Brigid Bazlen
Encyclopedia
Brigid Mary Bazlen was an American actress. Although she made only three Hollywood films, The Honeymoon Machine
, King of Kings, and How the West Was Won
, because all three remain popular films from the early 1960s, she is still remembered. Her career, and her life, were cut short by her death from cancer at the age of 44.
. Her father was Arthur Bazlen, a retail chain executive, and her mother was Maggie Daly, a newspaper columnist with Chicago's American
(Chicago Today & Chicago Tribune
). Maggie Daly was, with her three sisters, one of what Time magazine referred to as “the celebrated Daly sisters,” who were known for their writing and work in journalism, fashion and advertising. Life
magazine ran two feature stories on the sisters with a young Bazlen appearing in the second. Columnist Maggie ("Daly Diary" in Chicago's American), the oldest sister, a one-time model was known for her lunch time Chicago fashion shows and as a radio and television talk show guest and TV show host. Kay Daly, who worked in advertising with such people as Richard Avedon
, became a Revlon
vice president responsible for its advertising. Novelist and writer Maureen Daly
became famous for writing Seventeenth Summer at age 19. Sheila Daly, the youngest, who wrote a Chicago Tribune
teen column beginning at a very young age, eventually went into advertising as well.
Bazlen was “discovered” in 1950 at the age of 6 waiting for a school bus in front of her house by an NBC
executive. The network were testing for the then groundbreaking soap opera Hawkins Falls, Population 6200
(which went on to become the first successful television soap opera) starring Maurice Copeland
and Bernadine Flynn, and the executive asked Bazlen’s parents for permission to test her. Whilst her mother initially refused, she later relented and Bazlen won a part and became a regular on the show for two years, winning rave reviews.
outside of Bazlen's Chicago home and told Bazlen's mother that "your little girl is just right for my TV series". In the show, the Blue Fairy, played by Bazlen, lived in the “Blue Forest”. Dressed in a blue gown and diamond tiara, she also clasped a silver wand. At the beginning of each show, Bazlen, suspended by wires, would fly (as if on elfin wings) across the stage saying “I’m the Blue Fairy, I’ll grant you a wish to make all your dreams come true”. She would then sit on an oversized mushroom visited by creatures such as Tugnacious R. Jones, Myrtle Flower, and an old nasal voiced wizard (which were puppets designed by George Nelle and writer-director Don Kane), and introduced stories enacted by the Rufus Rose Marionettes. They also engaged in various projects which included constructing a popcorn machine that would not stop popping and making a sewing machine that turned out marbles. Bazlen won enormous critical praise for her performance (one critic describing it as “beguiling” and “mesmerising” and Hedda Hopper
declared Bazlen “the Celtic Alice in Wonderland”) and the show was recognised as the top children’s program of 1958 winning a Peabody Award
. Bazlen herself said of her role that she "flew around and had a wonderful time." Although The Blue Fairy could only be seen locally in Chicago on Channel 9, the Peabody Award it won brought it and Bazlen to national attention. Furthermore, the show also inspired Ernie Kovacs
into doing one of his notorious comedy sketches where Kovacs (wearing a mustache, chewing a cigar, dressed in a blue gown and blonde wig, and holding a silver wand) flew across a stage, slammed head first into a wall on the opposite side, and was then left dangling lifelessly (in mock fashion) in mid-air.
and Oscar Hammerstein
wanted her to co-star with Mary Martin
in the theatrical production of The Sound of Music
, Otto Preminger
wanted her for his upcoming production of Exodus
, and Paddy Chayefsky
wanted her for his Broadway play The Dybbuk of Woodlawn. Bazlen’s mother, however, turned these down and instead allowed her to take a part in the NBC TV comedy drama Too Young To Go Steady. The series starred Joan Bennett
, and Bazlen played her daughter Pamela Blake. Martin Huston
, then eighteen, was cast as Johnny Blake.
