R.I.P. Phyllis Diller

I absolutely adored her. Her appearances on Merv, Mike Douglas, & The Tonight Show certainly informed my sense of humor as a youth. I still leave myself as the main target of my own barbs.

She was underrated as an actress. She remains the warmest & most comedic Dolly Levi I ever witnessed, on Broadway in Hello, Dolly! in 1969 opposite Richard Deacon’s Horace, Phyllis Diller brought her comedic wit along to bounce down those red carpeted steps in her own special way.

Diller loved The Gays: "Gay men have the most wonderful sense of humor, they are willing to laugh. They appeal to me a& I appeal to them."

In the mid-1950s, Diller was a 37-year-old beleaguered housewife from Alameda with 5 children. A real pioneer, she worked advertising, & then started to perform  in the nightclubs of North Beach, the bohemian section of San Francisco humming with counterculture offerings: jazz clubs, strip joints, gay bars & beatnik hangouts. Diller made her debut at The Purple Onion. When she came onstage in second-hand evening clothes, highlighted by a ratty fur piece & a cigarette in an elegant holder, the predominantly gay audience was immediately charmed.

Diller returned the favor. Her one-liners skewered her gawky looks & her domestic life,  but she never stooped to the homophobic humor of the time, even though gays were an easy mark during the McCarthy era.

Diller: "No, no, no, no… in fact, Joan Rivers & I both absolutely insist that we never would have got started without our gay audience. They were the first to actually accept us as funny women."

She paved the way for Chelsea Handler, Roseanne Barr, Joan Rivers & Ellen DeGeneres. She was the first female standup to headline in Las Vegas. She appeared on Broadway, in films & on TV. In addition to be a performer, Diller was an author, recording artist, spokesperson, gourmet cook, entrepreneur, concert pianist, philanthropist, humanitarian & beloved within the industry.

Diller had a long life, leaving us today at 95 years old.

Born On This Day- August 17th... Mae West

 

Her career started in 1907 & her last appearance was in 1978. Talented Mae West worked in vaudeville, on radio, on Broadway, in Las Vegas & in films. Her 1927 Broadway play- Sex opened to bad reviews, boffo box office, & was ultimetly closed down by the police. She was charged with & served time for "corrupting the morals of the youth". While incarcerated she ate her meals with the warden & his wife & told the press that she wore her silk panties under her prison garb.

Throughout the 1930s her films were anticipated as major events, but by the end of the decade she seemed to have reached her limit & her popularity waned; puritanism was on the rise & censorship was severely limiting her career. After making The Heat's On in 1943, West planned to retire from the screen, & went back to Broadway. In 1954, when she was 62, she began a nightclub act in which she was surrounded by her musclemen; it ran for 3 years & was a surprise success. West is the author of a rather readable memoir- Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It.

At 77 years old she appeared on the film Myra Breckinridge with Farrah Fawcett, Tom Selleck & Raquel Welch. In the mid-1970s she released an album of rock & roll covers- Great Balls Of Fire. But for me, Mae West is remembered best for her quips, including Stephen's words to live by: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful"

Considering Myrna Loy On Her Birthday

Myrna Adele Williams was born on this date in 1905, in rural Montana, & she moved to Southern California in 1912, the sunny warm weather was thought to be of help for her mother's ill health. She found work in the chorus that performed live between features at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. She was noticed by Rudolph Valentino & a hired as an extra for the film-  Pretty Ladies, in which she & fellow newcomer Joan Crawford were among a bevy of chorus girls dangling from an elaborate chandelier.

Loy's high pitched voice made her transition to talkies difficult. She was often cast as "Oriental" or Mexican in her early sound films. Her performance in Penthouse (1933) convinced the MGM brass to cast her opposite William Powell in the first of the 6 Thin Man features, 1934's The Thin Man in which she portrayed Nora Charles. The film was a huge success & she found her well deserved Hollywood stardom. She became Hollywood's perfect wife, bright, witty & humorous. Loy took a break from films during WW2, except for another film as Nora Charles, to devote herself to Red Cross work & selling war bonds.

She returned to the movies in 1946 making such terrific films as The Best Years of Our Lives(1946), Song of the Thin Man (1947), the last of the series, The Bachelor & the Bobby-Soxer (1947), Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House(1948), The Red Pony (1949), Cheaper By The Dozen (1950), & the sequel- Belles On Their Toes(1952).

She became more involved with liberal politics & only acted occasionally for the rest of her life. From 1949-1954 she served as a film advisor for UNESCO & she served as an advisor to the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing. She appeared in Midnight Lace & From the Terrace (1960), The April Fools(1969), Airport 1975, The End (1978), & Just Tell Me What You Want (1980). She starred in several films for TV & made her Broadway debut in 1973 in a revival of The Women.

