Jerry Maren, Sharon Tate, and Tom Toce..Oh My!

Jerry Maren (center)

We represent the Lolly pop Guild,
The Lolly pop Guild,
The Lolly pop Guild
And in the name of the Lolly pop Guild,
We wish to welcome you to Muchkinland.
We welcome you to Munchkinland, Tra la la la la la la
Wizard Of Oz - The Lollipop Guild 

Happy January 24th, 2016!
We survived "snowmageddon 2016"! While we all sit warm and safe in our homes during the blizzard, let's not forget all those poor people who had tickets for Broadway musicals that got cancelled yesterday. Thoughts and prayers!
 Tu B’Shvat starts tonight at sunset.  Traditionally, it’s the birthday of trees.  It’s the beginning of planting season in Israel.

Its meaning is metaphysical.  It’s all about potential we don’t see or feel in the moment, but is there, nonetheless.

In North America Tu B’Shvat occurs deep in the winter.  The trees look dead, particularly this year in New York City, when they are covered with snow.
Tu B’Shvat is here to remind us that although they look dead, there are very much alive. Deep below the snow and the hard ground, the sap knows that. The sap is starting to reawaken to prepare for Spring. Yet there is no outward manifestation.  
Many times I work at things that do not have immediate results or rapid gratification.  It’s seed-planting time, followed by nurturing and waiting.  Tu B’Shvat reminds us that during waiting time, something is happening. Tu B’Shvat celebrates that something yet unseen.
    Happy Tu B’Shvat!  Spring is just a few months away. Thank you, Josh Ellis, for this.

Today, I am celebrating the man who welcomed all of us to Oz 77 years ago!

Most people may not recognize the name Jerry Maren, but would definitely know his face and image, at least an image of many years ago. More than 77 years ago, Jerry Maren acted in his first movie – one of the most famous movies of all time, The Wizard of Oz. He went onto a spectacular career acting in radio, more movies, TV and commercials. But after all these years, it’s his time in Oz that makes Jerry Maren forever cherished among his legion of fans.The man who once represented the Lollipop Guild and welcomed Dorothy to Munchkinland made his mark with me from an early age. I don't know what it was about this film

Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images

when I was a small kid, but I lived and breathed for this film.
I watched it with eager anticipation year after year and feared each time that it might be the last. I never dreamed that it would be as accessible as it is today. Jerry Maren is the center Munchkin who hands a lollipop to Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) and welcomes her and us to Munchkinland and the marvelous events and citizens of of Oz.
 Gerald Marenghi (born January 24, 1920), known as Jerry Maren, is an American former actor and the only confirmed surviving Munchkin of the classic 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz.
He became the

last survivor of the original Munchkin cast (there are some other actors that appeared in the film that are living, including some child Munchkins) following the death of fellow Munchkin Ruth Duccini on January 16, 2014.Ruth died in January of 2014. She was 95.

He took dancing lessons when he was young and aspired to be an actor.
In November 1938, standing just three foot four, he met up with the Oz-bound group of little people in New York and went by bus to California.
There he was chosen to be the Munchkin who hands Dorothy a welcoming lollipop.
The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum.
They first appear in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).

They are described as only wearing shades of blue clothing, as blue is the Munchkins' favorite color,
and the predominating color that officially represents the eastern quadrant in the Land of Oz. They and the non-Munchkin Witch, the Good Witch of the North who accompanies them upon Dorothy Gale's first arrival to Oz, are described as being the same height as Dorothy, who is hinted to be no older than twelve-years-old.The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. They first appear in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).

Maureen Constance photographs Jerry Maren, the "Lollipop Kid" from "The Wizard of Oz" with a group of golfers who participated in the Lollipop Kid Tournament at the Woodcrest Golf Course June 3, 1999. Frank Ordonez | The Post-Standard

Sharon Tate was born on this date

It is the constant references to color, which contrasts with Dorothy's bleak world of Kansas, which inspired EY Harburg and Harold Arlen to write Over the Rainbow for Judy Garland in the film adaptation in 1939.

If you are like me, instant images immediately come to mind as well as a myriad of emotions and memories.
Jerry placed his hands in wet cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood on September 18, 2013.
Maren and 95-year-old Ruth Duccini were the last two surviving munchkins from the 1939 film.   You may have also seen him as 'Mayor McCheese' or the 'Hamburglar' in McDonalds ads, or as 'Buster Brown' or 'Little Oscar' in Oscar Mayer ads.Today is also the birthdate of Sharon Tate.