Through her role in Too Young To Go Steady and because she was “precociously attractive” (as one critic put it) in a very similar way to Elizabeth Taylor
at the same age, Bazlen came to be dubbed “the next Elizabeth Taylor” and was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(who started promoting her as “the new American Bardot
”). The first film she did for MGM was King of Kings, which also starred Jeffrey Hunter
as Jesus. Bazlen played the role of Salome
. Bazlen won the part when she met the film's producer, Samuel Bronston
, at a party Bazlen's mother had taken her to. Bazlen said of the offer, that "It was like [being spotted] all over again, for Mr Bronston offered me the Salome part straight away.". Nevertheless, Bazlen’s performance as Salome came in for especially hostile criticism at the time, the ferocity of it being partly inspired by the fact that Bazlen’s selection for the role was viewed as “MGM dictated”. Nevertheless, just as the film itself is now highly regarded (Hunter's performance as Jesus, especially in the Sermon on the Mount
scene, winning much acclaim, as have the performances of Robert Ryan
as John the Baptist
and Frank Thring
as Herod Antipas
– the film is also included in Danny Peary
's list of "must see" films in his book 'Guide for the Film Fanatic'), Bazlen’s performance has likewise been re-evaluated down the years as being superb (her voluptuous seduction of a drunken lascivious Herod winning her especially rave reviews.) Indeed, in her review for Rotten Tomatoes, Kimberly Heinrichs, states that: "This 1961 version of..[King of Kings]..gives historical context to the best-known Biblical tale and features many memorable moments, such as a moving Sermon on the Mount and a vixenish Salome [i.e. Bazlen] dancing for her stepfather in a performance that rivals today's MTV video offerings". Furthermore, in their review of the film, Film Fanatic state: "My favorite “Roman scene” shows the infamous Salome (played by Brigid Bazlen as a sexy teenage hussy) tempting her stepfather, King Herod (Thring), into decapitating John the Baptist (a shaggy-headed Robert Ryan) and bringing her his head on a platter; while this vignette may not be substantiated by biblical scholars, it plays well on the screen!". Accordingly, Bazlen's performance as Salome is widely regarded as her best ever performance. Bazlen herself said of her role as Salome, "A fantastic amount of research went into King of Kings and it seems that Salome was in her teens when she demanded the head of John the Baptist. She may well be the first juvenile delinquent on record. Some people are surprised that I used no veils in my dance, but it is a false assumption that Salome did a strip tease. I had to form my seductive charming of Herod with a pure Oriental-African dance movement of the period." According to Bazlen's daughter Marguerite, despite the unfair criticism Bazlen received at the time of the films release, Bazlen was always very proud of her performance. Furthermore, shortly after making the film, Bazlen herself said that "I was a little overwhelmed to have such an important role for my first film part, but I found Nicholas Ray
to be a most considerate director."
alongside Steve McQueen
, Jim Hutton
, and Paula Prentiss
. Although the film was made after King of Kings, it was released before it, thus becoming Bazlen's first Hollywood movie to be shown. In The Honeymoon Machine, Bazlen stars as Julie Fitch, girlfriend of Fergie Howard (played by Steve McQueen) and daughter of Admiral Fitch (played by Dean Jagger
). According to Christopher Sandford in his biography on Steve McQueen, Bazlen became briefly involved with McQueen whilst making The Honeymoon Machine, although McQueen fought "Bazlen nonstop" over issues relating to the film. Nevertheless, Peter Haigh in ABC Film Review said of her performance in the film that Bazlen "displayed a nice sense of comedy" and Bazlen herself said that she found making the film "less of a strain" than the making of King of Kings. As with King of Kings, however, the film critics of the time were unfairly scathing in their assessment of Bazlen's performance, with one stating that Bazlen was "Incapable of anything but looking pretty." Nonetheless, just as with her performance in King of kings, her performance in The Honeymoon Machine has been re-evaluated down the years as being of a very high standard. Moreover, Bazlen herself responded to the overly harsh criticism by simply stating that she was "a hard worker."