Like her friend- Cary Grant, she never received an Oscar for acting. She received an honorary Academy Award in 1991. Myrna Loy passed away in NYC during surgery on December 14, 1993. Class act, deserving of being the Husband’s favorite. He has the best of taste.

Born On This Day- July 16th... Barbara Stanwyck

When asked my favorite male & female stars of Hollywood's 1st golden age; I have no problem in announcing Barbara Stanwyck as my female choice.

Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens in Brooklyn. She had an unusual beauty & distinctive husky voice & was an extremely versatile actor, easily moving between, melodrama, thrillers, westerns & comedies. The buzz was that she was wonderful to work with, professional, fun on the set, & never acted like the star that she was.

Stanwyck was nominated for 4 Oscars, but never won. In 1982, Stanwyck was awarded an honorary Oscar for "superlative creativity & unique contribution to the art of screen acting". Later in her career Stanwyck found work in TV, starring in the series The Big Valley & the miniseries The Thorn Birds (kissing the very gay Richard Chamberlain).

Stanwyck left a legacy of 93 films including one of my top 10 of all time- Ball Of Fire, with my male choice for best of the golden age- Gary Cooper. Stanwyck married twice, the first time to vaudevillian Frank Fay & the second time to Robert Taylor. Although she rebuffed any questions about her sexuality or her marriages, most of the Hollywood community believed that neither Stanwyck nor either of her husbands was straight.

In my research, I don’t find many names named for Stanwyck’s lovers. She seems to have been both discreet & well loved by those in the industry. There were the usual suspects- Joan Crawford & Tallulah Bankhead, not all that impressive as they both fucked me.

"Career is too pompous a word. It was a job, & I have always felt privileged to be paid for what I love doing."

Born On This Day- July 1st... Deborah Ann Harry

Summer 1979, I am living in the historic Browne’s Addition of Spokane. After spending the mid-1970s living in NYC, I have moved back to the city where I grew up, trying to re-group & decide what to do next. I immediately got work in the theatre. I never would have believed when I left Spokane in 1972, on the day I graduated from high school, I would find myself wanting to a be a big fish in a tiny pond, instead of the tiniest minnow in the very biggest pond & so I return to my hometown.

I spot this girl in an aisle at the supermarket. She is wearing cat glasses & a leopard skin coat over a tiny black jumper & a skirt of tropical fruit themed oil cloth, paired with cowboy boots. I had only seen this type of female in NYC & certainly not in tried & true, conservative Spokane. I cruised her for a bit, before getting up the nerve. ME: “Excuse me, but I just need to tell you how fabulous your look. You can’t possibly be from Spokane. You are really putting it out there? SHE: “Well, I’m not from here, but I am here now. I know I look fabulous; that’s what I do, & you look like a pud. But, I think I like you sweetie. Wanna come to a party with me?”

I go to this party with my new friend. There are boys kissing boys, boys kissing girls, girls kissing girls. I drink something handed to me & I smoke something passed to me, I snort something on the coffee table, & I was really loving the music. I was loving the music a great deal. It was my first time hearing Blondie & the song was named- Heart Of Glass & I am crazy for it. I dance for hours.

I bought the album- Parallel Lines with the songs like One Way Or Another & Sunday Girl. I am zany for Blondie, but I stayed with Debbie Harry after the breakup of Blondie & I have never strayed far away.

Rapture was my first rap song. I have had several firsts with Debbie Harry.*

I am crazy for her solo albums & her work with Jazz Passengers.  As the face & sound behind one of new wave's most influential bands to emerge during the punk heyday of the 1970s, Harry was the ultimate diva. She was the Blondie front-woman, a vixen with hypnotically wild stage moves & an edgy cool voice. A killer sneer matched her signature blonde hair & made her a star. I love her. She is a goddess to me. Debbie Harry is my muse. Debbie Harry is a Gay Icon.

Not enough to be an influential musician, her acting career spans over 30 film roles & numerous TV appearances. She looks & sounds astoundingly hot at 67 years old. Today is her birthday.

*Sordid footnote: I did mushrooms with the husband, circa 1980, & I had a sequence of time during that experience, where I went “into” The Husband’s medieval Flemish tapestry. I was walking the candle lit hallways of a castle, wearing stunning Aramini clothing. The soundtrack from this debauched adventure was Call Meby Blondie.

I'll Cry Tomorrow... Born On This Day- June 30th... Edythe Marrenner

"When you`re dead, you`re dead. No one is going to remember me when I`m dead. Oh, maybe a few friends will remember me affectionately. Being remembered is not the most important thing anyhow. It`s what you do when you are here that`s important."