The world of Sharon Tate and Judy Garland ALMOST collided in 1966 when filming began on Valley of the Dolls.

When the book came out, there was a lot of speculation that the lead character, Neely O'Hara, was based on Judy Garland.
When Judy was announced that she was going to be in the film, tongues began wagging in Hollywood. However, Judy was not going to portray Neely O'Hara, she was going to play Helen Lawson, rumored to be based on Ethel Merman.

I know the film has gotten short shrift as time has gone on.
However, I love this film. I have heard many reasons as to why Judy did not continue with the film. She was replaced with Susan Hayward who I LOVE in this film. I can't help thinking of what Judy would have been like in this film. We can only speculate. Jed Ryan has his own thoughts on Sharon: Ahhh... Sharon Tate! What a classy, beautiful presence she was on the screen. Like most people, I first saw her in "Valley of the Dolls". I watched that movie dozens of times. Most of that film was campy fun, but Tate's performance as a tragic showgirl seemed like it came from a different movie altogether. That final scene still makes me cry. About 10 years ago I acquired a bootleg VHS copy of the 1966 movie "Eye of the Devil", which was her film debut. At that time it had not been "officially" released on video. It was a mediocre supernatural thriller, but I had to see it because Sharon Tate was in it. She played a beautiful and mysterious witch. What happened to Sharon Tate was awful... but the one silver lining is that we have her memory on video, where her beauty stays eternal. (Check out my interview with Jed Ryan in my next blog)

Today is also the birthday of Tom Toce.

Tom Toce Bio

Tom Toce is a New York City-based songwriter, active in the musical theater and cabaret genres. A compilation of his work Hopelessly in Love: The Lyrics of Tom Toce, enjoyed an extended run at the fabled Metropolitan Room in New York, and featured the talents of cabaret stars Carole J. Bufford, Jack Donahue, and Jennifer Sheehan. Tom’s song “Shalom, Santa,” with music by Douglas J. Cohen, won the 2014 MAC Award for Best Comedy Song. Other MAC nominations include one for Best Recording in 2014 for the cast album of Hopelessly in Love and another Best Comedy Song in 2013 for “Bye-Bye, Aloha, Yo!,” with music by Jeff Lazarus. Tom produced and directed Marissa Mulder’s 2014 solo cabaret show Living Standards, which played to packed houses at the Metropolitan Room and received rave reviews.

- See more at: http://www.tomtocemusic.com/category/about/#sthash.5poU4MzK.dpuf

Tom and I are both on the board of American Popular Song Society.
Tom Toce is a New York City-based songwriter, active in the musical theater and cabaret genres.
A compilation of his work Hopelessly in Love: The Lyrics of Tom Toce, enjoyed an extended run at the fabled Metropolitan Room in New York, and featured the talents of cabaret stars Carole J. Bufford, Jack Donahue, and Jennifer Sheehan. Tom’s song “Shalom, Santa,” with music by Douglas J. Cohen, won the 2014 MAC Award for Best Comedy Song.

Other MAC nominations include one for Best Recording in 2014 for the cast album of Hopelessly in

Love and another Best Comedy Song in 2013 for Bye-Bye, Aloha, Yo!, with music by Jeff Lazarus. Tom produced and directed Marissa Mulder’s 2014 solo cabaret show Living Standards, which played to packed houses at the Metropolitan Room and received rave reviews.
I first of all asked him to weigh in today's famous birthdays. 

Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine - Photo: Archive Photos / Getty Images

It is also the birthday of Neil Diamond (good entertainer and songwriter, sometimes could be schlocky) and Ernest Borgnine. I love Ernest Borgnine. Would love to know more about the marriage to Merman! I've learned that it's hard to tell how well a song meant for performance is going to work until you've seen it live.
Just how much are you willing to pay for a premium ticket to Hamilton?
I have some connections, so I have seen Hamilton.
I go to the theater a lot, and I don't have to be on top of all new things, so I probably wouldn't pay a premium to see Hamilton. But I do think it's brilliant.

Do you remember an occasion when a stranger did something nice for you for no reason at all?

 Just the other day, a young lady passed forward a bag I put in the overhead bin several rows behind me in a flight.
It was one of the sweetest things anyone's ever done.

What’s one song that you’ve played or sung over the years to lift you up when you are a bid glum, disappointed with personal developments in your life?

