IJBFC Chat - January 10, 2016
(Name of message originator above the comment)
Laura Leff·5:00 PM
Hi Matt!
Matt·5:00 PM
Hi Laura!
Laura Leff·5:00 PM
Is this your first time
here?
Hey Steve!
Steve Archer·5:00 PM
Hi Laura, Matt!
Matt·5:01 PM
I think I was on a Jack
Benny chat many years ago but this is the first time in year.
Steve Archer·5:01 PM
Nicely fundraised boulder
and plaque!
Good to have you Matt, hope
we don't scare you away
Laura Leff·5:01 PM
Yeah, thanks for the ideas
on that! Amazing how quickly we reached our goal
Welcome back,
Matt. Glad you joined us again.
Matt·5:01 PM
Thanks!
Laura Leff·5:02 PM
I'm just hearing the
closing commercial of the show for discussion tonight.
How was everyone's holiday?
Steve Archer·5:02 PM
Nice, how was Cuba?
Laura Leff·5:03 PM
Oh wow, it was really
amazing. Everything I wanted it to be. Thanks for
asking.
Fascinating how permeating
Lucky Strike is down there!
Steve Archer·5:03 PM
Really! How
funny.
Laura Leff·5:03 PM
Advertised just everywhere,
packs behind every bar, umbrellas at cafes, etc.
Steve Archer·5:04 PM
When I lived in Florida,
Cuba was actually closer than say, Alabama, but it seemed a world
away. Glad that is changing.
Laura Leff·5:04 PM
Yeah, I guess American
Tobacco is now Cuban Tobacco.
George Washington Hill
would be proud.
So I'm done with the show
for discussion tonight...did either of you get a chance to listen to it?
Steve Archer·5:04 PM
I saw Luckies behind the
counter at a drugstore here in Seattle, I guess they're still on the market (for
better or worse)
Laura Leff·5:05 PM
Steve - Interesting...I
didn't know they still sold them here.
Steve Archer·5:05 PM
Oh, yeah, I listened to it
for the last semi-chat but have it playing again here.
Laura Leff·5:05 PM
And a public apology for my
missing the chat. Duh.
Matt·5:05 PM
I have been playing it now
Steve Archer·5:05 PM
They're probably made in
China with sawdust and melamine now.
No worries Laura!
Laura Leff·5:06 PM
Say Matt, tell us more
about your background with Jack. How you were introduced to him,
what your interests are regarding his work, etc.
Steve Archer·5:07 PM
Hey Laura did you get those
postcards from Palm Springs?
Matt·5:07 PM
When I was 9 (in 1986, not
to date myself) my father came home from a church meeting or something all
excited because he had found a faraway radio station (I think WCAU in Philly--we
were in Michigan) playing Jack Benny. We couldn't get it on the
radio in the house so we sat in the car listening to the show---heater running,
snow falling. I will never forget the expression on dad's
face--like he was meeting old friends again.
Laura Leff·5:08 PM
I did, and thank
you! They're here on my desk for inclusion in the newsletter.
Matt·5:08 PM
I was
hooked. I began listening to Jack on that station as often as I
could.
Laura Leff·5:08 PM
I love
it! Where in Michigan were you? Both Steve and I have
Michigan in our personal pedigree.
Matt·5:08 PM
Saginaw County
Steve Archer·5:08 PM
I got a kick that they were
still selling cards of Phil and Alice's house. I took a spin past a
house that one of the local guides said Jack either owned or stayed in, but you
couldn't see much from the public right of way.
Oh, nice
Matt. I grew up around Lansing.
Laura Leff·5:09 PM
And I'm tethering the other
side of the mitten in Grand Rapids.
I think the Windsor music
of your life station was still broadcasting in 1986...but I can't remember if
they broadcast old radio.
Matt·5:10 PM
I don't know if this was
syndicated or just something off of WCAU--they occasionally had interviews after
the shows. They interviewed Phil Harris and Joan Benny, from what I
remember.
Laura Leff·5:10 PM
Y'know...I think we may
have a recording of that in our audio library!
Hi Linda!
Steve Archer·5:11 PM
Hi Linda
Linda Cree joined the room
Linda Cree·5:11 PM
Hi Laura and all!
Matt·5:11 PM
Hi Linda
Laura Leff·5:11 PM
Matt - In those days,
Charles Michaelson was syndicating the radio shows of both Jack and Burns and
Allen. So it's possible.
Matt·5:12 PM
I remember the first time I
got audio tapes of Jack Benny I was surprised (and delighted) to hear the ads
(which of course were cut out for radio broadcast.)
Laura Leff·5:12 PM
I've often said that when
Jack's name comes up, a lot of people "go into their warm
place." They get this happy, almost beatific, look on their
faces in remembering the show.
Steve Archer·5:12 PM
We're fortunate to have a
good AM station here that still runs Jack once in awhile among other OTR.
Laura Leff·5:13 PM
Matt - Ah, that's the key
for Charles Michaelson syndication. So much was cut out.
Matt·5:13 PM
My grandpa's birthday was
February 14---according to my dad, every year he said "Jack Benny and I are
39 today."
Laura Leff·5:13 PM
Steve - That's good to
know. I get notification of a Canada station that runs Jack fairly
regularly.
Steve Archer·5:13 PM
There's still something
special about hearing those shows actually "over the air" rather than
at the click of a mouse.
Laura Leff·5:14 PM
Matt -
Ha! There's a gag in the radio version of "The Happy
Time" on Jack's show where he gets into an argument with Mel Blanc, playing
his character's father.
They both claim to be 39,
and Mel (in French) protests that it is his because he got there first.
Steve Archer·5:14 PM
Here's the link to our
local JB venue in Seattle: http://kixi.com/shows/when-radio-was/
When
Radio Was - AM 880 KIXI kixi.com
When Radio Was airs Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday nights from 8pm to 9pm and Saturday and Sunday
nig
Laura Leff·5:14 PM
Steve - Especially if you
have the capability of playing them through a wood radio.
Linda Cree·5:14 PM
It's great that so many of
the radio shows are available.
Matt·5:15 PM
"When I get to be 39
like Mr. Benny I hope I look 39 like other people."
Steve Archer·5:15 PM
Oh, I have one better for
Jack than that - a PAY radio that you have to put a dime into!
I'll have to show you
sometime.
Laura Leff·5:15 PM
Fun! Now all
you need is a one-cent slot machine.
Steve Archer·5:15 PM
Hmmm... Headed to Vegas in
two weeks so I will be on the lookout!
Laura Leff·5:15 PM
Linda -
Absolutely. We're lucky on that one!
So what did folks think of
the second Yosemite show tonight?
Steve Archer·5:16 PM
They're really firing on
all cylinders, unlike the Maxwell
Great show.
Laura Leff·5:17 PM
Yeah, this whole series is
what I consider to be the turning point between the 1930s shows and what would
become the "golden age" of Jack in the mid to late 1940s.
There's one line I'm
curious to hear people's reactions to...
Jack can't see Rochester
who is sitting right next to him.
Linda Cree·5:18 PM
I agree,
Laura. They really hit their stride.
Matt·5:18 PM
I love this era of the
Benny Shows.
Laura Leff·5:18 PM
And Jack says, "Well,open
your eyes or smile so I can see you!"
Steve Archer·5:18 PM
It kind of negates the
earlier (great) "I can't do that blackface stuff" line.
Laura Leff·5:18 PM
Yeah, exactly!
Linda Cree·5:18 PM
Call in the PC police,
Laura.
Laura Leff·5:18 PM
That sounded really
progressive, and then suddenly we were back in Stepin Fetchit days!
I'm not trying to decry the
line, but curious how people processed it.
Steve Archer·5:19 PM
I was actually thinking
about it and still Rochester comes out so far ahead of some of those really
awful contemporary stereotypes.
Linda Cree·5:20 PM
That's the same as the
you'll get lost in the snow line.
Steve Archer·5:20 PM
I recall seeing some ad
with Rochester at some point and - Laura, you will probably know what I'm
referring to, it featured a headshot
Laura Leff·5:20 PM
Steve - Not ringing a
bell...what was it for?
Steve Archer·5:21 PM
of Eddie Anderson, and it
was written to congratulate Jack on a new season or something, but all of the
copy was filled with the Yassuh, Sho' Nuff kind of crap, and I looked at it and
thought "Rochester doesn't talk like that!"
Laura Leff·5:21 PM
Matt - I agree with
you...say more about what puts this era of shows ahead of others in your
opinion.
Steve Archer·5:21 PM
I'll have to see if I can
Google it up.
Laura Leff·5:22 PM
Steve - Yes, I do believe I
remember that. One wonders who may have written the copy on
it...and whether it was intended for a Southern audience.
Matt·5:22 PM
I think there's a
sophistication to the writing that you would never find in any other radio show
of the era. I love Burns and Allen and other shows of the era but
you compare them with what Benny was doing in these days and it's world's
apart. The final years of Beloin and Morrow on the Benny show are
so amazing.
Linda Cree·5:22 PM
Yes, Steve. It
was the same in the Jello cola ad I posted a while back. Rcohester
didn't speak like that.
Rochester
Carole Lombard joined the
room
Laura Leff·5:23 PM
Matt - Hallelujah, I'm with
you on that! I actually enjoy the Morrow-Beloin shows more than the
"golden age," but plenty of people disagree with me on that.
Carole Lombard·5:23 PM
I totally agree with you.
Laura Leff·5:23 PM
Welcome Carole!
Carole Lombard·5:24 PM
Thanks! I'm ashamed to say
that it's been four years since I've chatted but I enjoyed it very much.
Laura Leff·5:24 PM
Linda -
Bingo! I was just going to mention that ad that was completely
unfaithful to the characters.
Steve Archer·5:24 PM
Hiya Carole
Carole Lombard·5:24 PM
Hiya, Steve!
Laura Leff·5:24 PM
Carole - Welcome back,
then! Someone was telling me earlier today that you were one of
their very favorites.
Carole Lombard·5:25 PM
Thank you! That's nice to
hear for a 107-year-old.