I was late in coming to appreciate Susan Hayward. When I was younger I was not attracted to the turgid, soapy films that seemed to be her specialty. He movies blended into one big melodrama about a pill popping alcoholic on death row who sings an overwrought song before she dies. After revisiting Valley Of The Dolls in my 40s, I came to appreciate her stunning beauty &, her style, & her portrayals of strong determined women.

She worked as a photographer’s model in NYC before traveling to Hollywood in 1937 to audition for David Selznick for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. She was not even seriously considered, but Hayward managed to secure a contract & was given her new name by her 1st manager.

Hayward's first film appearance was as a ‘starlet at table’, in Hollywood Hotel. Hayward played many early minor roles, she later said that she “paid her dues” as a newcomer. The determined Hayward was finally had a more substantial role in Beau Geste (1939) opposite Gary Cooper.

She made a strong impression opposite John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (1942) & played opposite him again in The Fighting Seabees (1949). Hayward’s roles & films improved, & her popularity with the audiences increased.

Haywards performance in Smash-up: the Story of a Woman(1947) was an introduction to the type of strong willed woman she would play many times. Her portrayal of an alcoholic club singer earned Hayward an Academy Award nomination. Susan received another Oscar nomination for her work in My Foolish Heart (1950). In 1951, she starred opposite Gregory Peck in the lavish biblical epic David & Bathsheba. Her 3rd Academy Award nomination came for her role in With a Song in My Heart (1952), based upon the real life story of singer Jane Froman who persevered after being seriously injured in a plane crash. Hayward gave another outstanding performance in the bio-pic of Lillian Roth- I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955). Miss Roth, was a singing star of the 1920s & 1930s, who survived to write about her life as an alcoholic. Nominated again for the Oscar, Susan did not win that year.

Susan Hayward finally won her Oscar, & the NY Film Critics Award, & the Golden Globe for I Want To Live!. the fictionalized story of Barbara Graham, an innocent woman sentenced to die. Oddly enough, I Want To Live, I'll Cry Tomorrow, & Smash-Up are titles of chapters in my own memoir- Jockstraps & Vicodin: The Early Years. Perhaps Miss Hayward was a big influence on my early life after all.


In 1972 she was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Speculation continues to this day about the possible cause. In 1956 she worked on the film The Conquerors which was filmed in the Utah desert. The location was 137 miles from a nuclear testing site that was fully in use at that time. Crew & cast of that movie included John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, Dick Powell, John Hoyt, & Pedro Armendáriz. Of the 144 people involved in making this film, 91 developed cancer & 46 had died of cancer by 1972.

Susan Hayward appeared in more than 60 films, & many TV programs. She died too young at age 57 in 1975. Intensely private, she was perceived as cold, icy, aloof, & not one for small talk or interviews, but she was known as an intelligent conversationalist among her friends. She did not like socializing with crowds. She disliked homosexuals & effeminate men. Hayward & I have that in common... just kidding. I love a super butch guy, but I am a sucker for a sissy. She turned down a role because George Cukor was the director. Susan was a John Wayne sort of girl. Ironic then, that she should become a camp icon for her emotional, hyper, overstrung work... especially as Helen Lawson in the gay fave- Valley Of The Dolls. Most directors enjoyed Susan’s professionalism & her high standards. She was considered easy to work with, but she was not chummy after the cameras stopped. I find her to be one of the most beautiful actresses of her time. Susan Hayward was greatly admired for her strong individualism. You have to admire that.

Born On This Day- June 30th... Gay Icon, Lena Mary Calhoun Horne

"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it."

She was my father's favorite movie star & he has a story of filling her automobile's gas tank at the gas station he worked at on La Cienega Boulevard in 1944. Lena Horne had a primary occupation of nightclub entertaining, a profession she pursued successfully around the world for more than 60 years, from the 1930s to the 1990s. Besides her club work, she also maintained a recording career that stretched from 1936 to 2000 & brought her 3 Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. She appeared in 16 feature films & several shorts between 1938 & 1978. She performed occasionally on Broadway, including in her own Tony winning show- Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981/1982; & she sang & acted on radio & TV.

Adding to the challenge of maintaining such a career was her position as an African-American facing discrimination personally & in her profession during a period of enormous social change in the U.S. Her first job in the 1930s was at the Cotton Club, where blacks could perform, but not be admitted as customers.

