from Bruce
Anecdotes
Agents
• Walter Winchell used to write a column that frequently featured one-liners by celebrities; however, publicity agents, not the celebrities, often thought up the one-liners. For a while, one-liners by Alexander Woollcott appeared frequently in Mr. Winchell’s column, but eventually Mr. Winchell stopped mentioning Mr. Woollcott’s name. When this happened, Mr. Woollcott sent a message to his publicity agent, Irving Mansfield, and asked, “Dear Irving, whatever happened to my sense of humor?”
• Joe E. Brown was a vaudeville actor for many years, but he played in a star-studded movie version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a performance for which the movie studio did not want to pay him in money, but instead give him a car. His agent asked, “What would my commission be, a bicycle?”
• Eli Wallach once visited Israel in the company of his wife and his agent. While he was there, a street vendor in Bethlehem pointed to Mr. Wallach’s wife and said, “I’ll give you 10 sheep and 10 camels for her.” Immediately, his agent advised, “Take it — I get 10 percent.”
Alcohol
• As a young actress, Eve Arden once appeared in a play with Alice Buchanan. One April day, Ms. Buchanan, who was not known to drink, appeared much later than usual to get dressed for her part. Her face was flushed and her speech was slurred, and when she entered her dressing room, she refused to speak to anyone, preferring instead to sing drunkenly. Her friends were sure she was going to lose her job. However, just before show time, she opened the door of her dressing room, told everyone, “April Fool,” and then performed brilliantly on stage.
• The 19th-century actor George Frederick Cooke sometimes appeared onstage while drunk. In Richard III, he played the Duke of Gloucester, and at one point he staggered across the stage with his sword raised above his head. A member of the audience disliked the performance and shouted, “That’s not like the Duke of Gloucester!” Mr. Cooke stopped, faced the audience member, and shouted, “That’s not like a British auditor!” The act ended with applause (and a few hisses) for Mr. Cooke.
• An obviously inebriated gentleman came to the Court Theatre to buy a ticket only to be told by the box office attendant that he would not be allowed to buy one. The gentleman asked why not, and the box office attendant pointed out that the gentleman was drunk. Affronted, the gentleman replied, “But of course I’m drunk. Do you think I should come to the Court Theatre if I was sober?”
• Actor John Neville was unhappy in the late 1950s Old Vic production of Measure for Measure, so he used to escape to the nearest pub as often as possible. In fact, just before the pub opened at 5:30 p.m., he would lean against the door. When the door was opened, he would fall inside and say, “Sorry I’m late.”
• The 19th-century actor O. Smith, née Richard John Smith, knew his craft. In the drama Peter Bull, he played a drunkard, and one of his bits of business was to spill a drink, and then throw himself on the floor and lap it up. A poorer actor would have been laughed at.
Animals
• The great Shakespearean actor Sir Ralph Richardson had a pet mouse, which he sometimes took for a walk so it could get some exercise. One day, he was walking in a gutter over the mouse — to protect it — when a passing police car stopped to investigate. Sir Ralph explained, “I’m taking my mouse for a walk.” The police officer recognized him and offered to use his flashlight so that Mr. Richardson could better see the mouse. For a while, onlookers saw a little parade — the police officer with a flashlight, the mouse captured in the beam of the flashlight, and Sir Ralph Richardson watching over the mouse. Eventually, Sir Ralph felt that his pet mouse had gotten enough exercise, so he put him in his pocket, thanked the police officer, and returned to his hotel.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. replied:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
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Music: "Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked"
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Artist Location: Seattle, Washington
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Genre: Rock.
Links:
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
So, Saturday morning, there was a commotion in the front yard - one of the shittens had cornered a baby chicken.
WTF? A chicken?
Too big to be a peep - it had real feathers, so a chick - but, yep, a freaking chicken.
She's been in the living room since.
Put up signs & this afternoon, guy with a kid shows up (both masked, this is California, afterall), asking if I really found a chicken - he brought pictures.
While I scrambled for a mask & to get the bird, the guy kept telling the kid not to get his hopes up.
Took out the bird, the kid's eyes lit up, the guy muttered "I don't believe it", the kid cried, and we had a happy reunion.
