEACH
Published in the Following Publications
Retro Lovely- Modern Day Pin Up Magazine
Gypsy Rose Lee – Historical Pin Up
Full Bio

Born

Rose Louise Hovick
January 8, 1911
Seattle, Washington, U.S.

Died
April 26, 1970 (aged 59)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Occupation
Actress, author, playwright, vedette, dancer, entertainer

Years active
1928–69

Spouse(s)

Robert Mizzy
(m. 1937; div. 1941)
Alexander Kirkland
(m. 1942; div. 1944)
Julio de Diego
(m. 1948; div. 1955)

Children
1

Parent(s)
John Olaf Hovick
Rose Thompson Hovick

Relatives
June Havoc (sister)

Gypsy Rose Lee was born in Seattle, Washington, on January 8, 1911; however, she always gave January 9 as her date of birth. She was known as Louise to her family. Her sister, actress June Havoc, was born in 1912. Their mother, Rose Thompson Hovick, forged various birth certificates for each of her daughters—older when needed to evade varying state child labor laws, and younger for reduced or free train fares. The girls were unsure until later in life what their years of birth were.
Career
Louise's singing and dancing talents were insufficient to sustain the act without June. Eventually, it became apparent that Louise could make money in burlesque, which earned her legendary status as an elegant and witty striptease artist. Initially, her act was propelled forward when a shoulder strap on one of her gowns gave way, causing her dress to fall to her feet despite her efforts to cover herself; encouraged by the audience's response, she went on to make the trick the focus of her performance.

Her innovations were an almost casual stripping style compared to the herky-jerky styles of most burlesque strippers (she emphasized the "tease" in "striptease"), and she brought a sharp sense of humor into her act as well. She became as famous for her onstage wit as for her stripping style, and—changing her stage name to Gypsy Rose Lee—she became one of the biggest stars of Minsky's Burlesque, where she performed for four years. She was frequently arrested in raids on the Minsky brothers' shows. During the Great Depression, Lee spoke at various union meetings in support of New York laborers. According to activist Harry Fisher, her talks were among those that attracted the largest audiences.

In 1937 and 1938, billed as Louise Hovick, she made five films in Hollywood. But her acting was generally panned, so she returned to New York City where she had an affair with film producer Michael Todd and co-produced and appeared in his 1942 musical revue, Star and Garter.

Lee viewed herself as a "high-class" stripper, and she approved of H. L. Mencken's term "ecdysiast", which he coined as a more "dignified" way of referring to the profession. Her style of intellectual recitation while stripping was spoofed in the number "Zip!" in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey, a musical in which Havoc had appeared on Broadway, opposite Gene Kelly. Lee performed an abbreviated version of her act (intellectual recitation and all) in the 1943 film Stage Door Canteen.

In 1941, Lee authored a mystery thriller called The G-String Murders, which was made into the sanitized 1943 film, Lady of Burlesque starring Barbara Stanwyck. While some assert this was in fact ghost-written by Craig Rice, there are those who claim that there is more than sufficient written evidence in the form of manuscripts and Lee's own correspondence to prove that she wrote a large part of the novel herself under the guidance of Rice and others, including her editor George Davis, a friend, and mentor. Lee's second murder mystery, Mother Finds a Body, was published in 1942. In December 1942, preliminary papers alleging breach of contract were filed in the Supreme Court against Lee by Dorothy Wheelock, associate editor of Harper's Bazaar, alleging that in August 1940 she and Gypsy entered into what Wheelock described as "an oral agreement to collaborate on a joint venture involving the conception, construction, development, writing, and exploitation of a literary work with a burlesque background. The agreement, Miss Wheelock went on, called for a 50:50 split on all income from sale of the book. She charged that she had lined up a publisher for the book when, in November 1940, Gypsy called off the collaboration ... Lee said she turned over notes and other material to Miss Wheelock and that the latter had then written 'a sample book'. However this sample book is not the book that was published, Gypsy declared. She denied any resemblance between Miss Wheelock's book and the book published under her own name, except such similarities might stem from the notes Gypsy turned over to Miss Wheelock. Simon & Schuster agreed to publish the book, Gypsy said, after the first three chapters were shown to them by Janet Flanner, a New York writer". The case was settled out of court.

