It's a Shoot-'Em Sunday!

  
The Shades of Gray Gun Girls are busted (or perhaps just busty)!

Firearms Friday with Raquel Welch

Born in 1940, Raquel Welch was an international cinematic sex symbol and genre-film superstar for a decade from the mid-1960s through the waning years of the 1970s. Whether it was spy thrillers or spy comedies, science-fiction adventures, or historical actioners of questionable accuracy--from the American Wild West to the French pre-revolutionary period through the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth alongside girls in fur bikinis, Welch could be counted on to bring sexiness and lots of personality to her roles.

As the 1980s dawned, Welch's career shifted focus from the Big Screen to the television where she often produced and starred in movies tailored to her talents. She also turned herself into something of a cottage industry, serving as the spokesperson for numerous beauty products and appearing in comedies as "herself".

With the turn of the century from the 1900s to the 2000s, and Welch entering her 60s, she remained a gorgeous as ever and standing as the very definition of "aging gracefully". In 2017, at the age of 77, she played her last major role as a supporting character in the 10-episode Canadian television series "Date My Dad".

Raquel Welch passed away on February 15, 2023, following a short illness.

Firearms Friday with Anna May Wong

Born on Jan. 3, 1904, Anna May Wong was a third-generation Chinese-American who began her film acting career at the age of 15. Within a year, her raw talent and charisma was being noticed by directors and fellow actors alike, and she swiftly moved from bit parts, to major supporting roles, and to her first starring role at the age of 17 in "The Toll of the Sea" (1922). 

 
Wong is perhaps best remembered for her major supporting role in "The Thief of Bagdad" (1924) (where she was as captivating and scene-stealing on screen as leading man Douglas Fairbanks). As sound replaced silent movies, Wong made a successful transition into talkies and cemented her legacy as the first Asian-American movie star. Unfortunately, the racism baked into the U.S. film industry--with its regulations that stated actors of different races could not share the screen in romantic scenes, and the habit of casting white actors in "yellow face" in leading parts--stopped her from maintaining her star status, and she went to Europe where such policies and habits did not stand in her way.

As World War II was looming on the horizon, Wong returned tothe U.S. where, after acclaimed leading roles in thrillers "Daughter of Shanghai" (1937) (where she received top billing) and "Dangerous to Know" (1939), she found the old racist blocks were still in her career path and she quickly found herself relegated to choosing to star in Poverty Row films, or take minor parts in major pictures. By 1942, after appearing in 48 American, British, or German pictures, Wong left film behind for the stage.

In 1949, Wong returned briefly to the Big Screen with a supporting role in the fabulous thriller "Impact", and in 1951 she starred as the title character in the short-lived detective TV series
"The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong". 

During the 1950s, Wong battled several health issues, but still managed to return to television during the second half of that decade, with small supporting and guest-starring roles in detective shows, drama anthology series, and westerns.

Wong suffered a massive heart attack and passed away in 1961, one month after her 56th birthday.

Firearms Friday and the 2,222nd Post

This is the 2,222 post here at Shades of Gray. It also happens to be a Friday, so we're making it a Very Special Firearms Friday with two pictures of two different women using two pistols at the same time.

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Firearms Friday with Joan Blondell

 

"We can either afford to refit the costume or give you that additional money," the producer told Joan Blondell as "The Blonde and the Bullet" (1933) went into an extra week of filming.

"Fair enough," said Blondell.

Firearms Friday with Sophie Ryleigh

It's the return of Firearms Friday!

In this installment, we show you that even assassins can be inconvenienced on laundry day. Sometimes, you just have to get ready for work, even if the dryer cycle isn't done.

Sophie Ryleigh is an English model from Essex. You can see more from (of?) her on Instagram and Twitter. She also has a Facebook page.

Firearms Friday with Nicki Minaj

Firearms Friday is returning, because the online mobs and even the Biden Administration and their lackeys in the media are on the warpath against Nicki Minaj.