By 1969, when Horne acted in the film Death of a Gunfighter, her character's marriage to a white man went unremarked in the script. Horne herself was a pivotal figure in the changing attitudes about race in the 20th century; her middle-class upbringing & musical training lent he talent to the popular music of the day, rather than the blues & jazz more commonly associated with people of color. Lena's photogenic beauty was close enough to Caucasian that frequently she was encouraged to try to "pass" for white, something she consistently refused to do. But her position in the middle of a social struggle enabled her to become a leader in that struggle, speaking out in favor of racial integration & raising money for civil rights causes. By the end of the century, Horne could look back at a life that was never short on conflict, but that could be seen ultimately as a triumph.

Horne was closely associated with the songs of her friend-the openly gay Billy Strayhorn.

She left this world 10 years after the start of the new century, with a legacy of the music & images of her stunning beauty.

Born On This Day- June 10th.. Francis Ethel Gumm

How can I come up with a gay connection to Judy Garland? Lets see… her father was gay, 2 of her husbands were gay, the man she hand picked as a husband for her daughter was gay, her gay fans remained her most steadfast fans through the drugs & the booze ups & downs, the fruit of her loins was Liza Minnelli & then there is that little film- The Wizard Of Oz.

42 years after her death, Judy Garland remains the very definition of gay icon. Her failed relationships, her self-doubt, & her battle with substance abuse are aspects of a life that most of us can identify with, while her live performances reflect a truth & freedom that are desired by anyone that has wasted time hiding their own emotions.

Gay culture can't escape Garland's influence. The Stonewall riots have been attributed to the anger & grief felt on Garland's funeral that day. The term- "Friend of Dorothy," is from our identification with Garland's most famous role.

Garland's 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall is a landmark in Show Biz. 2 years earlier, she had been advised to retire from performing after being diagnosed with hepatitis, but instead she took on a series of concerts in Europe & the USA that reestablished her reputation as the top entertainer of all time. The Carnegie Hall show is regarded as the greatest evening in show-business history. The live recording of that concert spent more than a year on the Billboard charts & won 7 Grammys, including Album of the Year.

Last year, my dear friend- WCK3 & I stayed up late into the night watching CDs of her TV show from the early 1960s. I was entranced by her presence & horrified by the histrionics. Sometimes when listening to her recordings, I am off put by the feeling that she sings every single song as if it were her last. Her over the top interpretations of the great standards push me away. But, then I hear her original version or her late in life version of Over The Rainbow & I end up crying. Judy Garland loved her fans & they loved her back. I love her for that.

Born On This Day- June 6th... Sandra Bernhard

"Gayness is a non-issue."

I am just crazy about her. I have seen Sandra Bernhard perform live 6 times (that I remember), including a non-concert question & answer session at the University of Washington in the mid-1990s... & she never disappoints.

Bernhard: “My father was a proctologist & my mother was an abstract artist, so that's how I view the world."

Bernhard gives us her hysterical insight, outspoken & hilarious diatribes on the state of modern culture with her smart classic rock attitude. Sandra is fresh, crazy & real. She inspires & invigorates.

Bernhard has staying power. 28 years after she broke out with her off-Broadway show- Without You I'm Nothing, Bernhard stays with me. Mouthy, obnoxious & a rumored lover of Madonna, I have loved her from her stint as Nancy Bartletto on Roseanne.  The NY Times: "…a living, breathing bonfire." Critic Camille Paglia :" While many of her peers pander to the mainstream, Sandra Bernhard challenges fans and critics alike with her knife-edged satire, insightful observations of pop culture, & emotive performances.”

Her accomplishments include comedy, film, TV, music & books. Bernhard has crafted a unique agenda of social commentary, biting humor & satire, mixed with music.

Bernhard toured nationwide in her shows-Without You I'm Nothing & Giving Till It Hurts. She is also a bestselling author, May I Kiss You On The Lips Miss Sandra is her 3rd book.  I own all her books including a signed copy of Without You... She has also written articles for Vanity Fair, People, Rolling Stone, Elle, & Spin.

Bernhard received raves for her performance in my favorite Scorcese flick- King of Comedy. She has been seen in such films as Track 29, Hudson Hawk,& Unzipped, & on TV on Will & Grace, The Sopranos, & Ally McBeal. From 1991-1996 she played the fiercely independent & always outspoken Nancy on Roseanne.

Bernhard is touring this summer in her new show- Sandrology, a hybrid of vocals, cabaret, burlesque, political & social commentary, & stream of consciousness. Bernhard claims that Sandrology is a big old-school show with an amazing rock band & great songs about what is happening in society, politics, pop culture, & her life. Bernhard is playing 6 shows in Seattle during solstice weekend & I think I need to be there.

Fierce, tender,confrontational, yet vulnerable,  funny, philosophical & always controversial, I love her. I want Sandra & Harvey Fierstein to come for cocktails in the Boys’ Fort this summer. That would be a whole bunch of big Jewish fun!

