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WorldWar 2 Pinup Margie Stewart 1919-2012
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jlp
May 14, 2012, 8:14:29 AM5/14/12
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By T. Rees Shapiro, Published: May 8The Washington Post
Margie Stewart, the mahogany-haired ingenue who graced millions of
morale-boosting posters during World War II as the U.S. military’s
official pinup, died of pneumonia April 26 at a hospital in Burbank,
Calif. She was 92.
The death was confirmed by her son, Stephen Johnson.
Miss Stewart was a department store model and movie starlet before she
was named “Uncle Sam’s Poster Girl” by the War Department in the early
1940s. She appeared in more than a dozen patriotic posters distributed
by the tens of millions to troops during World War II.
Unlike the barracks wall artwork featuring the leggy Betty Grable, the
buxom Jane Russell or the sultry Ann Sheridan, Miss Stewart’s
government-issue posters promoted more wholesome values. The most skin
Miss Stewart’s modest poses revealed were her bare ankles in low
heels. In many of her posters, she wore long pants.
But her pretty “girl-next-door” appeal proved immensely popular with
the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen abroad.
“The other pinup girls are dream girls in the most unsubstantial sense
of the expression,” Cpl. John Haverstick wrote in a 1945 issue of
Yank, a weekly military magazine. “A dream is about the only place
most of us are likely to run up against the typical glamour
photographer’s ideal of a lassie with legs eight feet long, bust 58
inches, waist 20, hips 20, and long, red-gold hair. Margie is a little
closer to home. ”
He continued: “She looks like a good girl friend or a good young
wife . . . like the dream you not only want to go on dreaming but the
one which might continue after you wake up.”
Miss Stewart’s pinups often featured her writing letters to a beau
deployed overseas, always signing the notes “Love, Margie.”
In one poster, she looks longingly into the camera — with her cherry
lips ever so slightly parted — while a letter below her says, “Of
course waiting is hard — don’t I know!” and encourages troops to save
money for a future home.
For another, her wistful face is framed by the words: “Please . . .
get there and BACK! Be careful what you say or write.”
Miss Stewart became so adored among troops that she was sent to Europe
on a goodwill tour to promote war bonds. While visiting troops in
Germany, France, Britain and Belgium, she was accompanied by a
handsome Army captain. They fell in love and were married by the mayor
of Paris in 1945.
Announcing the news of her nuptials, the Stars and Stripes newspaper
blared the headline: “Margie, It Hurts to Print This.”
Margie Stewart was born Dec. 14, 1919, in Wabash, Ind. She attended
Indiana University and was elected Freshman Princess before she
pursued a career in modeling and film. She earned $75 a week as an
actress for RKO studios, and appeared in films such as “The Falcon
Strikes Back” (1943) starring Tom Conway and “Bombardier” (1943) with
Randolph Scott.
During a stint in Chicago she was spotted by advertising executive
Russell Stone, a retired Army major. Through Stone’s Pentagon
contacts, Miss Stewart was tapped to pose for the military pinups.
She retired from modeling after the war and lived with her husband,
Jerry Johnson, in Studio City, Calif. Together, they helped produce
concerts at the Hollywood Bowl for acts such as the Beatles and the
Beach Boys. In her spare time, she volunteered at the UCLA Medical
Center.
Her husband of 57 years died in 2003. Survivors include a son, Stephen
Johnson of Woodland Hills, Calif.; and three grandchildren.
Miss Stewart said more than 94 million of her posters were sent around
the world during the war but that Eleanor Roosevelt was not a fan. She
said the first lady tried to ban the artwork because she feared Miss
Stewart was making the troops a little too homesick.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/obituary-margie-stewart-us-militarys-official-pinup-in-world-war-ii/2012/05/08/gIQAYWheBU_story.html
Margie Stewart, the mahogany-haired ingenue who graced millions of
morale-boosting posters during World War II as the U.S. military’s
official pinup, died of pneumonia April 26 at a hospital in Burbank,
Calif. She was 92.
The death was confirmed by her son, Stephen Johnson.
Miss Stewart was a department store model and movie starlet before she
was named “Uncle Sam’s Poster Girl” by the War Department in the early
1940s. She appeared in more than a dozen patriotic posters distributed
by the tens of millions to troops during World War II.
Unlike the barracks wall artwork featuring the leggy Betty Grable, the
buxom Jane Russell or the sultry Ann Sheridan, Miss Stewart’s
government-issue posters promoted more wholesome values. The most skin
Miss Stewart’s modest poses revealed were her bare ankles in low
heels. In many of her posters, she wore long pants.
But her pretty “girl-next-door” appeal proved immensely popular with
the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen abroad.
“The other pinup girls are dream girls in the most unsubstantial sense
of the expression,” Cpl. John Haverstick wrote in a 1945 issue of
Yank, a weekly military magazine. “A dream is about the only place
most of us are likely to run up against the typical glamour
photographer’s ideal of a lassie with legs eight feet long, bust 58
inches, waist 20, hips 20, and long, red-gold hair. Margie is a little
closer to home. ”
He continued: “She looks like a good girl friend or a good young
wife . . . like the dream you not only want to go on dreaming but the
one which might continue after you wake up.”
