[IMG:L]Every city has its unseen groomers–the people who do the behind-the-scene styling and garner little credit–and in Beverly Hills, Nance Mitchell is one such person.
Nance is the city’s premiere bikini waxer.
Her clients include Gwyneth Paltrow, Christina Aguilera, Vanessa Williams,America Ferrera, Ana Ortiz, Denise Richards, and Jeanne Tripplehorn–just to name a few.
Nance cares for these starlets. It’s her job to wax and scrub their skin, nostrils, upper lips, necks, backs, and pelvic regions.
Like the fabled German nannies of yore, Nance does her job with a vigorous sense of purpose; and she does so because she believes that her clients’ very livelihoods depend on it.
[IMG:R]”Many of my clients need to look good for a profession,” explained Nance when we first chatted over the phone. “That’s why they come to me.”
I met Nance at her Beverly Hills condominium and she answered the door in a flowing, white bathrobe and a matching towel that she had wrapped around her head like a turban.
She had razor-thin eyebrows and skin that was smooth, peachy, and completely unblemished.
Nance gestured for me to enter her living room, which resembled a showroom for a rococo furniture dealer, in which virtually every cushion or small trinket was either painted or embroidered with dainty, ornamental flowers. At the center of the room were two overstuffed yellow chairs, with inlaid pink-petal roses.
As I took in this scene, an antique cuckoo clock came to life and a small mechanical bird chirped nine times, reminding me that it was 9am on a Monday morning. I needed reminding because it felt more like twilight on Friday at spa in Monaco. Perhaps this was because the room was flickering with half a dozen candles and soft, sensuous Latin music was oozing from the room’s speakers.
[IMG:L]Nance excused herself for a moment, presumably to change out of her bathrobe, but she soon reemerged carrying a tray with two tea cups, a silver sugar bowl, a small pouch of potpourri, and a teapot wrapped in a warmer adorned with flowers.
Nance, I quickly noticed, was still dressed in her bathrobe and turban.
“Would you like some tea, honey?” asked Nance.
Almost immediately, Nance took to calling me either “honey,” “baby,” or “dear”–and sometimes all three of these in rapid succession.
“Sure,” I replied.
Nance picked up the teapot, and as she poured me tea, I ask her to tell me more about her work as a body groomer.
[IMG:R]Her driving credo is that good grooming–which for Nance means healthy skin and a paucity of body hair–creates a clean, young body image that will increase one’s earnings and desirability, especially in Hollywood.
The mainstay of ‘Nance clients’ are women, including a great many young actresses, but she also ‘does’ men. In fact, Nance emphasizes that too much body hair can severely damage a man’s image–especially nasal hair.
“I don’t go into the nose where the filtering system is, I just clean out the nostrils, and sometimes afterwards I show them the mirror so they can see how much younger they look,” explained Nance.
Over the years, Nance’s many famous clients have helped earn her a reputation as having the best rolodex in Hollywood.
In general, this is not a distinction she likes to brag about or make use of; that is, until recently when she happened to read a screenplay by one her clients, a screenwriter named Jess Money, who was writing a script about the life of Marlene Dietrich.
[IMG:R]”I told Jess that the script was excellent and I wanted to phone one of my customers who I thought would be perfect to play the part of Marlene,” explained Nance.
That actress turned out to be Gwyneth Paltrow.
“So I started calling Gwyneth all around the world,” recalled Nance. “She bounced me back an e-mail that said: ‘Yes, sounds good.’”
Once Gwyneth had signed on, Nance realized she needed a director, and she eventually found one. “So now they all, jokingly, call me the producer,” explains Nance.
Nance’s reputation as a backroom dealmaker appears to be spreading quickly. Forget looking for an agent, one esteemed Hollywood lawyer told me recently, and just call Nance Mitchell instead.
This was adapted from the new book, Fame Junkies. Read the hot, page-turning exposé that everyone in Hollywood is talking about! Purchase a copy of FAME JUNKIES for a discounted price on Buy.com right now.
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[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 1: Meet America’s Youngest Fame Junkies
Why do more people watch American Idol than watch the nightly news on the three major networks combined? How come the average teenage boy desires fame almost as much as intelligence–while the average teenage girl craves fame more than intelligence? And why do 43.4 percent of teenage girls say that they want to be a “celebrity personal assistant” when they grow up, while only 13.6 percent say they’d want to be a U.S. Senator?
