Thank you, Lucy

Dearest Lucy, 

Thank you for your crazy antics as Lucy Ricardo that bring so much laughter to my life. Thank you for your strong will which kept you going when times were tough, when the world was seemingly against you. Thank you for your hot and cold relationship with Desi. Even when it was "cold" you still loved each other like no one has ever loved before. Thank you for your sweet relationship with Lucie and Desi Jr. Thank you for always keeping that fiery spirit even as you aged. Thank you for always keeping up with your henna rinses, for that was the Lucy we adored. Thank you for Stone Pillow, no explanation needed. Thank you for introducing me to Carole Lombard, for I adore her in many of the ways I adore you. Thank you for spending your summers in Del Mar. I envision you there each time I go. Thank you for writing down your life story. It is a pleasure (and a sorrow at times) reading about your childhood and the early years in your career. 

A home movie still, 1940s

Glamorous Lucille, 1930s

Studying a script, 1960s

Trying to make Desi Jr smile after his baptism, 1950s

 Lucy, thank you for being my happy place. Thank you for being brave. Thank you for being you.

Happy Birthday, Darling.

Love,

Remembering Marilyn

"When I think of the future, I think, I'm thirty-six years old.

I'm just getting started...But as long as one is alive, one

can be vital. But you don't give up until you stop breathing."

I've been a big fan of Marilyn Monroe since I was in high school and wrote a research paper on her. At the time, I knew little about her, but by the time I finished my paper, I was enamored. The first Marilyn movie I saw was Some Like It Hot and to this day, it remains one of my favorite Old Hollywood movies. My other Marilyn favorites are The Seven Year Itch where she plays The Girl, the upstairs neighbor who Tom Ewell's character falls for while his wife and son are away for the summer, How To Marry A Millionaire, a comedy based around three women (Marilyn, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable) trying to land rich husbands, Niagara, a drama about jealous lovers, and Don't Bother To Knock, the first film where I believe Marilyn really got to showcase her acting abilities, playing a deranged babysitter trying to seduce a man.

The Seven Year Itch with Tom Ewell (1955)

As Sugar Cane Kowalcyzk in Some Like It Hot (1959)

The damsel in distress in Niagara (1953)

The ditzy but lovable blonde in How To Marry A

Millionaire (1953)

Alongside Richard Widmark in Don't Bother To Knock (1952) 

I love to watch old movies, of course, but I enjoy learning about the actors even more. I love a good autobiography or biography written by someone who knew the star well. Marilyn lived such a sad life, full of tragedies and downfalls, though she was also blessed in many ways. She carried the sadness with her all her life. 

I think Marilyn is terribly misunderstood by the general public. Behind the glamour and beauty was a real woman, down to earth, extremely kind and nurturing, someone who just wanted to be loved. Marilyn was intelligent and well-read with an affinity for literature. However, she was plagued by her inability to become a mother and by the lack of love in her personal life, and unfortunately, her grief far outweighed all the positives in her life in her eyes. 

"When I was a little girl I would pretend I was Alice in Wonderland

looking into a mirror, wondering what I would see. Was that really me? 

Who was that staring back at me? Could it be someone pretending to be me? 

I would dance around, make faces, just to see if that little

girl in the mirror would do the same."

"You know, children when they become adults are still at heart children.

Sometimes I watch adult men. They act like little boys who have never

grown up. I suppose it depends on the mood you are in. Our emotions play 

an important part in our lives. We cannot hide from them. My mother,

bless her, used to say, "Norma Jeane, make the most of it,

because that's all you've got."

I wish you peace, Norma Jeane. You are a truly beautiful soul.

June 1, 1926 - August 4, 1962

Until next time,

Good Stuff

"Dad used the expression 'good stuff' to declare happiness or, as one of his friends put it, he said it when he was pleased with the nature of things. He said it a lot. He had a happy way of life. His life was 'good stuff.'" 

