The Unfunny Death Of Lupe Velez

When I wrote about mistakes in Kenneth Anger's HOLLYWOOD BABYLON, I didn't write very much about Lupe Velez, because I didn't know very much about her. Actually she was associated with Clayton Moore, and since I met him* I could have asked him about her, but I hadn't known that. That was also before I knew about HOLLYWOOD BABYLON.

That book had a picture of Lupe Velez with Clayton Moore.

It also had a story that Lupe Velez drowned in a toilet.

There are a number of problems with this story, which have been pointed out before. The death certificate for Lupe Velez lists Seconal poisoning as the cause of death, not drowning. It is doubtful that Velez could even have moved from her bed to the bathroom while under the influence of such a large dose of Seconal, a drug noted for being fast-acting. To accept this story it would be necessary to disregard everything that was said by the authorities at the time.

 Actually the only thing it has going for it is that some people like the idea of drowning in a toilet. It's something that they put in dirty comics, such as WATCHMEN. I'm aware that the situation exists, but I'm not saying it's good. I also don't think that the death of Lupe Velez is, or was, in any way humorous.




*I was on television with Clayton Moore when he appeared at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis.

Lupe Velez:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupe_V%C3%A9lez

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0892473/


Clayton Moore:
http://www.lonerangerfanclub.com/claytonmoore.html

Seconal:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secobarbital


HOLLYWOOD BABYLON:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Babylon




A

Hollywood Babylon Covergirl

Kenneth Anger's HOLLYWOOD BABYLON has a photo of Jayne Mansfield on the cover.

Under the old "Hollwoodland" sign ( which today reads just "Hollywood" )

The photo of Jayne Mansfield was famous even before they had it on the cover of that book. There's also a story that goes with it.

In April 1957, there was a dinner party at Romanoff's in Beverly Hills to officially welcome Sophia Loren to Hollywood.

Jayne Mansfield went to the party wearing a dress with a low neckline, which was typical of her.

Being Jayne Mansfield, she struck up a pose or two for the waiting photographers.

Who proceeded to take a series of pictures.

"I've been shown up!"

"What will I do now? This wasn't in the script!"

"This beats me all hollow!"

The Best Man Won!

The photo of Jayne Mansfield was used for the unauthorized US edition of HOLLYWOOD BABYLON that came out in 1956. In 1975, when the authorized edition came out, it was used again even though it had no association with the original version of the book, which was published in France.

I don't find this in the accounts I read on the internet, but Sophia Loren had been exploiting her own breasts and it's been said that Jayne Mansfield was defending the honor of American womanhood. Sort of.

Finally, if anyone feels that Jayne Mansfield was vulgar and Sophia Loren wasn't,

they can take a look at this photo and see that Sophia Loren could be vulgar, too.

This is not my idea of a pretty picture. Sophia Loren is showing her underarm hair and the man in the background adds his own questionable contribution to the picture, as well as to the lake. 

I don't hate Sophia Loren, I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about

that. But I get tired of stuff where they say she's great and Jayne Mansfield isn't. They were both famous and they were both popular at the time. You can't change that later on as
some people would like.

THE END

Jayne Mansfield site:
http://www.jaynemansfield.com/