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Seattle
Kate Francis
Pin Up Name
Pin Up Group Name
Vero Beach Pinup
Full Bio

Kate Francis is getting her MA in Fashion History and Fashion Design from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. She studies fashion and culture from the 1920s-1940s, and wears it too!

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Vero Beach
Photo by The Retro Art Guy
Pin Up Name
Pin Up Group Name
Member of N Fl Luscious Ladies
Short Bio
Brains, beauty, and bodacious curves, Miss Kimmie Khaos is the Pinup trifecta from Atlantic Beach, Florida.
When Kimmie isn’t at the beach, she’s buying vintage goodies, browsing antique cars, or getting baby dolled up for a pin up contest.
Kimmie is a member of the North Florida Luscious Ladies.
Full Bio

Konnichiwa from Kimmie Khaos. I am a curvy Luscious Lady who loves traveling, antiques, classic cars, and music with soul. My passions are beach life, biology, and babies. The pinup culture allows me the opportunity to share my platform of “Loving The Skin You Are In”with my community. The best things in life are the people we love, the places we’ve been, and the memories we’ve made along the way.

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Atlantic Beach
Pin Up Group Membership
North Florida Luscious Ladies
Published in the Following Publications
Modern Day Pinup, Bombshell UK, Femme Rebelle, Pinup Kulture, Retro Lovely, Rocket, Retroman Magazine, & Atomic Style Society
Lady Black Velvet
Pin Up Name
Short Bio
My name Lady Black Velvet is the perfect way to describe me, sweet and soft with a mysterious side! I'm the perfect definition of an introverted extrovert. I am family oriented and enjoy the simple things in life, but I am also very adventurous and love going new places and challenging myself with doing new things. I have a very vintage, yet eclectic, sense of style that falls right in line with different pinup eras. Furthermore, I also love all different hair and makeup styles, which all in all makes being a pinup gal that much more fun!!
Full Bio

My name Lady Black Velvet is the perfect way to describe me, sweet and soft with a mysterious side! I'm the perfect definition of an introverted extrovert. I am family oriented and enjoy the simple things in life, but I am also very adventurous and love going new places and challenging myself with doing new things. I have a very vintage, yet eclectic, sense of style that falls right in line with different pinup eras. Furthermore, I also love all different hair and makeup styles, which all in all makes being a pinup gal that much more fun!!

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Charlotte
Lady Scarlet
Pin Up Name
Photography Studio Name
Glitter Glam Studios
Short Bio
A Published Retro hair and makeup artist, Celebrating & Empowering woman through Retro Hair & Makeup glam
Full Bio

A lover of all things glam. About a year and a half ago I was introduced to this incredible world through my hair and makeup craft. With over 12 years in the beauty industry, I’ve worked with multiple designers, celebrities, and my work has been published both internationally and domestic, In addition I have a bridal team in multiple cities. My story with Pinup started when I partnered with Glitter Glam Studios for a session and we quickly became her official hair and makeup team. It’s been an incredible journey, with multiple magazine spreads and cover, fulfilling a dream to become a model. Fully immersed, I now have a Retro hair and makeup team with goals to keep expanding and become the go to glam at all pinup events, we have had the honor to work with published pinups and our work can be seen in Retro Lovely, Modern Day PinUp, Bombshell, Holidays, NYLON, and so much more.

Rating (average)
(0)
City
Orlando
Province
Florida
Published in the Following Publications
MODERN DAY PINUP, SOCIAL PIN MAGAZINE, BOMBSHELL, HOLIDAYS, NYLON,

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