Meena Kumari

The image of her limpid eyes and tremulous voice remains to epitomize the tragic heroine of the Hindi film.
. Pakeezah (1971), jointly conceived with her husband, was completed shortly before her tragic death on March 31, 1972 and was her last great performance. Joe Early. Her screen image of a tormented, self-mortifying woman became an extension of her own personality. She was the still-sensual bombshell, even in middle age; Troup played neurosurgeon Dr. Like the heroine of the film, she increasingly took to drink and embarked on the road to gradual ruin. Ironically, her ex-husband, Jack Webb, was the producer of "Emergency!" and hired both his ex-wife and her current husband to key roles on his show.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (Master, Mistress and Servant 1962) became in more than a symbolic way the crossroads of her life. Television shows in which Julie London appeared are:. A collection of her poems in Urdu under the pen name Naaz was published after her death. Movies in which Julie London appeared are:. She was also a poet in her own right, and was able to lend to the characters she played a certain poetic tenderness and intensity. Her whispered "you make me feel so good" at the end is breathy and suggests a sexually satisfied partner. However, her strong independent spirit would not be subordinated by her husband's genius and they eventually separated in 1964. Go slow, oooooh honey, take it easy on the curves;
When love is slow, oooooh honey, what a tonic for my nerves.
Go slow, oooooh honey, we've got such a lot of time;
When love is slow, oooooh honey, how the mercury does climb.
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She married Kamal Amrohi who directed some of her best films. The lyrics strongly suggest sex but never explicitly define it:. One reason for this popularity was her private life, which at times rivaled the plot of any movie. Songs such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and sensual. However, her studied reserve, chaste diction and -- most of all -- extraordinary voice, that struck the right balance between the erotic and the pathetic, ensured her place in the hearts of the Indian movie-going public. Among her most famous singles are "Cry Me a River" (penned by her high school classmate Arthur Hamilton); "No Moon at All"; "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"; and "Two Sleepy People". The following years saw her appear in a number of films, where she played many, largely indistinguishable, self-mortifying women. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate.".

She was never really able to shake off this image of a tragidienne, and at times this severely impeded her in the exercise of the full range of her histrionic talents. In 1957, she was the subject of a Life magazine cover article in which she was quoted as saying, "It's only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. Her evocative portrayal of the perennially suffering Indian woman struck a responsive chord in millions of women. She was named one of Billboard's most popular female vocalists for 1955, 1956, and 1957. By 1953, Meena Kumari had starred in three other commercially successful films: Daera, Do Bigha Zameen and Parineeta. Parineeta became a turning point in her career. Her professional singing career began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles and she recorded 32 albums. She therefore heralded a new era of actresses that included Nargis, Nimmi, Suchitra Sen and Nutan. Her early film career did not include any singing parts.

Meena Kumari entered the limelight at a time when histrionics were taking over from glamour (as epitomized by such beauties as Naseem, Veena, Sofia and Jayshree). She was discovered by Sue Carol (wife of Alan Ladd) while London was working as an elevator operator. Her early films were rather unremarkable and mythological. Julie London began singing in public in her teens, prior to her first movie appearance. She took on the name Meena Kumari for Vijay Bhatt's immensely popular musical Baiju Bawra. She suffered a stroke in 1995 and was in poor health until her death in Encino, California at the age of 74. Mahajabeen acted in her first film at the age of six. Together, they had three children.

Her mother Prabhawati (later Iqbal Begam), a stage dancer and actress, was a descendant of the Tagore family. They married on December 31, 1959; only his death in 1999 ended their marriage. Her father Ali Bakhsh was an actor in films and Parsi theatre, apart from composing music for a few films. In 1954, having become somewhat reclusive after her divorce from Webb, she met jazz composer and musician Bobby Troup. She was born Mahjabeen Bano in Bombay. They had two children, including a daughter who survived her. She shot into stardom in 1952 with the release of Baiju Bawra. This unlikely pairing arose from his love for jazz music; their marriage lasted from 1947 to 1953.

Meena Kumari (August 1, 1933 - March 31, 1972) was an Indian actress, whose name has become synonymous with the tragic heroine. Her obvious beauty and self-poise (she was a pinup girl prized by GIs during World War II) contrasted with his pedestrian appearance and stiff-as-a-board acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). NewDelhi: East West Press, 1974. She was married to Jack Webb of Dragnet fame. The Kaleidoscope of Indian Cinema. She graduated from Hollywood Professional High School in 1944. Mahmood, Hameeduddin. Shortly after that, she began appearing in movies.

London: British Film Institute; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994. When she was 14, they moved to Los Angeles. Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Born in Santa Rosa, California as Julie Peck, she was the daughter of parents who had a vaudeville song-and-dance team. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul. Julie London (September 26, 1926 - October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress who was known for her smoky, sensual voice and role as Nurse Dixie McCall on the television show Emergency! (1972 - 1977). Julie London Biography, Discography & Photos (http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/baccarach/387/Bio.htm).

IMDB entry for Julie London (http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0518728/). Emergency: Survival on Charter #220 (1978). Tattletales! (game show hosted by Bert Convy, 1974-1978). Emergency! (1972 - 1977).

The Helicopter Spies (1968). The George Raft Story (1961). The Third Voice (1960). A Question of Adultery (1959).

The Wonderful Country (1959). Night of the Quarter Moon (1959). Man of the West (1958). Voice in the Mirror (1958).

Saddle the Wind (1958). Drango (1957). The Great Man (1957). Crime Against Joe (1956).

The Fighting Chance (1955). The Fat Man (1951). Return of the Frontiersman (1950). Task Force (1949).

Tap Roots (1948). The Red House (1947). A Night in Paradise (1946) (bit part). On Stage Everybody (1945).

Diamond Horseshoe (1945) (bit part). Nabonga (1944).