Good-Bye Norma Jeane

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius
 & it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

50 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe lives on as an enchanting enigma. She was the most famous woman in the world, & maybe the greatest movie star we'll ever know, but her true nature will be forever out of reach. The most endlessly talked about & mythologized figure in Hollywood history, Monroe remains the ultimate superstar, her rise & fall the stuff that both dreams & nightmares are made of.

I thought that Michele Williams came close to getting it right in the charming- My Week With Marilyn.  Williams accomplishes the near impossible, portraying Marilyn Monroe as an actual person, not just an easily caricatured icon. The films centers around the production of Laurence Olivier's film The Prince & The Showgirl. Based on a pair memoirs by Colin Clark, played in the film by adorable Eddie Redmayne,  who worked as an assistant on Olivier’s film, My Week With Marilyn shows Monroe’s numerous clashes with her imperious, classically trained director, played with great relish by Kenneth Branagh, maddened by his star’s method acting & her ever-present drama coach, Paula Strasberg (Zoë Wanamaker). Williams captures not only Monroe’s notorious fragility, both on-screen & off, but also her magical, unclassifiable charisma. My Weekend With Marilyn entertained & touched me. I recommend the film.

Marilyn Monroe, star of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot, How to Marry a Millionaire & Bus Stop, was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on this day- June 1, in 1926, appropriately, in LA.

She signed her first studio contract with 20th Century Fox in 1946 for $125 a week, Norma Jeane dyed her hair blonde & changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.

Monroe was divine & profane, & she soon became myth & metaphor as Hollywood’s most famous martyred saint. At the height of her fame, she had received 5,000 fan letters a week. Many were from men, but women who wrote about the sadness in her eyes, her vulnerability, & how they identified with her.

From Monroe’s first film, Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!, in 1948, to her last, The Misfits, in 1962, she went from studio created blonde bimbo to a trained, heartbreaking actress of depth & soul. She is beyond camp, making different than Jayne Mansfield & Mamie Van Doren, who Hollywood used to replace her. She was irreplaceable.

Amazingly, Monroe still sells magazines & the May 2012 issue of Vanity Fair arrived in my mailbox with MM on the cover & featured even more "just discovered" photos of her by Lawrence Schiller. Never think you have seen the last of something.

On an early morning in the summer of 1962, Marilyn died in her sleep at her Brentwood, California home. Suicide, accident or murder? She was 36 years old. Marilyn remains a most important Gay Icon. She would have been 85 years old today.

Born On This Day- May 24th... Robert Allen Zimmerman & Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards

When I consider Gay Icons, should I consider Patti LaBelle?  I am going to confess that I have never really followed Labelle & I have none of her music in my collection, even when I have enjoyed seeing her on TV, even if she scares me a bit.

I need to reconsider Labelle. The Grammy-winning diva has survived 45+ years in the music industry while never losing support from the gay community.  LaBelle: "That's why I think I'm still in this business," she explains, "because my gay following keeps me going. I'm every gay man's mother—come and sit on mama's lap! It ain't no sugarmama stuff either… they just really connect. Maybe because I looked like a drag queen back in the day & I still can go there if I want. When I wore those outrageous hairstyles, I guess they said, ‘She's really out.’ I'm not a gay woman; I'm just a woman who loves people.”

“Gay people, they can keep you in style. You better have a queen up there in that closet, honey. Trust me: It's not that only gay people have style. I'm straight & I have style. I can dress myself, but it's good to have a queen with a great eye. Most straight men can't do hair, they can't do makeup & they can't be a stylist. I don't know if there are any lesbian stylists, but it's usually men who want to emulate a woman. I know some of my gay friends, they make their faces up & they put on drag. Like RuPaul: you can’t find a woman that looks as good as RuPaul... not many! So they practice what they preach. That's why, honey, if you say a straight man is coming to do my hair or my face…leave them home!”

LaBelle turns 68 years old on this day- May 24^th. Today also marks the birthday of Bob Dylan, turning 72 today, who is decidedly not gay, or in any way a Gay Icon, but a favorite at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia. So I have paired them together, LaBelle doing Dylan:

Born On This Day- May 20th... Gay Icon Cherilyn Sarkisian Bono Allman

Today is a High Holy Day in Gaydom- The birthday of Cher.

Cher & I have something in common, I don't mean sleeping with David Geffen. We have both been on our Living Proof: The Farewell Tour for the past decade. Cher's tour is the 2nd most successful tour by a female solo artist of all time. I felt lucky to book my own back yard.

