Carol Channing [1921-2019]

Artist: Carol Channing

LP: Carol Channing

Song: "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend"

[ listen ]

Today was quite a day. First my friend Ryan informed me that Carol Burnett had died. I was heartbroken. I'd grown up watching her show on weekend evenings at my Grandma Bea's house. When I asked my coworkers if they'd heard that she'd died, they said they had heard that Carol Channing had died, not Carol Burnett. I looked it up online and they were right. I was relieved. Not that I wanted Carol Channing dead, but she was 97 after all, whereas Carol Burnett is still a sprightly 85. 

Then this afternoon I decided to try calling Marsha, my friend and former piano teacher. She hadn't been well lately and I'd meant to reach out to her over the past weekend to let her know I was thinking of her and to see how she was feeling. When she answered and I told her it was Alex, she simply stated "Alex," as if she didn't remember who I was. I told her I was thinking of her and wanted to give her a call to say hello. "Alex" she said again. And then, "This is Gloria. You didn't get my email." Marsha had passed away the night before, just after she'd gone to sleep. I was heartbroken again. I've lost a friend.

[ Marsha Wright ]

I left work early and went to see WIDOWS to get my mind on something cheerier (theft, betrayal, and murder to be precise). Then this evening my friend Ryan texted again to say that Bonnie Guitar had died! (I quickly checked online to make sure she didn't mean Bonnie Tyler.) So now I'm headed to bed, but with three fewer wonderful Washingtonian women in the world than there were just a few days before. 

That's right—Carol Channing was born right here in Seattle back in 1921. Her father was working as city editor for the Seattle Star. He took a job in San Francisco and the family moved to California when Carol was only two weeks old. But yeah, Carol Channing is originally from somewhere right up the street from me. 

Now I've got to get to bed, so I'll leave you with Ms. Channing's Wikipedia page here, and here is her obituary in the New York Times. As I type this I hope Carol, Marsha, and Bonnie are standing together at some pearly gates or whatever, waiting for security clearance and talking about music and the beautiful state of Washington they've all left behind.

Carol Channing

[ January 31, 1921 — January 15, 2019 ]

We will miss you, Carol.

Bill Cosby

Artist: Bill Cosby

LP: Wonderfulness

Song: "Niagara Falls" 
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"Wonderfulness." Hmm. I can't say for certain whether or not Bill Cosby is a serial rapist, but if he isn't, then he's the victim of one of the most elaborate and bizarre smear campaigns in the history of popular entertainment. Poor Bill Cosby! But if he is a serial rapist and sexual assaulter who's been drugging, then raping and molesting women for nearly 50 years, then gross. Bill Cosby, through his work on the "Fat Albert" children's show, is the guy who showed millions of kids each week how to treat others with dignity and respect. He made kids want to eat pudding! He was the epitome of fatherhood perfected on "The Cosby Show," on TV from 1984 to 1992. It seems inconceivable that this icon of good, wholesome American entertainment could actually be a monster—which is likely what's kept Cosby relatively unscathed by the accusations of sexual misconduct that began bubbling up in the early-to-mid 2000s. But in the past ten years we've had to wrap our minds around numerous political sex scandals, as well as things like this and this and this, so now we have to admit that anything is possible. Over the past few weeks, the allegations against Bill Cosby have been pouring in like...Niagara Falls. My heart goes out to all who've been sexually preyed upon by those they trust, particularly to the women who've been preyed upon by Bill Cosby—you know, if he's guilty, since I can't say for certain. 

I do feel a civic responsibility, however, to make public a series of photos that have come into my possession from an anonymous but reliable source. The four photographs included below capture Bill Cosby's facial expressions in the very moments that he first heard radio news reports of sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him. Guilty? Not guilty? A picture is worth a thousand words.

 [ "...has come forward with some startling allegations 
against comedian Bill Cosby." ]

 [ "...claims the entertainer slipped drugs into her drink, 
and only when she awakened did she..." ]

 [ "...hold on! More details are just coming in..." ]

[ "...similar reports against Cosby by 19 women, 

with incidents dating back to 1965." ]

Joan Rivers [1933-2014]

Artist: Joan Rivers

LP: Presents Mr. Phyllis & Other Funny Stories

Song: "Gift Coming" 
[ listen ]

While rummaging around to find my Mike Nichols/Elaine May LP this weekend, I discovered that I actually did still have this 1965 Joan Rivers comedy album. (I remember now that it was a lackluster Erma Bombeck record I got rid of several years ago, not my Joan Rivers LP. How could I have gotten these two women mixed up?) Though I've never really followed her career, I enjoyed getting to know Joan through the film Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, in theaters a few years back. Also, I recall being delighted to see her pop onto the screen in the bizarre 1968 film THE SWIMMER, starring Burt Lancaster as a man who decides to swim his way home through his neighborhood's backyard swimming pools. I just learned today that Ms. Rivers starred in a short-running Broadway play in the late 1950s called "Driftwood," in which she played a lesbian with a crush on Barbra Stereisand! I realize I'm a few months late with this tribute, since Joan died in early September from complications during throat surgery, but better late than never! (My tribute, I mean, not Rivers' demise.) You can read more about Joan Rivers' life and career here, go here to find her obituary in the New York Times and there's a piece here about the dreadful errors the clinic made during Joan's surgery that likely caused her death.