, a film about the history of the western expansion in the United States as told via the story of one pioneer family's history.
After completing her role in How The West Was Won, Bazlen returned to Chicago where she appeared in many stage roles until 1966 when she gave up performing to marry the French singer Jean-Paul Vignon. The marriage produced one daughter (Marguerite Vignon – the birth coming as a pleasant surprise to Bazlen as she had been told that she would never have children. Indeed, it was only 4 months into the pregnancy that she found out she was pregnant), but ended in divorce. Bazlen later married Nashville session player/producer Marlin Greene. This marriage also ended in divorce after 7 years. At the time her acting career was at its zenith in 1961/62, she said that her ideal marriage would take place when she was between 20 and 22 years of age and to "someone 10 to 20 years my senior, preferably not an actor. Marriages between actors seldom work out satisfactorily. If it is an actor I marry, it won't be a young one. I find young actors are too egotistical. I prefer more mature men; James Stewart
is a wonderful example." James Stewart was a co-star of hers in How The West Was Won. She also added that the person she would like to marry would be "Someone I could learn from."
Bazlen returned to acting briefly in the early 1970s in Chicago dinner theater plays which included Nobody Loves An Albatross as Jean Hart playing opposite Gig Young
, Under The Yum Yum Tree and Once More With Feeling. Then, in 1972, she took up the role of Mary Anderson
in the NBC daytime TV drama Days of our Lives
. After that, however, she completely retired from acting. Her mother later stated that Bazlen lost interest in acting as she grew older. Moreover, Bazlen's daughter, Marguerite, stated in a 2007 interview that Bazlen was a very private person who spoke very little about her past and that "She was very kind-hearted, very fair, emotional. Not affectionate, as kind-hearted as she was, she was not a touchy feely kind of person." Bazlen's daughter also recalled that Bazlen was a very witty person with a dry sense of humor and that her reluctance to talk openly about her acting career was related to her shyness because "Whenever one of her movies would air, she made sure we all went out for dinner so we couldn't stay home and watch! It wasn't that she was embarrassed by it, but I think once she left that world she was shy about it. She was very proud of her work on The Blue Fairy."
Bazlen moved to Seattle, Washington and spent the latter part of her life caring for her mother, Maggie Daly, who had developed a tumour on her left leg which ultimately led to the leg being amputated below the knee. Bazlen was a heavy smoker and her health began to decline as she entered her mid forties. Bazlen died of cancer on May 25, 1989, aged 44.
The Honeymoon Machine
The Honeymoon Machine is a 1961 film starring Steve McQueen, Brigid Bazlen, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, Jack Mullaney, and Dean Jagger, based on the 1959 Broadway play The Golden Fleecing by Lorenzo Semple Jr.. In the film, three men devise a plan to win at roulette with a United States Navy computer...
, King of Kings, and How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won (film)
How the West Was Won is a 1962 American epic Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. It follows four generations of a family as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean...
, because all three remain popular films from the early 1960s, she is still remembered. Her career, and her life, were cut short by her death from cancer at the age of 44.
Early life and career
Bazlen was born in Fond du Lac, WisconsinFond du Lac, Wisconsin
Fond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The name is French for bottom of the lake, for it is located at the bottom of Lake Winnebago. The population was 42,203 at the 2000 census...
. Her father was Arthur Bazlen, a retail chain executive, and her mother was Maggie Daly, a newspaper columnist with Chicago's American
Chicago's American
Chicago American, an afternoon newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, was the last flowering of the aggressive journalistic tradition depicted in the play and movie The Front Page....
(Chicago Today & Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
). Maggie Daly was, with her three sisters, one of what Time magazine referred to as “the celebrated Daly sisters,” who were known for their writing and work in journalism, fashion and advertising. Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine ran two feature stories on the sisters with a young Bazlen appearing in the second. Columnist Maggie ("Daly Diary" in Chicago's American), the oldest sister, a one-time model was known for her lunch time Chicago fashion shows and as a radio and television talk show guest and TV show host. Kay Daly, who worked in advertising with such people as Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
, became a Revlon
Revlon
Revlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
vice president responsible for its advertising. Novelist and writer Maureen Daly
Maureen Daly
Maureen Daly , was an American author best known for her novelSeventeenth Summer , one of the first to target a teenage audience....
became famous for writing Seventeenth Summer at age 19. Sheila Daly, the youngest, who wrote a Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
teen column beginning at a very young age, eventually went into advertising as well.
