I was idolized by the young John Lennon and Paul McCartney. They made plans to shoot a film featuring The Beatles and me, similar to A Hard Day's Night, but the plans were never fulfilled.

I had many affairs, even during my first two marriages. In the early 1960s I had an affair with Glenn Ford.

In 1974, I appeared in a nude photo shoot in Playboy magazine, which celebrated my 40th birthday.

Brigitte Bardot?

And the winner is ……. E.S. Andrews! …… Your turn to post some clues.

These would have been my remaining ones:

In 1983, on my 49th birthday, I took an overdose of sleeping pills or tranquilizers with red wine. I had to be rushed to the hospital for a stomach pump, which saved my life.

In 1986, I established a foundation for the welfare and protection of animals.

Musician Bob Dylan dedicated the first song he ever wrote to me. He also mentioned me by name in a song which appeared on his second album.

I popularized the bikini in my early films, and in 1953, I was photographed in a bikini on every beach in the south of France during the Cannes Film Festival.

Famous for portraying sexually emancipated personae with hedonistic lifestyles, I was one of the best known sex symbols of the late 1950s and 1960s.

A 1956 film which catapulted me to stardom – although a huge success in France and around the world -- scandalized the United States, pushing the boundaries of the representation of sexuality in American cinema, and theatre managers were arrested for screening it unedited. (The film was entitled "And God Created Woman").

I’ve had a neckline, a pose, and a hairstyle named after me. And I’ve been credited with popularizing the city of St. Tropez on the French Riviera, and the town of Armação dos Búzios in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

An Australian pop group named themselves after me. And among the many songs I sang and recorded is a French version of Stevie Wonder’s “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.”

Where's Mr. Andrews?

I'm here.
I need to come up with a target person and three clues--hopefully later tonight.
Someone else feel free to jump in though.

Okay, here we go:

I was born in Toledo early in the 20th century

Despite being legally blind, I had an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball stats

I owned precisely 88 keys

Ray Charles

Nope. Not Ray. But good guess.

In my early twenties, after having had several eye surgeries that improved my vision somewhat, I was viciously assaulted and left completely blind in one eye and nearly blind in my other eye

Art Tatum.

Indeed, Mr. Stead!
The great Art Tatum--virtuoso supreme of jazz piano. Only Oscar Peterson after him approached Tatum's technical, harmoinic, and improvisational virtuosity.
More than one aspiring jazz pianist gave up the instrument after hearing Tatum play.
And to think, Tatum was virtually blind and performed his brilliance while consuming, by some reports, 2 liters of whiskey and a case of beer a day.
Kidney failure did him in at age 47, in 1956.

Your “88 keys” clue suggested a piano, therefore a pianist. I first thought of George Shearing, but he was British, as well as being completely blind. So my next guess was Art Tatum, who I know had vision problems.

Great person to choose! And what a player! He was a true giant in his field. Also, as you pointed out, so good that several young up-and-coming pianists gave up trying. I didn’t know about his connection with baseball, though.

I’ll post 3 new clues in just a little while …

Here’s a brief example of Tatum’s incredible technique and harmonic sense:



New mystery personality:

I was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on October 14, 1952.

Much of my youth was spent busking in Chicago, New York, St. Louis, and New Orleans.

At the age of 16, I landed in Los Angeles, and graduated from North Hollywood High School as class valedictorian.

From 1971–1976, I lived in Ashland, Oregon, where I worked with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Don McLean?

Not Don.

I toured extensively and performed in clubs and broadcasts. In 1990, I starred in the television adaptation of a Stephen King story.

In addition to appearances on Saturday Night Live, I also appeared several times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Harry Anderson, yes?