Laura Leff·5:25 PM
Oh you don't look a day
over 39.
Carole Lombard·5:25 PM
Photoshop is my
friend. Anyone know the real reason why Morrow and Beloin left
(besides WW2)
Laura Leff·5:26 PM
That's pretty much
it. Bill Morrow got drafted and Jack couldn't get him a waiver, and
Ed Beloin decided he wanted to try his hand at movies...but you can hear him
stay on with the show for a while as Mr. Billingsley, etc.
Matt·5:26 PM
Yeah, I heard a show as
late as 1944, I think where he was still playing Billingsley.
Carole Lombard·5:26 PM
I did recognize his voice,
which I always loved. It seems incredible that anyone would want to leave such a
successful gig.
Did Ed ever try to come
back as a writer? Or did he have enough money...
Linda Cree·5:27 PM
I felt the same way about
Kenny Baker.
Laura Leff·5:27 PM
Right. And the
other writers came on in the fall of 1943.
Carole Lombard·5:27 PM
Yes!
I believe he later
regretted that decision. But he was young and it's easy to get a swelled head.
Laura Leff·5:28 PM
Yes, Ed did pretty well in
movies. Look up IMDB to see some of his.
Linda Cree·5:28 PM
I think Kenny jumped ship
too quickly.
Matt·5:28 PM
Ed Beloin also wrote for
the Lucy Show in the 60s.
Laura Leff·5:28 PM
Linda -
Agreed. I think he had people telling him he could be so much more,
and then that didn't work out that way.
Carole Lombard·5:28 PM
Did he? I wonder if he
worked with Elliot Lewis, who directed some of those shows. (I have a talent
crush on Elliot).
Laura Leff·5:29 PM
Carole - You know Elliott
played two roles in tonights show, right?
Carole Lombard·5:29 PM
Yes!
He was a genius.
Matt·5:29 PM
Was Blanche Stewart in this
one?
Laura Leff·5:29 PM
Definitely.
Sure was...the waitress.
Matt·5:29 PM
I thought so.
Laura Leff·5:29 PM
(Blanche Stewart)
I had to look up who did
the parrot, though.
It didn't sound like Mel to
me, and it wasn't.
Matt·5:31 PM
When I get some extra
money, I really need to buy the 39 Forever Books because there are many times I
recognize a voice on the shows but there are enough times when I think,
"Who WAS that?!"
I should have asked for
them for Christmas...
Steve Archer·5:31 PM
Have you ever run a pic of
Blanche Stewart in the Times Laura? I can't say that I've ever seen
one.
Laura Leff·5:31 PM
Ha! Yep,
that's one of the things I was trying to answer with them!
Perri Harper joined the
room
Carole Lombard·5:31 PM
Who played Buckingham
Benny? He was hilarious.
Laura Leff·5:32 PM
Steve - Yes, some time
back. Will have to keep an eye out for another.
Carole - Stand by...I'll
look it up.
Steve Archer·5:33 PM
OK, I'll have to flip
through the back issues!
Laura Leff·5:33 PM
Benny Baker played
Buckingham Benny
Carole Lombard·5:33 PM
And one more - because it
has been driving me nuts - who played the "Mooley-esque" (not Elliot)
who had the gag about going to Harvard and the Benny writers hitting him on the
head, which he said "I liked that."
Was it really????
Laura Leff·5:33 PM
Elliott Lewis usually
played the Mooley guy
Perri Harper·5:33 PM
Sliding in
late.... Matt the 39 Forever books are *wonderful*!
Laura Leff·5:33 PM
Hmmm
Hi Perri!
Carole Lombard·5:33 PM
Right but this was another
of that type, but not Elliot.
Laura Leff·5:33 PM
Carole - Are you sure it's
not Elliott?
Carole Lombard·5:34 PM
Definitely. I know that
voice.
Laura Leff·5:34 PM
What era of show?
Carole Lombard·5:34 PM
WW2
He also did a Grape Nuts
Flakes commercial where he couldn't read it very well - kept emphasizing the
wrong words
But I have no idea who he
was.
Laura Leff·5:34 PM
Could be Benny
Rubin...looking for mooley characters
Matt·5:35 PM
Have you ever read Benny
Rubin's self published memoir?
Carole Lombard·5:35 PM
No, Benny had a distinctive
voice as well. The image you get is a big palooka kind of dope.
Wow - didn't know Benny
wrote a book? Was he bitter about vaudeville?
Steve Archer·5:35 PM
Matt - Yes, Benny Rubin's
book is a lot of fun.
Laura Leff·5:35 PM
Matt - I think so...trying
to remember the name..."Come Backstage with Me"?
Steve Archer·5:36 PM
That's it Laura.
Matt·5:36 PM
Yes, I think so
Carole Lombard·5:36 PM
I'll have to look that one
up!
Linda Cree·5:36 PM
Me too!
Matt·5:36 PM
Filled with great
stories--some of them might have actually happened.
Laura Leff·5:36 PM
That's a great
book. He even reveals that Mary made her radio debut before Jack
did (theoretically)!
Linda Cree·5:36 PM
Hee hee!
Laura Leff·5:36 PM
Matt - Well said.
Steve Archer·5:36 PM
Jack writes one of the
forwards to it.
Matt·5:36 PM
I enjoyed it but also
recognized that some of hi stories didn't add up factually.
Laura Leff·5:37 PM
I see John Brown did a
mooley character
Carole Lombard·5:37 PM
The same John Brown from
Life of Riley?
Laura Leff·5:37 PM
Matt - Never let the facts
get in the way of a good story!
Carole - Yep
Carole Lombard·5:37 PM
My gosh.
Steve Archer·5:38 PM
I just pulled Benny Rubin's
book off the shelf, George Burns' forward cracks me up: "I haven't read
Benny Rubin's Book, but I certainly will because he's always been one of our
great storytellers - besides, my name is on the
jacket". That's it!
Laura Leff·5:38 PM
Yeah, looks like it's John
Brown. I have him being roped into doing the commercial on 3/5/44.
Steve - That's George.
Carole Lombard·5:38 PM
Incredible. A totally
different voice from Digger O'Dell. That's talent.
Matt·5:38 PM
John Brown was blacklisted
later, wasn't he?
Laura Leff·5:39 PM
Gee...I don't know!
Carole Lombard·5:39 PM
Yes. It was criminal what
they did to those people. It killed John Brown.
I believe he died of a
heart attack.
Steve Archer·5:39 PM
Yes, he was the first
"Harry Morton" on Burns and Allen's TV show. Or one of
the first. Maybe Hal March was. Then got the boot
presumably for being blacklisted.
Carole Lombard·5:39 PM
Edward Arnold, John
Garfield as well.
Laura Leff·5:39 PM
I just was showing someone
"The Front" and telling how Zero Mostel's character was based on an
actor on "The Goldbergs."
Matt·5:39 PM
Yeah, I think that's right,
Steve--that's the reason he lasted only a few weeks as Harry Morton--the red
scare.
Carole Lombard·5:40 PM
That is a superb film.
Woody Allen's parting line "This committee can go f--- itself" is
divine.
Laura Leff·5:40 PM
By the way, I highly
recommend the movie "Trumbo."
Carole Lombard·5:40 PM
Is it good?
Laura Leff·5:40 PM
It's very good.
Carole Lombard·5:40 PM
I've wanted to see that.
Do you smell Oscar for
Brian?
Laura Leff·5:40 PM
They don't say anything
about Trumbo's time running around in Mexico to avoid the draft, but it's still
a very good movie.
Carole - I'd love to...but
since it wasn't even nominated for a Golden Globe as best picture, I'm not
optimistic.
Carole Lombard·5:41 PM
Hollywood still can't stand
self-criticism. It was the same in my day.
Laura Leff·5:41 PM
Or rather, avoid the
sentence, not the draft.
Carole Lombard·5:42 PM
How is Kirk Douglas
portrayed? Is he made out to be the hero who rescued Dalton?
Laura Leff·5:42 PM
Jean Rouveral has a book
called "Refugees from Hollywood" about them hiding out in Mexico.
Carole Lombard·5:42 PM
Another must-read, I think.
Laura Leff·5:42 PM
Yes, it's kind of a
competition between Otto Preminger and Kirk Douglas.
The portrayal of Preminger
is a stitch!
Carole Lombard·5:42 PM
Preminger - another genius,
but not someone I would want to work with.
I love the story about
Jackie Gleason and Preminger.
Matt·5:43 PM
With all of the things that
happened during the red scare--Laura, do you know of anyone associated with the
Benny show who was blacklisted? We mentioned John Brown but I can't
think of anyone else, really.
Laura Leff·5:43 PM
Larry Adler was the first
name in Red Channels.
Carole Lombard·5:43 PM
No wonder he moved to
England.
Laura Leff·5:43 PM
And that's exactly why.
Matt·5:44 PM
Was Minerva Pious
blacklisted?
Laura Leff·5:44 PM
Well, I published some
documents in the newsletter that I found in the Warner Brother's archives that
had Jack buying a script from Trumbo for him to star in, and then suddenly
losing interest in it. Been meaning to look up the dates of that.
Matt - Good
question! Not that I'm aware of, but I could see it happening.
Carole Lombard·5:45 PM
Looks like she was. Here is
an exhaustive list. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9489003
a
look at history..The House Un-American Activities Committee - Democratic
Underground www.democraticunderground.com
a look at history..The
House Un-American Activities Committee
Laura Leff·5:45 PM
Good job!
Carole Lombard·5:45 PM
This list is shocking
Matt·5:46 PM
Nat Hiken! I
think he wrote for Fred Allen at one time?
John Brown is on the list.
Laura Leff·5:46 PM
Didn't he also work with
Abbott and Costello?
Steve Archer·5:46 PM
I'm just now thinking of a
screenplay where Mary Livingstone, instead of becoming reclusive in the
seventies, secretly joins the Symbionese Liberation Army....
Laura Leff·5:46 PM
And Paul Robeson...
Carole Lombard·5:47 PM
Norman Corwin???
