Yesterday, Tom Sutpen's essential photo blog If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger,There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats posted the above 1958 album cover as part of their ongoing series "The Art of Pop." There was no comment posted about it, so I simply looked at it, smiled, and continued to scroll through the latest additions. However, seeing the album cover a second time today, I did a double take and thought to myself, "Wait a minute... that's Yvonne Craig!"
Yvonne's autobiography FROM BALLET TO THE BATCAVE AND BEYOND makes no mention of posing for this album cover, but that's understandable: it would have been no more than a day's modelling work for her and thus imminently forgettable. Also, she had just left the Ballet Russe and made her first picture, Republic's EIGHTEEN AND ANXIOUS, so this album cover would hardly have been considered a résumé highlight even at the time. But what a fascinating curio! I've written to her, care of her website, and sent the pic to a couple of friends who also might be able to ask her about it, just to get official confirmation. Assuming it is her, however she may feel about it, it strikes me as cute and cool... and automatically worth four times whatever it was worth before as a collectable.
Update: It's not her.