Bazlen was “discovered” in 1950 at the age of 6 waiting for a school bus in front of her house by an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
executive. The network were testing for the then groundbreaking soap opera Hawkins Falls, Population 6200
Hawkins Falls
Hawkins Falls, Population 6200 is the first successful American television soap opera. Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950.On April 2, 1951, the series was moved...
(which went on to become the first successful television soap opera) starring Maurice Copeland
Maurice Copeland
Maurice Copeland was an American actor. He had supporting roles in films such as Arthur, The Pope of Greenwich Village and Trading Places.-External links:...
and Bernadine Flynn, and the executive asked Bazlen’s parents for permission to test her. Whilst her mother initially refused, she later relented and Bazlen won a part and became a regular on the show for two years, winning rave reviews.
The Blue Fairy (1958)
In 1958, Bazlen won the starring role in the children’s program The Blue Fairy, broadcast by the independent station WGN-TV in Chicago on Monday nights (7.30 pm–8.00 pm). It was one of the earliest children’s shows to be produced in color. The producer of the show had spotted Bazlen playing hopscotchHopscotch
Hopscotch is a children's game that can be played with several players or alone. Hopscotch is a popular playground game.- Court and rules :- The court :...
outside of Bazlen's Chicago home and told Bazlen's mother that "your little girl is just right for my TV series". In the show, the Blue Fairy, played by Bazlen, lived in the “Blue Forest”. Dressed in a blue gown and diamond tiara, she also clasped a silver wand. At the beginning of each show, Bazlen, suspended by wires, would fly (as if on elfin wings) across the stage saying “I’m the Blue Fairy, I’ll grant you a wish to make all your dreams come true”. She would then sit on an oversized mushroom visited by creatures such as Tugnacious R. Jones, Myrtle Flower, and an old nasal voiced wizard (which were puppets designed by George Nelle and writer-director Don Kane), and introduced stories enacted by the Rufus Rose Marionettes. They also engaged in various projects which included constructing a popcorn machine that would not stop popping and making a sewing machine that turned out marbles. Bazlen won enormous critical praise for her performance (one critic describing it as “beguiling” and “mesmerising” and Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.-Early life:...
declared Bazlen “the Celtic Alice in Wonderland”) and the show was recognised as the top children’s program of 1958 winning a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
. Bazlen herself said of her role that she "flew around and had a wonderful time." Although The Blue Fairy could only be seen locally in Chicago on Channel 9, the Peabody Award it won brought it and Bazlen to national attention. Furthermore, the show also inspired Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs
Ernie Kovacs was a Hungarian American comedian and actor.Kovacs' uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident...
into doing one of his notorious comedy sketches where Kovacs (wearing a mustache, chewing a cigar, dressed in a blue gown and blonde wig, and holding a silver wand) flew across a stage, slammed head first into a wall on the opposite side, and was then left dangling lifelessly (in mock fashion) in mid-air.
Too Young To Go Steady (1959)
As a result of her performances in The Blue Fairy, offers poured in for Bazlen. Richard RodgersRichard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
and Oscar Hammerstein
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
wanted her to co-star with Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
in the theatrical production of The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
, Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
wanted her for his upcoming production of Exodus
Exodus (film)
Exodus is a 1960 epic war film made by Alpha and Carlyle Productions and distributed by United Artists. Produced and directed by Otto Preminger, the film was based on the 1958 novel Exodus, by Leon Uris. The screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo, which represented the breaking of the Hollywood...