Laura Leff·5:47 PM
Steve - That's funny...I
just showed Vera "Network" the other day...
Carole - Of all people!
Perri Harper·5:47 PM
, http://www.attaboyclarence.com/the-secret-history-of-hollywood/4/2/2015/hunting-witches-with-walt-di...
; I had this on the menu for listening later tonight.
Hunting
Witches With Walt Disney www.attaboyclarence.com
Once upon a time, Hollywood
went to war with itself. In the mid-1930’s, Communism began to find its
way into the film capital of the world, and over the next two decades, it tore
the glamorous world of Tinseltown apart. The story of the Red Scare in
Hollywood, that destroyed lives, allowed …
Carole Lombard·5:47 PM
I know! These people were
nuts.
Laura Leff·5:47 PM
Leonard Bernstein AND Aaron
Copland...
Carole Lombard·5:47 PM
Martin Gabel f'God's sake!
Linda Cree·5:48 PM
And this doesn't include
those who barely escaped the list.
Laura Leff·5:48 PM
Gypsy Rose Lee?
Carole Lombard·5:48 PM
I'm thinking these people
were accused, not necessarily blacklisted because Judy Holliday is listed and
she played her Billie Dawn character from Born Yesterday and fooled them.
Still....
Burl
Ives? Come on. Burl Ives?
Laura Leff·5:49 PM
Orson Welles? OK,
maybe I can see that...
Carole Lombard·5:49 PM
Yeah..fair point. Another
genius.
Many of the Mercury Theater
people are there, like Gabel and Paul Stewart.
Laura Leff·5:50 PM
No one else is jumping out
at me as being related to the Benny show though on quick scan.
Commie aliens
Linda Cree·5:50 PM
I heard for a while it was
touch and go with Lucille Ball almost making the list.
Carole Lombard·5:50 PM
Yes, there was something
about her appearing before the committee because her grandfather was a very
strong Communist and she joined just to shut him up.
Linda Cree·5:51 PM
Yes!
Carole Lombard·5:51 PM
"The only thing red
about Lucy is her hair." I think the quote went.
Steve Archer·5:51 PM
"and even that's not
real"
Laura Leff·5:51 PM
Lucy "appears" in
the Trumbo movie.
Carole Lombard·5:52 PM
She put the henna people's
kids through college.
Is the actress playing her
good?
Laura Leff·5:52 PM
Maybe I missed something,
but I didn't realize how close Edward G. Robinson was with the Hollywood Ten.
Carole Lombard·5:52 PM
He was very progressive.
Laura Leff·5:52 PM
I think they just use a
recording of a speech she made on radio.
Linda Cree·5:53 PM
She was Maharincess (hennarincess)
of Franistan!
Carole Lombard·5:53 PM
I love it!!! I think back
then, all you had to do was not be a Republican and maybe appeared on a
pro-Russian show, but many of those shows were done during WW2 when they were
our allies. I don't see how they could be faulted for that. It's not like anyone
trusted Stalin but the enemy of my enemy...
Ella Logan is on the list.
She was on the show.
Oh, no... it was Mail Call.
Laura Leff·5:54 PM
Good catch
Carole Lombard·5:54 PM
But she did work with Jack.
Matt·5:55 PM
I don't know if it's still
online but for a while there was a 1963 clip of the Tonight Show in which Henry
Morgan mentions that during the war he spoke at some dinner about housing and 10
years later, they told him that a Communist group put on the dinner and with
that he was tainted.
Laura Leff·5:55 PM
Yeah, someone in the movie
points out re the Russians and WWII, "Weren't we on the same side?"
Linda Cree·5:55 PM
I heard that too, Matt.
Laura Leff·5:55 PM
Philip Loeb. There's
the actor who inspired Zero Mostel's character in "The Front."
Carole Lombard·5:55 PM
Matt - right! That's how
people got called up. But it wasn't just after WW2, it was happening in the
early 40s. Can't remember what they called it.
Laura Leff·5:56 PM
There was a longer mouthful
of a name of the group led by John Wayne
Oh and Helen Mirren is
AMAZING as Hedda Hopper.
Carole Lombard·5:56 PM
And Robert Taylor. I wonder
if that hurt their friendship. Helen Mirren would be amazing as
Lincoln.
I bet her hats are FABULOUS
Laura Leff·5:57 PM
So much so that (and I
don't do this) just totally accepted her as Hopper (even knowing that was
impossible) and never even thought about who the actress was.
Helen Mirren is amazing
PERIOD.
Carole Lombard·5:57 PM
Only she could do that. I
can never get into the films if I know who the real person was.
Laura Leff·5:57 PM
Even The Queen?
Carole Lombard·5:58 PM
The Queen is the queen. But
Helen looks so much like her. I'd love to see the stage play. Hope they filmed
it.
Laura Leff·5:58 PM
They did.
She was extraordinary.
So...bringing it back to
the show for tonight...what other thoughts?
Carole Lombard·5:59 PM
Like "The King's
Speech" - they looked nothing like the real ones. I mean..you know...Colin
Firth. Mr. Darcy. Can't really buy it, but marveled at how great
they all were in that one.
Laura Leff·5:59 PM
I loved Mary's breakup at
the end.
Matt·5:59 PM
I had to look up the name
Barney Oldfield
That reference was over my
head
Laura Leff·5:59 PM
Carole -
Agreed. And a lot of the folks in "Trumbo" didn't really
look like the people (although Kirk had a definite cleft), but you just relax
and buy it.
Matt - Fill me in on that
one. It had me scratching my head for a second.
Carole Lombard·6:00 PM
Wasn't he a race car
driver?
Matt·6:00 PM
Something is said in
tonight's episode about how Jack should turn his hat around---you're not Barney
Oldfield. (I think Mary says)
Laura Leff·6:00 PM
I thought he was played by
Don Knotts.
Carole Lombard·6:00 PM
I liked Dennis in the
episode. He seemed much more relaxed and his song "Darn that Dream"
was very good.
Laura Leff·6:01 PM
Matt - Yes, that was the
line.
Carole Lombard·6:01 PM
Has anyone had one of the
Day kids or grandkids on the chat?
There are so many of
them...
Matt·6:01 PM
Dennis seems to be coming
into his own with these episodes.
Carole Lombard·6:01 PM
Definitely.
Laura Leff·6:01 PM
I've talked and
corresponded with them separately, but they haven't been here yet.
Yep, that's another reason
I feel that these shows are a turning point.
Carole Lombard·6:02 PM
What's the story with
Rochester's family? You'd think they'd love to talk about him.
Laura Leff·6:02 PM
Mary becomes much harder
edge than her silly 30s "pest girl"
Phil really gets to be
fully Phil, and Dennis is also settling into his character since it's his first
season.
Carole Lombard·6:02 PM
I wonder if the writers
made her that way deliberately or an attempt to make Dennis the silly one.
Steve Archer·6:02 PM
Carole, Eddie's wife and
daughter do a commentary on the DVD of CABIN IN THE SKY - well worth listening
to!
Carole Lombard·6:03 PM
I love that film. He was
such a talent.
Laura Leff·6:03 PM
Jack often said that things
happened on the show because the audience reacted well to them. So
if Mary being a you-know-what gets laughs, you go with it.
Steve Archer·6:03 PM
second wife, Eva, not Mamie
Matt·6:03 PM
I love at the end when
they're told there's an auto camp 40 miles back and Jack's
reaction. Petulant/at-his-wit's-end Jack kills me.
Laura Leff·6:03 PM
Steve - Cool!
Carole Lombard·6:03 PM
Did Rochester ever
socialize with the cast in real life?
Laura Leff·6:03 PM
Carole - A very good
question, and a bit complicated.
Carole Lombard·6:03 PM
The race thing?
Laura Leff·6:04 PM
That was part of it...his
house was based on Jack's, but built in the black neighborhood of LA
Carole Lombard·6:04 PM
I know Phil and Andy Devine
were good friends of the Gables and went in with them on some property for a
private club. Don't think it ever came off, though.
I didn't know about the
house. That's fascinating.
Steve Archer·6:05 PM
I always get the impression
that other than Jack and Mel, there wasn't a lot of social activity among the
cast off-stage.
Laura Leff·6:05 PM
Rochester also had a lot of
his own interests...he loved all things fast...cars, horses, boats, women...
Carole Lombard·6:05 PM
Oh myyyyyy
Laura Leff·6:05 PM
There's a bit I got in an
interview I haven't published yet about his...ahem...tastes.
Carole Lombard·6:06 PM
Do tell!
Laura Leff·6:06 PM
Well, this is according to
one person who knew him back when the interviewee was a shoeshine boy
And also knew the infamous
and enigmatic Eddie Anderson Jr.
And it seems that it was
known that a certain area of either Sunset or Hollywood Blvd. was the place to
pick up young white girls.
You can fill in the rest.
Carole Lombard·6:07 PM
:0
Matt·6:07 PM
Oh my
Laura Leff·6:07 PM
LOL..Yeah, huh...
Carole Lombard·6:08 PM
There are still areas of
Sunset and Hollywood where you can pick them up...
Laura Leff·6:08 PM
But I've only got it from
that one person. So take it as you will
Carole - I'm sure.
Michael Amowitz·6:08 PM
Jello folks!
Michael Amowitz joined the
room
Steve Archer·6:08 PM
Hi Mike!
Laura Leff·6:08 PM
Hey Mike! My
oh my what you just walked in on...
Carole Lombard·6:08 PM
Hi!
Laura Leff·6:09 PM
So what else about the show
for tonight?
Linda Cree·6:09 PM
Hi!
Laura Leff·6:09 PM
Carole Lombard·6:09 PM
It makes me want to go to
Yosemite.
Linda Cree·6:09 PM
With the cast!
Laura Leff·6:09 PM
But there's also the story
about Rochester racing the train and bringing everyone ribs.
So that could be considered
socializing of a sort.
Carole Lombard·6:10 PM
I wondered about that -
with segregation - where did Roch stay on the train and how did he get into the
"whites only" section?
Matt·6:10 PM
Rochester had
so many great lines in tonight's show.
