Born On This Day- May 23rd... Betty Garrett

I was living in L.A. in the early 1970s & was fortunate enough to be an acquaintance of actress/singer Betty Garrett. We had met through a mutual friend, a Jesuit priest, who had taught her 2 sons. Her boys were actually my age, but I preferred to hang with the adults. I traveled in this circle for a couple of years, & although we never had a date, just the 2 of us, we saw each other with some frequency at dinners & parties.

We knew each other by name & I found her to be friendly, engaging, warm, & she could spin a delicious tale.

Garrett told me about her husband- Larry Park’s political history, & that because of their past affiliations with the Communist Party, thanks to Parks' involvement with people from the Group Theatre, Garrett & Parks became embroiled with the House Un-American Activities Committee, although only Parks was forced to testify. While Parks willingly admitted he had been a member of the party, he had refused to name others, although it was widely assumed that he had, & he found himself on the Hollywood blacklist.

Garrett also had trouble finding work, although as the mother of 2 young sons, she did not mind being unemployed as much as her husband did. Betty related to me that the only person that would see them socially in Hollywood was Frank Sinatra ( she played a woman in love with him in 2 films), who defied Hollywood convention & was open in his support of the couple with friendship & money.

The occasion was being received back stage by Betty Garrett, after her one-woman show- Betty Garrett & Other Songs at the Westwood Playhouse in Spring 1976. Betty Garrett had been my acquaintance for a while, but we had recently been at a very informal outdoor dinner thrown by mutual friends. Betty & I had a very special conversation that evening that ended with Betty offering house seats to her show the next evening. I took her up on the offer, & the show was terrific, after her last number, but before the curtain call, Betty looked into the house with her hands shielding her eyes & announced while pointing : “Celeste & Stephen… I want to see you both in my dressing room in a few minutes.” I turned to the person next to me & nudged & whispered- “That’s me… I'm that Stephen… I’m not Celeste.”

So, Oscar winner & consummate character actor Celeste Home, & a very young Stephen hung out in the dressing room. While Betty Garrett got out of costume & make up, Celeste Holm & our hero made small talk & loudly praised Ms. Garrett’s show. I declined an offer from the 2 amazing stars of Hollywood’s golden era to move on to the next party. Instead, I would opt for Studio One in West Hollywood, hoping that some hot man would shove that little brown bottle under my nose, the one that makes me feel so sexy & really connect with music… & I will meet a beefy redhead that will take me home, use me for my considerable talents & then make me breakfast.

I came to the fork in the road, & I made the wrong decision. I could have partied away the evening with the fabulous Betty Garrett & with the woman who introduced the world to the showstopper- I Can't Say No (by coincidence, the title of a chapter in my memoir), but I took the fork that got me forked later that evening.

I always glow a bit when I when catch Betty Garrett in an old film or a TV show. She had a 70+ year career in Radio, TV, Film & Stage. Her last public appearance was in summer 2010. Garrett appeared alongside former 2-time co-star- Esther Williams during Turner Classic Movies' first annual Classic Film Festival. Their film Neptune's Daughter was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, while a Williams-inspired synchronized swimming troop, The Aqualilies, performed.

Betty Garrett left this life at 91 years old in February 2011. She was surrounded by her family. Thanks for the outstanding performances, the stories, the kindness, & the pleasure of your company, lovely Betty Garrett. You will not be forgotten.

I experienced it this summer, like many summers before. A perfect summer evening with sunset at 10pm, 80 degrees, & a sky slowly hanging out its stars. I am a bit lubricated, in the back garden & the soundtrack for the twilight is Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967). This curious collaboration brought forth a nearly perfect album. I love Brazilian music & I am enamored of the Portuguese language, & most significant for me, Jobim is the composer of one of my favorite songs, a composition that I wish to be played at my memorial service. Take Note.

Antonio Carlos Jobim was brought in to our relationship by each of us separately. While taking a break from making out, The man that would become my husband & I were already madly in love with the same man. He was the best export from Brazil since coffee & the waxing of ladies’ Copacabana parts.

Even if they can’t name him right away as the composer, just about everybody knows some of the bossa nova music of Antonio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim. His seductive melodies have become part of the standard song repertoire throughout the world.

Jobim was born in l927 in Rio de Janeiro. He was a "beach boy" hanging out in the bars & coffeehouses along the white sand of Copacabana and Ipanema. He was immersed in his first love & he never did get around to becoming an architect as he had planned. So many kinds of music were popular in Brazil when Jobim was a young man in the 1940s, including the delicate harmonies of the French impressionists & American jazz. Jobim absorbed them in the the music of Brazil: the fast & fiery Afro-Brazilian sambas & the lush if lazy, Moorish ballads of Portuguese settlers.