, and Paddy Chayefsky
Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky , was an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for Best Screenplay....
wanted her for his Broadway play The Dybbuk of Woodlawn. Bazlen’s mother, however, turned these down and instead allowed her to take a part in the NBC TV comedy drama Too Young To Go Steady. The series starred Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
, and Bazlen played her daughter Pamela Blake. Martin Huston
Martin Huston
Martin W. Huston, also known as Marty Huston , was an American actor of primarily television and stage....
, then eighteen, was cast as Johnny Blake.
King of Kings (1961)
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
at the same age, Bazlen came to be dubbed “the next Elizabeth Taylor” and was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
(who started promoting her as “the new American Bardot
Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot is a French former fashion model, actress, singer and animal rights activist. She was one of the best-known sex-symbols of the 1960s.In her early life, Bardot was an aspiring ballet dancer...
”). The first film she did for MGM was King of Kings, which also starred Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
as Jesus. Bazlen played the role of Salome
Salome
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...
. Bazlen won the part when she met the film's producer, Samuel Bronston
Samuel Bronston
Samuel Bronston was a Bessarabian-born American film producer, film director, and a nephew of socialist revolutionary figure, Leon Trotsky. He was also the petitioner in a U.S...
, at a party Bazlen's mother had taken her to. Bazlen said of the offer, that "It was like [being spotted] all over again, for Mr Bronston offered me the Salome part straight away.". Nevertheless, Bazlen’s performance as Salome came in for especially hostile criticism at the time, the ferocity of it being partly inspired by the fact that Bazlen’s selection for the role was viewed as “MGM dictated”. Nevertheless, just as the film itself is now highly regarded (Hunter's performance as Jesus, especially in the Sermon on the Mount
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew...
scene, winning much acclaim, as have the performances of Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
as John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
and Frank Thring
Frank Thring
Frank William Thring was an Australian character actor.-Early life:Thring was born in Melbourne and educated at the Melbourne Grammar School. His father, Frank W. Thring, was the head of Efftee Studios, in Melbourne, in the 1920s, and is said to be the inventor of the clapperboard...
as Herod Antipas
Herod Antipas
Herod Antipater , known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch...
– the film is also included in Danny Peary
Danny Peary
Danny Peary is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written many books on cinema and sports-related topics.-Biography:...
's list of "must see" films in his book 'Guide for the Film Fanatic'), Bazlen’s performance has likewise been re-evaluated down the years as being superb (her voluptuous seduction of a drunken lascivious Herod winning her especially rave reviews.) Indeed, in her review for Rotten Tomatoes, Kimberly Heinrichs, states that: "This 1961 version of..[King of Kings]..gives historical context to the best-known Biblical tale and features many memorable moments, such as a moving Sermon on the Mount and a vixenish Salome [i.e. Bazlen] dancing for her stepfather in a performance that rivals today's MTV video offerings". Furthermore, in their review of the film, Film Fanatic state: "My favorite “Roman scene” shows the infamous Salome (played by Brigid Bazlen as a sexy teenage hussy) tempting her stepfather, King Herod (Thring), into decapitating John the Baptist (a shaggy-headed Robert Ryan) and bringing her his head on a platter; while this vignette may not be substantiated by biblical scholars, it plays well on the screen!". Accordingly, Bazlen's performance as Salome is widely regarded as her best ever performance. Bazlen herself said of her role as Salome, "A fantastic amount of research went into King of Kings and it seems that Salome was in her teens when she demanded the head of John the Baptist. She may well be the first juvenile delinquent on record. Some people are surprised that I used no veils in my dance, but it is a false assumption that Salome did a strip tease. I had to form my seductive charming of Herod with a pure Oriental-African dance movement of the period." According to Bazlen's daughter Marguerite, despite the unfair criticism Bazlen received at the time of the films release, Bazlen was always very proud of her performance. Furthermore, shortly after making the film, Bazlen herself said that "I was a little overwhelmed to have such an important role for my first film part, but I found Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
to be a most considerate director."
