Johnny Cash is all of us this holiday season. Drunk, hiding in the bushes and eating cake.
 
On average, people gain anywhere between seven to ten pounds over the holiday season. The annual feeding frenzy is now in full swing ready to send our cholesterol into outer space while we simultaneously pour all kinds of delicious booze all over our livers. While I love pie and bourbon just as much as anyone else, I also like to cook so I thought it would be fun to share some fun celebrity recipes from yesteryear.

Most of the recipes below were published in the 1978 charity cookbook, Habilitat’s Celebrity Cookbook, 1930’s What Actors Eat When They Eat, and 1981’s Celebrity Cookbook. I’ve included a nice selection of recipes shared by icons such as Cary Grant’s barbequed chicken, Boris Karloff’s guacamole (which calls for sherry mind you), and Johnny Cash’s “Old Iron Pot” family style chili. The majority of the recipes are of the traditional variety—such as beef stew and meatloaf, though there are a few curve balls. Like Bette Davis’ “Mustard Gelatin Ring” which sounds about as appetizing as the rat she served to Joan Crawford in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), and actress Bea Arthur’s fancy-sounding “Avocado with Jellied Madrilene.” For those of you who lack Arthur’s gastronomical refinement, madrilene is a cold tomato consommé. Check them all out below!
 

 

 

 
Many more after the jump…

A resin-based bust of actress Bette Davis as ‘Baby Jane Hudson’ from the 1962 psychological thriller, ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.’
 
If you happen to be as terrified of Bette Davis’ portrayal of the unforgettable “Baby Jane Hudson” from the 1962 film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? as I am, then the news that you can own a shockingly life-like resin bust of Davis as Hudson might send you off to hide under the bed. However if you dig the idea of Baby Jane’s menacing mug staring at you disapprovingly while her signature bright-red evil pout glistens in the sun, then this is your lucky day.

According to painter, sculptor and doll maker Daniel Horne’s official site his startling hand-painted resin reproduction of “Baby Jane” is now back in stock and can be yours for $500. Horne has created other equally terrifying versions of this character in the past but for my money his most recent vision is an absolutely sinister slam dunk.

If you’re already shouting “shut up and take my 500 hundred smackaroos” here’s the link to purchase Horne’s maniacal “Baby Jane” bust. It also comes with her shabby dressing gown.
 

An older rendition of ‘Baby Jane Hudson’ by Daniel Horne.
 
More after the jump…

 
Okay, so there’s this letter floating around the Internet supposedly written by Joan Crawford addressing Bette Davis’ (allegedly) offensive body odor. The letter is dated August 11, 1962, so that would have been during the filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. The letter is written to “Bob” which is probably director Robert Aldrich. Now I’ve tried to find its provenance and if this thing is actually real and came up empty handed. I couldn’t find anything except for an Instagram account that posted the image.

Could this be an Internet hoax? Absolutely. But I must add, the two were known to have an extremely icy relationship.

 
h/t Mike McGonigal

Marlene Dietrich and her turntable, 1956
 
Originally known as a phonograph (or gramophone), turntables have been around since 1877. I think it’s fair to say that many of us have fond memories of our first Fisher-Price record player, and that most of you who are reading this right now still probably own a turntable and a fat stack of records to boot.
 

Billie Holiday, her pitbull Mister and her turntable, 1945
 
I’m sure you’ve probably seen many photos of your favorite rock stars or celebrities posing with their prized record collections, or spinning said vinyl on a sweet portable turntable in a hotel room. That said, I’m going to hedge a bet that the vast majority of the photos in this post will be new to your eyes.

From screen icons like Marlene Dietrich to musical chanteuse Billie Holiday, they all adored their turntables. And I’ve dug up photographic proof of this love affair that in some cases dates back all the way to 1925. I’ve done my best to attach dates to the images. The “good old days,” have never looked better. Enjoy!
 

Jean Harlow in a shot from The Girl from Missouri, 1934
 

Gloria Vanderbilt
 

Jill Melford
 
More after the jump…
 

Lucia Pittalis before transformation

As RuPaul once said, “You’re born naked and the rest is contour and shading.” And Italian portrait painter and artist Lucia Pittalis proves that point with these insane makeup transformations. Lucia uses her own face as a canvas and turns herself into these iconic characters that are simply fan-fucking-tastic. She nailed Keith Richards, IMO.

If you want to see more of her work, you can follow Lucia on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Frank Zappa
 


Iggy Pop
 

Bette Davis
 

Keith Richards
 
More after the jump…
 

“If men found out how to give birth to children they’d never propose again.” - Bette Davis

Blank on Blank dug up—and made a short animation to—a delightful taped interview with Bette Davis being interviewed in her home by entertainment columnist Shirley Eder in 1963.

Davis cuts through the bullshit and openly speaks her mind about gender roles, sexism in a male dominated workforce and marriage.

I think men have got to change an awful lot. I think somehow they still prefer the little woman. They’re just staying way, way behind and so as a rule I think millions of women are very happy to be by themselves, they’re so bored with the whole business of trying to be the little woman, when no such thing really exists anymore. It just simply doesn’t. This world’s gone way beyond it. The real female should be partly male and the real male should be partly female anyway. So if you ever run into that in either sex you’ve run into something very, very fine, I think.

Davis’ quick wit and no-nonsense POV makes me love her even more.

 
With thanks to David Gerlach!

 
And really, that’s just a fraction of the charm in this charm-filled clip. Michael Parkinson’s interviews are always great (he did his research and showed genuine interest), but Davis is just electric. In addition to wearing her 67 years with the utmost chicness, she’s characteristically frank and bawdy—just how you want her to be. Davis always thought of herself as an actress first and a movie star second, but it’s strange to hear her talk so casually about “trying out” films early in her career. It’s stranger still to hear her belittle her undeniable beauty, with no trace of fishing. (Bette Davis did not fish for compliments.)

Speaking of her refusal to conform to the default Hollywood starlet mode, Davis quite bluntly refers to herself as a “meddler,” who had no problem arguing with the higher-ups over her career and presentation. And for anyone who thought Tinsel Town was ever a bastion of natural beauty, she bluntly declares that plastic surgery was a presence from the get-go. It’s really a lovely moment, hearing this broad talk about her early “dreadful” films with no shame, smoking cigarettes and holding her purse. The English audience even bursts into applause at her campy Cockney accent. How can you not love her?
 
Jump to the 24:29 mark to watch Davis:

 
Here’s a little treat, a vintage, short film looking behind the scenes of Robert Aldrich’s classic movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
 

 
Via Hidden Los Angeles
 

Ruth Gordon and Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby
 
Okay, these handmade dolls by Alesia Newman-Breen are really freakin’ great! I’m all about anything Ruth Gordon and to find this doll on zee Internets pretty much made my day. WANT!

All of Alesia’s one-of-a-kind (NOT one-of-a-series) handmade dolls are exactly that - no molds are used, no off-the-shelf factory-made components.  Each doll is made by hand with hand-sculpted polymer clay head, breastplate, arms and legs, and a hand-constructed cloth-over-wire-armature body. All garments and accessories are sewn and assembled by hand. THERE IS ONLY ONE OF EACH DOLL. Prices range from about $300 to about $600 a doll. A very reasonable price for a unique masterpiece of the dollmaker’s art. The dolls range in size from 14 to 18 inches.

Blanche and Baby Jane Hudson

More dolls after the jump…