Cher dropped out of high school at age 16 & moved to L.A.. She had her initial taste of Hollywood stardust when she was involved in a minor car accident with Warren Beatty. He then seduced her. Cher remembers the encounter as "a disappointment".

Cher has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, & 3 Golden Globe Awards for her work in film, music & television. Cher is the only female solo artist to reach the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in each of the previous 5 decades. I think she showed serious acting chops as early as the sketches on the Sonny & Cher Show. Cher was absolutely terrific (& Oscar nominated) as a lesbian in Mike Nichol's Silkwood with Meryl Streep. Moonstruck is on of my top 10 movies of all time list (& one of my favorite soundtrack albums).

Cher's career had some ups & downs, but all the downs were followed by another hit record or a first rate acting achievement (Robert Altman's Come Back To The 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean). The longevity of her musical career has given Cher some amazing stats: the oldest female performer to chart a #1 hit, with Believe in 1999, when she was 53 years old. She first hit the Top 100 with I Got You Babe in 1965, & had a hit with Song for the Lonely in 2002, a span of 37 years. She also holds records for the longest gap between #1 songs, from Dark Lady in 1974 to Believe in 1999. With a career lasting 40+ years, Cher has sold over 100 million records. Cher returned to Las Vegas in 2008 where she is currently performing her show Cher at the Colosseum. Cher & Las Vegas are perfect together.

Cher is an active member Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG), & has admitted to having had lesbian affairs in the 1970s. It is my understanding that Gay people really like her.

Snap Out Of It!

The Husband: Cher!

Stephen: Where?

The Husband: There!

Stephen: Cher? Where?

The Husband: There Cher!

Stephen: There Cher?

The Husband: There! Cher!

Stephen: Cher!

Things that I love about Cher:

Silkwood, Mask, Come Back To The 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean,Tea With Mussolini, & most especially- Moonstruck, possibly my favorite film of all time.

Bang Bang, I've Got You Babe, The Way of Love, The Beat Goes On

"Men should be like Kleenex... soft, strong & disposable"

A #1 Single in each of the past 6 decades

Sonny

Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar

Chaz

Farwell Tours

Rob Camilletti, Warren Beatty, Gene Simmons, Val Kilmer & Tom Cruise

Donald Trump calls her "a loser!"

Academy Awards appearances

The memorable outfit worn in the music video of If I Could Turn Back Time

"After a nuclear holocaust, all that will be left are cockroaches & Cher."

“I’VE LOOKED THE DEVIL IN THE FACE, & GOD, & SOMEHOW I'VE FOUND A BALANCE. BUT BEING EXTREME IS AT THE SAME TIME A BALANCE - ONE EXTREME BALANCES THE OTHER.”

Today- May 19^th, is the 64^thbirthday of the startling & singular model/actor/singer/songwriter/ Fashion Icon/Gay Icon- Grace Jones. She deserves better, but I am too pooped to post.

I am curling up on some Warm Leatherette after a night of Nightclubbing because I am a Slave To The Rhythm. Please forgive me, dear readers, you know that I Am Not Perfect (But I Am Perfect For You).

“IF YOU'RE OUT THERE… YOU'RE VULNERABLE. PEOPLE PREFER TO DISAPPEAR IN LIFE, TO REPRESS THEIR PERSONALITY. THAT'S NOT LIVING. IT'S DYING. I SEE THEM ALL OVER THE PLACE, THE WALKING DEAD.”


Remember, this is 20+ years before Lady Gaga. Grace Jones in unworldly.

Love To Love You Baby

I cannot put into words the emotions that were generated by LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY in the late summer of 1975. It was an aural & sensual thrill that had my 21 year old blood afire. I had great deal of quality sex to that song. Now, gone at only 63… the talented Donna Summer is as dead as my sex life.

Love to Love You Baby was her American chart debut & the first of 19 #1 dance hits from 1975 to 2008, second only to Madonna. During the disco era she burned up the charts: She was the only artist to have 3 consecutive double-LPs hit #1: Live & More, Bad Girls & On the Radio. She was also the first female artist with 4 #1 singles in a 13-month period.

She was never comfortable with the Disco Queen label. Musically, she began to change in 1979 with Hot Stuff, which had a tough, rock 'n' roll beat. Her diverse sound helped her earn Grammy Awards in the dance, Rock, R&B & Gospel categories. Loved her music. I am considering that I may be getting too old for this world.

Kate Was Great... Considering Katharine Hepburn On Her Birthday- May 12th

Post Apocalyptic Bohemian favorite writer- Gore Vidal vouches for his buddy- Scotty Bowers, who claims that he set Katharine Hepburn up “with over 150 different women” in his dishy, juicy book- Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood & the Secret Sex Lives of Stars, which I read in 2 sittings back in February.

