WLOS dailies FRI 1111

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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‘Doing it for the boys’
Just how many washed up starlets in bad blonde wigs and leopardskin cowboy hats are there? I don’t know, but Jon “Punnyman” Le appears to determined to find and interview every damn one of ’em.

Friday night, Le brought us Chris Noel a classic blonde beauty in the tradition of any one of a number of Marilyn Monroe wannabes. He picked her up at the Western North Carolina Film Festival, the same place he found a Bond girl from 40 years ago and a Star Trek babe from the same era.

Once again, Le did a nice job of telling us briefly about Noel, though the picture he painted was incomplete, as usual.

Noel fell in the lineage of Bob Hope babes, those busty women not afraid to shed some clothes, dance on a mess hall table and dole out hugs and kisses (and probably a little more than that) all to keep our boys’ chins up (and maybe a few other parts) during wartime. All the jiggling and giggling went on in the name of “doing it for the boys.”

These wartime sirens had their heyday during World War II, but Noel and her sex kitten voice did her absolute best to keep the tradition alive. She starred on an Armed Forces Network radio show called “A Date with Chris,” purring our poems and song dedications and advice on how not to get run over by a tank. Noel’s star shone during the mid ’60s and the Vietnam War.

Noel traveled all over ‘Nam, ducking into any LZ she could to give the boys a lift. She became so popular that the enemy put a bounty on her head. She immersed herself in the Vietnam of mid to late 60s, touring tirelessly and working it to her own benefit, as well.

In a profile of Noel, Vietnam Magazine noted: “She starred with, dated or befriended such Vietnam-era entertainment favorites as Elvis Presley, Hugh O’Brian, Shelley Fabares, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Rydell, Burt Reynolds, Bruce Springsteen, Don Johnson and Bob Hope. Her film credits include Soldier in the Rain with Steve McQueen, Honeymoon Hotel with Robert Goulet, and Girl Happy with Elvis Presley. Noel, however, discovered her true calling soon after she was offered her own show with Armed Forces Radio. A Date With Chris was broadcast to GIs throughout the world. It was an immediate hit.”

With a name like Chris (Christmas?) Noel, her real time to shine was, of course, Christmas.

Again from Vietnam Magazine: “December 25 was always Noel’s busiest day. Dressed in her minidress Santa outfit, she landed in as many firebases and landing zones as she could. ‘I realized that, even if for only a few moments, I was their sister, their girlfriend, or their sexual fantasy.'”

In her Punnyman interview, Noel still seemed to want to be transported back to those years when she was on top of the world, even though she was a bit player on a grand stage. She seemed a little battle-scarred herself, but strong in knowing that in her own way, she helped our boys in uniform. Good for her.