And now, for the first time anywhere.

Left to right, Mary Lange, Vivian Keefer, Omar Kiam, Lucille Ball, Bonnie Bannon, Jane Hamilton.... Hey, where's the dog??

I have been waiting on this day, of her 100th birthday to upload/release these. These too, come from Bonnie's private collection. Besides being great pics (from 1933) I am thinking, you might recognize a quite young Lucille Ball. Family legend has them (Bonnie and Lucy) as roommates back in the early days, which sounds quite believable to me, what with two girls out of their element, in

Left to right. Awww, forget it, I did it already, and I could not make it fit. Oh look, it's Rexey the dog! 

Hollywood, trying to make it. Some years ago, I conferred with Thomas Watson, who runs the site Lucyfan.com, and while he believes that Bonnie and Lucy were very likely roommates, he feels it probably wasn't just the two of them, but a group of gals trying to get the get-by, as I like to say. If you have seen my older post of Mary, Lucy, Bonnie, and the Big Strawberry, then you have seen that great, obscure (throwaway?) photo. You should know that you can see that great find on his (Thomas's) site as well, as I shared it with him some years ago. That said, these two marvelous photos that I have been holding onto just for this day, and just for this occasion, will be on his site soon, with my blessing. Mr. Watson is waiting until I give him the word, after these two get uploaded for the first time ever (here and my personal Facebook page). These are not just great pics (and very small, around 4x5 or something) but they have a bit of history as Lucy is just starting out, and she is flanked by her friends (and fellow dreamers). I like how Bonnie wrote their names on them, back in the day, as it helps to identify the other gals, and Mr. Kiam, that was a heavy hitter in Hollywood at that time, and some years following. As I don't really know the back-story here, I would like to believe it is just some friends in the picture business (as Bonnie and Lucy called it) taking a break and going out for a good time. I hope you enjoy it, and I really do think it is special on a lot of levels. I am curious as to where these might end up, it is the web after all. Now to push the "publish" button. Oh, and I just noticed, Ms. Keefer has what looks like "Rexey's" cousin wrapped around her neck, no wonder he looks like he wants to get away!   ;)     Cheers!

I'M GOING TO HOLLYWOOD, I'M GOING TO HOLLYWOOD!! Maybe Bonnie said that?

A good friend found this clipping earlier this year. As I am still not completely sure which family legend is true (there are a few versions) this little blurb in the Bonnie's local paper (the Fresno Bee) might very well have been what gave her the idea to "go to Hollywood". I am pretty sure that folks must have been telling her most of her life how pretty she was, perhaps even telling her "you oughta be in pictures"..... or at least, that's what I like to believe (sorry, I can't help it). Part of the legend is that she was working at a local Warner Bros. theater, but that doesn't explain her getting to be a "Goldwyn Girl" or also known as one of the lucky 7. The uploaded newspaper clipping is a bit grainy, but I hope you can make it out. If I keep working on this Blog, as is my intention, I will eventually run out of pictures of her worth uploading. It is at that point where this thing will go deeper, as it seems that every time Bonnie got ink, she preserved it in a scrapbook. But until that time, let me see if I can upload some more cool pics today.

Happy 100th Birthday, Pauline Francis Bannon!!

Birth certificate, Pauline Francis "Bonnie" Bannon

Well, here we are, on a day I have been waiting awhile for. As Nana (sorry, it's still weird calling her by her first name, even if it was not her birth name) would have been 100 today, had she not passed so many years ago. Like a great many of the things I have uploaded here, this comes from her personal collection that I have owned since my father's, her only child's passing. She was born in California's Central Valley, as one of 5 children. I have seen pictures of her siblings (all of them have been gone for some time now) and for the most part, all of them were actually an attractive-looking bunch. Not surprisingly, Bonnie's (see, I can do it) folks were hard-working and honorable, and instilled good values into their children. And while she never had a really big career in Hollywood (her choosing, perhaps?) this simple document is proof that one can come from fairly humble beginnings and go on to become more. I still have not learned yet where the name "Bonnie" came from, but as I am in contact with 3 of her nieces, perhaps one of them will tell me as I will post this on my Facebook page as well (Warren W. Jones). Perhaps yet another family mystery will be solved?

Hollywood Cavalcade, aka, A Day at the Beach..... in color this time.

