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Photo Blog #23: Final Mysteries

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After 22 previous posts, the Moving Image and Recorded Sound division of the Library of Congress has, with this final assortment, exhausted its currently slate of unidentified stills.  (Or, at least until we acquire some more!)  Thanks to everyone who has looked at these over the last year or so and has solved them or offered suggestions.

Below are a few previously-posted images that we are still trying to ID.  We (as always) welcome suggestions about who or what.  As always, clicking on the image below will enlarge it.  And possible answers can be placed in the “comments” section below.  We will update this blog as we figure them out.

Thanks again.

1) Still don’t know the name of this fetching young woman.  We welcome your suggestions.

SOLVED:  This is actress Kimberly Brent.

2) We have a good guess on his man behind the camera but we don’t have anything conclusive.

UPDATE:  Could this be filmmaker and photographer Ben Maddow?

3) The man on the far left is the actor Howard Da Silva but we don’t know the other two gentlemen.  Two clues are stamped on the back of the photo:  the word “Sherlock” and the date “Jan 19 1973.”

MOSTLY SOLVED:  That is Da Silva, Syracuse theater director Gerard Moses and a man TBD.

4) We would like to know the name of this dapper gent in the tux.

SOLVED!:  The above is the late singer Tony Costa.

5) We had a suggestion that this might be the late Shel Silverstein but the Library reached out to Mr. Silverstein’s Estate and they did not believe it to be him.  So:  we are still trying to determine who it is.  On the back of this print it is stamped “Cincinnati Enquirer.”

6) Admittedly, this one is going to be tough because this director’s face is so obscured.  His hat however does read “Tucson Rodeo.”

SOLVED!  Geoffrey Sax.

7) It was suggested that the woman in this striking photo might be pop star Kate Garner but, again, Ms. Garner, when contacted by the Library, said it wasn’t her.  So, who is she?  (On the back of this photo, it is stamped:  “Ashley Associates Photography” along with a no-longer-working NYC phone number.)

8) We’d love to know the name of this group–either individually or as a group.

SOLVED!:  Musical group Beachfront Property!–Thank you Olympia at Reddit.

9) This illustration might have been for a proposed building or was used in a film or was drawn as a proposed film set.  We just don’t know.  Does it look familiar to anyone?

SOLVED:  This is a rendering of the former Pulsations nightclub in Glen Mills, PA.

10) We have an idea of who this might be, just aren’t positive.  We are open to ideas.

SOLVED:  This is actress/filmmaker Esther Anderson. 

11) This lady (and the snowy place she is standing) is unknown.

SOLVED!:  This location is Axamer Lizum in Austria.  The lady is long-time “Syracuse Post-Standard” entertainment reporter and film reviewer Joan Vadeboncoeur.

12) It’s all the same smiling woman in this  series of four photos but we don’t know who she is.

SOLVED!:  The lady above is Cynthia Lynn, an actress best known for her role on “Hogan’s Heroes.”

13) Another painting:  is it from a film or for a film or nothing to do with a film?  The name in the lower corner (and scribbled on the back of this print) seems to be “Kepler.”

SOLVED:  This is a painting titled “Fixin’ Fences” by Amish artist Luther J. Kepler, Jr.

14) On the back of this photo, it is stamped “Cornelius / Apr 9 1946.”  Then, in pencil, on the back of the photo,  someone has scribbled what looks like “Virginia” and “Hepburn.”

SOLVED!:  Virginia H. Hopkins, former Powers Model!

15)  Finally, we don’t know either of these men.

PARTIALLY SOLVED:  The man on the left is conductor Frederick Prausnitz; we don’t yet know the man next to him.

To see some of our prior photo blogs, please click on the links below.  Some stills are still awaiting solving.

Photo Blog #1:  Who’s That Lady? (1 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #2:  Who’s that Gent? (3 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #3:  Name That Movie! (5 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #4:  Musical Mysteries (5 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #5:  Unknown Horrors (1 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #6:  Small Screen Oddities (4 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #7:  International Unknowns (5 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #8:  Mysterious Silents (5 out of 6 solved!)

Photo Blog #9:  Portraits of an Unknown Woman (3 of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #10:  The Films With No Name (7 out of 8 solved!)

Photo Blog #11:  The Kids are Unknown (6 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #12:  Reel Mysteries (7 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #13:  Men of Mystery (6 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #14:  More Musical Mysteries (4 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #15:  The Executive Guess (2 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #16:  The Familiar Female (1 out of 10 solved!) 

Photo Blog #17:  Cowboys and Question Marks (6 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #18:  Oddities and Ends (2 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #19:  Potpourri (1 out of 10 solved!)

Photo Blog #20:  Lingering Mysteries

Photo Blog #21:  More Lingering Mysteries (1 out of 15 solved!)

Photo Blog #22:  Nagging Mysteries (1 out of 15 solved!)

Comments (40)

  1. Re: No. 14, a check for Virginia Hepburn in Apr 1946 (via newspapers.com) revealed a “pretty blond who started loose living at age of 10 killed in four-floor plunge” headline (and other variations. She was a 21-year-old platinum blonde who died in a”drunken orgy” in San Francisco. The newspaper photo does not look like the woman in your photo.

