"You know how to whistle, don't you Steve? You just put your lips together & blow"
It is my all time favorite movie quote. I had it as my outgoing message on my answering machine (remember answering machines?), until I got too many complaints that it was salacious. Betty Joan Perske was born on this day in 1924… & what a classy broad little Betty turned out to be. She began her career as a model, gracing the cover of Harper's Bazaar at age 19, before moving on to acting. Lauren Bacall landed a starring role in To Have & HaveNot (1944) opposite Humphrey Bogart. The pair married a year later, & went on to make five films (and two children) together, including The Big Sleep (1946) & Key Largo (1948). She was with him until his death in 1957. Her movie career slowed down in the 1960s & 1970, & she turned to Broadway, winning Tony Awards for her roles in Applause (1970) & Woman of the Year (1981). She was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Barbra Streisand's mother in The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). She was also married to actor Jason Robards (1961–69) & is the mother of actor Sam Robards.
A couple pf years ago, her granddaughter insisted that she watch the movie- Twilight, declaring it the greatest vampire film of all time. Bacall: "After the 'film' was over, I wanted to smack her across her head with my shoe, but I do not want a book called Grannie Dearest written on me when I die, so instead I gave her a DVD of Murnau's 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu & told her, now that's a vampire film!" When I was living in NYC in the 1970s, I followed her for 14 blocks, but couldn't bring myself to say something to her. Just as I got the nerve, she stopped in front of The Russian Tea Room, where she greeted Liza Minnelli with a kiss & they went inside. A truly gay moment.
"I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that."
While reading the NY Times on line this morning, it was so nice to read some good news for a change: A strong majority of Americans now view married same-sex partners as families. Better still, most consider an unwed gay or lesbian couple with children to be a family, too. There's also an increasing willingness to see homosexuality as a natural, innate trait, & most people know or have family member who is gay, quotes the report in the NY Times. This good news is from a survey included in the new book out next week- Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations & Americans' Definitions of Family.
I was so excited for this bit of good news instead of gloom news. Until I read the details & found this little tid-bit: "There's a solid core resisting this trend who are more willing to include pets in their definition than same-sex partners." It's a solid core of 30 percent. In an interview lead researcher Brian Powell was understated in his assessment of this stat, "The sheer idea that gay couples are given less status than pets should give us pause". I will have to inform my terriers.
He is a favorite of mine. I am feeling it, & never more so than when I am trying to explain pop culture from the 20th century to my young wards- the group of 14 20-30 year olds that I hire, train, schedule, counsel & maintain as part of my job. Despite the fact that I am able reference to Green Day, Rhianna or Weezer, they just stare dumbly, vacant eyed, & with a touch of disgust, if I try to explain to them who Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Iggy Pop, the Clash or Men At Work are in our cultural history. I am truly old hat, old-fangled, old-fashioned, out-of-date, outmoded, & outworn.
I wasn’t dismayed that they didn’t know who Bobby Short was. I didn’t expect them to. I am sure that few in my own circle know of Mr. Short. I just couldn’t get them to wrap their heads around the idea of nightclubs, supper clubs, or Café Society. I was just attempting to give them a jumping off place in today’s lesson.
Mr. Short liked to call himself a saloon singer, a moniker I would have loved to have lived with. His was my 1st choice for an avocation. His saloon, from 1968 until his death in 2005, was one of the most elegant in the country, the intimate Cafe Carlyle tucked in the Carlyle hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. There for 6 months each year, in a room where he was only a few feet from his audience, he sang & accompanied himself on the piano. I saw him perform there 4 times in the mid-1970s.
Mr. Short transcended the role of cabaret entertainer to become a New York institution & a symbol of civilized Manhattan culture. In Woody Allen's films a visit to the Carlyle became an essential stop on his characters' cultural tour. He attracted a chic international fan base that included royalty, movie stars, sports figures, socialites & jazz fans. He also appeared in small roles in TV commercials & movies.
Mr. Short's hobnobbing with the cream of society overshadowed his significance as a jazz pianist, singer & scholar. He dedicated himself to spreading an awareness of the African-American contribution to New York's musical theater. In his list of great American songwriters, Cole Porter stood side by side with Duke Ellington, Eubie Blake, & Fats Waller who wrote- Guess Who's in Town?... Mr. Short's unofficial musical greeting.
Mr. Short had a bout of notoriety in May 1980 when Gloria Vanderbilt sued the River House on the East Side of Manhattan, which had refused to sell her a $1.1 million apartment. She accused the management of racial bias because of her friendship with him. The building's board said it wanted to avoid "unwanted publicity." A month later, she dropped the suit. Mr. Short generally stayed out of the fray but said, "I'm old enough to be sophisticated about these things." This phrase is my new motto.