Bonnie Bannon, above umbrella, third from the left.

Bonnie Bannon, above Alice Faye's right shoulder.

It has taken me over three months to put upload these. It is my understanding that these two photos are screenshots from the movie "Hollywood Cavalcade". They were forwarded to me by a gentleman named Dave in England that runs a fantastic Laurel and Hardy site called "another nice mess". As a matter of fact, he has a few pics of Bonnie I gave him from this blog, and perhaps a few others not yet on here. I say that to say this; it is possible that a lot of the traffic this little blog gets is because of Dave linking my blog to his site where he has the aforementioned pics of Bonnie. It is very possible that is how you got here. So, giving credit where credit is due, thank you for that, Dave. Also giving credit where credit is due, someone named Peyton Ennis that visited his site, is the person that pulled these fine screenshots. So, with all that taken care of, let's give them a look, shall we?

Bring in another group of gals..... please.

Bonnie Bannon, in white.

From the look of this, I would say that this is from Bonnie's personal collection that passed from her, to my late father and then to me. This looks like one of those cute starlet photos where they called in groups of them, put them through wardrobe, hair and makeup and took a whole bunch of pics, and tossed the ones that did not work. Bonnie (in white) is nearly front and center, like she tended to be. Not sure why, but I would like to believe that there was a special sort of blessing on her life..... sometimes, there just is.
            The only other gal that I can correctly identify with certainty is Wanda Perry, who is at Bonnie's immediate right. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but as I possess Bonnie's personal phonebook (blackbook?) that Ms. Perry is one of the few names in it from back-in-the-day. This tells me (I guess it is an assumption) they they were cool all the way into the late 80's.  Some other names in her book include: Barron Hilton (Son of Hilton Hotel founder, and Grandfather of Paris) Arthur Lake, Frankie Lane, and legendary jockey, Eddie Arcaro. As this blog is continually ongoing, I plan to eventually scan pages from her phonebook (with some small details removed) as well as upload all the old newspaper articles she saved. And as I have said for years, good or bad ink, she seemed to have saved all of them. It should make for interesting reading.

The Late George Aply (1947)

Here is what looks to be a fine Ronald Colman comedy, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Joe probably had to make sure to put the "L" in there so he would not be mistaken for all the other guys in Hollywood with the same first and last name). This is one I have yet to see, but from the look of the publicity photo, Bonnie could have had two lines of dialog, don't you think?? Awww, who am I kidding, she probably just eased gracefully into the scene (as she tended to do) and performed what I have I have referred to all these years as "SAS" (stand and smile). I am sure that sounds pretty easy to do, but try holding an attractive smile for about 10 seconds or more, and not looking creepy, or like someone with issues. A good example of SAS is in 'The Flying Deuces" when Georgette is facing her father, and the director opted to to put Bonnie between them.
              A quick peek at this movie's IMBD just now taught me something (and when does a quick peek at the IMBD not?). It seems that a woman (also uncredited) born Diana Love Dill, was married to a gentleman from Nov. 1943-Feb. 1951 named Kirk Douglas. Michael Douglas and Joel Douglas came from that 8 year union..... a long time by some Hollywood standards.

 Bonnie Bannon, second from right. Ronald Colman, the only guy in the photo. No clue about the other two.

The Flying Deuces, starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and some others.

I found this recently, I don't often search for publicity photos from this well known L&H movie, but sometimes you get lucky. It's a big photo, not the standard 8x10, so it did not fit on the scanner that well. Something had to give in order to keep the French caption intact (I bought it from a French vendor).  I think one of "Georgettes Girlfriends" as they are credited got a little taken off the top. While it is a great photo, I must have missed something in the translation. It is not over 70 years old, and looked to be on pretty new paper. It is likely a screen pull, that someone thought they could make a buck (or Euro) on.

Bonnie Bannon, far right. Jean Shepard, third from left. The other two?  Beats me.

             I am somewhat proud of Bonnie in this movie, as she is the only "girlfriend" in the movie that has any dialog, scant as it may be. As I had only known Nana after she turned 50 or so, her voice was much different than this, but not as deep as her former roommate, Lucille Ball's. It is my understanding that this particular L&H is not only popular because it is pretty good, but because T.V. stations across the nation got to broadcast it for free, from the early 1950's onward. The exact reasoning of which, I don't completely understand, or wish to bore you with.