Rapper/songwriter Nicki Minaj recently incurred the wrath of the Mask Cultists and the Covid-19 fear-mongers because she had the AUDACITY to say that she has chosen to not get a Covid-19 vaccination. She laid out the reasons why (Some of which were pretty stupid but others which were perfectly sensible), but she but also said she was not opposed in any way to others get vaccinated, and that she even encouraged it. 

But that didn't matter. She failed to properly mouth the mantra of the Mask Cult and of the totalitarians who are using the pandemic to stoke fear, sow division, and do everything they can to break what little spirit us peasants have left. Unlike many other celebrities who have drawn the ire of the Outrage Brigades and Covid Cultists, she has stood her ground and fired back.

I can't claim to be a fan of Minaj; I can't even claim that I like her music. But I appreciate and respect her spirit and her willingness to be herself and say "screw you" to all of those in the media, in business, and in the streets who are bending over backwards to satisfy the demands of naked tyrants as they march us all toward totalitarianism.

And she didn't even set out to do that. She just wanted to be herself. And there are all sorts of media figures and Twitter-led outrage mobs who have gone out of their way to lie about what she said and did. The lies have even come from the Biden White House; disagreement with the Dear Leader and the Cult of Covid cannot be tolerated. I'm if they could get away with treating public figures the government doesn't like, they would do so. In fact, based on the behavior of the online mobs, they would probably love to be able to to do someone like Minaj like the Chinese government did to actress Shuang Zheng and LITERALLY cancel her.

But that's probably coming here soon enough. For now, they must satisfy themselves with trying to destroy Minaj's image with her fans and otherwise ruin her.

The video featured below is very fitting for this revival of the Firearms Friday, as is the whole current "controversy" involving Minaj since it let's this post be about several items covered by the Bill of Rights. 

The video for "Lookin Ass" is full of interesting (and sexy) visuals, and it's well worth checking out. While it didn't make me a fan of Minaj, maybe you'll discover her music is to your liking. At the very least, Minaj may get a few fractions of pennies via royalties and/or license fees. (Just DON'T watch it at work or around anyone who is easily offended; it could turn out badly.)

Lookin Ass (2014)
Starring: Nicki Minaj

Director: Nabil Elderkin

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Firearms Friday with Pamela Sue Martin

Born in 1953, Pamela Sue Martin is an actress and model who is best known for portraying Nancy Drew in 14 episodes of "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" television series (1977-1978) and as Fallon Carrington during the first few seasons of the night-time soap opera "Dynasty (1981-1984). She also had numerous guest-starring parts on a variety of series, as well as roles in features and made-for-TV movies, all through the 1970s and into the 1990s. 

In 1994, Martin took a break from screen acting to focus on raising her son, as well as building a career in the theatre. Since 2002, she has sporadically appeared in television series or films, but most her time has been devoted to the theatre company she owns and manages (the Interplanetary Theatre Group) and to work with a variety of charities.

Firearms Friday with Dorothy Sebastian

Born in 1903 in Birmingham, Alabama, Dorothy Sebastian was a Zigfield Girl who turned to screen acting. When she wasn't militantly enforcing safe driving practices around the MGM lot (we kid... maybe), she portrayed femme fatales and other "tough" female characters, both villainous and heroic, in a range of genres.

Sebastian's first film was "Half a Hero" in 1925, and she stayed busy playing supporting roles of varying sizes through the end of the Silent Era. Stardom, however, eluded her, and with the arrival of sound, her career entered a steep decline. By the mid-1930s, she was mostly taking small parts in Poverty Row B-movies, and even those became fewer and farther between as the 1940s arrived. (Highly public scandals involving tax evasion, multiple divorces, and drunk driving didn't help either.)

Sebastian's final film roles were uncredited bit-parts, with the last one in 1948's "The Miracle of Bells". She passed away in 1957 after battling cancer for several years.

Firearms Friday with Diana Rigg

This is Dame Diana Rigg's second appearance on Firearms Friday... because who doesn't love Diana Rigg? It was originally planned for November 6, 2020, but she sadly passed away last week, on September 10, at the age of 82. In saddened observance of her death, we're posting it early (with some obvious revisions).