My daughter got grazed by a truck a few years ago. I was with her. She broke her arm badly, but could have been killed. A few days after that, I was driving down the highway listening to a Rosemary Clooney CD. I had to pull over and finish weeping a little bit into Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep). I've counted on that song ever since.

Why do you do what you do? 

Lew Spence

When my old friend Lew Spence had a mild stroke several years ago, I wrote him a lyric to set (and then sing), because I thought a songwriter should write a song to recover from an illness.
I thought it was about him, but it was also about me. It went: "On my good days, I'm a has-been/On my bad a never-was/You may wonder why I bother anymore/Why I spend my time composing songs that no one wants to sing/The reason's existential/(Have you heard that song before?)  . . . Because I can/Because I must/To prove there's something in the air besides the dust/Tou say you want a crafted tune, well, I'm your man/Because I must/Because I can/Because I must/Because I can/Because I tried and couldn't paint like Paul Gaugin/Because I've done this sort of thing my whole life long/and there you are/Another song."

Anything else you would like me to include?
I'm the most optimistic person I've ever met.
Please visit Tom Toce at TomToceMusic.com

Sally Darling

My mini interviews today begins with Sally
Darling.
Sally returns to Don't Tell Mama on April 17th with a brand new show celebrating Noel Coward. The following is based on questions I proposed to Sally.


What makes Sally admire her subjects more?
Dedication. The seemingly effortless results were ALWAYS the product of endless hours of toil.

The one thing I would change about the profession today would be re-emphasize the actor's training and preparedness.
Take away the microphones and learn how to pitch your voice. In my last cabaret, one evening the mic suddenly gave out. I raised my vocal volume...and the mic came back on. I adjusted, and the mic gave out again. This went on for awhile. I wonder how many would know to do this?

Learn your craft and respect it!

My last appearance was at Don't Tell Mama with Matthew Martin Ward in Perspectives. The next event will be in April, again at Don't Tell Mama with Matthew Martin Ward, and it will be an all- Noël Coward program called "Totally Noël". I hope to give people a richer view of that extraordinary man, as well as performing a few of his famous works and a number less well known. I'm going back to my revue and cabaret roots, as I've created shows featuring his songs since the '70s. And after "Totally Noël", I'll present another of my themed shows, title as yet undecided! Sally's last appearance was at Don't Tell Mama with Matthew Martin Ward in "Perspectives".  The next event will be in April, again at Don't Tell Mama with Matthew Martin Ward, and it will be an all- Noël Coward program called Totally Noël.

I hope to give people a richer view of that extraordinary man, as well as performing a few of his famous works and a number less well known.
I'm going back to my revue and cabaret roots, as I've created shows featuring his songs since the '70s.  And after Totally Noël, I'll present another of my themed shows, title as yet undecided!  -Sally Darling

Work hard for what you want. All good things are upstream.

Each day, work on your mission and your mind set.

Pamela Lewis (aka Champagne Pam)

Entertainment News 

Bloomfield’s own music series, “Music at the Mansion” is celebrating its five year anniversary on Sunday, January 31 with a Victorian Tea at 1pm followed by an all-star line up of singers at 2:30pm all to be held at the beautiful Oakeside Bloomfield Cultural Center.
Click HERE to read MORE.

On February 6th The Dill Pickle Club Orchestra and Charles V. Baran will be heating things up at The Metropolitan Room when RECIPES FOR DISASTER! returns for an encore performance!  Dan Furman​ on the keys, Chris Clark​ on Bass, Amy Griffiths on Reeds, and Joe Cogen​ on Percussion. Saturday February 6th at 4pm.  Use PROMO code "Friend" and get $10.00 off the cover charge. For tix or call (212) 206-0440.  34 West 22nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue.

Pamela Lewis (aka Champagne Pam) has been singing professionally since 1995, when she joined the traveling cast of Joey and Mary’s Irish/Italian Comedy Wedding.
In 2000, Pamela became the lead singer for a 10-piece orchestra for hire, CODE BLEU, Long Island’s leading party and event band.
She firmly landed on the radar of New York Cabaret and nightclub critics during her 2010 debut show at the Metropolitan Room. Cabaret Scenes Magazine raved that, “Champagne Pam is undeniably bubbly . . . a solid, vibrant voice . . .”
Pam pays homage to fellow Islander Billy Joel with her critically acclaimed show New York State of Mind.
Pamela considers his songs to be the soundtrack of her life…

After performing sold-out shows throughout 2015, Pamela again brings her unique interpretation of icon Billy Joel’s songbook for one FINAL performance at The Metropolitan Room on Saturday, February 6th at 7 pm. “she was always organic, smooth, compelling, and vocally on target.
Often it seemed as if we were hearing the songs for the first time. . . If you care at all about the art of cabaret and its ability to illuminate a life we beg you not to miss it”–Bistro Awards

Here's a YouTube link of the classic Nat King Cole songs The Lonely One/Nature Boy as performed by Jerry Costanzo.

