JeffDiego, thanks so much for your very fascinating posts.
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Originally Posted by JeffDiego
He generously shared with me the addresses of 40's boogie singer Ella Mae Morse (she and I exchanged a few greeting cards), and Jane Frazee, "Queen of the 1940's B Musicals," who was then working as a real estate agent in Newport Beach.
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Jane Frazee! One of my hobbies is collecting vintage holiday publicity department photos of Hollywood celebrities. I've had this one of Jane Frazee quite a long time: She's hung by the chimney with care.
But just this week (!) I got this great one of Jane and friend:
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Originally Posted by JeffDiego
Most of Richard's celebrity friends and interviewees are gone: silent stars Louise Brooks and Aileen Pringle...
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Having just talked about Aileen Pringle in a post about the goings on at the Hacienda Arms, your mention of her perked me up. I'll have to find the book with her interview in it because now I'm wondering, did they talk about that incident, or the Ince - incident, or being married to James M. Cain...?
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Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug
Here is Gloria Swanson and Richard Lamparski...
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theshowbizwizard
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CBD posted this photo of Richard and I have to ask, Jeff, if you might know if it was possible in the 1980's, when VCR's were new and fascinating and "all the rage," if Richard might have been a regular or frequent customer of Video West where I was a buyer for many years, because that face looks awfully familiar to me like I'd seen it many times. The name, too, has a little bell ringing, but that might be now just because I want it to. If he was, I missed a great opportunity to talk to him, or bother him (!), about all of this!
In a similar vein, there was a guy who worked at the St. James Club, as it was known in the 1980's, Sunset Tower now, and I now forget how it came about that he knew or met these people, but because of video he asked the St. James Club management if he could use one of the large vacant meeting rooms at the hotel and invite celebrities of the past to come and see one of their old films or works and meet interested people that would find this all interesting.
I'm hitting myself that I cannot remember this guy's name right now
***, he was in his thirties and he had some kind of contact with these people in his work and thought they'd enjoy this type of thing. The St. James Club agreed and so almost every Monday for about three years people could come there and watch a film (a VHS projected on a large TV screen) starring or featuring one of these celebrities and afterwards meet them and chat and the like. The gatherings were no more than around thirty people, give or take. There was no charge, either.
I don't recall that any of the guests were men, though perhaps I didn't attend any that were...I went often, but couldn't always get there. At the time I did not know some of the people. One week we saw a 1932 film that starred Gloria Stuart. Whoever heard of her? (!!!) Another week Anita Page arrived with her daughter. Anita was one of the stars of the first sound film to win Best Picture, Broadway Melody! Meeting her was a true Norma Desmond experience. Nearly 10 years after that she appeared at AMPAS's 75 Year Best Film series night that showcased The Broadway Melody. (So did Gloria Stuart about a year after that when Titanic was shown.)
Some of the guests were more well-known, or well-known to me anyway. I can recall evenings with Betty Garrett, Ann Miller, Virginia O'Brien and Patty Andrews; I was tickled to meet one of the Andrews sisters!
The largest attended evening was in honor of the host. The weekly gatherings finally had to end when he couldn't do it any more because he had contracted AIDS and the complications became too much. Virginia O'Brien contacted all of the people that had been featured in those Monday evenings to do a fundraiser for him to help pay his medical expenses. It was a melancholy end to a wonderful series of evenings, but a very generous and nice one as well.
Thanks for inspiring me to revive the memories
JeffDiego and
CBD.
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***JeffCraig kindly joined NLA to tell us this generous man's name was Marc Courtland. He also points out that Cesar Romero
was instrumental in putting together the benefit to help and honor Marc in his time of need. I thank them and Marc Courtland
and JeffCraig for his help in adding this further information. (Post
#35913.)