Michael Amowitz·6:11 PM
Yes, LL, just catching
up...how about that Eddie Anderson!
Laura Leff·6:11 PM
Carole - Well, I'm happy to
finally have the details of where the story of the entire cast and crew leaving
a hotel because Rochester was advised to stay elsewhere
Steve Archer·6:11 PM
I'm looking forward to the
next chapter in the Yosemite saga
Carole Lombard·6:11 PM
Oh - spill, sister!
Laura Leff·6:11 PM
Michael - Hee hee hee!
Michael Amowitz·6:12 PM
Just watching mostly
now...I'm late for dialysis (like Jack always almost misses his train) and I'm
packing for a 2-day trip to Toronto
Linda Cree·6:12 PM
I was watching an old Larry
King Live interview with Shirley Temple and she talks about Bill Robinson coming
to her house but she never went to his.
Carole Lombard·6:12 PM
Isn't that sad?
Linda Cree·6:12 PM
Yes
Laura Leff·6:12 PM
So it was right here in San
Francisco
Carole Lombard·6:13 PM
What??? Which hotel?
Laura Leff·6:13 PM
Jack and Co. were at the
Fairmont
Matt·6:13 PM
Not in the south!
Carole Lombard·6:13 PM
Gasp!
Laura Leff·6:13 PM
Yeah!
Steve Archer·6:13 PM
Holy cow. And
I have spent many a blurry evening in the Tonga Room there!
Laura Leff·6:13 PM
And they suggested that Mr.
Anderson might be more comfortable at the Mark Twain Hotel
Carole Lombard·6:13 PM
I lived in SF over the
summer and I know that hotel very well. What jerks.
What year was that?
Laura Leff·6:14 PM
And basically Jack said
that if Eddie couldn't stay there, neither would they. Not sure
where they went, though.
Carole Lombard·6:14 PM
St. Francis?
Or Mark Hopkins, probably.
Laura Leff·6:14 PM
Oddly enough, I'd eaten
dinner at the Mark Twain Hotel (a friend was a waiter there) just shortly before
I got that info.
Carole Lombard·6:14 PM
How was it?
Michael Amowitz·6:14 PM
:/
Laura Leff·6:14 PM
Mark Hopkins would have
been most convenient being across the street, of course.
Carole Lombard·6:15 PM
Exactly
Steve Archer·6:15 PM
There's a Fairmont in
Seattle that is almost identical to the SF one. No Tonga Room tho.
Laura Leff·6:15 PM
Carole - It was
OK. The dessert menu was uninspired. But their Scotch
list was wonderful!
Steve - Nuts!
Carole - My friend left
there not soon thereafter.
HipChat·6:15 PM
Hi @JAYHOPKINS! Welcome to
Hipchat. You can @-mention me by typing @HipChat and I'll tell you what HipChat
can do!
Laura Leff·6:16 PM
Hi Jay!
Carole Lombard·6:16 PM
Nice! I hate what they did
to the Top O' the Mark in the late 90s.
Hi, Jay!
JAY HOPKINS joined the room
Steve Archer·6:16 PM
Hi Jay
Carole Lombard·6:16 PM
Is Eddie Anderson, Jr.
still alive? And how many kids did Rochester have?
Laura Leff·6:16 PM
Carole - I didn't know it
much before then, so I don't have anything to compare.
Carole Lombard·6:16 PM
It was incredible in the
early 90s. Black leather booths, very 1940s.
Laura Leff·6:16 PM
Eddie Anderson Jr. seems to
no longer be alive. He had two others--boy and girl.
Carole Lombard·6:17 PM
I was in college, then, and
we used to go up there a lot.
Linda Cree·6:17 PM
There were hotels in NYC
that Nat King Cole could perform at but they wouldn't let him stay
there.
Carole Lombard·6:17 PM
Racism is disgusting!
JAY HOPKINS·6:17 PM
Hi, Steve. I wish to thank
Laura in the flesh...well, not too much flesh, of course...for sending me a
number of Benny Shows on DVD. She's diligent and, in my view, a SWELL gal.
Laura Leff·6:17 PM
You know, I'm going to date
myself, but I was born in 1969. So I never experienced segregation
first-hand. But it blows me away of the things you hear about it.
Thank you so much,
Jay! My pleasure to help!
Carole Lombard·6:18 PM
I have a year on you, but I
have black friends who still experience it.
JAY HOPKINS·6:18 PM
I was born in 1956. One of
my favorite pastimes was watching JB as a kid.
Laura Leff·6:18 PM
Carole - That's a fair
statement, depending on where you are and who you are with.
Michael Amowitz·6:18 PM
I was around long enough to
feel it and see it...it was very pervasive and had the feel of social pressure
to conform to norms or suffer
Steve Archer·6:18 PM
Are you sure Eddie Anderson
Jr. passed away? I just looked and he's on LinkedIn!
Michael Amowitz·6:18 PM
Best way to describe it
Laura Leff·6:18 PM
Steve - Hmmmm
Steve Archer·6:19 PM
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddie-rochester-anderson-jr-3a487a1b
Laura Leff·6:19 PM
Wait...I think I have my
wires crossed. Billy Anderson was his older son, I believe.
Thanks for calling me on
that.
Michael Amowitz·6:19 PM
It took the same amount of
gradual social pressure to break it down and eventually destroy it
Carole Lombard·6:19 PM
I love that Jack evolved
the Rochester character away from the more stereotyped black character after
WW2.
Was Billy the son of his
first wife?
Laura Leff·6:20 PM
Then again, not to get
political, but we still have the Black Lives Matter movement
today. So there are certainly still issues.
Carole - That's
right. The other two were with his second wife.
Carole Lombard·6:20 PM
Did Rochester ever get
grief in the late 60s? I would see the character as a trail blazer. He wasn't
subservient, he was subversive.
Laura Leff·6:20 PM
Yes, there's a quote that
Jack did about racism that I try to put up on the Web site every MLK Day.
Steve Archer·6:20 PM
Mamie Anderson passed away
during the show's run, right?
JAY HOPKINS·6:21 PM
Laura Leff, outside of a
chat like like, is sort of mysterious character to me. We all know that she does
this as goodness out of her heart. Just amazing, to me. Six months is okay with
me, for goodness from the heart.
Laura Leff·6:21 PM
Yes...I don't have an exact
year, but Mamie passed away pretty young.
Carole Lombard·6:21 PM
She was very pretty.
Steve Archer·6:21 PM
I thought early or mid
1950s. Then he married Eva in the sixties sometime.
Matt·6:21 PM
I think it was around
1954. I've noticed that in the shows in that time period, Rochester
looks much heavier than usual.
JAY HOPKINS·6:21 PM
"Like this." I
don't write clean when I'm happy.
Carole Lombard·6:22 PM
I wonder why he wore that
toupee? It didn't look very real.
Laura Leff·6:22 PM
I try to stay a little on
the enigmatic side.
Carole Lombard·6:23 PM
I watched the New Year's
show on New Year's eve. We timed it so when Jack's clock went off and they drank
champagne, our clock went off and we toasted Jack and Roch. I love
that show, even if it is a remake of the radio one. It shows them together on
the couch, drinking together.
JAY HOPKINS·6:23 PM
I'm still here. How many JB
CBS was George Burns on?
Laura Leff·6:23 PM
Steve - That sounds
right. I'd have to look through my notes. But I heard
a while back from someone who hitchhiked with them through Mexico.
Had photos from the trip!
Steve Archer·6:23 PM
And Roch's heart attack was
not that long thereafter, I imagine he had a lot of stress.
Laura Leff·6:23 PM
Jay - How many of the CBS
television shows was George on?
Roch's heart attack was in
1958 when they were filming the "Shower of Stars" Jack Benny's 40th
Birthday.
JAY HOPKINS·6:24 PM
I didn't write all caps for
my name. Yes, Laura...that's the question.
Laura Leff·6:24 PM
Hmmm...I'll look it up.
Linda Cree·6:24 PM
The TV episode that really
lifts my spirits is the Jam Session.
Carole Lombard·6:25 PM
Who is in that one?
Steve Archer·6:25 PM
Fred MacMurray, Kirk
Douglas
Linda Cree·6:25 PM
Yep
Carole Lombard·6:25 PM
Was Tony Martin on that
one?
Laura Leff·6:25 PM
Jay - Ten
episodes. None during the NBC run.
JAY HOPKINS·6:25 PM
Interesting that Laura
mention Anderson because I read that JB was quite upset about that. As one might
assume, JB was such a fine man.
TEN? I did not know that.
Interesting.
The NBC run was one year,
correct?
Laura Leff·6:26 PM
That's right...1964-65.
Steve Archer·6:27 PM
Well, that would be the
season after Gracie died, George seemed to take a little down time after that.
Laura Leff·6:27 PM
Say, for folks that came to
the chat a bit later...any comments on the Yosemite show for tonight?
Linda Cree·6:27 PM
Yes, Carole.
JAY HOPKINS·6:28 PM
The thing that
"kills" me about the Hope show is that the editing involves different
audiences. Not difficult audiences...different audiences.
Carole Lombard·6:28 PM
Where did the idea come
from? Was it based on anything in real life - or just that they were in the Bay
Area and what if they went to Yosemite?
Matt·6:29 PM
Was that the first time
they did a multi-part storyline?
Laura Leff·6:29 PM
Carole - I think my brain
is getting rusty...I feel like I know that, but it's not coming clearly to
mind. I remember theories on it, but I don't want to cite them and
be wrong.
JAY HOPKINS·6:30 PM
And...there's NOTHING
worse...than a rusty brain.
Carole Lombard·6:30 PM
I can't really imagine Mary
going somewhere like that, unless it's to the Ahwahnee Hotel and staying there.
Laura Leff·6:30 PM
Matt - Not really...depends
on what you call a multi-part storyline. They would do "Who
Killed Mr. X?" or "Grind Hotel" back in the 30s, which were
variations on a theme.
It FEELS like the Ahwanee
Hotel exchanged publicity for a stay there, since the product placement is so
clear.