Linda Purl

Metropolitan Room Presents  LINDA PURL
UP JUMPED SPRING!
….Celebrating Life’s Unexpected Turns
With Musical Director Tedd Firth

 March 22, 2016  7:30 pm
34 West 22nd

(doors open at 6:15)

 Reservations 212-206-0433

www.metropolitanroom.com
“Purl cuts loose with all the authority of a seasoned jazz vocalist…she is mesmerizing."
London Times

“Riveting…a gifted song stylist. “
LA Times

 “She is merely marvelous.”  Rex Reed

Thank to ALL that are mentioned in this blog for the gifts you have given to the world and continue to give! 

Make 2016 the year of YES!

With grateful XOXOXs ,

 

 

Check out my site celebrating the legacy of Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly!

NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.  FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!

Please do what YOU can to be more aware that words and actions DO HURT...but they can also heal and help!   

        

As someone who knows DOLLY intimately (seven different productions with 6 different Dollys) , I look forward to seeing Bette in the role. She's a great comedienne, a fabulous singer and has a ton of warmth onstage. However, I fear that they won't use Gower's original staging (which is what helped make it the blockbuster it originally was) but IMHO, they will be REQUIRED to keep 4 things: a passarelle (circular runway), a white dress for the bows, a stairway, and a lady in a red dress making an entrance at the top of that staircase. They are iconic.
-Stephen DeGelder

Here's to an INCREDIBLE tomorrow for ALL...with NO challenges!

Please leave a comment and share on Twitter and Facebook

Jeanne Moreau

Keeping Entertainment LIVE!
 

TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED DAY

Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com

Diane J. Findley

Sarah Rice, Broadway's original Johanna of Sweeney Todd, will sing a Valentine's Day concert of songs from the operetta, classical and musical theatre repertoire, with Paul Jackel, in upstate New York, Feb. 14. - See more at: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/kiss-me-sweeney-todds-sarah-rice-sings-of-love-with-paul-jackel-feb.-14-111546#sthash.bYCP2Q2p.dpuf

February 13th, Peter Filichia in conversation with Richard Skipper at American Popular Song Society  Local 802 AFM 322 W 48th St, New York, New York 10036  AT 1:30PM! with Musical Director Michael Lavine Diane J. Findley and an all star cast join  Peter Filichia and Richard Skipper to celebrate the 1963/64 Broadway Season Talk/Performance/Book Signing http://www.americanpopularsongsociety.org  Call Richard Skipper Celebrates at 845-365-0720 if you need more details. Many surprises are in store.  Please contact me if any questions. Please LIKE Richard Skipper Celebrates on Facebook Admission is Free for Members/$15.00 for Non-Members . Doors open at 12:30 for those who want to buy sheet music Also members can take tables and sell their stuff. 2:30 -1:30 "Flea Market" 1:30 seating - showtime: 1:45 - 3:30.

The Other "Sides" Of Show Business!

"The only hit that comes out of a Helen Lawson show is Helen Lawson, and that's ME, baby, remember?"
-Susan Hayward as Helen Lawson in Valley Of The Dolls, 1967

Happy Tuesday!

I want to jump start your week by showing the underbelly of show business through some classic characters who have found their way into our iconic subconscious. In some instances you will see the lines are blurred by fact and/or fiction. . I'm going to start with two of the campiest characters to ever jump from page to screen. Helen Lawson and Neely O'Hara! Helen and Neely are the brainchildren of Jacqueline Susann.

Helen Lawson is a fictional character in the novel Valley of the Dolls written by Jacqueline Susann.
Lawson is described as having been a very successful Broadway star for many years (Lawson is said to be based on the real-life Broadway actress Ethel Merman).

Her age is never revealed, there are only vague hints, but she's probably supposed to have been born ca. 1900.
Her theatre history is described briefly; she has held the lead in many fictional musicals such as Hit the Sky, Sunny Lady, Sadie's Place, Madame Bovary and Nice Lady, having followed two years of vocal studying and overnight success.

