An aging Ava Gardner, colorized from an undated photo possible in the mid-late 1960s

Age has a way making you lose the beauty you became famous for.  Nevertheless, Ava Gardner retained her regal looks though a bit more aggressive.  Here's a stylized rendition after coloring the photo

Re-colorized and stylized a photo of Ava Gardner, ca 1946

Re-styled a previously colorized photo the Hollywood beauty here to make it look more like a sketch. 

Alfred Hitchcock, colorized and stylized

Colorized and stylized from an undated photo by Youssuf Karsh, possibly early 60s.

Betty Brosmer, the most goergeous body of the 50s with the "impossible" waistline in her 38-18-36 figure.

She might have been a better alternative to Marilyn Monroe or Jane Mansfield with that figure.  But after a short stint in Hollywood as a commercial model and a popular pin-up girl, she went on to take a more "cerebral" career. Born August 2, 1935, later known as Betty Weider, she became an physical fitness expert.  After marrying entrepreneur Joe Weider in 1961, she began a lengthy career as a spokesperson and trainer in the health and bodybuilding movements. She has been a longtime magazine columnist and co-authored several books on fitness and physical exercise.

Angelina Jolie, colorized from a modern b&w photo

Used selective colorization to highlight her more prominent facial feature.  Nor original as this was earlier done on Marilyn Monroe.  The 3rd is a complete colorized photo. 

The "King of Cool" Steve McQueen (1930 - 1980) with his 1963 Ferrari 250GT Berlinetta Lusso

Virna Lissi (1936 - 2014) colorized from a photo at Lido Beach, Venice in 1958

Italian actress Virna Lissi , with her blond hair and blue eyes, was being groomed as the next Marilyn Monroe during her brief Hollywood career between 1965 and 1967.

Elizabeth Taylor (1932 - 2011) colorized in a 1958 photo

Extensive compositing was done on the background using another Taylor portrait taken during the same year.  That portrait was also colorized in another post

Clark Gable (William Clark Gable, 1901 - 1960, Colorized from a photo by Youssuf Karsh

Marlyn Monroe, colorized from a publicity photo set by Carl Perutz 1958

The original B&W was used as a cover for her book "Marilyn Monroes: A Hollywood Legend by Jessica Bailey, published in 2015.

Colorizing a Hollywood diva, Joan Crawford

Revisited an old colorized photo of Joan Crawford, from a photo of MGM's glamour photographer George Hurrel, ca 1937.  Initially colorized as this  https://alexlimcolorization.blogspot.com/2017/06/colorized-joan-crawford-in-blond-1937.html

Audrey Hepburn, my first colorized photo of Hollywood icon of simple elegance

Here's my colorized take of a 1950s photo attributed to both Arnold Newman andYousouf Karsh. Used significant colorization liberties

Mary Pickford, 1900

Colorized a vintage 1916 photo of one of the pioneers of American cinema, Mary Pickford (1892 - 1976) dubbed "America's Sweetheart" during her prime, posing with her pets, Born Gladys Louise Smith, Mary was among the founders of United Artist, and the American Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, or the Oscars.

Clark Gable and his 1936 Duesenberg SJ Convertible

Colorized a photo of Clark Gable in his 1936 Duesenberg convertible with body works customized by Bohman & Schwartz.  This car was quite well-preserved to this day. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch0OqM5m3vc&feature=youtu.be

Colorized Judy Garland Photo 1943

This is my colorized take of Judy Garland from a promotional still of her movie "Presenting Lily Mars" released by MGM in 1943

Colorized Ava Gardner 1946

Didn't notice I haven't posted this from the start. This was my earliest colorization effort and the first for a vintage Hollywood celebrity back in Feb 2016. The promo still was from her 1946 movie "The Killers" with Burt Lancaster. I took some liberties on the dress which was really black, but I preferred it red, than added some sparkle on her ring.

Colorized Carole Lombard 1932

Here is my colorized (two versions) photo of Carole Lombard.  This Paramount still was taken and released in 1932 to promote "Hot Saturday" where she never got to star in. It was a premature promo still. The role went to Nancy Carroll who as recently as two years before had been one of the studio's top female stars, but was by this time considered a "has been".   The film co-starred the young Cary Grant  and Randolph Scott and had a lukewarm reception.

Ava Gardner 1963 Colorized from 55 Days in Peking

From just being colorized, I took the easier route and composited some ostrich feathers from the net into the head gear. Then used some Photoshop brush strokes on the background. An emerald earning was added and some camera flare to top it off.

Another colorized image at a different angle from the same film 55 Days in Peking, also stylized

Bette Davis (1908 - 1989) colorized and composited by Alex Y. Lim

The tragedy of screen and beauty legends when getting old is not so much losing their beauty, as being remembered how they look when they lost it.  Here's a colorized Bette Davis from a photo by Ron Galella in 1980 with a superimposed photo of her youth by MGM's glamour photographer George Hurrell in 1939.