Miss Stewart’s pinups often featured her writing letters to a beau
deployed overseas, always signing the notes “Love, Margie.”
In one poster, she looks longingly into the camera — with her cherry
lips ever so slightly parted — while a letter below her says, “Of
course waiting is hard — don’t I know!” and encourages troops to save
money for a future home.
For another, her wistful face is framed by the words: “Please . . .
get there and BACK! Be careful what you say or write.”
Miss Stewart became so adored among troops that she was sent to Europe
on a goodwill tour to promote war bonds. While visiting troops in
Germany, France, Britain and Belgium, she was accompanied by a
handsome Army captain. They fell in love and were married by the mayor
of Paris in 1945.
Announcing the news of her nuptials, the Stars and Stripes newspaper
blared the headline: “Margie, It Hurts to Print This.”
Margie Stewart was born Dec. 14, 1919, in Wabash, Ind. She attended
Indiana University and was elected Freshman Princess before she
pursued a career in modeling and film. She earned $75 a week as an
actress for RKO studios, and appeared in films such as “The Falcon
Strikes Back” (1943) starring Tom Conway and “Bombardier” (1943) with
Randolph Scott.
During a stint in Chicago she was spotted by advertising executive
Russell Stone, a retired Army major. Through Stone’s Pentagon
contacts, Miss Stewart was tapped to pose for the military pinups.
She retired from modeling after the war and lived with her husband,
Jerry Johnson, in Studio City, Calif. Together, they helped produce
concerts at the Hollywood Bowl for acts such as the Beatles and the
Beach Boys. In her spare time, she volunteered at the UCLA Medical
Center.
Her husband of 57 years died in 2003. Survivors include a son, Stephen
Johnson of Woodland Hills, Calif.; and three grandchildren.
Miss Stewart said more than 94 million of her posters were sent around
the world during the war but that Eleanor Roosevelt was not a fan. She
said the first lady tried to ban the artwork because she feared Miss
Stewart was making the troops a little too homesick.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/obituary-margie-stewart-us-militarys-official-pinup-in-world-war-ii/2012/05/08/gIQAYWheBU_story.html
Bermuda999
May 14, 2012, 8:47:35 AM5/14/12
to
Charlene
May 14, 2012, 9:05:22 AM5/14/12
to
wd48
Message has been deleted
BobF
May 14, 2012, 9:30:39 PM5/14/12
to
On Mon, 14 May 2012 20:08:07 -0500, "News" <aa...@att.net> shouted from
the highest rooftop:
>"Charlene" <charlene...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1036515.326.1337000723007.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@ynmb39...
> R.I.P.
What you really mean is that she'd have to be young, beautiful and on
a television re-run you liked in order to win the heart of a
defective, sexually immature and naive pervert.. What a hopeless,
pathetic blathering loser.
--
"Many kids do it around the neck, but I haven't heard of any young
guys doing it to their member. Girls who do the auto-erotic thing are
obviously exempt from that option."
- From "The Sayings of Roy"
Brad Ferguson
May 14, 2012, 11:08:53 PM5/14/12
to
In article
<1036515.326.1337000723007.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@ynmb39>,
Absolutely yes. A little scouting around says the picture of the older
Margie was taken "about ten years ago," dating from March 2012.
This link
<http://goo.gl/Jc4FB>
is from Indiana University's website. Margie was a student there and
wrote the following (also at the link, as is a slide show of her
pictures):
Margie Stewart went from being a student at Indiana University to
becoming one of the most famous pin-up girls of World War II.
By Margie Stewart Johnson
Studio City, California
During World War II, millions of GIs knew me by my first name. Now, at
age 92, I still marvel at how that came to be吃ow a small-town girl
from Indiana became a department store model, a Hollywood actress and
the U.S. Army's only official pin-up girl蟻ll in just a few years.
My adventure began in 1937, when I left home in Wabash to attend
Indiana University. During my first year, I was elected Freshman
Princess, a title that included a free trip to Chicago. It seemed like
the perfect place to spend my summer vacation, so I talked a girlfriend
into joining me.
There we met Russell Stone, an advertising executive who was looking
for two girls to pose in a rowboat on Lake Michigan for an ad featuring
Johnson outboard motors. That was the beginning of my career as a
model.
In 1941, I decided to join my parents, who had moved to Los Angeles,
California. Within a year, RKO Pictures offered me a full contract at
$75 dollars a week.
By this time, Mr. Stone, who had given me my first modeling job, was a
retired Army major. He went to the Pentagon with an idea for bolstering
troop morale around the world, persuading the brass to let me pose for
a series of three pin-up posters. I felt thrilled and privileged when
he asked me to participate.
The response to the posters was so strong that Eleanor Roosevelt tried
to stop distribution because she feared they were making the GIs too
homesick!
But as letters from the World War II troops began to pour in, asking
the identity of that girl in the posters, she finally relented. In
fact, so many letters came in that I was asked to pose for 11 more
posters, which soon became known as the "Margie posters." In all,
around 94 million of my pin-up girl posters went to American soldiers
around the globe during World War II.