Dame Diana, whose busy stage, film, and television career spanned eight decades, worked up until the very end of her life. Her final screen appearances are in the film "Last Night in Soho" and the television mini-series "Black Narcissus", both tentatively slated for release in 2021.

If current plans hold, we'll be watching and reviewing the first half of Rigg's famous turn as Emma Peel on the "The Avengers" during the first half of 2021. Be sure to stop by!

Firearms Friday with Pam Grier

Born in 1949, Pam Grier was catapulted to fame in 1971 as the "blaxploitation" category of film exploded across genres of American cinema. She remains one of the actors and actresses most closely associated with those films, as well as going on to emerging as one of the most respected African-American actresses of the 20th century.

Over the course of her 50-year career, Grier has appeared in over 100 feature films and television series, spanning almost every genre. Her most recent work was a supporting role for two seasons of the ABC sitcom "Bless This Mess" (2018-2019), but she will be forever remembered for "The Big Doll House" (1971), "The Twilight People" (1972), "Coffy" and "Scream, Blacula, Scream" (both in 1973), "The Arena", "Foxy Brown" and "'Sheba, Baby' (all in 1974), "Above the Law" (1988), "Jackie Brown" (1997), and "Ghosts of Mars" (2001).

Firearms Friday with Clones?

We're spotlighting two actresses today who look so much alike that we were very careful about making sure they were indeed two different women. 

First, we have Corinne Le Poulaine, a French actress who was born in 1948. She was a popular television actress in her home country, holding starring and recurring roles in numerous series and appearing in more than a dozen made-for-TV movies from the late 1960s up until her retirement from acting in 2009. She passed away in 2015.

Next, we have Diane Baker, an American actress born ten years before Le Poulaine, in 1938. Beginning with "The Diary of Anne Frank" and through her retirement from show business in 2013, Baker worked steadily in a wide variety of supporting roles on television and in movies. Along the way, she branched out into producing, and she accumulated ten producer credits in addition to her 123 acting credits.

Do these two actresses look alike, or are we just really bad with faces? Is Corrine Le Poulaine a clone of Diane Baker? Do they share a common ancestor? Do all white women look alike? Or are we truly just bad with faces? Why don't you let us know in the comments?

Firearms Friday with Claudine Auger

Born in 1941, Claudine Auger is a French actress who came in international prominence when she played Domino, opposite Sean Connery in "Thunderball" (1966). Both before and after her turn as a Bond Girl, however, Auger appeared in top-notch thrillers and action films, mostly for the French and Spanish markets. 

Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s, Auger was one of Europe's busiest actresses, logging screen and television roles while also appearing live in stage plays. In 1991, she gave birth to her daughter, and she eased back on her work schedule to focus on her family. She continued to accept at least one part every year until 1997 when she retired from the industry completely.

Claudine Auger passed away in December of 2019.

 

Firearms Friday with Elsa Martinelli

Born in 1935, Italian actress, model, and interior designer Elsa Martinelli began her show business career as a fashion model at the age of 16. After coming to the attention of Kirk Douglas and his wife, who owned a fashion business, her career path was re-directed into movies. 

After a brief sojourn in Hollywood, she returned to Europe where her star rose steadily throughout the late 1950s and kept soaring through the 1960s and 1970s. Throughout her career, Martinelli purposefully sought out a variety of projects to keep from getting typecast, and she played everything from a damsel-in-distress to a vampire, and appeared in everything from period romance films to gritty crime dramas. Although she mostly appeared in Italian productions, she became renowned for her ability to work seamlessly on the multinational productions that were the life's blood of the European film business during the height of her film career.

With the arrival of the 1980s, Martinelli turned a long-time side interest in furniture design and interior decorating in to her main vocation. She continued to accept the occasional role, primarily in Italian television series and movies until her final retirement from acting in 2005. 

Elsa Martinelli passed away in 2017.

Firearms Friday with Brigitte Bardot

Born in 1934, Brigitte Bardot was in her teens and training to be a ballet dancer when she, over her parents objections, turned to fashion- and photo-modeling. Around that same time, also over her parents objections, she began dating a much older man. She soon turned to acting, and by the early 1950s, she was well on her way to being one of Europe's most celebrated movie stars... and known for her roles as sexually liberated women. And, yes, you guessed it... it was over her parents' objections.