They sweetly lectured the chicken on their way down the sidewalk.
And, best of all, I no longer have a freaking chicken in the living room!
MTV VMAs
Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper gave a stirring speech in defence of women’s rights at the MTV Video Music Awards. The singer spoke out on stage on Sunday (12 September), highlighting the need to stand up for equal pay and reproductive rights.
“Girls still want to have fun,” she said, referencing her 1983 hit of the same name. “But we also want to have funds. Equal pay. Control over our bodies. You know, fundamental rights!”
In her 2012 memoir, Lauper recalled experiencing “sexism and bulls*** and arrogance” at a clinic where she sought care after the procedure because she was bleeding.
“While the student was examining me, I told them that it hurt, and the doctor said, ‘Well, why didn’t you just keep your legs closed in the first place?’” she wrote.
She said the comment made her realise that “if you didn’t come from a rich family with a parent there to protect you, you were at the mercy of of the clinic and a bunch of powerful men who put themselves in charge”.
Cyndi Lauper
No Regrets
Howard Stern
Howard Stern has no regrets over last week's colorful comments that COVID-19 vaccines should be mandatory. In fact, the shock-jock host was stunned over the "slew of publicity" he received for his remarks, saying it's something "I haven't seen ever."
On his SiriusXM show, Stern once again addressed "s***heads in our country who won't get vaccinations." He also took a shot at Joe Rogan for taking "horse-dewormer from a doctor" instead of a "cure."
"I heard Joe Rogan was saying 'What are you busting my balls [for]? I took horse de-wormer and a doctor gave it to me,'" he said on The Howard Stern Show. "Well, a doctor would also give you a vaccine, so why take horse-dewormer?"
"All I said was everyone should get the vaccine, it should be mandatory. This brought down a slew of publicity like I haven't seen ever, it was mind-blowing. I was trying to figure it out, 'Why am I getting so much press for saying this? Is it really so wild?' All I'm doing is speaking common sense," he said. "We have a cure for this dreaded COVID and we're not taking it — take it. Make people take it the same way we take polio vaccines and every other vaccine."
"It always wasn't like this. You don't get to live to 80 years old automatically. It's done with science," he added. "The reason we live longer is because of science."
Howard Stern
Celebrates 50th Season
‘The Price Is Right’
If you can remember the price of a 30-ounce jar of mayonnaise, what an Armani purse goes for and how much to pay for an iPhone 12, there’s really only one place to shine — “The Price Is Right.”
The longest-running game show in television history is celebrating its 50th season this month and offering viewers a chance to, as always, “come on down” to win by guessing the correct retail price for various items.
“The Price Is Right” is a remarkably sturdy thing, surviving the retirement of beloved host Bob Barker in 2007, a turnover in models — sometimes acrimoniously — the introduction of male models in 2012 and even out-witting COVID-19.
To celebrate its milestone, the show this week will feature a game each day where contestants can win up to $1 million. A two-hour primetime special on Sept. 30 will include a look back at the biggest winners, never before seen outtakes and a salute to Barker.
“The Price Is Right” made it’s debut on NBC in 1956, with Bill Cullen as host and consisting of four people bidding auction-style on items. The show was canceled in 1965, but the current version was revived in 1972 at CBS, with Barker as host, influencing a nation with his sign-off advice to get “pets spayed or neutered.” Carey has kept that slogan in his honor.
‘The Price Is Right’
Now A Rupert Asset
TMZ
Fox Corp.’s entertainment division has closed its acquisition of TMZ from WarnerMedia, confirming that founder and managing editor Harvey Levin will continue with the newly situated company.
Terms were not disclosed, but the deal is believed to be worth less than $50 million. Reports earlier this year in several press outlets indicated a price more than twice that level, so the final cost seems to be a bargain given the many places where Fox will be able to rely on TMZ for content.
Fox will now own and operate all of TMZ’s linear, digital and experiential assets, including syndicated magazine programs TMZ and TMZ Live. The TV series had created a connection between Warner and Fox, with both shows airing on 18 network affiliates owned by Fox’s station group. TMZ Sports airs on FS1.