Asked to tour the European Theater of Operations to promote the sale of
war bonds, I set off for France on June 8, 1945. I was billeted at the
Ritz Hotel in Paris and used that as a base camp.
We visited camps all over France, Belgium, England and Germany. I was
the first American to enter Germany in civilian clothes; I could not
believe the devastation there. I ate a lot of GI rations and lost six
pounds. But I just tightened my belt and went on.
During my trip to Europe, I also met and fell in love with Capt. Jerry
Johnson, who was assigned to take charge of my touring itinerary and
accompanied me wherever I went. We were married by the mayor of Paris
in his office on July 7, and again by an Army chaplain in the American
Church of Paris, which we were told was necessary to make it legal.
In 1946, when our son Stephen was born, I retired from my acting and
pin-up girl career to take care of him.
As I look back on those years, the opportunity to be the Army's World
War II pin-up girl fills me with pride and gratitude. It's an honor to
keep getting cards and letters from many former members of the Armed
Forces蟻nd even some of their children! I'm also amazed at the number
of people who visit my website, margiestewart.com.
I salute each and every one of you for your valorous service to our
country. You are the lights of my life, and I thank you all from the
bottom of my heart for your sacrifices.
<1036515.326.1337000723007.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@ynmb39>,
Margie was taken "about ten years ago," dating from March 2012.
This link
<http://goo.gl/Jc4FB>
is from Indiana University's website. Margie was a student there and
wrote the following (also at the link, as is a slide show of her
pictures):
Margie Stewart went from being a student at Indiana University to
becoming one of the most famous pin-up girls of World War II.
By Margie Stewart Johnson
Studio City, California
During World War II, millions of GIs knew me by my first name. Now, at
age 92, I still marvel at how that came to be吃ow a small-town girl
from Indiana became a department store model, a Hollywood actress and
the U.S. Army's only official pin-up girl蟻ll in just a few years.
My adventure began in 1937, when I left home in Wabash to attend
Indiana University. During my first year, I was elected Freshman
Princess, a title that included a free trip to Chicago. It seemed like
the perfect place to spend my summer vacation, so I talked a girlfriend
into joining me.
There we met Russell Stone, an advertising executive who was looking
for two girls to pose in a rowboat on Lake Michigan for an ad featuring
Johnson outboard motors. That was the beginning of my career as a
model.
In 1941, I decided to join my parents, who had moved to Los Angeles,
California. Within a year, RKO Pictures offered me a full contract at
$75 dollars a week.
By this time, Mr. Stone, who had given me my first modeling job, was a
retired Army major. He went to the Pentagon with an idea for bolstering
troop morale around the world, persuading the brass to let me pose for
a series of three pin-up posters. I felt thrilled and privileged when
he asked me to participate.
The response to the posters was so strong that Eleanor Roosevelt tried
to stop distribution because she feared they were making the GIs too
homesick!
But as letters from the World War II troops began to pour in, asking
the identity of that girl in the posters, she finally relented. In
fact, so many letters came in that I was asked to pose for 11 more
posters, which soon became known as the "Margie posters." In all,
around 94 million of my pin-up girl posters went to American soldiers
around the globe during World War II.
Asked to tour the European Theater of Operations to promote the sale of
war bonds, I set off for France on June 8, 1945. I was billeted at the
Ritz Hotel in Paris and used that as a base camp.
We visited camps all over France, Belgium, England and Germany. I was
the first American to enter Germany in civilian clothes; I could not
believe the devastation there. I ate a lot of GI rations and lost six
pounds. But I just tightened my belt and went on.
During my trip to Europe, I also met and fell in love with Capt. Jerry
Johnson, who was assigned to take charge of my touring itinerary and
accompanied me wherever I went. We were married by the mayor of Paris
in his office on July 7, and again by an Army chaplain in the American
Church of Paris, which we were told was necessary to make it legal.
In 1946, when our son Stephen was born, I retired from my acting and
pin-up girl career to take care of him.
As I look back on those years, the opportunity to be the Army's World
War II pin-up girl fills me with pride and gratitude. It's an honor to
keep getting cards and letters from many former members of the Armed
Forces蟻nd even some of their children! I'm also amazed at the number
of people who visit my website, margiestewart.com.
I salute each and every one of you for your valorous service to our
country. You are the lights of my life, and I thank you all from the
bottom of my heart for your sacrifices.
Message has been deleted
Bermuda999
May 15, 2012, 2:54:15 AM5/15/12
to
On Monday, May 14, 2012 9:08:07 PM UTC-4, News wrote:
> x-no-archive: yes
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> "Charlene" <charlene...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1036515.326.1337000723007.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@ynmb39...
> "Charlene" <charlene...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:1036515.326.1337000723007.JavaMail.geo-discussion-forums@ynmb39...
> She wouldn't win many hearts at 92.
> R.I.P.
You might be surprised at the fact that for some, age is not a barrier which completely excludes beauty, winsomeness, or the winning of hearts.
> R.I.P.
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