Retro Crimbo: Donna Reed/ Zooey Deschanel ~ Christmas Belles

Talent…

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… These are the lovely ladies and gorgeous girls of eras gone by whose beauty, ability, electricity and all-round x-appeal deserve celebration and – ahem – salivation here at George’s Journal…

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Ah, Christmas… a time for peace on Earth, goodwill to all men and, er, a couple of lovelies from back in the day. Now admittedly, one of these two is very much of today’s zeigeist, but she also always seems to be surrounded by a retro aura – which makes her appeal all the more infectious. She too, though, fits this blog’s thoroughly festive theme of present, being the star of a recent Crimbo cinema classic, while her companion in this post is the icon of a true cast-iron Hollywood Holidays classic. Yes, peeps, together, they’re Donna Reed and Zooey Deschanel, the seasonal – and very deserving – entrants of this blog’s Talent corner…
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Profiles

Names: Donna Reed (real name: Donna Belle Mullenger) / Zooey Claire Deschanel

Nationalities: American

Professions: Donna – Actress/ Zooey – Actress, musician, singer-songwriter

Born: Donna – 27 January 1921, Denison, Iowa (died: 14 January 1986, Beverly Hills, California) / Zooey – 17 January 1980, Los Angeles, California

Known for: Donna  – a Hollywood star back in Tinseltown’s heyday, unforgettably she brought her wholseome charms to perennial Christmas favourite It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), opposite James Stewart, and won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for vamping it up as Montgomery Clift’s hooker love-interest in the all-time classic WWII drama From Here to Eternity (1953). Star of many more films, she later turned to TV, fronting family favourite sitcom The Donna Reed Show (1958-66) and played one of the lead characters in Dallas (1978-91), Miss Ellie, for a season in the mid-’80s/

Zooey – maybe the ultimate kooky girlfriend lead in indie cinema of the Noughties, her cinematic highlights number the unashamedly seasonal Elf (2003), the Hollywood remake of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005), fine anti-romcom (500) Days Of Summer (2009) and the marvellous paean to early ’70s rock that is Almost Famous (2000). Also a musical performer, her efforts can be heard on the soundtrack to last year’s Disney effort Winnie The Pooh, as well as on records with M. Ward under the moniker She & Him (including the just released A Very She & Him Christmas). Her latest venture is as the protagonist in the sitcom New Girl (2011), for which this month she received a Golden Globe Award nomination, while famously her older sister is Emily Deschanel, star of crime drama Bones (2005 -present). 

Strange but true: In 1945 (the year before It’s A Wonderful Life was made), Donna was bumped from one Texas-to-Los Angeles flight to another, which was just as well as the first one crashed killing everyone on board; Zooey’s unusual name was derived from the male protagonist of J D Salinger’s novella Franny & Zooey (1961).

Peak of fitness: Donna – making Montgomery Clift fall under her spell in From Here To Eternity/ Zooey – as Trillian at the start of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, wearing boyfriend Zaphod Beeblebrox’s clothes, looking extremely fetching in shorts and sexy specs.

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twitter.com/therealzooeyd

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