Lawson soon becomes friends with protagonist Anne Welles(pictured above as portrayed by Barbara Perkins) and describes her life: she is Irish and Scottish, and her birth name was actually Helen Laughlin.
Lawson's personality can be described as borderline, commanding and selective.
She commands the directors in all areas, and is quite sexually active and man hungry. She has had numerous relationships, including several marriages (similar to the life of Ethel Merman).

Neely O'Hara (Born Ethel Agnes O'Neill) was played by actress Patty Duke in the first movie; and then in the 1981 remake by Lisa Hartman.
Neely is an actress and singer who first came to attention in vaudeville. She came from Pittsburgh, according to the movie. While working on Broadway, she worked in a musical with the legendary Helen Lawson. However Helen had her fired through jealousy and fear of being upstaged by the talented newcomer.
Neely's boyfriend was Mel Anderson and her best friends were chorus girl and fellow actress Jennifer North and entertainment attorney secretary Anne Welles. A very talented singer, Neely developed a stellar career and the massive ego that would later prove to be her downfall.
Neely married Mel and moved to California, where she became a successful movie actress.
However, she had began taking Seconal, the "dolls" of the title, in New York City, and her addiction worsened in Hollywood.
Along the way, she began to alienate everyone to whom she was close.
She drove Mel out by beginning an affair with a supposedly gay man named Ted Casablanca; and eventually divorced Mel.
Not long after her divorce, she married Ted.
Later on, however, Ted left Neely after she caught him swimming in their pool with another woman ("Carmen Carver" in the novel but unnamed in the movie), and her pills- and alcohol-fueled downward spiral surged on. Also, her conniving nature emerged more fully.
Neely went off to San Francisco, annoying her manager, Lyon Burke.
She also tried to break up his relationship with her friend Anne, which drove her to the dolls as well.
However, in the movie, Anne kicked the pill habit, threw out Lyon, and returned to her New England hometown, Lawrenceville, where she finally felt that she belonged--after a lifetime of wanting to break free of it forever.
After a stint at a sanitarium, Neely attempted a comeback; but by this time her ego had become worse than Helen Lawson's had ever been. In a ladies-room catfight, Neely exposed Helen's real age by snatching her wig off her head and attempting to flush it down the toilet.(See below)
Prior to her opening night in the fictitious play Tell Me, Darling, Neely had a vicious argument with Lyon about a girl named Allison whom she wanted fired because she was eclipsing Neely's "star."
She insulted everyone--including Anne, which truly infuriated Lyon (Anne had forewarned him about Neely's deviousness).

Neely declared arrogantly, "I'm not everyone! I don't have to live by stinking rules set down for ordinary people! I licked pills, booze and the funny farm! I don't need anybody or anything!!" Finally fed up, Lyon quit as her agent. This infuriated Neely even more; she called him "just an agent" and implied that she was better than he was because she was a star. Reeling from the vicious implied insult, Lyon replied angrily, "And you're just a Helen Lawson, and not even that! Because she is a professional." After he stormed out for the last time, Neely shrilled, "They love Helen Lawson, then they love Neely O'Hara!!"
After becoming drunk and strung out on dolls, Neely appeared in her second-act costume and the director ordered her out, replacing her with the understudy.
She went to a bar across the street. By the movie's end, she was all alone in the alley outside the theater, crying; totally alone, having driven out anyone she ever had hoped would care about her. She had finally hit rock bottom.


Jacqueline Susann (August 20, 1918 – September 21, 1974) was an American author known for her best-selling novels.
Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.

Valley of the Dolls was initially rejected by some publishers; however, Susann persisted, and when the novel was published on February 10, 1966, it was an immediate hit.
Neely O'Hara: I didn't have dough handed to me because of my good cheekbones, I had to earn it.


The subject matter was considered inappropriate by many people in the general public at that time, and it was a mixture of soap-opera style story-telling with bold, non-traditional characters. The story was a roman á clef of sorts, with characters in the novel reportedly based on real-life celebrities such as Judy Garland and Ethel Merman.