As it has expanded over the past couple of decades, TMZ — whose initials stand for the “thirty-mile zone” around Hollywood– has added branded celebrity tours and casino slot machines to its portfolio. Its digital assets include TooFab.com, TMZ Sports and mother-ship site TMZ.com.
Levin, in continuing to oversee day-to-day operations for the brand, will report to Rob Wade, Fox Entertainment’s president of alternative entertainment and specials. TMZ was founded in 2005 by Levin and the late Jim Paratore.
TMZ
New Stand-Up Routine
The Handmaiden
Justice Amy Coney Barrett (R-OfDonald) defended the Supreme Court during a speech Sunday and expressed concerns about the public's perception of the court.
"My goal today is to convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks," Barrett said, according to USA Today. "Judicial philosophies are not the same as political parties."
Barrett was speaking at an event for the 30th anniversary of the University of Kentucky's McConnell Center, which was founded by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-OfBeezlebub), who introduced Barrett at the event.
Barrett, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2020 in a controversial confirmation, said justices must be "hyper vigilant to make sure they're not letting personal biases creep into their decisions, since judges are people, too," The Associated Press reported.
"Sometimes, I don't like the results of my decisions. But it's not my job to decide cases based on the outcome I want," she said, USA Today reported.
The Handmaiden
Ski Resort Changes Name
Palisades Tahoe
A popular California ski resort whose name included a derogatory term for Native American women changed its name to Palisades Tahoe Monday. Resort officials had begun searching for a new name last year amid a reckoning over racial injustice.
The renaming of Squaw Valley Ski Resort is one of many efforts nationally to address a history of colonialism and oppression against Native Americans and other people of color that includes removing statues of Christopher Columbus.
The word “squaw,” derived from the Algonquin language, may have once simply meant “woman,” but over generations, the word morphed into a misogynist and racist term to disparage Indigenous women, according to experts.
“It was the right thing to do and I think it’s going to make a difference. I think we’re going to be seen as a more welcoming, inclusive resort and community,” said Palisades Tahoe President and COO Dee Byrne.
The resort is in Olympic Valley, which was known as Squaw Valley until it hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. Tribes in the region had been asking the resort for a name change for decades.
Palisades Tahoe
"De-Extinction" Effort
Woolly Mammoth
It is the elephant in the genomics room: can extinct species be resurrected? One bioscience firm insists they can, announcing Monday its intent to use emerging technology to restore the woolly mammoth to the Arctic tundra.
New company Colossal, capitalizing on a partnership with a Harvard geneticist, said its species "de-extinction" effort has the potential to anchor a working model for restoring damaged or lost ecosystems and thereby help slow or even halt the effects of climate change.
"Never before has humanity been able to harness the power of this technology to rebuild ecosystems, heal our Earth and preserve its future through the repopulation of extinct animals," Colossal chief executive and co-founder Ben Lamm, an emerging technology entrepreneur, said in a statement.
Colossal says it aims to insert DNA sequences of woolly mammoths, collected from well-preserved remains in the permafrost and frozen steppes, into the genome of Asian elephants, to create an "elephant-mammoth hybrid."
Asian elephants and woolly mammoths share a 99.6 percent similar DNA makeup, Colossal says on its website.
Woolly Mammoth
Human-Like Personality Traits
Squirrels
Scientists have found that squirrels show four different personality traits that influence how they use the space and resources in their environment.
While psychologists and behaviour scientists have acknowledged that humans have different personality types — defined as consistent behaviour over time — these traits are not easily ascribed to other animals.
The research, published on Friday in the journal Animal Behaviour, documented personality traits for the first time in golden-mantled ground squirrels, which are common across the western US and parts of Canada.
According to the scientists, including those from the University of California Davis, ground squirrels showed personality for traits such as boldness, aggressiveness, activity level and sociability. The scientists believe that these findings shed light on how an animal’s personality influences its use of space, and may lead to better outcomes in wildlife conservation measures.
While it “may not seem surprising” that squirrels have personalities, the recognition that there are ecological consequences of animal personality is “fairly young”, the scientists said.
Squirrels
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