Jobim creatively combined elements of all these styles into a fresh new “now” sound. He had his first big international hit with Desafinado, recorded by tenor saxophonist Stan Getz & guitarist Charlie Byrd in 1962. Check out Getz/João Gilberto album with Jobim’s creation that made musical history-The Boy From Ipanema featuring Getz, guitarist João Gilberto, &, as a last-minute addition, Gilberto’s wife- Astrud, on vocals. The entire album is stocked with superb Jobim songs, marvelously arranged.

I have a large selection of music form Brazil in my collection & Jobim’s work has been covered by many American artists. Add at least one of his albums to his collection.

His composition- Águas de Março is one of the most important songs in my life filled with songs. It is a collage, the musical version of The Husband’s assemblages. It is also a list song, & I love a list.

In both the Portuguese & English: a stick, a stone, a sliver of glass, a scratch, a cliff, a knot in the wood, a fish, a pin, the end of the road. The Waters Of March, the rainiest season in Brazil & the end of summer. This song gives me the image of the passing of daily life & the progression towards death. In both langauges, the lyrics speak of "the promise of life”. Regretful/Happy.


Jobim made sublime music to the end of his life. He died in 1994.

Everyone's Invited...

...to a birthday party!

JUDY GARLAND
June 10, 1922 - June 22, 1969

Born On This Day- December 11th... Francis Albert Sinatra

My favorite sound in the world is a baritone in song & my favorite baritone voice of all time is Frank Sinatra. I understand that he was a lout & a bit of a thug, but no matter what he was like as a human being, I find his pitch, cadence, phrasing & musicality to be the best of all time. I stand by my choice of his 1967 collaborative album- Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, to be a perfect album, in a league with Dusty in Memphis & Revolver. I am willing to put his Columbia “concept” albums with the Nelson Riddle arrangements: In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely, Nice 'n' Easy in the same category.





I think that he was talented &a nimble dancer, holding his own with Gene Kelly. He was an underestimated actor & screen presence, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, a nomination for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm, & critical acclaim for his work in The Manchurian Candidate. I still find his work to be engaging in the musicals as High Society, Pal Joey. Guys & Dolls & On the Town.


I was living in L.A. in the early 1970s & was fortunate enough to be an acquaintance of actress/singer Betty Garrett. She told me that because of their past affiliations with the Communist Party, thanks to Parks' involvement with people from the Group Theatre, Garrett & her husband- Larry Parks became embroiled with the House Un-American Activities Committee, although only Parks was forced to testify. While Parks willingly admitted he had been a member of the party, he had refused to name others, although it was widely assumed that he had, & he found himself on the Hollywood blacklist.

My friend Betty Garrett & the Chairman of the Board

Garrett also had trouble finding work, although as the mother of 2 young sons, she did not mind being unemployed as much as her husband did. Betty related to me that the only person that would see them socially in Hollywood was Frank Sinatra, who defied Hollywood convention & was open in his support of the couple with friendship & money.


After hearing his recordings for the past 50+ years, I am still moved when I listen to that voice. I think about how well he treated The Parks & his outrage at the racism faced by Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr. & other black entertainers. When I consider his difficult personality, I frame my feelings by his own words: "Being an 18-karat manic-depressive, & having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation.”




He recorded & toured well into his 70s. Sinatra died at 82 years old in 1998. Sinatra's last words: “I’m losing…”, not a phrase he needed much while he was working in show biz.

Born On THis Day- December 12th... Francis Albert Sinatra

My favorite sound in the world in a baritone in song & my favorite baritone voice of all time is Frank Sinatra. No matter what he was like as a human being, I find his pich, cadence, phrasing & musicality to be the best of all time. I stand by my choice of his 1967 collabrative album- Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, to be a perfect album. I am willing to put his Nelson Riddle arranged 1955 “concept album”- In The Wee Small Hours in the same category.



I was living in LA in the early 1970s & was fortunate to be an acquaintance of actress/singer Betty Garrett. She told me that because of their past affiliations with the Communist Party, Garrett & her husband- Larry Parks became embroiled with the House Un-American Activities Committee, although only Parks was forced to testify. While he willingly admitted he had been a member of the party, he refused to name others, but it was widely thought he had, & he found himself on the Hollywood blacklist. Garrett also had trouble finding work, although as the mother of two young sons she did not mind being unemployed as much as her husband did. Betty related to me that the only person that would see them socially was Frank Sinatra, who defied Hollywood convention & was open in his support of the couple with friendship & money. After being moved by his recording for the past 50+ years, I am still moved when I hear that voice.