Jennifer trying on her daddy's hat, 1970

A few months ago, I went to Barnes and Noble, a very dangerous place for me, and I was browsing the bargain shelves when I saw the book Cary Grant's daughter, Jennifer, wrote about her dad. At the low price of $5.98, I snatched it up! However, since having a kid, I haven't sat down to read very many books, so Good Stuff sat on my book shelf for a good two months before I made myself open it & start reading. 

Finally one day, I cracked open my new book during my son's nap time and MUCH to my surprise, right there on the title page, was none other than the author's signature. I was shocked to find it! I examined my copy and it appears it is real pen, not printed on the page. I did a little research to see if it was in fact Jennifer's signature and from what I can see, it looks totally legit when I compared it to another book she signed. I have no idea why there would be an autographed book on the shelves at a random Barnes and Noble in San Diego, but maybe someday I will find out. For now, I will just relish in my discovery and count it as a 'win' because I think it's extremely interesting! 

My copy of Good Stuff

What do you think? Does it look real? I think so!

Lindsay's autograph (iamnotastalker.com)

I think our autographs look very similar!

Good Stuff was a very entertaining read! It is not a book about Cary Grant, the actor. It's a book about Cary Grant, the father. Cary was 62 when his baby was born in 1966, and therefore he retired from making films to devote himself entirely to her while her mother, actress Dyan Cannon, who was just in the prime of her career, continued working. Jennifer recounts her glorious childhood and reveals that Cary kept diligent records of his daughter's childhood. During a remodel of his house at 9966 Beverly Grove in Beverly Hills, he had constructed a room-sized bank vault with a six inch thick steel door to keep his documents safe. His own childhood memories were all burned in the fires of Bristol, England during World War I, and he made sure Jennifer's would always be safe. He made audio recordings of the two of them playing and chatting together, kept drawings she made for him and marked them with the date and perhaps where she was when she drew it, and he kept all these treasures in a special room filled with filing boxes. She has all the lovely notes he wrote to her beginning when she was just a baby. Cary was enamored with little Jennifer. 

Cary, Dyan, and baby Jennifer

October 1966

"Dad was a sweet, cunning, playful little devil. 

His charm captivated the world."

Cary with his "darling Jennifer"

On holiday in the Hamptons, c. 1973

Through her father, Jennifer developed 

a love of horseback riding. 

Obviously, Jennifer didn't have a "normal" childhood. She went to grown up dinner parties with her parents and their friends, including Frank Sinatra and Walter Matthau. She went sailing with her father on his yacht, and these sea cruises were their favorite way to vacation. Jennifer stayed with her father at the palace of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace in Monaco. Upon her birth, her parents received well wishes from Princess Grace and Audrey Hepburn, whose notes Cary of course kept in his filing boxes for his dear daughter. Jennifer explains that since her father was who he was, he had only a few places he felt comfortable enough taking her for some fun, including the horse track because he had such fun simply watching the races and Dodgers games as he was good friends with Walter O'Malley, who was the owner of the team at the time. She tells how Cary bestowed on her financial knowledge beginning at a very young age, and when she was seven, he gifted her stocks. She grew up knowing she was well off and would never have to worry about money, and she was smart enough to know that she needed to not blow all of her father's hard earned money. He had come from nothing in Bristol, England and worked hard to earn his keep in Hollywood and to make money. 

A page from an alphabet book Cary drew for Jennifer, 1972.

A pun-filled postcard from Cary to Jennifer, 1983.

Jennifer, Cary, and Barbara, his last wife on one

of their sea cruises, 1980.

Good Stuff kept me very interested from cover to cover. I was already a fan of Cary Grant, the actor. I'm now a fan of Cary Grant, the father. Jennifer idolized her dad, and Cary idolized her right back. I could feel the love pouring from her writings. They shared a special bond for the 20 years they had together before his passing in 1986. Cary was an incredible actor, but he was an even better father.

Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing your memories and stories of your dad. I was thrilled to read Good Stuff and learn more about Cary. It only magnified my admiration for him!

Until next time,

...away above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me.

It's been 45 years since Judy Garland passed away. Instead of focusing on her tragic end, I want to celebrate the joy she brought to Old Hollywood and to millions of people throughout the decades. 