Valley of the Dolls broke some sales records with approximately 30 million copies sold as a novel. As popular as Valley of the Dolls was, many contemporary authors dismissed Susann's writing talents. The novelist Gore Vidal said, "She doesn't write, she types!"
Critics attacked her by saying Susann, "typed on a cash register." Susann responded to literary critics by saying, "As a writer no one's gonna tell me how to write. I'm gonna write the way I wanna write!"
Part of this novel's success stemmed from Susann and Susanne's husband, Irving Mansfield's tireless effort to promote it. The couple traveled worldwide (especially where English is the predominant language) promoting the novel and her following novels on talk shows and in hundreds of bookstores. Wherever Susann went on her cross-country tours, she signed each copy of her book that was available. She wrote down the name and address of every person she met and reportedly, later on sent thank-you cards to everyone.

In 1967, the book was adapted into the film of the same name starring Patty Duke, Barbara Perkins, and Sharon Tate.

Susann made a cameo appearance in the film as a reporter at the scene of Jennifer North's suicide.

Anne Welles: Neely, you know it's bad to take liquor with those pills.
Neely O'Hara: They work faster.

[on the phone with her mother]
Jennifer North: You told me Gramp's been sick, Mother, and I know about the oil burner. Okay, I'll pawn the mink. He'll give me a couple hundred for it. Mother, I know I don't have any talent, and I know I all I have is a body, and I am doing my bust exercises. Goodbye, Mother. I'll wire you the money first thing in the morning. Goodbye.
[hangs up the phone and starts performing calisthenics]
Jennifer North: Oh, to hell with them! Let 'em droop!

Valley of the Dolls was a widespread commercial hit, but the film was largely panned by film critics. Audiences laughed at some of the dramatic scenes. Susann herself hated the film, and walked out of its premiere.

Judy Garland was originally cast as Helen Lawson, but was fired. ;
Susan Hayward replaced her in the role after production had already begun. On July 20, 2009, Patty Duke appeared at the Castro Theater in San Francisco with a benefit screening of the film, and said that director Mark Robson made Garland wait from 8am to 4pm before filming her scenes for the day.

Helen Lawson: They drummed you out of Hollywood, so you come crawling back to Broadway.
But Broadway doesn't go for booze and dope. Now get out of my way, I've got a man waiting for me.




Here is a fusing of Judy and Susan together:

And speaking of Judy, that brings us to my number 2 and number 3 spots Vicki Lester and Jenny Bowman.

Vicki Lester (nee Esther Blodgett is the character Judy played in A STAR IS BORN which was a remake of The Frederick March/Janet Gaynor film of the same name.

In the original, Esther wants to become a dramatic movie star. Of course in Judy's version, they relied on Judy's immeasurable musical talents.
A Star Is Born is a 1954 American musical film directed by George Cukor.

The screenplay written by Moss Hart was an adaptation of the original 1937 film, which was based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell.
In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."


The film ranked #43 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Passions list in 2002 and #7 on its list of best musicals in 2006. The song "The Man That Got Away" was ranked #11 on AFI's list of the 100 top tunes in films.It still kills me that Judy did not win the Oscar for this! And shame on Jack Warner for allowing the butchering of this film!!
Star Judy Garland had not made a movie since she had mutually negotiated the release from her MGM contract soon after filming began on Royal Wedding in 1950, and the film was promoted heavily as her comeback.
(This is the amazing and Emmy Award winning Judy Davis in the made for TV movie, ME AND MY SHADOWS, based on Lorna Luft's best selling memoir of the same name)
Judy was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and NBC, which was televising the ceremony, sent a film crew to the hospital room where she was recuperating after giving birth to her son Joey in order to carry her acceptance speech live if she won, but she lost to Grace Kelly for The Country Girl.

Norman Maine is a former matinee idol whose career is in the early stages of decline.

When he arrives intoxicated at a function at the Shrine Auditorium, his studio's publicist attempts to keep him away from reporters, and after an angry exchange, Norman rushes away and bursts onto a stage where an orchestra is performing.


Singer Esther Blodgett takes him by the hand and pretends he is part of the act, turning an embarrassing and potentially destructive moment into an opportunity for the audience to greet Norman with applause.


Judy Garland also created the incredible Jenny Bowman in I Could Go On Singing. It was called The Lonely Stage in London.

I Could Go On Singing is a 1963 film starring Judy Garland (in her final film role) and Dirk Bogarde.
Although not a huge box office success on release, it won Garland much praise for her performance. In Bogarde's autobiographies and in the 2004 biography, it is recounted that Judy Garland's lines were substantially rewritten by Bogarde (with Garland's consent).
Judy Garland plays a superstar singer, not unlike herself, named Jenny Bowman.

