Just What the Web Needs: More Sex
After declaring bankruptcy in October, Heidi Fleiss has found yet another calling. The former Hollywood madam plans to launch her own Web site next month with Internet Entertainment Group, the same company that brought us the Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex video.
Hollywood honchos, hold onto your, ah, hats: Fleiss intends to launch the site with a live “tell-all.” After that, visitors can look forward to an advice column, performances by “Heidi’s girls” and lingerie for sale.
Fleiss, 33, was arrested in June 1993 in Los Angeles after four of her employees were caught in a vice sting. She served three years in prison for crimes connected to her high-priced Hollywood call-girl ring, and was released in September.
Fleiss’ clients were said to include celebrities and top businessmen, but the names in her famous book have not been made public--yet.
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In other Web news, Susan Bernard, daughter of the late celebrity photographer Bruno Bernard, has launched a Web site, https://www.bernardofhollywood.com featuring hundreds of her father’s photos from the town’s “Golden Age” plus Hollywood history, fashion and merchandise for sale.
Susan Bernard was accused by a handful of old-guard photographers of pirating their pics for a 1993 book, “Bernard of Hollywood’s Marilyn.” The most hotly contested image was the legendary shot of Monroe, white skirt blown high by a subway breeze, taken by several photographers at the same time during the filming of “The Seven Year Itch.”
“It was my father’s photograph of Marilyn Monroe that was chosen as the quintessential image of Marilyn by the Museum of Modern Art in New York,” Bernard told us. “I think that speaks for itself.” (That famous photo was used on the poster for the museum’s “Fame After Photography” exhibit earlier this year.)
Bruno Bernard, who photographed Hollywood stars for three decades, fled Hitler’s Germany in 1937 for California. His first studio, opened in 1938, was in the basement of his apartment, but he soon moved to 9055 Sunset Blvd., where “Bernard of Hollywood” reigned for 25 years. The photographer died in 1987.
Susan Bernard, who recently produced the film “The Mao Game,” is now working on a movie about her father’s life.
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Los Angeles artist Melanie Taylor will autograph posters and discuss her new “Millennium Rose Parade” painting Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Pasadena Historical Museum.
Because the theme of this year’s parade is “Visions of the Future,” Taylor told us she set the Rose Parade in outer space, with Mickey Mouse playing the role of the sorcerer’s apprentice, and parade floats exploding in a big bang around him.
The painting was re-created in 500 limited-edition serigraphs, which cost $2,000 each. The posters are free with a $10 donation to the museum.
Taylor has chronicled many historical anniversaries in paintings and serigraphs, including the Statue of Liberty centennial and the bicentennial celebration of the U.S. Constitution. She is the licensed artist for the Walt Disney Co., Universal Studios, Lucasfilm, Hanna-Barbera and many others. A selection of her work from the past 25 years is on view at the museum through January.
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The folks at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have come up with a clever gift idea: membership in a box. For $75, you get a yearlong museum membership packaged in a cute box (shipping is included) and an Illume aroma candle created especially for LACMA. Eau de LACMA . . . the smell of culture.