Judy was born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She was the youngest of three girls, and her family nicknamed her "Baby". The three Gumm sisters started performing song and dance routines as young girls in their Episcopal Church and in their father's movie theater. In 1926, the Gumm family moved to California, where it didn't take long for the girls to get started in motion pictures. In 1934, the sisters changed their name to Garland, and they appeared together until 1935 when oldest sister Mary Jane was married.

Mary Jane, Dorothy Virginia, and Frances Ethel, 

1920s

The Gumm Sisters

Judy eventually signed a contract at age 13 with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Judy would soon garner attention by singing her rendition of You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It) to Clark Gable at his birthday party. It would lead to a part in Broadway Melody of 1938 where she would sing the same song to a photo of Gable. 

Judy, age 13. Judy always felt out of place & not as beautiful

as the girls she went to school with at MGM, including Ava Gardner, Elizabeth

Taylor, and Lana Turner. 

Judy c. 1935 

Judy would soon start her series of musicals with fellow MGM star and lifelong friend, Mickey Rooney, in 1937, starting with Love Finds Andy Hardy. The pair would go on to appear in 13 films together. However popular the Andy Hardy series was, Judy's life would change when she was cast as the lead character, Dorothy, in 1939's The Wizard of Oz. It's one of the all time greats, a film every child has seen. I was born and raised in Kansas, just like Dorothy, so The Wizard of Oz means a great deal to me. 

Mickey and Judy in Love Finds Andy Hardy.

"I'm not a witch at all! I'm Dorothy Gale, from Kansas."

The 1940s were a plethora of musicals for Judy Garland. Standing under 5 feet tall, the little girl with the big voice delighted audiences in musical films such as For Me and My Gal (with Gene Kelly), Babes on Broadway (with Rooney), Meet Me In St Louis, and Easter Parade (with Fred Astaire), among many others. 

"I was born at the age of twelve on the MGM lot."

-Judy Garland

Judy was so gorgeous in the 1940s.

"I made all these great musicals with Judy Garland. It was all

about me going into a barn and saying, 'Let's put

on a show.' That's what me and Judy did."

-Mickey Rooney

Gene Kelly and Judy in For Me and My Gal, 1942

Presenting Lily Mars, 1943

  

Publicity still as Esther Smith in Meet Me In St. Louis, 1944

With Meet Me In St. Louis co-star Tom Drake

Judy and friend Frank Sinatra. Frank would be Judy's 

daughter Lorna Luft's godfather.

With Easter Parade (1948) co-star, Fred Astaire

Judy met her first husband, Vincente Minnelli, on the set of her 1944 picture Meet Me In St. Louis. Vincente was the director, and they began a romantic relationship during filming. The couple married on June 15, 1945. Their only daughter, Liza, was born in March 1946. The pair divorced in 1951.

Vincente and Judy married in her mother's backyard.

Judy and baby Liza.

“It was no great tragedy being Judy Garland's daughter.

 I had tremendously interesting childhood 

years -- except they had little to do with being a child.”

-Liza Minnelli

Judy and Vincente divorced in 1951. Soon after, Judy employed Sid Luft as her manager, and would soon begin a relationship. They were married in 1952. Sid and Judy had two children together, Lorna and Joey. They divorced in 1963 after a seemingly rocky relationship. Judy would marry three more times in her life.

"When we got married in the early '50s, Judy was still very beautiful. 

She was only 5-foot tall -- just a shrimp of a girl, really -- but she 

had a very sensuous body, and up close, her skin was 

like porcelain, pure white. I was crazy about her. 

She had incredibly kissable lips."

-Sid Luft

Judy and Sid with Liza, Joey, and Lorna, 1960s

Unfortunately, Judy succumbed to pill addiction while living in London in 1969. She died in the early morning hours of June 22. It is said that there was a tornado around the same time she died near Salina, Kansas (which is right near my hometown) late at night on June 21. Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't, but I like to believe it is. Judy was a tornado of a woman, in a good way, and her presence and voice are missed terribly.