The Honeymoon Machine (1961)
Bazlen's next film for MGM was The Honeymoon MachineThe Honeymoon Machine
The Honeymoon Machine is a 1961 film starring Steve McQueen, Brigid Bazlen, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, Jack Mullaney, and Dean Jagger, based on the 1959 Broadway play The Golden Fleecing by Lorenzo Semple Jr.. In the film, three men devise a plan to win at roulette with a United States Navy computer...
alongside Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
, Jim Hutton
Jim Hutton
Dana James Hutton , usually credited as Jim Hutton, was an American actor in film and television probably best remembered for his role as Ellery Queen in the 1970s TV series of the same name.-Early life and career:...
, and Paula Prentiss
Paula Prentiss
Paula Ragusa , better known by her stage name Paula Prentiss, is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, What's New Pussycat?, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View and her co-starring role in the television situation...
. Although the film was made after King of Kings, it was released before it, thus becoming Bazlen's first Hollywood movie to be shown. In The Honeymoon Machine, Bazlen stars as Julie Fitch, girlfriend of Fergie Howard (played by Steve McQueen) and daughter of Admiral Fitch (played by Dean Jagger
Dean Jagger
Dean Jagger was an Academy Award winning American film actor.-Career:Born Ira Dean Jagger in Columbus Grove, Ohio, Jagger made his film debut in The Woman from Hell with Mary Astor...
). According to Christopher Sandford in his biography on Steve McQueen, Bazlen became briefly involved with McQueen whilst making The Honeymoon Machine, although McQueen fought "Bazlen nonstop" over issues relating to the film. Nevertheless, Peter Haigh in ABC Film Review said of her performance in the film that Bazlen "displayed a nice sense of comedy" and Bazlen herself said that she found making the film "less of a strain" than the making of King of Kings. As with King of Kings, however, the film critics of the time were unfairly scathing in their assessment of Bazlen's performance, with one stating that Bazlen was "Incapable of anything but looking pretty." Nonetheless, just as with her performance in King of kings, her performance in The Honeymoon Machine has been re-evaluated down the years as being of a very high standard. Moreover, Bazlen herself responded to the overly harsh criticism by simply stating that she was "a hard worker."
How The West Was Won (1962)
Bazlen’s final film role was as Dora Hawkins in How the West Was WonHow the West Was Won (film)
How the West Was Won is a 1962 American epic Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. It follows four generations of a family as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean...
, a film about the history of the western expansion in the United States as told via the story of one pioneer family's history.
Reflections on youth
During the making of King of Kings, The Honeymoon Machine, and How The West Was Won, as Bazlen was still only 17 years of age at the time, she had to attend educational classes between takes in order to comply with the Los Angeles Board of Education's requirement that she carry out three hours of study per day Monday to Friday. Moreover, when answering a question during this time about whether young people were misunderstood by the older generation, she said "Yes, but I'm sure that's been the case down the ages. Its too much to expect people of the older generation completely to understand people of my age. Some of the ways in which we behave were unheard of in my mother's young days, but each generation finds different symbols to express its discontent." Also, when asked at the same time about how she felt about her rapid rise to stardom at such a young age, Bazlen said "I realise what a lucky person I am and I'm anxious to repay the trust a lot of important people have placed in me. Reaching so high so young has put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, but I feel that responsibility is part of the pattern of living and it is not to be taken lightly."Relationship with mother
When asked about her relationship with her mother, Bazlen said "Once she'd helped me find a manager and an agent, she said she'd leave the three of us to work my screen career out. After all, being a newspaper columnist, mother has a career of her own to follow."Later career and life after acting
How The West Was Won completed Bazlen’s three-film contract deal with MGM and her contract was not renewed following the criticism her performance as Salome received in King of Kings.After completing her role in How The West Was Won, Bazlen returned to Chicago where she appeared in many stage roles until 1966 when she gave up performing to marry the French singer Jean-Paul Vignon. The marriage produced one daughter (Marguerite Vignon – the birth coming as a pleasant surprise to Bazlen as she had been told that she would never have children. Indeed, it was only 4 months into the pregnancy that she found out she was pregnant), but ended in divorce. Bazlen later married Nashville session player/producer Marlin Greene. This marriage also ended in divorce after 7 years. At the time her acting career was at its zenith in 1961/62, she said that her ideal marriage would take place when she was between 20 and 22 years of age and to "someone 10 to 20 years my senior, preferably not an actor. Marriages between actors seldom work out satisfactorily. If it is an actor I marry, it won't be a young one. I find young actors are too egotistical. I prefer more mature men; James Stewart
James Stewart
James Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
is a wonderful example." James Stewart was a co-star of hers in How The West Was Won. She also added that the person she would like to marry would be "Someone I could learn from."