But all the shows were done
in LA.
Steve Archer·6:31 PM
So, not to start one of
those "put Jack's cast in the movies" things, but for trivia's sake,
the Ahawahnee Hotel -interiors- inspired the Overlook Hotel in THE SHINING
JAY HOPKINS·6:31 PM
All interesting.
Laura Leff·6:31 PM
And it being in February,
they wouldn't have had a break since the fall to go up there.
Carole Lombard·6:31 PM
Did they really do the
payola-type thing? I know there was the joke about not having to pay for
hotels and the joke about getting free stuff, but I thought it was
a dig at other people.
Laura Leff·6:32 PM
Steve - You know, that's
right! One of the members did an article on it in the Times a while
back.
Carole - Well, let's put it
this way...
Carole Lombard·6:32 PM
'Nuff said...
Laura Leff·6:32 PM
When I interviewed John
Tackaberry's son, he told me they had a multi-car garage
Carole Lombard·6:32 PM
HA!
Laura Leff·6:32 PM
One of the garages was for
all the free stuff they were continually getting.
JAY HOPKINS·6:32 PM
Jack had sponsors, of
course. Hope and Jack would cross-reference sponsors, as we know.
Carole Lombard·6:33 PM
No Maxwells, I take it?
Linda Cree·6:33 PM
Yeah, remember Jack saying
The May Company ought to be sending them free stuff.
Laura Leff·6:33 PM
Like the line
"Rochester, go up and turn on my General Electric blanket."
Steve Archer·6:33 PM
Linda, they did - Mary! (rimshot)
Carole Lombard·6:33 PM
We ain't got a blanket.
Laura Leff·6:33 PM
"But boss, you don't
have one."
Carole Lombard·6:33 PM
We do now!
Laura Leff·6:33 PM
"I do now!"
Yeah!
Carole Lombard·6:33 PM
Brilliat
JAY HOPKINS·6:33 PM
"Jello," it's me,
Jack Benny.
Carole Lombard·6:33 PM
Those writers were very
clever
Linda Cree·6:34 PM
Good one, Steve!
Laura Leff·6:34 PM
Well, you all know what
happened when the sponsor sent over a multi-tiered Jell-O "cake"
Carole Lombard·6:34 PM
Jack didn't really eat
Jello, right? Did they get free cigarettes from Lucky Strikes and Grape Nuts
Flakes?
A cake?
Ewww
Laura Leff·6:34 PM
Or was purported to have
happened
JAY HOPKINS·6:34 PM
Groucho does that line in A
Night at the Opera, "Play, Don."
Laura Leff·6:34 PM
Jack didn't smoke
cigarettes...he liked a cigar with a green wrapper.
Carole Lombard·6:34 PM
"Who sent this
crap?" from the cook? Is that true?
Steve Archer·6:35 PM
I think Joan talks about
them having cartons of Luckies around but yes, Jack smoked cigars and Mary
smoked Parliaments.
Carole Lombard·6:35 PM
Must have given them to
friends.
Laura Leff·6:35 PM
Carole - I don't know for
sure. I'd think that any cook in Beverly Hills would have more
presence of mind than that.
Carole Lombard·6:35 PM
You'd think...
Michael Amowitz·6:35 PM
No time to comment much
here ... multitasking here and thought I'd be at dialysis 4 hours ago
Laura Leff·6:35 PM
Jack had to have a special
clause in his American Tobacco contract to allow Mary to smoke any brand she
wanted!
Michael Amowitz·6:35 PM
But I've never been to
Yosemite
And LSMFT'
Laura Leff·6:36 PM
Michael - As long as you're
enjoying, that's most important. Just happy to have you here.
Michael Amowitz·6:36 PM
Life is always interesting,
and so is this chat
Laura Leff·6:36 PM
I've not been to Yosemite
yet either. Have to remedy that one of these days!
Michael -
JAY HOPKINS·6:36 PM
Burns, of course, preferred
the rubber tip. On The Big Show with Cantor, Benny, and Jessel, George is
whiping the cigar paper from his mouth. George disliked that. Always natty.
Carole Lombard·6:36 PM
Did they do any magazine
ads for Lucky Strike or Grape Nuts? I've seen the Jello recipe
books. Yosemite is amazing.
Steve Archer·6:37 PM
Definitely for Luckies
Carole.
Laura Leff·6:37 PM
Yeah, George said that he
preferred 75-cent cigars because when he put them in his holder, they tasted the
same anyway.
Linda Cree·6:37 PM
Back in the Fall, Graeme
and I went to Mount Rushmore, so I can now check that off my bucket list.
Laura Leff·6:37 PM
Carole - Grape Nuts yes,
I've seen those.
Carole Lombard·6:37 PM
Really? They weren't with
them all that long - what? - three years or so?
Laura Leff·6:38 PM
Let's see...1942 to 1944
Until some jerk from GF
shot his mouth off to Jack.
JAY HOPKINS·6:38 PM
I think that George liked
Old Masters. "Give Me A Real Good Cigar."
Linda Cree·6:38 PM
Yosemite is still on my
list.
Carole Lombard·6:38 PM
So they were the sponsors
that Jack told to shove it while on the train?
Laura Leff·6:38 PM
Hi Yht!
Yhtap Mys joined the room
Michael Amowitz·6:38 PM
Hi Yht ... got to most
national parks but never that one ...yet
Laura Leff·6:39 PM
Carole - A bit of an
exaggeration. Some guy from GF told Jack to "watch it"
because his ratings were slipping
Yhtap Mys·6:39 PM
Hi, Laura. Hipchat's a
bloody pain.
Michael Amowitz·6:39 PM
wb yht
Laura Leff·6:39 PM
Glad you finally made it,
Yht!
Michael Amowitz·6:39 PM
and yes it is
and re wb yht
Laura Leff·6:39 PM
Sorry for any issues you
had! Feel free to contact me later with any errors/issues you were
encountering.
JAY HOPKINS·6:39 PM
Who, who...it yht? I guess,
I guess that I'm not part of the club.
Steve Archer·6:39 PM
hi yhtap
Carole Lombard·6:40 PM
Amazing that they had the
cajones to tell Jack Benny to watch it.
Yhtap Mys·6:40 PM
I got logged on to a
subscriber list while I arrived. Oh well.
Laura Leff·6:40 PM
Eh, I've known many
executives who think they're so powerful that they can say anything to anyone.
Carole Lombard·6:40 PM
Yhtap is here to drive our
blues away.
JAY HOPKINS·6:40 PM
We all want to be inclusive
here, so I'm leaving.
Laura Leff·6:40 PM
LOL Jay
JAY HOPKINS·6:41 PM
I finally got a laugh.
Linda Cree·6:41 PM
It's hard to imagine
because Jack's show was tops!
Laura Leff·6:41 PM
Exhibit A...James Aubrey
Carole Lombard·6:41 PM
God, he was a piece of
work.
JAY HOPKINS·6:41 PM
That's like Groucho's line,
"Hello, I must be going."
Laura Leff·6:41 PM
Well, the audience was
changing during WWII.
Carole Lombard·6:42 PM
Lucky Strike was very happy
with Jack, I'm sure.
Laura Leff·6:42 PM
Hope was on the rise, and
I'd have to look up who else was getting popular, and people just weren't
listening to Jack as much as they were in the late 30s.
Carole Lombard·6:42 PM
Skelton?
Laura Leff·6:42 PM
Oh yeah, they loved
Jack. At least until the late 50s.
Carole Lombard·6:43 PM
That's hard to imagine
because the shows were so good. I still prefer the Morrow/Beloin
shows though. But I have to say, the Ronald Colman era was great.
Steve Archer·6:43 PM
Speaking of the sponsors,
one of the "lost episodes" is that switch from Luckies to Lux - but
there are rerferences to Luckies all over the place, I'd be curious if they had
to work out some deal for that
Laura Leff·6:43 PM
See, Jack was #1 in 1940-41
and #5 in 1941-42
Linda Cree·6:43 PM
Jack's show still holds up
today and so many modern comedians idolize him.
JAY HOPKINS·6:43 PM
Hope was famous for loving
Jack Benny. Hope is a study, but does anyone know of anyone who didn't like Jack
Benny?
Laura Leff·6:44 PM
Steve - I wondered about
that too.
Carole Lombard·6:44 PM
Anyone know what happened
to those missing episodes in the early 40s? I keep seeing holes. Were they
really lost or just not in circulation?
Laura Leff·6:44 PM
41-42 has Charlie McCarty,
Fibber McGee and Molly, Walter Winchell, and Bob Hope ahead of him.
JAY HOPKINS·6:44 PM
You cats know your ratings.
Carole Lombard·6:44 PM
....Winchell? Seriously?
OMG.
Laura Leff·6:45 PM
Carole - Well, most of the
recordings we have are from Jack's transcriptions. So it's possible
that the transcriptions were broken, unplayable, missing, etc.
Yeah, tell that to Ben
Bernie...
JAY HOPKINS·6:45 PM
Still here. Warming the
cab.
Carole Lombard·6:45 PM
Harry Conn didn't like
Jack. At least not after he got the boot.
Laura Leff·6:45 PM
Well, he (Conn) had to
soften on that too.
JAY HOPKINS·6:45 PM
Cohn. That makes sense,
yes.
Carole Lombard·6:46 PM
I didn't know the surviving
shows are Jack's transcriptions! I wonder what happened? Were the copies in his
contract? They were very expensive back in the day. I think Vincent Price said
they cost around $50 each to get on disc.
Laura Leff·6:46 PM
Jack stayed #5 through
43-44, and then tied for 7th in 44-45.
JAY HOPKINS·6:46 PM
Even Harry Cohn,
post-mortem, decided that he "liked Jack Benny."
Carole Lombard·6:47 PM
Probably realized how wrong
he'd been.
Laura Leff·6:47 PM
Well, Jack was eventually
the only one buying material from him after he became a theatre doorman.
And you're right that
Skelton was ahead of Jack in 42-44.
Graeme Cree joined the room
Matt·6:48 PM
Wasn't Fibber McGee and
Molly ahead of Jack in that period?