By the dawn of the 1960s, Bardot was a world-renowned actress. Over the next decade or so, she appeared in a range of genres opposite a galaxy of top American, British, and French male film stars, while also launching a successful musical career. In 1973, just shy of her 40th birthday, she retired from acting and performing, still at the height of fame.

Since retiring from show business, Bardot has devoted the past several decades to animal rights activism, and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals remains one of the world's leading forces in the animal rights movement.

Firearms Friday with Milla Jovovich

Actress/model/singer/fashion-designer/director Milla Jovovich was born in 1975, and she began modeling as a young teen in the late 1980s. After a couple roles in sitcoms like "Married with Children" and "Parker Lewis Can't Lose", she began appearing in films, with "Chaplin" (1992) and "Dazed and Confused" (1993) being the first films where she began to fully get the attention from the movie-going public she deserved.

It was with "The Fifth Element" (1997) that Jovovich first played the sort of role that she became most closely associated with: That of a woman who can kick the ass of all comers, whether she is armed or not. Throughout the 2000s, and into the present day, she has performed Gun-Fu in many big-budget films, across several genres (with the "Resident Evil" films being foremost among these). She has always, however, balanced roles in these big-budget action films with appearances in comedies, dramas, and more artsy action films with smaller budgets.

Milla Jovovich has been a constant favorite of ours throughout the years, and the Milla Jovovich Quarterly is the longest-running post series on this blog. You can see more from her by clicking on the tag below, as well as on our sister blogs, Terror Titans, Cinema Steve, and Watching the Detectives. (Meanwhile, we're also looking forward to seeing her in "Monster Hunter", as well as to find out what she'll be playing in the screen adaptation of the "Corto Maltese" graphic novel series.

Firearms Friday with Denise Coward

Born in 1955, Denise Coward is an Australian beauty queen (Miss Australia 1978) turned actress. She had a brief television and film career during the mid-1980s, with a recurring role on the mystery-based soap opera "The Edge of Night" during its closing years in 1983; and starring roles in B-movies "Sudden Death" (1985) and "Battle for the Lost Planet" (1986).

Coward retired from show-business and married actor/producer John James in 1989.

Firearms Friday with Grace McDonald

Born in 1918, Grace McDonald began her show-business career in vaudeville, but transitioned to film as world war was looming in 1940. She was a rising Hollywood star during the World War ii years, with an energetic and cheerful screen presence, as well as talent both as a dancer and an actress, that saw her fit equally well into musicals, comedies, and even dramas.

McDonald had grown to be a B-level star and mainstay at Universal--she received top billing in the 1944 remake of "Secret of the Blue Room", "Murder in the Blue Room"-- when she abruptly traded acting for married life. In 1945, McDonald married Ralph Green. They raised three sons together and remained married until her death in 1999.

(I really hope someone cleaned that gun after McDonald was done posing with it...)

Firearms Friday with Stefanie Powers

Born in 1942. Stefanie Powers is an American actress who is best known for her role as the ever-cheerful and strongheaded Jennifer Hart across five seasons and eight made-for-television movies of "Hart to Hart", over a span of fifteen years. (The series ran from 1979 to 1984, and the movies were aired in 1993 and 1994. Powers was co-producer on the films.)

Powers began her professional acting career while still in her teens, and her first top billing came in the spy series "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E", which ran for two seasons 1966 and 1967.

In addition to the two aforementioned series, Powers had leading roles in 20 other television series and mini-series, and made guest appearances in more than 200 individual episodes of other shows, including a recurring role in "The Six Million Dollar Man" during the 1970s and 1980s.

A mainstay of American television during the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s, Powers stopped acting on a regular basis after completing the final "Hart to Hart" film in 1994. While she continues to take the occasional role, most of her energy has been spent on conversation efforts and business ventures related to the William Holden Wildlife Foundation.

Firearms Friday with Mystery Women

I don't know who either of these models and/or actresses are. If you can identify any of these females with firearms, leave information in the Comments section!