RARE Grayson Hall "Iguana" candid photos found!

[Charles_Ellis]

One of my favorite new websites is Life Magazine's photo archive.  I have discovered a good deal of stuff on Joan Bennett from her pre-DS days, and was hoping for something on Grayson Hall.  Well, there's nothing under her name, but I just finished reading the new Taylor/Burton bio Furious Love.  I decided to try looking for Richard Burton photos, and there's a whole lot of stuff from The Night of the Iguana, and THERE SHE WAS!!!  There is a photo of Burton with John Huston inside the tour bus used in the film, and there's Grayson resting face up inside the bus with her eyes open!  I wonder if Julia99 has seen it yet? 

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=%22richard+burton%22+source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522richard%2Bburton%2522%2Bsource:life%26start%3D160%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1&imgurl=9b68bc85f602e874

And here she is up close with Sue Lyon:


http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=%22sue+lyon%22+source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522sue%2Blyon%2522%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26tbs%3Disch:1&imgurl=a097a6421b8fa881

[Gothick]

Wow, Charles!  That second shot is KILLER!

There can be no doubt who the STAR of that film was!

Thanks so much!

G.

[Julia99]

Thanks for sharing Charles.  When I researched Life in 2005-06 I didn't run across these photos.

[Willie Loomis]

okay, first one, i thought she was the one with the cigarette.    until her little head caught my attention.

the second one, if that is a candid shot, WHAT did Sue Lyon do to her that they both should have those expressions?????


nice shots, tho.    Grayson Hall is so obscure, I feel so lucky knowing who she is and seeing her work as it happened back the, first hand.   she was one of the reaons that compelled me to collect the series.

[Midnite]

Another... but her back was to the camera.  Love the huge tote.

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=a17f3ca8f8fb5e69&q=sue%20lyon%20source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsue%2Blyon%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1

[Julia99]

Note the sun parasol sticking out of the bag--red headed gal with pale skin needed to be careful of that sun!

[Lydia]

What an eye you have, Julia99!

[Willie Loomis]

nevermind the parasol, what' that sticking out of her head? 

[katrinavantassel]

These are awesome. Great find and thanks for posting the links!

[Charles_Ellis]

I saw that third one, but couldn't be sure if it was Grayson, so I didn't post it.  Glad somone could recognize her from the back, too!

[Taeylor Collins]

Thanks Charles! I am Grayson nut so these are lots of fun!:)   A pale gal like me (although I am a guy ) has to wear floppy hats sunglasses and use sun parasol's as well.  I like the ocean but the sun and I aren't very good friends.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I can definitely relate. Irish/English people were never meant to be out in the sun!  

As for the Grayson photos, they're fantastic! Thanks so much to Charles and Midnite for posting links to them.  

The sad thing is that I probably had that issue of Life magazine because my parents subscribed to it. But back then I would have had no idea who Grayson was or any idea of what a big part she would play in my later life...

[Julia99]

nevermind the parasol, what' that sticking out of her head? 

ha ha--the oar to the boat perhaps which is behind her?

[Gothick]

I don't think these photos were ever used in the mag.  That may by why they're available in their online archive now.  I tried really hard to find a photo, any photo, of Grayson on set during the NotI shoot in the blitz of pubs back in 1963-64.  I made multiple library trips and looked at anything I could find in all the major mags of the day and there was never any sign of her, anywhere.  She was referred to in passing here and there in some of the articles (most memorably in a quote from Burton that obviously referred to her--it irked me that the journo described her as "venerable" when she was only 41 years old!).  It's poetic justice that she won the lone Oscar nom from the film since she was pretty much treated as a non-entity in the press coverage.

There's a big splashy article about the torrid Taylor-Burton romance in the current Vanity Fair (with brief mentions of their time in PV on the NotI shoot).  The reporter says that Burton was nominated for an "Oscar" 9 times but never awarded one.  It's clear that actual acting talent has very little to do with taking home one of those glittery little statuettes.

G.

[Taeylor Collins]

I love everyone on this boards fervent dedication to GH!  What a wonderful talent she was!!  She is such a jewel in all of our lives!