  2. Is number one FRAN JEFFRIES?

    I wonder if someone thought the woman in number fourteen was Bugsy Siegel’s associate VIRGINIA HILL?

  3. The woman in number seven reminds me of actress/director BARBARA LODEN. I’m quite sure the photo dates from the 1960s.

  4. In number 15, the guy on the left looks like Jackie Coogan.

  5. The snowy place of number 11 might be the ski resort Axamer Lizum near Innsbruck, Austria.

    This is the same view: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/6094+Axamer+Lizum,+Austria/@47.1829444,11.2816172,3a,75y,13.51h,79.77t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPVyFEmkvpz7GM0lYkXAGmL2TBLxI19lZEUTHGA!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPVyFEmkvpz7GM0lYkXAGmL2TBLxI19lZEUTHGA%3Dw234-h106-k-no-pi0-ya343.5-ro-0-fo100!7i5376!8i2688!4m5!3m4!1s0x479d40228d57ce7b:0x62e4ae52de78b8e2!8m2!3d47.19569!4d11.30265

    The funicular can be seen here:
    https://www.innsbruck.info/emobilder/x/16160/Standseilbahn-Axamer-Lizum.jpg
    or by searching “Axamer Lizum olympiabahn” online.
    In the back you see the valley of the Inn.

    The Olympic games were happening there in 1964 and again in 1976. That might have been the time when this still was taken.

    Best wishes,
    Max

  6. My guess for #6 is William F. Claxton filming “Night of the Lepus” in Old Tucson sometime during the 1970s.

  7. #14: I’m betting that’s Virginia Mayo.

  8. #6 (The Director) appears to be a young David Lynch, possibly around the time of filming Dune (1984) which was filmed at least partially in Arizona.

  9. 5 looks like young Allen Ginsberg.

  10. Number 6 might be David Lynch.

  11. Number 14 isn’t Virginia Mayo.

    Jackie Coogan isn’t in number 15.

  12. The fellow on the right in #3 looks a bit like Parley Baer, but I also am reminded of a similar looking English actor who I can’t name. The fellow in the middle reminds me of a foreign sports figure from the early 70’s. Maybe a jockey or race car driver, specifically.

  13. Could #14 be Stephanie Bachelor, the actress who married Las Vegas businessman Cornelius Hurley in 1946?

  14. Is #6 Tony Scott? He liked wearing baseball caps when directing, and if you look at images of him online you’ll see he has prominent nasolabial folds just like in image #6

  15. The man in the middle in Photo #3 looks like Andy Kaufman

  16. #1 reminds me of Australian actress Rachel Ward

  17. Number 2 struck me as Benny Goodman.

  18. Katie beat me to it. #3, middle guy, Andy Kaufman.

  19. Number 6, the director, might be William Friedkin.

  20. #3 The date is likely a year off. The Royal Shakespeare Company ran “Sherlock Holmes” starting in January 1974.

    https://theatricalia.com/play/23p/sherlock-holmes/production/ar8

    The siding board in the back is common backstage at theaters.

    Mr. Da Silva is not listed among the cast, so this is likely an opening celebration of some sort.

    Mr. Da Silva is taking the spotlight and what actor could stand for another actor taking one’s spotlight, especially on opening night.

    So the others are likely non-actors. Middle maybe a young Michael Lankester?

    http://pictures.historicimages.net/Picture.aspx?width=210&height=210&id=1092082

  21. No. 5 Previously thought to be Shel Silverstein. This photo may be an early picture of Jim Borgman. He was a longtime cartoonist with the Cincinnati Enquirer.

  22. If the man on the left in #15 isn’t Jackie Coogan perhaps it is Herschel Bernardi.

  23. #3 is not Andy Kaufman, and #15 is not Jackie Coogan.

  24. #14 looks like Joan Fontaine

  25. #3 the guy in the middle may be Ron Silver

  26. Jeez, I don’t know why but I think #6 is Ron Underwood directing TREMORS or CITY SLICKERS.

  27. The woman in the #1 picture reminds me of Sandra Ann Lauer (the singer).

  28. Photo 1 looks like a young Tamara Taylor.

  29. 3) – the man in the middle might be Peter Falk. Columbo started airing in 1971, Sherlock is an association on Columbo.

    14) – the woman might be Kathleen Byron

  30. Guy on the left of #15 sure looks like Peter Boyle

  31. #6 the director could be Mike Nichols. Catch-22 (1970) was filmed in Mexico, and used Panavision cameras.

    Dune used Todd-AO and VistaVision, and that camera looks older than the 1980s, so that makes me doubt it’s David Lynch filming Dune.

    Are we sure it’s a director though, and not a cinematographer?

  32. Did I suggest earlier that #14 might be actress Karen Morley. How she would have aged since her career peak in the 30s seems right. The resemblance is strong with no comparison available.

  33. This might be completely out of left field, but could number 9 be a production design for the movie Xanadu. Or did they always plan on using the Pan-Pacific Auditorium? I will say the brief amount of setting might contradict this, as it looks more Midwestern than Los Angeles.

  34. #12 resembles Jaye P. Morgan as she looked in the late 1950s- could this be publicity photos for either a TV appearance or an album?

  35. Photo # 3 middle man-is it Ron Silver?

  36. #7 Ida Galli?

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