Joan Rivers

[ June 8, 1933 — September 4, 2014 ]

We will miss you, Joan.

Mike Nichols [1931-2014]

Artist: Mike Nichols & Elaine May

LP: Improvisations To Music

Song: "Mysterioso" 
[ listen ]

I was bummed to hear that Mike Nichols died suddenly from a heart-attack earlier this week. Awarded a closet-full of Tonys for directing Broadway shows like "Barefoot In the Park," "Luv," "The Odd Couple" and "The Prisoner of Second Avenue," Nichols made a huge splash in Hollywood with his very first film, the controversial WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? in 1966. He made another splash in 1967 with his next film, THE GRADUATE, which ultimately defined a generation. He went on to make a bunch more terrific (and some just okay) films over the following four decades, including this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one and this one. And don't forget this one, this one and this one. And, of course, there's this one and this one too. But what about this one, you ask? Yes, I suppose he made that too.

But before any of those movies there was improv comedy duo Mike Nichols & Elaine May. They met at school in Chicago and were arch enemies until Mike saw Elaine sitting in a train station one day. He assumed an odd accent from another land and asked if he could sit down. She, also adopting a foreign accent, said okay and the two played out an impromptu spy routine that both could tell was the seed of something good. (The duo employed this same scenario for "Mysterioso," the track posted above from their debut 1959 LP.) Their rocky relationship eventually caused the partnership to split in 1961, but they joined forces again for several film projects in the 1990s (she as writer, he directed) and the two remained lifelong friends. You can read all about Mike Nichols' life and his influential career in both Tinsel and Tony towns on Wikipedia here; there's more about Elaine May here and go here to read about the work Mike and Elaine did together. There's a moving obituary for Mike Nichols in the New York Times that you can find right here.

Mike Nichols

[ November 6, 1931 — November 19, 2014 ]

We will miss you, Mike.

Kaye Ballard

Artist: Kaye Ballard

LP: Boo Hoo-Ha Ha

Song: "Nobody's Heart"

[ listen ]

Song: "Little Kid Sister"

[ listen ]

As the flip-floppable cover of her 1961 LP implies, versatile entertainer Kaye Ballard presents two opposing moods on this record—boo-hoo and ha-ha—represented by "Nobody's Heart" and "Little Kid Sister," respectively. Everybody knows Kaye Ballard. Maybe you've seen her on Match Game or The Muppet Show. You might know her from The Mothers-In-Law with Eve Arden, or maybe you remember her early days with Spike Jones. Perhaps you caught her cabaret show, Doin It For Love, which premiered at the historic Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas earlier this year. But, of course, I know Ms. Ballard best as Angie Pallucci, who, with her husband Louie, owned the Italian restaurant downstairs from Doris Martin's San Francisco apartment on The Doris Day Show. You can read about this fantastic lady's life and career on Wikipedia here, and visit her website here to read even more, buy her autobiography and new CD, look at lots of neat Kaye Ballard photos, and a whole lot more! For the legendary and elusive Angie Pallucci Hungarian-Italian stuffed cabbage recipe, click here.

 

 

Phyllis Diller [1917-2012]

Artist: Phyllis Diller

LP: Phyllis Diller Laughs

Track: "Driving Downtown"

[ listen ]

Last week I called Phyllis and told her that I had one of her LPs I'd been wanting to post here, and she said was dying to be featured on my blog. Phyllis first came to public attention when she appeared on Groucho Marx's televised quiz show "You Bet Your Life," after which she paved the way...well, it's hard to imagine Phyllis Diller paving anything. Phyllis blazed the trail, shall we say, for women in standup comedy for generations to come. (Phyllis was nothing if not a blazer.) Ten interesting facts about Phyllis Diller: 1.) She was born in Lima, Ohio. (I've been there!) 2.) She was an accomplished concert pianist and played with over 100 orchestras throughout the country in the 1970s and early '80s. 3.) She also played the saxophone. 4.) In 1967 she starred with her friend Bob Hope in a terrible, terrible movie called EIGHT ON THE LAM. 5.) In 1979 she auditioned for director Blake Edwards in hopes of starring in his new movie, but the part went to Bo Derek instead. 6.) For some reason this guy shows up when you Google images of "Phyllis Diller pianist." 7.) Diller went under the knife for plastic surgery fifteen times during her life. 8.) She was born 3 months and 11 days after the United States of America declared war on Germany in WWI. 9.) Her "Phyllis Diller Laughs" LP was recorded at the Bon Soir nightclub in NYC's Greenwich Village 52 years ago, in March of 1961. 10.) Phyllis used to joke that she never made it on "Who's Who," but she did end up on "What's That." You can read all about Phyllis Diller's brilliant career on Wikipedia here and go here to find a nice obituary for her in the New York Times.

Phyllis Diller

[July 17, 1917 — August 20, 2012]

We will miss you, Phyllis...probably even more than we'll miss Kitty or Chavela.