She had met a man 15-16 years before, who was now a prominent physician, played by British actor Dirk Bogarde, and they had produced a child whom she let his father raise in England.
Jenny wants to finally see him, but in the end is left to her true home, the stage. Originally titled The Lonely Stage, it was renamed I Could Go On Singing, so that audiences would know it was the first time Garland sang in a movie since A Star Is Born in 1954. (Not counting Pepe and Gay Pur-ee)
The movie contains some thrilling Garland concert musical numbers including By Myself, Hello Bluebird, It Never Was You, and the title song.
All songs performed by Judy Garland.

And there is another famous Jenny, Jenny Stewart!

Then there is Daisy Clover from Inside Daisy Clover. Supposedly based once again on Judy Garland. Daisy, of course was portrayed by Natalie Wood who unfortunately had a tragic end to a wonderful Hollywood career.

Inside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.
Set in the mid-1930s, the plot centers on Daisy Clover (Wood), a teenage tomboy who lives in a ramshackle trailer with her eccentric mother (Gordon) on a California beach and dreams of Hollywood stardom.
She submits a song recording to the well-known film producer Ray Swan (Plummer), who puts her under contract. Ray and his wife Melora (Katharine Bard) foster Daisy's rise to fame by any means necessary, forcing Daisy to deal with the pressures of stardom and the Swans' manipulation of her life and career. Daisy reluctantly accepts the placement of her mother in a mental institution, to protect Daisy's reputation as "America's valentine", and is told to tell any interviewers that her mother is dead.
Daisy finds some relief in a fellow Swan-discovered star, Wade Lewis (Redford).
The two begin a relationship, though their heavy drinking and partying is not good for either of their reputations.
Soon they marry, to the dismay of Ray (whom Wade has nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness"), who fears that the romance will interrupt Daisy's busy schedule.
On their honeymoon in Arizona, Wade drives off while Daisy is sleeping, abandoning her.
Daisy returns to the Swan home and runs into an extremely intoxicated Melora who reveals to Daisy that Melora had an affair with Wade and that he is actually a closet homosexual.

The next morning, Ray tells Daisy that he knew about Wade's sexual orientation, but that she had to find out for herself, as did his wife.
Ray then scoops her into his arms and kisses her, which begins their affair.
Daisy takes her mother out of the mental institution and moves her into a beach house.
When her mother later dies, Daisy has a nervous breakdown at the studio.

She goes back to the beach house where she spends day after day silently in bed under the care of a private nurse.

Melora visits, assuring Daisy she is not jealous of her affair with Ray.
Wade comes to see Daisy, but the most he gets out of her is a smile.
Ray, impatient that Daisy is taking so long to recover, loses his temper and tells her she must finish the pending motion picture.
He also tells her that he has her under contract for five years, but doesn't care what happens to her after she completes this movie.

Ray fires the nurse and leaves the beach house.
Right after Ray's departure, Daisy attempts suicide by putting her head in the oven, but her attempt is interrupted by ringing phones and visitors until she finally gives up.
The next day Daisy cuts her hair, changes her clothes, and turns the gas oven back on.
She then lights a flame on the stove, grabs a cup of coffee, and strolls out of the house to the beach. The house explodes behind her. When a passerby asks what happened, she shrugs and replies, "Someone declared war!"
I think the film is worth watching to get some glimpses of the Warner Bros. studio lot as it appeared in the mid-1960s as well as the Santa Monica Pier.
Upon its release, the film was a box office and critical failure, however, the film later gained a cult following when it was shown on television and released on home video.

Directed by Robert Mulligan, Wood's singing voice was dubbed by session singer Jackie Ward with the exception of the introduction to the song "You're Gonna Hear From Me" (by Dory Previn and Andre Previn, who composed the score).

The song was later recorded by Barbra Streisand for the album The Movie Album (2003).

Vocal recordings completed by Natalie Wood of the film songs went unused, except as noted above, and were unheard on commercial recordings until the release, in April 2009, of the complete dramatic score and song score by Film Score Monthly.Wood plays a teenager in the 1930s with dreams of being a star. At the beginning of the film Wood walks into the old Merry Go-Round building found at the front of the famous Santa Monica Pier to make a record of herself singing. She later sends the recording to the movie studios hoping she will be noticed. Above is a screenshot of the building as seen in the film and below is the same building as it appears today - and it still has the merry go-round!