Bazlen returned to acting briefly in the early 1970s in Chicago dinner theater plays which included Nobody Loves An Albatross as Jean Hart playing opposite Gig Young
Gig Young
Gig Young was an American film, stage, and television actor. Known mainly for second leads and supporting roles, Young won an Academy Award for his performance as a dance-marathon emcee in the 1969 film, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?.-Early life and career:Born Byron Elsworth Barr in St...
, Under The Yum Yum Tree and Once More With Feeling. Then, in 1972, she took up the role of Mary Anderson
Mary Anderson (fiction)
Mary Anderson is a fictional character on the soap opera Days of our Lives. Mary was played by seven different actresses from 1972 until 1982.-Fictional character history :...
in the NBC daytime TV drama Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
. After that, however, she completely retired from acting. Her mother later stated that Bazlen lost interest in acting as she grew older. Moreover, Bazlen's daughter, Marguerite, stated in a 2007 interview that Bazlen was a very private person who spoke very little about her past and that "She was very kind-hearted, very fair, emotional. Not affectionate, as kind-hearted as she was, she was not a touchy feely kind of person." Bazlen's daughter also recalled that Bazlen was a very witty person with a dry sense of humor and that her reluctance to talk openly about her acting career was related to her shyness because "Whenever one of her movies would air, she made sure we all went out for dinner so we couldn't stay home and watch! It wasn't that she was embarrassed by it, but I think once she left that world she was shy about it. She was very proud of her work on The Blue Fairy."
Bazlen moved to Seattle, Washington and spent the latter part of her life caring for her mother, Maggie Daly, who had developed a tumour on her left leg which ultimately led to the leg being amputated below the knee. Bazlen was a heavy smoker and her health began to decline as she entered her mid forties. Bazlen died of cancer on May 25, 1989, aged 44.
Trivia
- She was 5 feet 4 inches tall
- She weighed 98 pounds at the time she made King of Kings
- Bazlen's favourite hobbies were dancing (which she said she liked to do "for my own amusement, alone in front of a huge mirror.") and reading (she once said that she read "everything I can get my hands on – one book per evening.")
Selected film and television appearances
- Hawkins FallsHawkins FallsHawkins Falls, Population 6200 is the first successful American television soap opera. Sponsored by Unilever's blue detergent, Surf, the program began as a one hour comedy-drama on June 17, 1950, and ran in prime time on the NBC network until October 12, 1950.On April 2, 1951, the series was moved...
(1950–1952) - Too Young To Go Steady (1959)
- The Honeymoon MachineThe Honeymoon MachineThe Honeymoon Machine is a 1961 film starring Steve McQueen, Brigid Bazlen, Jim Hutton, Paula Prentiss, Jack Mullaney, and Dean Jagger, based on the 1959 Broadway play The Golden Fleecing by Lorenzo Semple Jr.. In the film, three men devise a plan to win at roulette with a United States Navy computer...
(1961) - King of Kings (1961)
- How the West Was WonHow the West Was Won (film)How the West Was Won is a 1962 American epic Western film. The picture was one of the last "old-fashioned" epic films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to enjoy great success. It follows four generations of a family as they move ever westward, from western New York state to the Pacific Ocean...
(1962) - Days of our LivesDays of our LivesDays of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
(1972)