Carole Lombard·6:48 PM
That was very kind of
him. It's amazing, though, that there was so little turnover on the
show, and everyone who left (except Phil) left because they thought they would
do better elsewhere (Kenny, Conn). I wold never have left that gig.
Laura Leff·6:48 PM
What I was told was that a
copy was made for Jack, a copy for the sponsor, and a copy for someone who had
contributed significantly to the show. So it might go to Dennis,
Phil, a writer, etc.
JAY HOPKINS·6:48 PM
If this place was the
"I Like" instead of "The International" Jack Benny Fan Club,
the doors would be already busted over.
Laura Leff·6:48 PM
Matt - Sure
was. Ahead of him in 44-45 as well.
Carole Lombard·6:48 PM
That was really expensive.
Did Phil leave because he was under contract with his own show and couldn't work
for CBS?
Or was it too much of a
strain?
Laura Leff·6:49 PM
Carole - Well, it depends
on whom you ask.
Graeme Cree·6:49 PM
I heard that they simply
couldn't afford him any more, with the radio budget going down, and mutually
decided to split.
Steve Archer·6:49 PM
Carole Lombard·6:49 PM
What is your expert opinion
- because you would know better than anyone alive - except perhaps for the
Harris girls.
Laura Leff·6:49 PM
You probably know the story
about Phil being only on the first half of the show and then running through the
alleys to warm up the audience for his own show
Carole Lombard·6:49 PM
Right.
Yhtap Mys·6:49 PM
CBS could have had him but
they wouldn't move Amos and Andy out of the time slot.
JAY HOPKINS·6:49 PM
I think that most folks
like the radio Benny shows more that the television shows. Is that true within
this chat group?
Carole Lombard·6:50 PM
Yes, Jay. Definitely.
Graeme Cree·6:50 PM
You'd think the TV show
would be better, but it's not.
Matt·6:50 PM
I much prefer the radio
shows. The TV shows always seem lacking because most of them don't
have the "old gang" there.
Laura Leff·6:50 PM
Well, Marty found some
documents that inferred that Phil might have thought he'd be the top comedy draw
for NBC when Paley was raiding.
It depends on which TV
shows and which radio shows.
JAY HOPKINS·6:50 PM
Interesting. I like the TV
shows, but the radio stuff is gold.
Linda Cree·6:50 PM
Agreed, Jay.
Graeme Cree·6:51 PM
I never understood where
CBS got all the cash for that raid, if they weren't on top.
Carole Lombard·6:51 PM
Well, Phil's show was one
of the best things I've ever heard - at least when Chevillet and Singer were
writing them.
Steve Archer·6:51 PM
I think of it as all one
big "Jack Benny Program". There are some TV episodes that
are terrific, and some radio shows that tank.
Laura Leff·6:51 PM
It's been asserted that
Phil thought he should have had a share of the money Jack got when selling
Amusement Enterprises to CBS
JAY HOPKINS·6:52 PM
NBC raided CBS. Remember
John Guedel? He told me a story about wanting to go with NBC w8th Groucho.
Graeme Cree·6:52 PM
Oddly, Phil's show is more
the Phil and Elliot show than the Phil and Alice show.
Carole Lombard·6:52 PM
I think one of the writers
put their finger on it when they said that everyone had their own idea of what
the sets and the cast looked like. And it was hard to replicate the more
outlandish things in radio.
Laura Leff·6:52 PM
It's also been alleged that
Mary had grown increasingly paranoid of Phil and was telling Jack that he needed
to get rid of him because Phil was trying to take over the show.
Carole Lombard·6:52 PM
Whoa.
I'm staring to think Phil
might be the mysterious Quentin you've mentioned.
Steve Archer·6:53 PM
Huh, that's a new one to me
Laura!
JAY HOPKINS·6:53 PM
I'm always interesting in
stories about Mary. George didn't like her. Duh.
Graeme Cree·6:53 PM
Not every bad rumor about
Mary is true. That one seems doubtful.
Laura Leff·6:53 PM
No. Phil was
only there from 1936 to 1952.
JAY HOPKINS·6:53 PM
"Interested."
Duh, again.
Carole Lombard·6:53 PM
Not Donsy?
Graeme Cree·6:53 PM
Phil was going the other
direction by the end. Had his own show, reduced role on Jack's show
resulting.
Carole Lombard·6:53 PM
Of course you can't say,
but who else?
JAY HOPKINS·6:53 PM
"Donsy"!
Carole Lombard·6:53 PM
I love Donsy
Laura Leff·6:54 PM
I think all the regular
cast was at Jack's funeral.
JAY HOPKINS·6:54 PM
Fat jokes.
Carole Lombard·6:54 PM
Was Quentin a cast member?
It's driving me crazy
trying to figure that one out.
Graeme Cree·6:54 PM
Quentin Collins?
Laura Leff·6:54 PM
Phil told me himself that
he wanted to ramp down his work to focus more on the family.
Carole Lombard·6:54 PM
So jealous you met Phil.
JAY HOPKINS·6:55 PM
Sonebody mentioned
"fat jokes" to me in relation to Wilson. Don appeared to take it in
stride. Who knows?
Laura Leff·6:55 PM
I have a theory on who
Quentin was, and if I am correct, he was not a regular cast member.
Carole Lombard·6:55 PM
I think he
said he didn't care, as long as they paid him.
He's on so many other shows
of that era! Nice of Jack not to keep him under an exclusive contract.
Laura Leff·6:55 PM
Don's a real
enigma. As much or more so than Eddie Anderson.
JAY HOPKINS·6:55 PM
Yes, Carole, that's what
Wilson said. Interesting.
Matt·6:55 PM
Why is Don an enigma?
Laura Leff·6:56 PM
If you haven't already seen
them, check out the Facebook page for great clips on his various divorces.
Carole Lombard·6:56 PM
Nice interview with Don on
Those Were the Days. Dennis, Elliot, Frank Nelson, and some of the
other crew as well.
Laura Leff·6:56 PM
He just didn't socialize
with anyone. No one knew much about him.
Matt·6:56 PM
Oh yeah, he was married
like 4 times.
Graeme Cree·6:56 PM
He seems like a great guy,
but was married 4 times. Either he's hard to get along with, or
didn't pick 'em very well.
Carole Lombard·6:56 PM
Yeah, what's the deal with
all the wives?
Graeme Cree·6:56 PM
I favor the latter theory.
Yhtap Mys·6:56 PM
The 3rd wife was a real
prize. She was divorced again in 1955.
Graeme Cree·6:56 PM
After all, he did finally
get it right.
Carole Lombard·6:57 PM
Lois was a great actress. I
hear her a lot and am really impressed. I heard a Halls of Ivy yesterday and she
played a racist woman. She was so good.
JAY HOPKINS·6:57 PM
I think there was anger
there, Matt. I certainly don't know this. They made so much fun of him on the
CBS TV show, certainly. Perhaps Don took this in stride. Hope so.
Carole Lombard·6:57 PM
She's on Phil's show a lot,
too.
Linda Cree·6:57 PM
Halls of Ivy is great.
Matt·6:57 PM
Aside from Lois, I don't
remember them mentioning any of Don's other wives on air.
Carole Lombard·6:57 PM
Oh, yeah. The writing is
excellent.
Laura Leff·6:57 PM
Yht - Yeah, was she the one
who got married to someone else the day after her divorce from Don was final?
Carole Lombard·6:57 PM
I remember hearing Peggy
mentioned on the air.
The one who was just
married when they all dropped in.
Laura Leff·6:58 PM
I'm envisioning Don being
married to Peggy Mondo.
Yhtap Mys·6:58 PM
No, that was Kent, I think,
Graeme Cree·6:58 PM
"We loooove the
Halllllls of Ivy.... Especially Mrs. Hallllll."
Carole Lombard·6:58 PM
She is divine! I love
Benita.
She's the best thing on
that show.
Yhtap Mys·6:58 PM
The Countess was dating
Ingrid Bergman's ex right after the divorce.
Laura Leff·6:58 PM
Yht - There ya go.
Carole Lombard·6:58 PM
No! Yhtap! Really?
Lindstrom?
Laura Leff·6:58 PM
And that wasn't Larry
Adler.
Yhtap Mys·6:58 PM
Yes.
Carole Lombard·6:58 PM
Did Ingrid and Larry really
have an affair?
Graeme Cree·6:59 PM
It's not called an affair
with Larry, it's a harmonic convergence.
Laura Leff·6:59 PM
I'm flashing back to Larry
telling me the story about Mary related to that.
Graeme - Wah wah wah
wahhhhhhh
Carole Lombard·6:59 PM
You have just won the
internet.
You met Larry Adler? Where?
Laura Leff·6:59 PM
Is that a good thing?
Carole Lombard·6:59 PM
It can be.
Steve Archer·6:59 PM
LOL Laura
Laura Leff·6:59 PM
I interviewed him in his
flat in London, and then he drove me to dinner!
Carole Lombard·6:59 PM
I lived there. Where did he
live?
Laura Leff·7:00 PM
It was...uh...scary!
JAY HOPKINS·7:00 PM
"Check, please."
I've seen so many inside references here that my eyeballs are cross-eyed from
the inside.
Carole Lombard·7:00 PM
His driving?
Laura Leff·7:00 PM
Hmmm
Carole Lombard·7:00 PM
Wrong side of the road?
Laura Leff·7:00 PM
Yeah, he was up there in
years at the time.
Not that bad.
Carole Lombard·7:00 PM
Oh, dear. I hope you had a
cocktail.
How did you manage to get
that interview? When was it?
Laura Leff·7:00 PM
It was an interesting
evening.
Carole Lombard·7:00 PM
Did you record any of your
interviews?
Laura Leff·7:01 PM
Back in
1998. He and I had corresponded for years.
Carole Lombard·7:01 PM
Wow.
Laura Leff·7:01 PM
Yah...I published that one
in the Times a while back. One of these days, I need to consolidate
a volume of just the interviewes.
interviews
Matt·7:01 PM
So what was the story about
Mary related to that?
