No single celeb is ‘the’ one pinup, but Simpson is close
Fresh from her visit to Iraq, all-American girl Jessica Simpson appears on the July cover of GQ wearing camouflage pants, an American-flag bikini and military dog tags.
“That’s why I’m there,” the pop singer tells GQ. “To bring smiles, even if I have to show a little cleavage.”
Simpson is the latest in a long line of wartime pinups dating back to World War II, when soldiers decorated their bombers and tents with “Varga Girls” sketches and photographs of Betty Grable.
The iconic pinup image of Simpson was photographed by Peggy Sirota, who says she never gave the pinup history much thought when she came up with the idea for the photo shoot.
In one of her photographs, Simpson is crawling on all fours in combat boots and a camouflage swimsuit, her hair billowing from a real Huey helicopter hovering overhead.
Sirota says she and Simpson hope the photos “bring a smile to the face of anybody involved in that endeavor.”
“We get a ton of e-mail from soldiers, and their two biggest complaints are a lack of women and a lack of beer,” says James Heidenry, executive editor of Maxim magazine.
The July issue of Maxim is dedicated to U.S. troops and has three separate covers featuring models Carmen Electra, Kelly Hu and Kim Smith posing with militaria including a Kevlar helmet. The issue also includes three pullout posters of the models on one side and a picture of an apple pie on the back “so soldiers can swap it around if (Donald) Rumsfeld makes a surprise visit,” Heidenry says.
Model and sports reporter LeeAnn Tweeden says there is no difference between the pinup models of yesteryear and today.
“It’s still about that beautiful image of a beautiful woman that guys – and the majority are guys – long to come home to, whether it’s a pinup, or a photo of a wife or girlfriend,” says Tweeden, 32.
When she was about 8, Tweeden recalls seeing an autographed photo of Raquel Welch that her father, Bill, brought home from his tour in Vietnam. “Maybe someday, somebody will pass my photo to their son or daughter and say that I was their Raquel Welch.”
But unlike Grable and Welch, no single celebrity dominates the trailers and tents of soldiers and Marines serving in Iraq.
“(It’s) pretty much a collage of girls that catch their eye,” says Maj. Richard Bartoszuk, a public affairs officer with the Army’s 1st Brigade of the 42nd Infantry Division, based in Samarra.
Maj. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, says Simpson and Angelina Jolie are popular among soldiers based in Baqubah.
But, says Pfc. Sam Spurlock, “Pretty much anything from Maxim that shows any fleshy part might get hung up.”
The birthday bunch
Movie director Ken Russell is 78. Singer Fontella Bass is 65. Actor Michael Cole (“The Mod Squad”) is 60. Country singer Johnny Lee is 59. Writer Dave Barry is 58. Actress Betty Buckley is 58. Guitarist-singer Paul Barrere of Little Feat is 57. Talk-show host Montel Williams is 49. Country singer Aaron Tippin is 47. Synthesizer player Vince Clarke of Erasure is 45. Actor Tom Cruise is 43. Actor Thomas Gibson (“Dharma & Greg”) is 43. Actress Hunter Tylo is 43. Keyboardist-guitarist Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies is 36.