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 2: Beneath the Red Carpet
OK, so merely one month later, the Oscars are already a quickly fading memory. In fact, the entire two-month-long American bacchanal known as “award show season” seems like it was a frantic, distant dream. At long last, Martin Scorsese is sleeping well. The vintage couture ‘borrows’ have been returned. The Hummer stretch-limos are back in their garages. But what about all the red carpets? I mean this quite literally…
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 3: The Grooming of Baby Idols
American Idol’s controversial, Sanjaya-focused season is quickly building toward its climatic finale; however, for all those dazed contestants who have been brusquely eliminated–yet emotionally crippled by razor-tongued Simon–there is still hope. Look no farther than the International Model and Talent Agency (IMTA), which hosts two annual talent conventions, one of which is quickly approaching this summer.
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 4: The Secret Lives of Stylists
Marcel Winter* has made a life for himself by dressing other people–mainly powerhouse celebrities. Their distinguished ranks include the likes of Halle Berry, Jim Carrey, John Travolta, and Nicole Kidman to name just a few. Over the years, Winter has also developed a successful second career as an analyst of celebrity fashion for several television networks, on which he identifies, candidly, the “best” and “worst” dressed attendees at the big events like the Oscars.
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 5: The Devil’s Helper
Anyone wondering just how aggressive paparazzi photographers are these days should look no further than Britney Spears’ Malibu home. Earlier this week, two photographers–who were staking out Britney’s house–got into a heated scuffle as they vied to snap a shot of the recently-rehabbed star. In truth, the paparazzi have good reason to be so aggressive; an exclusive photo of Britney can earn upwards of $250,000 these days…
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 6: Celebrity Stalkers, a Special Breed
In case you haven’t heard, just a few days ago, the actor Hugh Grant was arrested for allegedly throwing a container of baked beans at a photographer. No doubt, Grant is pursued around the clock by paparazzi and stalkers from all walks of life. Yet, before he tossed the beans, he should have really considered paying a visit to the offices at the L.A.P.D.’s “Threat Management Unit”–informally known as, “The Celebrity Anti-Stalking Unit.”
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 7: The Monkey Business of Celebrity
Even those who claim to have no interest whatsoever in “celebrity news” have to admit that this week the headlines have been especially juicy. Paris Hilton, Sylvester Stallone, and Richard Gere have all had brushes with the law. The real question, of course, is not whether Paris will do hard time–though certainly there is, already, a reality TV show in the works–but why we, the public, get so caught up in all of this hoopla. Why do we find these stories so irresistible?
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 8: Designing Tabloid Addiction
Do you know, by chance, exactly how many days, hours, and seconds remain before our favorite, lawbreaking heiress–Paris Hilton–heads off to the slammer? That’s a tough one. Can you, instead, perhaps explain why it is that Jessica Simpson keeps getting blonder in recent weeks? Not certain. Take a closer look at the glossy, weekly publication US Weekly magazine.
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 9: Retiring with the Stars
Sixty years from now, when a four-prong cane or a bedside attendant may be in high demand for some, where exactly will Keira Knightley and Lindsay Lohan be? The answer, quite possibly, is a peculiar retirement home situated in Woodland Hills, California.
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 10: Star Maps, Your Guide to Celeb Mansions
When it comes to knowing exactly where celebrities live, there is no greater expert than Bill Gordon. His book, The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book, has sold over 40,000 copies and is considered to be the definitive celebrity atlas. … Among other things, Gordon offers his readers information on when a given house was built, who its various owners have been, and how much it sold for most recently.
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 11: Having Your Own Celeb BFF
She just brightens your day with her smile. Do you ever have the uncanny feeling that Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts is an actual friend of yours? This is no coincidence. For years, Hollywood producers have looked for actors that have “best friend” appeal to star in their movies.
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 12: Famed Celebrity Psychic Tells All
Virtually every person with a TV–or even half an inkling of interest in pop culture–has an opinion on the type of help troubled starlets such as Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton need. Some suggest psychoanalysts, others say drug rehab specialists, and a few suggest life coaches or meditation gurus.
[IMG:L]Fame Junkies – Volume 13: Lunch with the Ultimate Celeb Caretaker
The epicenter in the movie making industry exists–not on a sprawling movie studio lot or even in a gargantuan mahogany-paneled office–but in the 1920s-styled speakeasy in Beverly Hills known simply as The Grille.