Vidal flew in to L.A. to be part the book’s release event. He wanted to assure attendees that Bowers is totally telling the truth. In a speech, he told partygoers he’s never caught Bowers in a lie in the 60+ years he’s known him, noting that in L.A. “you can meet 1,000 liars a day". I think there is a difference between never catching someone in a lie as opposed someone has never told a lie, but I will take Vidal & Bowers at their word: Katharine Hepburn was a very sexually active lesbian. That closet door is now open.

If you don’t want to go with Bower’s version, try noted film historian- William J. Mann's Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, published in 2004.  Mann tells that the epic romance of Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy was a fable cultivated by Hepburn to hide their bisexuality. The pair of stars were sexually complicated screen legends that had an enduring companionship but were only briefly passionate & never lived together intimately.

Hepburn fostered the belief that she & Tracy could never marry because he was a devout Catholic committed to Louise Treadwell, his wife of 43 years & mother of their deaf child. Mann used documents & interviews with people who wouldn't talk while Hepburn was alive. & 8 years before Bower’s book, Mann insists that it was at gay director George Cukor's estate that he met a Hollywood hustler identified as "Scotty," a mechanic who staffed his gas station with "handsome young bucks, just home from the war" who for $20 were "happy to wash their hands (or not) & take a trip with a client to the back room."

Mann writes that Scotty related: "Tracy would always be drinking when I arrived. He'd get so loaded. He'd sit there at the table drinking from five o'clock in the afternoon until two in the morning, when he'd fall onto the bed & ask me to join him. ... & in the morning he'd act like nothing happened."

According to Mann, Hepburn's notorious relationship with American Express heiress Laura Harding wasn't "lesbian," but it sure was sexual. Mann: "Hepburn admitted as much to friends like James Prideaux, cutting him off with a shrill 'Of course!' when he asked about Harding ... as if the subject were simply too obvious & boring to belabor."

There is a famous story about the making of the film adaptation of Tennessee William's notorious Suddenly, Last Summer that starred Elizabeth Taylor,  the very gay Montgomery Clift & Katharine Hepburn. Hepburn, as Violet Venable was so obsessed with her dead son, Sebastian, that she wants to have her niece, played by Taylor lobotomized rather than have it revealed that he was homosexual. 

Apparently Hepburn was clueless that this was a film about homosexual lust & the director, Joseph Mankiewicz, & screenwriter- the very gay Gore Vidal, had to explain it to her. Meanwhile, she nailed the role as the disturbed, evilly controlling mother. 

This anecdote works against the image of independent, smart Hepburn, the Connecticut feminist Yankee who supposedly seduced Hollywood’s leading men- Spencer Tracy, Gary Grant, Humphrey Bogart & James Stewart.  In her real life, Hepburn followed in the footsteps of her mother who pioneered reproductive freedoms & the right of American women to vote.

  

In the 1930s, where of the strict studio system made & crushed careers, Hepburn challenged studio execs & made it work for her. She grew as a businesswoman, commanding salaries & negotiating roles at a time when it was just not done.  She was a symbol of a true American original who could accomplish anything.

Hepburn's career spanned decades & her range was legendary, even while her roles were always secondary to her own personality.

Was there ever a gayer film than the1937 camp classic- Stagedoor in which Hepburn perfected the screen ingenue, uttering the line: "The calla lillies are in bloom again."  Cast opposite Gay Icons Eve Arden, Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, & Ginger Rogers, she played it broadly & autobiographically, as the daughter of a wealthy businessman who wants a career in the theater with no prior training. It remains a favorite Hepburn performance at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia,

Hepburn excelled in screwball comedies like Bringing Up Baby with bi-sexual Carey Grant who uttered the famous line: "I’ve turned gay all of the sudden!" For gay audiences, Hepburn inadvertently developed an androgynous image in such roles as the cross-dressing Sylvia Scarlet.

After being victimized by studio mouthpieces & being branded "box office poison" by the press, Hepburn refused to be ignored.  She starred on Broadway in Philip Barry‘s The Philadelphia Story, purchasing the rights to star in the film. More than any other actress of the period, Hepburn controlled her own career. 

In the 1940s & 1950s, Hepburn launched a classical stage & film career, transitioning beautifully, at a time in her career when most stars would retreat to predictable vehicles that would showcase them.  Among other things, she tackled Shakespeare onstage while in her 50s, at the same time becoming the first lady of American cinema, eventually nominated for 12 Best Actress Oscars & winning 4 times, a record.

