She started her career as Baby Esther in 1950. In fact, she did have a rather Baby Jane air about her, believing everyone remembered her past glory. We did not.
It was 1975 and I was working at The Bottom Line as a host (seating people). I had just moved to New York City and I lived near the iconic club in those days.
In '75, there was buzz amongst the managers and co-workers that Esther had a drug problem due to her tech rehearsals. She seemed itchy, twitchy and bitchy! And not at all comfortable in her own skin.
She was verbally abusive to the staff, management and to me personally. It was my job then to help set up tables before the performance. She pointed at me and yelled, "You there! Stop moving around, you're distracting me!" My manager, Alan Pepper was present and stood up in my defense ~ literally and figuratively..
"He's doing his job! You do yours," is what Alan said to her. Great guy!
Esther went on that night like a pro and belted out her disco cover of the Dinah Washington classic that everybody wanted to hear then.
So, here we have her: the one and only celebrity or diva I met whom didn't like.
Esther Phillips died less than a decade later of liver failure due to drug abuse. She was only 55.
RIP, Esther. What a sad end. You're through with this world and we're through with you.
Hey B.B., if the rest of your Memoirs are anything NEARLY as fascinating and earthy as this one, then you're definitely moving in the right direction. Keep-up your good work! BTW...I knew Alan P. fairly well, from my Cab Driver days with Babe's Taxi of Fort Lee, NJ. He was one of our regular customers, was a very nice person and a good tipper. I'm glad to hear that on top of that he was a stand-up Guy, which doesn't surprise me one bit!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ron! He was a father figure to us club kids
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