German-Czech actress Barbara Bouchet, from a July 1976 issue of the Belgian film mag Ciné-Revue. 

Assorted frolicsome images from Japanese celeb magazines, with “Sharlon” Tate in panel four and Sylva Koscina in panel eleven.     

Today, nudie mags seem to be the last refuge of women whose careers are failing, but back in the day such publications were instrumental in launching careers. This photo of Italian actress Anita Pallenberg appeared in the Italian nudie mag Playmen in 1965, two years before she scored her first film role, and three years before her iconic turn as The Great Tyrant in the cult classic Barbarella. Other women who used Playmen as a stepping stone to stardom include Brigitte Bardot, Patty Pravo, Ornella Muti, and Barbara Bouchet. Pallenberg, in addition to acting, became a famous companion to Keith Richards and moved briefly into fashion design. But fame was a turbulent ride. She dealt and consumed drugs, became involved in the occult, and was even acquitted of manslaughter charges in 1979. There's too much to tell in one small post. Maybe we'll revisit this interesting person at a later date.

Last week we posted a photo of Barbara Bouchet looking kind of scary having a cinematic breakdown. But since Bouchet was considered one of the great beauties of her time, it seemed only fair to post a shot in which she wasn’t cowering naked on the floor. So here she is on a May 1972 cover of Japan’s Screen, flashing her famous smile. 

German-Czech actress Barbara Bouchet as Kitty Wildenbrück in the Italian giallo classic, La dama rossa uccide sette volte, aka The Red Queen Kills Seven Times,  aka Blood Feast, aka several other titles,1972.     

Assorted issues of the Turkish pop culture newspaper Hayat, circa late ’50s, 1960s and 1970s, with cover stars Stella Stevens, Barbara Bouchet, Mavis Kuhn, Belinda Lee, Ajda Pekkan, and Claudia Cardinale.