The bizarre true story behind Columbia Pictures ‘torch lady’ – and how BEDSHEETS inspired the logo
THE story behind the iconic Columbia Pictures “torch lady” logo can be traced back to a graphic designer who posed in a photoshoot wearing bedsheets.
In 1991, Times-Picayune reporter Kathy Anderson was asked to shoot an image for a painting that may be used for a new logo.
Her colleague Jenny Joseph was on her lunch break when she took part in the shoot.
She donned white bedsheets that were designed to resemble a Roman goddess and held a lamp aloft that resembled a torch.
Anderson used props such as fabric and an American flag as part of the shoot.
The fabric was rearranged several times on Joseph and they eventually settled for a shot where the material was draped just below her left shoulder.
Anderson used soft lighting during the shoot – designed to create a sense of beauty.
Joseph asked to sit down during one shot where she admitted that she was pregnant.
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Anderson told DailyMail.com that it may have been her favorite image from the entire photo shoot.
She revealed that Joseph hadn’t taken part in previous shoots, and didn’t do anymore.
Lady Columbia was a goddess-like female figure that was often used in cartoons during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
She symbolized enlightenment, freedom, and liberty.
Columbia was adopted as the symbol of the Hollywood film studio in 1924 and the figure bears a torch that has been compared to the Statue of Liberty.
Evelyn Venable, who starred in the 1934 movie Death Takes a Holiday, and Wizard of Oz star Amelia Batchelor have all posed as the torch lady.
Artist Michael Deas was hired in the 1990s to return the figure to her “classic look” after Columbia was bought by Sony Pictures.
Deas saw the image at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in 2012, WWLTV reported.
He said: “I never thought it would make it to the silver screen and I never thought it would still be up 20 years later.
“And I certainly never thought it would be in a museum, so it’s kind of gratifying.”
Columbia Pictures is renowned for films such as Lawrence of Arabia, Spider-Man, Taxi Driver, Men in Black, and The Social Network
The studio is not the only film company that has an interesting backstory behind its logo.
HIDDEN STORY
Researchers claim the Paramount Pictures logo was based on the childhood memories of the company’s founder William Wadsworth Hodkinson.
Hodkinson remembered as “the Man Who Invented Hollywood,” allegedly drew the sketch of the “Majestic Mountain” himself, basing it on Ben Lomond mountain in Utah.
The stars in the logo reportedly stand for the 24 actors who signed with the film studio in 1916, according to TIME.
Legend has it that the studio’s first logo design was drawn on a napkin in 1914; it showed the mountain against a black backdrop with the company’s name and the stars above it.
The mountain was enlarged and moved towards the center when the logo was re-designed in 1952.
In 1987, the logo was redrawn and featured a lake at the mountain foot and gave the stars more of a shine.
Its latest makeover in 2002 saw shooting stars added to the snowy mountain peak.
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