Laura Leff·7:01 PM
Ah...let's see...
JAY HOPKINS·7:01 PM
"My eyeballs are
cross-eyed from the inside." Nothing.
Laura Leff·7:01 PM
So Larry and his girlfriend
at the time were with Jack and Mary
Sorry, Jay!
And they decided to go to
dinner...Jack driving Larry's girlfriend and Larry driving Mary.
JAY HOPKINS·7:02 PM
When I was in Altoona...
Michael Amowitz·7:02 PM
I remember Larry's widow
from the JB event ..
Laura Leff·7:02 PM
And on the way, Mary asked
Larry, "When you were on the USO tour, did Jack cheat?"
Michael Amowitz·7:02 PM
Must go ... so late ...
Happy Month y'all!
Laura Leff·7:02 PM
Michael - That was Larry
Stevens.
Be well, Michael!
Steve Archer·7:03 PM
bye Mike!
Carole Lombard·7:03 PM
She asked that?
Laura Leff·7:03 PM
She did!
Michael Amowitz·7:03 PM
lol, oops, saw
Larry...wasn't following
Carole Lombard·7:03 PM
Lordy...
Michael Amowitz·7:03 PM
Just the series of wives
and ex-0wives
Graeme Cree·7:03 PM
Larry: "Not
with ME!!!"
Laura Leff·7:03 PM
And Larry said to her,
"You know, if you weren't Jack's wife, I'd put you out of this car right
now!"
Michael Amowitz·7:03 PM
lol Graeme
Carole Lombard·7:03 PM
Good for him.
Michael Amowitz·7:03 PM
I forgot that one
Carole Lombard·7:03 PM
I have to ask....did Jack
have an affair with Ann Sheridan?
Laura Leff·7:03 PM
So then a short while later
Larry was driving down the
street, and Mary pulled up next to him...I think they may have both been in
convertibles
Michael Amowitz·7:04 PM
LL I'll hopefully see the
transcript later
JAY HOPKINS·7:04 PM
This this club accept old,
frozen Minnesota gentlemen? Just touching base for Nannok, you know.
Michael Amowitz left the
room (user disconnected)
Laura Leff·7:04 PM
And Mary shouted some very
inappropriate, overly personal question about Larry and Ingrid Bergman. (I've
never seen it quoted.)
JAY HOPKINS·7:04 PM
"Does" Difficult
to type with the mittens on.
Laura Leff·7:05 PM
Jay - I take it you're the
frozen Minnesota gentleman then!
So yes, Larry and Ingrid
were an item. But as far as I know, they were both single at the
time.
JAY HOPKINS·7:05 PM
Mary Benny. I hear she was
difficult. But...thin!
Carole Lombard·7:05 PM
Wow. That's weird behavior.
Laura Leff·7:05 PM
Larry said that he couldn't
marry her because he couldn't stand being "Mr. Ingrid Bergman."
Carole Lombard·7:06 PM
That's a shame.
Steve Archer·7:06 PM
Ya know, there are WORSE
things to be!
Laura Leff·7:06 PM
Yes, but Larry had quite an
ego on him.
Graeme Cree·7:06 PM
He needed to get a
transfusion from Gary Morton.
Laura Leff·7:06 PM
Ha!
Steve Archer·7:06 PM
LOL Graeme
Yhtap Mys·7:07 PM
Yeah.
Mr. Ingrid Krausmeyer.
JAY HOPKINS·7:07 PM
It would be interesting if
an honest Jack Benny bio came out.
Laura Leff·7:07 PM
So Jack and Ann Sheridan.
JAY HOPKINS·7:07 PM
Sheridan, yes.
Laura Leff·7:07 PM
Yes, maybe when I'm
retired!
Mary supposedly went up to
her at a party and snapped, "I have more sex appeal in my little finger
than you have in your whole body!"
JAY HOPKINS·7:07 PM
Laura, please come out with
an honest JB book.
Carole Lombard·7:08 PM
I heard about
that. They have that show where Jack supposedly kisses Ann. I
thought if it were true, that would be kind of cruel to Mary if she knew about
it.
Laura Leff·7:08 PM
I hope to some
day! But I need to make a living right now.
JAY HOPKINS·7:08 PM
Ha ha.
Laura Leff·7:08 PM
Well, that's a mixed bag.
There's a story that Mary
said to Jack that she didn't care if he messed around, as long as she didn't
find out about it.
And when George Burns had a
fling, he went to Jack for advice on what to do when Gracie found out.
Carole Lombard·7:08 PM
That's interesting...
JAY HOPKINS·7:09 PM
Yes, I read that. Same of
the beloved Gracie.
Laura Leff·7:09 PM
And one of the writers
wives' said to me, "They ALL messed around. That's just what
was done in those days!"
And on that story of Larry
Adler and Mary, he (completely without prompting from me) added,
Graeme Cree·7:09 PM
I bet they didn't all.
The people who did wanted
it to be unanimous so they wouldn't feel too bad.
Laura Leff·7:10 PM
"And if you REALLY
want to know, he DID and if I was married to her, I WOULD HAVE TOO!"
JAY HOPKINS·7:10 PM
Well...
It sort of infringes upon the image. "Sort of"?
Carole Lombard·7:10 PM
Ouch
Makes you wonder why they
stayed together, after Joan grew up.
Laura Leff·7:10 PM
Jack didn't believe in
divorce.
JAY HOPKINS·7:10 PM
We can all now make jokes
about his rubber tips. Thank you and good night.
Laura Leff·7:11 PM
He told someone, who told
me, that "When people don't love each other, you don't get
divorced. You just find ways of leading separate lives."
Or words to that effect.
JAY HOPKINS·7:11 PM
Yes. Jack did not believe
in divorce. Mary, I think, was difficult.
Laura Leff·7:12 PM
Mary was definitely
difficult in many different ways.
Graeme Cree·7:12 PM
Leading separate lives is
divorce in all but name.
Carole Lombard·7:12 PM
He must have loved her in
some way...those red roses after he died.
Laura Leff·7:12 PM
Yes, I think he felt kind
of responsible for her.
JAY HOPKINS·7:12 PM
Oh yes. I hate the story in
Burn's book about brushing Mary aside in order to see his dying friend.
Steve Archer·7:12 PM
Divorce was so much of a
bigger deal back then
Laura Leff·7:13 PM
A lawyer for Jack's estate
told me that there was a joke popular in Hollywood in the 40s or 50s
That Jack and Mary were
driving to Palm Springs
JAY HOPKINS·7:13 PM
The Burns and Benny
relationship is a famous one, of course.
Laura Leff·7:13 PM
And they find themselves
behind a truck full of bales of hay
Graeme Cree·7:13 PM
It was much harder to
get. You had to claim something terrible about the other
person. Some people lied to get a divorce, but others probably
weren't willing to.
Laura Leff·7:14 PM
Then the truck comes to a
bump, and promptly drops the load all over Jack and Mary.
And it was the first time
in 30 years that Jack and Mary were in the hay together.
Matt·7:14 PM
Ha!
Carole Lombard·7:14 PM
Ouch again
JAY HOPKINS·7:14 PM
Hah!
Steve Archer·7:14 PM
JAY HOPKINS·7:14 PM
Very good, Laura.
Laura Leff·7:14 PM
Well, when Bob Hope asked
Dolores for a divorce to mary Marilyn Maxwell, she wouldn't give it to him.
Matt·7:15 PM
They would have had to have
found Bob and Dolores's marriage record first.
Laura Leff·7:15 PM
So I'm sure that Mary would
have strongly resisted divorcing Jack, if the possibility ever arose.
JAY HOPKINS·7:15 PM
Benny: <pause>
"Give......what?"
Carole Lombard·7:15 PM
He wanted to marry Marilyn
Maxwell? I never knew that.
I guess Mary liked being
Mrs. Benny.
Laura Leff·7:15 PM
Supposedly. Feel
free to double-check that.
Graeme Cree·7:15 PM
Marilyn Maxwell was
unofficially known as Mrs. Bob Hope.
Matt·7:16 PM
That's the story in the
Arthur Marx book.
Carole Lombard·7:16 PM
You learn something new
every day.
Laura Leff·7:16 PM
Hey, who wouldn't like
becoming accustomed to living in that style?
Carole Lombard·7:16 PM
And the friends you'd have.
JAY HOPKINS·7:16 PM
I think that Burns, Hope,
and the beloved Jack Benny were as close as dried onions.
Laura Leff·7:16 PM
That would all leave as
soon as Jack died.
Graeme Cree·7:17 PM
Now, in the Bob Crosby
blowup, June claimed that he threatened to cut her off without a cent, but you
couldn't really do that, could you?
Carole Lombard·7:17 PM
Wasn't she friends with
Nancy Reagain?
Laura Leff·7:17 PM
Jay - Trying to figure out
if that means really close or the opposite.
Graeme Cree·7:17 PM
You have assets, you split
them, and a judge decides what the alimony is.
JAY HOPKINS·7:17 PM
Benny and Hope were
Republicans and close to Reagan.
Laura Leff·7:17 PM
Carole - She was
indeed. Had lunch with Nancy on the last day of her
life. Nancy said that Mary didn't look good and should see a
doctor.
Jay - True, but Jack was
also good friends with Truman, Kennedy, and Stevenson. He was
bipartisan.
Graeme Cree·7:18 PM
Hope was Republican, not
sure about Jack. He seemed more Apolitical with leanings to the
Democrats.
JAY HOPKINS·7:18 PM
Laura - no, you're correct,
Simmering onions.
Laura Leff·7:18 PM
Graeme - I know what
divorce laws in California are now, but not sure what they were then.
They were as close as a
moose and his hatrack.
Yhtap Mys·7:19 PM
Laura, yeah, the divorce
with Peggy Kent was final Dec. 3rd. She remarried Dec. 5th.
Graeme Cree·7:19 PM
Peggy is the weird
one. Don was, what? Her 4th husband, and she was in
her early 20's at the time?
Laura Leff·7:19 PM
Yht - Women. Geez.
Fickle.