She bravely stood with her colleagues Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall during the trials of the Hollywood 10, screenwriters, actors & directors called before the Senator Joseph McCarthy's House on Un-American Activities Committee in protest of their unconstitutional Senate investigations, without risk of guilt by association. Hepburn made The African Queen (which is not about Ru-Paul) with Bogart.

 

Hepburn is a Gay Icon. She was a tough-minded authority as a liberal thinker. Gay men & lesbians love her equally, if for different reasons, & even if she didn't acknowledge he won gayness, it is impossible to ignore Hepburn’s impact on Gay culture, Gay minds & Gay hearts. Hepburn was Fierce.

I only saw her live once, in L.A. circa 1971, in a mess of a musical- Coco, playing Coco Chanel, with a book & lyrics by Alan J. Lerner & music by Andre Previn, with sets by the very gay Cecil Beaton, choreographed by  the very gay- Michael Bennett, with a  cast that included: René Auberjonois, George Rose, David Holliday, Bob Avian, Jon Cypher, Suzanne Rogers, Graciela Daniele,& Ann Reinking. To prepare for Coco, Hepburn received singing coaching with MGM’s very gay muscial producer Roger Edens. She was simply brilliant & breathtaking in the role. I loved her & ran out to by the cast album. I do a terrific imitation of Hepburn singing the title song. Ask me sometime.

My favorite Hepburn role was in 1975’s Love Among The Ruins with Lawrence Olivier, although I have studied every moment of The Philadelphia Story. The Husband’s choice is The Lion In Winter. What is your favorite Katherine Hepburn performance?

Born On This Day- April 30th... Eunice M. Quedens

Eve Arden is one of the Husband’s favorite stars, & he introduced me to her most famous role with re-runs on TV. I was just a smidgen too young to have watched the 1st broadcasts of Our Miss Brooks, but watching them with him gave me even more appreciation for her considerable talents. I did have the pleasure of seeing Eve Arden in the title role in Hello, Dolly while I was doing summer stock on Cape Cod in the early 1970s. She was a terrific Dolly Levi.

I never met her, but I wanted to be her, or rather I wanted to receive a review that would claim- “Stephen Rutledge has the charm & the crack top timing of a male Eve Arden.” If my demented memory serves me right, I had a better chance at being compared to Kay Ballard.

Her 50 year career doing supporting & leading roles on stage, in films, radio & TV included an Oscar nomination for Mildred Pierce, but she is best remembered for playing the sardonic high school teacher in the classic Our Miss Brooks on radio & television, & to another generation as the Rydell High School principal in Grease & Grease 2. Ironically. she never finished high school, leaving at 16 to join a stock company.


Eve Arden had an approximately 30 second guest role in a 1955 I Love Lucy episode- L.A. at Last in which she played herself. While awaiting their food at The Brown Derby, Lucy & Ethel argue over whether a certain portrait on the wall is of Shelley Winters or Judy Holliday. Ethel decides to ask a lady sitting in the booth next to them, who replies: "Neither. That's Eve Arden." Ethel suddenly realizes she'd just been talking to Arden herself. As the star is leaving she is gawked by Lucy & Ethel. This same episode also guest starred William Holden.


Desilu Productions, was owned by Desi Arnaz & Lucille Ball, & was the production company for the Our Miss Brooks television show, which was filming during the same period as I Love Lucy. Ms. Ball & Ms. Arden were acquaintances, having worked together in Stage Door in 1937; it was Ball, who suggested Arden for the radio & TV versions of Our Miss Brooks.


Arden's comic talent & timing were absolute perfection for her best known role, Madison High School English teacher Connie Brooks in Our Miss Brooks. Arden portrayed the character on radio from 1948 to 1957, & on TV from 1952 to 1956, & in a 1956 feature film. Arden's character clashed with the school's principal, Osgood Conklin (Gale Gordon), & was burdened by an unrequited crush on fellow teacher Philip Boynton (Jeff Chandler, & on TV by Robert Rockwell).


Eve Arden was born Eunice M. Quedens in Mill Valley, California, & she made her Broadway in 1934 in the Ziegfeld Follies , & her last work was in Grease 2 in 1982. She chose her stage name while shopping for cosmetics & spotting the names Evening in Paris &  Elizabeth Arden. She was married to actor Brooks West for 32 years, until his death in 1984. Eve Arden passed away in 1990 at the age of 82. Happy Birthday, Eve!





"I've worked with a lot of great glamorous girls in movies and the theater. And I'll admit, I've often thought it would be wonderful to be a femme fatale. But then I'd always come back to thinking that if they only had what I've had - a family, real love, an anchor - they would have been so much happier during all the hours when the marquees and the floodlights are dark."