When you think of Elvis Presley, you think of Blue Hawaii, and when you think of Blue Hawaii, you think of hourglass babes in bikinis—and that definitely includes Joan Blackman, who appeared in 1961 as Elvis-the-Pelvis’ love interest Maile Duval. The curvy brunette beauty did such a great job in the Hawaiian-set flick that she was immediately cast as Rose Grogan in The King of Rock And Roll’s next flick, Kid Galahad (1962), seducing Elvis into a love-at-first-sight melting puddle. Before she hit the big screen, though, Joan was well known for her television appearances, including Willow Whist in 1957’s Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans, a variety of roles from 1954-1958 in On Camera and in Encounter, and parts in Shoestring Theatre from 1959-1960. Her silver screen launch was in Good Day for a Hanging (1959) as Laurie Cutler, but the pre-Elvis film that got her noticed was Visit to a Small Planet (1960) as Ellen Spelding, starring with Jerry Lewis as Kreton. Post-Elvis (because careers can be defined by the hip-swiveling stud), bit parts in Perry Mason, Bonanza, I Spy, and Gunsmoke preceded a juicy role as Marian Fowler in the original primetime soap Peyton Place in 1965-1966. In 1974, Joan popped up as Carol Morgan in the exploitation movie Macon County Line, then seemed to stick with the genre for a while, appearing as the Elevator Mother Shivers (1975), and as Reba Rainey in the drive-in flick Moonrunners (1975), the basis for the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. The buxom beauty also co-starred in the kinky cult classic Pets (1974), where her character Geraldine Mills flashes us her nipped-in waist and beautiful bulbous breast when she slips out of bed. It’s our only look in a long career, but Mr. Skin will take it—and run with it straight to Hawaii.