(Source: DEAR OLD HOLLYWOOD, BLOG)
Santa Monica Pier as seen in Inside Daisy Clover

Above is another shot of the pier as it appears in the film. Below is the same building as it appears on the Santa Monica Pier today.
Ruth Gordon Jones (October 30, 1896 – August 28, 1985), better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer.
She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the Clint Eastwood film Every Which Way but Loose. In addition to her acting career, Gordon wrote numerous well-known plays, film scripts and books. Gordon won an Academy Award, an Emmy and two Golden Globe awards for her acting, as well as three Academy Award nominations for her writing.

Gordon was born at 31 Marion St. in Quincy, Massachusetts.
She was the only child of Annie Ziegler Jones and Clinton Jones, a factory foreman who had been a ship's captain.
Prior to graduating from Quincy High School, she wrote to several of her favorite actresses for an autographed picture. A personal reply she received from Hazel Dawn (whom she had seen in a stage production of The Pink Lady) inspired her to go into acting.
Although her father was skeptical of her chances of success in a difficult profession, he took his daughter to New York in 1914, where he enrolled her in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Ruth Gordon began her career early, posing as a picture baby for Mellin's food.
In 1915, Gordon appeared as an extra in silent films that were shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey, including as a dancer in The Whirl of Life, a film based on the lives of Vernon and Irene Castle.
That same year, she made her Broadway debut in a revival of Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, in the role of Nibs (one of the Lost Boys), appearing onstage with Maude Adams and earning a favorable mention from the powerful critic Alexander Woollcott.
Woollcott, who described her favorably as "ever so gay," would become her friend and mentor.
In 1918, Gordon played Lola Pratt in the Broadway adaptation of Booth Tarkington's Seventeen opposite actor Gregory Kelly, who later acted with her in North American tours of Frank Craven's The First Year and Tarkington's Clarence and Tweedles.
Kelly became her first husband in 1921, but died of heart disease in 1927, at the age of 36.
Gordon in 1927 and 1928, had been enjoying a comeback, appearing on Broadway as Bobby in Maxwell Anderson's Saturday's Children, performing in a serious role after having been typecast for years as a "beautiful, but dumb" character.
In 1929, Gordon was starring in the title role of "Serena Blandish" when Gordon's only child, a son, Jones Harris, was born out of wedlock from a relationship with that Broadway show's producer Jed Harris.Gordon continued to act on the stage throughout the 1930s, including notable runs as Mattie in Ethan Frome, Margery Pinchwife in William Wycherley's Restoration comedy The Country Wife at London's Old Vic and on Broadway, and Nora Helmer in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at Central City, Colorado, and on Broadway. For an early look at Ruth Gordon's life, catch Jean Simmons in The Actress. I have just scratched the surface! Enjoy the rest of your week!

I own NOTHING seen in this blog! No copy write infringement intended. WIKIPEDIA source of MOST of this blog









Judy's daughter, Liza Minnelli, also gave us Sally Bowles (although she did not introduce that role) and Francine Evans (who she did introduce!). Jill O'Hara created the role on Broadway in 1966. Although, I understand that Liza auditioned for the role many times. Kander and Ebb wanted her. Harold Prince did not. Liza had the last laugh. Not only did she end up doing the film but she went on to win The Oscar in 1974. And the songs and role will always be synonymous with the one and only Liza With A Z! In 1974, she won the Oscar, the Tony, and the Emmy! Not bad for the daughter of two legends who wanted to leave her own mark and continues, thank God, to entertain!

It may be a cliché but some film performances have become so iconic that you cannot imagine anyone else occupying the roles. Bette Davis’ performance as Margo Channing in All About Eve is such a performance. Although the writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz originally wanted Claudette Colbert for the part of Margo Channing, and Fox producer Darryl F. Zanuck favoured Marlene Dietrich in the role of the great but ageing theatrical diva, Bette Davis’ performance in Mankiewicz’s dark and cynical melodrama of backstage backstabbing and rivalry remains an astonishing achievement. All About Eve was based on a short story entitled ‘The Wisdom of Eve’ by Mary Orr, and Mankiewicz adapted it to create an astonishingly touching and effective portrayal of what it means to be a woman as well as a star.

I am hosting a tribute to Jerry Herman on Saturday November 12th for The Sheet Music Society. Klea Blackhurst, Donald Pippin, Lee Roy Reams, Amber Edwards, and Miles Phillips are scheduled to appear.

Thank you for joining me on these nostalgic journeys! I've added a new aspect to my blog.. I am now answering a question on video that YOU send to me. You can ask me ANYTHING and I will answer your question on video within my blog. Send your questions to
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