La donna e mobile...
Graeme Cree·7:19 PM
How did Don not see that
that was bad news?
Steve Archer·7:20 PM
Wasn't there some kind of
Hungarian or Polish Princess in the mix for Don as well (sorry if this is all
over facebook - I don't do that)
Graeme Cree·7:20 PM
Yeah, she was #3.
JAY HOPKINS·7:20 PM
"Hello. This is Don
Wilson. Buy Candygrams."
Laura Leff·7:21 PM
Well, my father got sucked
into a situation like that. The woman wasn't that young, but had
cleaned out two men and told this big sob story about how much they abused
her. When you're telling an insecure man what he wants to hear,
sometimes logic is forsaken.
JAY HOPKINS·7:21 PM
Well...Don! If you can't
get OUT of a chair...forget about it.
Laura Leff·7:22 PM
Not sure if that was Don's
situation, but my data point.
JAY HOPKINS·7:22 PM
And I worked with this man
for forty years.
Again, I defer to Laura.
Linda Cree·7:22 PM
I wonder how many marriages
Peggy had in her lifetime.
Laura Leff·7:22 PM
So we're nearing the 2 1/2
hour mark...what else Benny-wise is on folks' minds?
Graeme Cree·7:23 PM
Didn't she re-marry days
after divorcing Don?
Linda Cree·7:23 PM
Yes
Laura Leff·7:23 PM
It's a rip-roaring chat and
I don't want to kill the conversation, just checking in.
Graeme Cree·7:23 PM
Well, that makes 5 and
counting.
She was young, maybe she
beat Liz Taylor.
Laura Leff·7:23 PM
Not a distinction I'd want.
Linda Cree·7:23 PM
And Mickey Rooney!
JAY HOPKINS·7:23 PM
"Rip roaring"?
Laura Leff·7:23 PM
I mean that in a good way.
Steve Archer·7:23 PM
I'm looking forward to
reading the scripts from Kathy that you posted Laura - haven't had the time to
dive in yet, but how fun!
Laura Leff·7:24 PM
Yeah! And
she's been at UCLA this week photographing more!
JAY HOPKINS·7:24 PM
Who was ripped and who was
roaring?...
Steve Archer·7:24 PM
So great those will be/are
available. Did Mary's first show script ever turn up?
Laura Leff·7:24 PM
It was probably me
roaring...I'm told my voice carries.
Steve - Yes...I published
it in the Times in 2011 I think.
Carole Lombard·7:25 PM
What is at UCLA besides the
scripts? I went there and worked in the archive in the 90s. I didn't know about
the Benny collection.
Linda Cree·7:25 PM
Kathy said she had 5,000
pages worth.
Laura Leff·7:25 PM
She found it in the Library
of Congres I believe!
Steve Archer·7:25 PM
Ah, super - I had forgotten
that.
Graeme Cree·7:25 PM
I have a feeling Mary's
first script would seem anti-climatic. We could read the lines but
it wouldn't feel like her talking.
JAY HOPKINS·7:26 PM
It's been fun to be part of
this chat, folks. Thank you so much.
Laura Leff·7:26 PM
Carole - Jack left a lot of
stuff there in 1968. So there are many papers, letters,
photographs, etc. I haven't even had time to go over all of it.
Carole Lombard·7:26 PM
I wish I'd known!!
Laura Leff·7:26 PM
Thank you
Jay! Come back again!
Carole Lombard·7:26 PM
Night, Jay!
Laura Leff·7:26 PM
Yeah...maybe if I get a
long well-paying gig, I'll take a long break after and go to LA for a while to
play in the archives.
JAY HOPKINS·7:26 PM
Take care, all.
Carole Lombard·7:26 PM
I wonder what was going on
in 68 that made that the time Jack donated it? Tax break?
Laura Leff·7:27 PM
I believe
so. I'd have to look up the article I found regarding it.
Matt·7:27 PM
I wonder how much material
from his vaudeville years are in those papers.
Laura Leff·7:28 PM
Actually, the vaudeville
joke idea book I published in the most recent Times I found in the Wyoming
collection!
Carole Lombard·7:28 PM
What's in Wyoming?
Graeme Cree·7:28 PM
Devil's Tower.
Jellystone Park.
Steve Archer·7:28 PM
That was a lot of fun Laura
- glad you put it in the Times.
Laura Leff·7:28 PM
Anything that was left
after Mary's death. So everything from 1968 to 1974, plus an
assortment of other things that were previously missedl.
JAY HOPKINS left the room
(user disconnected)
Laura Leff·7:29 PM
Steve - Thanks for
that. I wasn't sure if it would resonate with others the way it
does with me!
Carole Lombard·7:29 PM
I wonder how Wyoming ended
up with it? Interesting.
Laura Leff·7:29 PM
Well, Joan looked into
donating it to UCLA
But she would have had to
do a bunch of paperwork and pay a bunch of fees.
The American Heritage
Center stood up and said, "We'll take it, at no cost or inconvenience to
you."
Carole Lombard·7:30 PM
Okay, makes sense. I did
two collections while a student and I was paid for it, so I guess the money has
to come from somewhere.
Perri Harper·7:30 PM
Goodnight everybody--it's
all been so very interesting and I'm looking forward to the next chat!
Steve Archer·7:30 PM
bye Perri!
Laura Leff·7:30 PM
AHC must have come in and
just grabbed a bunch of stuff, because they even have some of Mary's junk mail.
Carole Lombard·7:30 PM
Night, Perri!
Laura Leff·7:31 PM
Good night Perri! Great
to "see" you!
Carole Wright coupons for
Mary Benny...
Carole Lombard·7:31 PM
The U of Wyoming is only
two hours from me. Maybe I will go up there sometime.
Linda Cree·7:31 PM
Hee hee!
Perri Harper left the room
(user disconnected)
Carole Lombard·7:32 PM
Her junk mail? Someone
didn't curate that.
Graeme Cree·7:32 PM
We passed through there in
October. Maybe we should have stopped there and skipped Deadwood.
Laura Leff·7:32 PM
I recommend
it. And the people there are delightful!
Carole Lombard·7:32 PM
Cool!
Weird that they would keep
the junk mail. If it's not relevant, you chuck it because you don't have enough
space. Odd.
Matt·7:32 PM
Well, I guess I know where
I'm donating my junk mail when I pass on.
Laura Leff·7:32 PM
The TV shows that went
there are the ones I was able to get out of the archives.
Steve Archer·7:33 PM
I think a special issue of
the TIMES featuring Mary's junk mail would be hilarious
Graeme Cree·7:33 PM
I'd like to donate mine to
them right now.
Carole Lombard·7:33 PM
Nice!
Linda Cree·7:33 PM
Good one, Matt!
Laura Leff·7:33 PM
LOL
I don't think there's
enough interesting or funny there that could make an issue honestly, BUT
Steve Archer·7:33 PM
Mary Benny - invest now in
Eva Gabor wigs!
Carole Lombard·7:34 PM
Who were Mary's real
friends in Hollywood?
Laura Leff·7:34 PM
there are a variety of
other random things that range from bizarre to boring to creepy
Carole Lombard·7:34 PM
Is the list online?
Matt·7:34 PM
Creepy?
Laura Leff·7:34 PM
Carole - Barbara Stanwyck,
Mel Blanc's wife
Steve Archer·7:34 PM
Carole, I know Claudette
Colbert was supposedly one.
Laura Leff·7:34 PM
There's a suicide note in
the collection.
Carole Lombard·7:34 PM
.....What?
Steve Archer·7:34 PM
oh lordy
Carole Lombard·7:34 PM
Whose?
Graeme Cree·7:35 PM
From Dennis, right??
Laura Leff·7:35 PM
It was written by one of
Mary's assistants to her own mother.
Matt·7:35 PM
Wow
Carole Lombard·7:35 PM
What was Mary doing with
it??? Did the person actually die?
Laura Leff·7:35 PM
But I found evidence of her
continuing to work for Mary some months past the date of the letter
Carole Lombard·7:35 PM
Guess not.
Gee whiz, why would she
have that?
Linda Cree·7:35 PM
Yeesh!
Laura Leff·7:35 PM
So I'm assuming she didn't
go through with it.
Carole Lombard·7:36 PM
Maybe Mary found it in the
house.
Laura Leff·7:36 PM
Yeah, I can only imagine
that the assistant may have inadvertently left it behind in some files or
whatever.
Matt·7:36 PM
Was Mary a packrat?
Laura Leff·7:36 PM
Not in the sense of
hoarders that you see on TV nowadays.
Matt·7:36 PM
I can imagine Jack doing a
parody of those shows.
Carole Lombard·7:36 PM
You've all been wonderful
and this has been a delight. Have a great night and I hope to see you all again
on another chat.
Laura Leff·7:36 PM
That's part of it too...you
see notes on what Mary was doing each day
Steve Archer·7:36 PM
The gas man is in the AHC
files in Wyoming!
Laura Leff·7:37 PM
Steve - Ha! I
love it!
Carole Lombard left the
room (user disconnected)
Linda Cree·7:37 PM
Laura would you post a
photo of your Benny table again? I'd love to see it.
Laura Leff·7:37 PM
And it's kind of
sad. Like arranging for a rug to be fixed, just really trivial
keep-busy stuff.
Linda -
Sure. I'll look for the photo in my files. Or just
snap a new one.
Linda Cree·7:38 PM
Thanks!
Laura Leff·7:38 PM
The occasional fan letter.
I kept waiting to run
across some of the letters I wrote to her that were relayed by Fred de Cordova.
Matt·7:39 PM
Did you ever meet Mary,
Laura?
Laura Leff·7:39 PM
So should we call it good
for this month and go back to Yosemite for February?
Matt - Sadly,
no. But I did get one hand-written brief letter from her.
Steve Archer·7:39 PM
Sure, seems we're winding
down. I am looking forward to the next chapter of the Yosemite saga
next month!
Night all!
Laura Leff·7:39 PM
Thanks for coming
folks....it's been wonderful!
Matt·7:40 PM
Good night--I've enjoyed
this chat.