Joi Lansing - anyone chased her up? - bombshell that gets blown up in TOE

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I just heard about her for the first time the other day - ran a google search for images, and she was one sexy sexy lady!

And, ironically, she was the girl in the car at the beginning of Touch of Evil. She's the girl who says "i've just got this ticking in my head..." really hammy too!

She was your absolutely stunning blonde big-chested girl, by the google pix.

But it looks like she wasn't in much else. Something called Hot Cars, and its sequel, and the 1970 monster shlock Big Foot. It was going on ebay a week ago.

Has anyone every chased her up - sought out these little titles just to get a longer glimpse of her in action?

[R Kadin]

Welles claimed to have "introduced" her in his proposed U.S. TV series' (The Orson Welles Show) pilot segment entitled, "The Fountain of Youth". It's a breezy, cheeky, frolicksome show with lots of style, invention, wit and verve. And there's plenty of Ms. Lansing to see in it, take that as you will.

As we know, Orson had more than just an "eye" for the ladies...

[Tony]

Here's a link that will tell you all about Joi:

http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/joilansing.html

[mteal]

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see any mention of Fountain of Youth at that website, even though it's probably the most significant thing she ever did. However, they do mention her being in THE BRAVE ONE, which was based on Flaherty's short story MY FRIEND BONITO (which Welles also tried to adapt). I'll have to check that film out sometime.

Regarding the "ticking noise" that Lansing complains of at the beginning of TOE, it's interesting that a ticking sound runs throughout most of Fountain of Youth, and a speeded-up ticking is heard during that great scene where Lansing has a nightmare vision of herself getting old. Coincidence? Or was it an inside joke by Welles to have her say that just before she and Rudy Linnaker get blown to hash?

[Sir Bygber Brown]

Does anyone know what it says about her in the Orson Welles Encyclopaedia? Did they have an affair that anyone can confirm? She's probably not significant enough for Leaming to have mentioned her...

Man was she good lookin'...

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I've seen that website, Tony - it was one of my favourites! Those are some swell pix!

[Tony]

Here's another one:

http://members.tgforum.com/corafmnoir/Lansing.html

[Tony]

Here's a third: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0487103/

no pics but a nice selection of her work, including Fountain.

Interesting: She was in OW's last two Hollywood projects: I think that makes her an honourary member of the Mercury Theatre!

[Sir Bygber Brown]

She had this real sixties beauty quality in those photos. I don't know why they didn't offer her a part in the Pink Panther series - she would have been perfect for a featured non-speaking part.

Hey, its not like Elke Sommer was offered any roles on the London stage for her contribution...

Re: honorary membership... I second the motion!

PS, if Orson knew her a few years before... i'd be surprised if he didn't go for her... In '49 she was 20... so for propriety's sake it would have to be after that... She would have gone for Harry Lime at that time, i reckon...

[Sir Bygber Brown]

Do you know where she is in Singin' in the Rain?

Which particular "beautiful blonde" is she?

[Glenn Anders]

Sir Bygber: I should think Joi Lansing is one of the foxy gals running around with Rita Moreno in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, or one the chorus girls in Debbie Reynolds' "I Dream of You" number.

Like Gwen Verdon, who appeared unbilled in a number of pretty good musicals before she made it big on Broadway with #### Yankees, Lansing really stood out in a number of films, with or without dialogue. And if she had a couple of good lines or a good angle, she could easily steal a scene, as she did from Dean Martin and Tony Curtis in WHO WAS THAT LADY (Sidney, 1960).

Unlike Verdon, she never was recognized for talents other than her beauty.

As an aside, James Elroy (LA CONFIDENTIAL) has a supposedly-true crime essay, which claims that Joi Lansing had a sister, also a model, who was murdered by a serial killer, about the time his own mother was. He has an additional soft spot for "The Lansing Sisters" because they come from Salt Lake City, where he now lives.

What an old pal used to call "a nice-to-know, if true."

Glenn

[Sir Bygber Brown]

Interesting Glenn...

Her biggest roles, as i said, seem to have been in Big Foot and Hot Cars - boy i'd love to see those...