Rubbing Elbows::My Brushes with Celebrities chapter 7

After college, I moved back to New Jersey, first with my family in Paterson, then out on my own to nearby Haledon.

B, I was a substitute teacher and by night at Stern's department store at Willowbrook Mall in Haledon, NJ. It was there that I t was there where I experienced my first homosexual experience.

I worked at the men's tie counter there and a co-worker, Craig, would come over to romance me on a regular basis. One night, in the mall parking lot, we had sex in the backseat of his car. Suddenly, it all made sense, it felt right.

The problem turned out, after he moved into my Haledon apartment with me, that he was still hopelessly in love with his ex.

I had a few little affairs after that, then moved to Manhattan. My affordable little 1-bedroom on Prince Street Street in SoHo  Very narrow bedroom with a single bed. It had a bathtub in the kitchen that doubled as a table when you pulled the wooden slats down.

I had wandered into Unicorn City on Greenwich Avenue in the West Village. The owner, Martin Proctor, took an immediate liking to me. He asked me to move in with him. Marty was my mother's age. I moved into his apartment on West 10th Street in Greenwich Village, which I did.

I met a lot of famous folk there. Columnist Liz Smith would come in with her lover and buy Marty's numbered Erte prints. I enjoyed working with him, his mom and dad. We were family.

One day, I recall, Carol Lynley came in, bought a lot of things, and when Mrtry rang up her bill, she balked and said, "You're not actually going to charge me for this. Are you? Don't you know who I am?" Well, we had just seen her in The Poseidon Advenre. But Marty looked her straight in the eyes and said flatly, "I don't care. You're a customer. You have to pay." Kaye Lenz tried to pull the same thing. Both stalked out of the store angrily.

Our home space soon felt cramped, Which is why we moved. We decided, there, to have an open relationship. This was not a good idea as, very swiftly, jealousies, criticisms and arguments between us set in. At that point, alcohol and cocaine entered our lives together. And so, we broke up. On his part, I found him inconsiderate and untrustworthy in the end. I caught him cheating a few times. Once with my close friend at the time.

I then moved to Hoboken, NJ and began a new life at that point. Home of Sinatra and Pia Zadora.

Beaverhausen Book Nook: The Mommie Dearest Diary ~ Carol Ann Tells All

Now it can be told ~ from Rutanaya Alda's (Carol Ann from the movie Mommie Dearest) point of view! It's not a pretty picture, gossip fans rest assured. As Faye Dunaway has her own memoir coming out about the making of Mommie Dearest, this could turn into a she said/ she said gossip feud.

Rutanya describes a very chaotic set and shoot. She quotes sources and strongly implies Dunaway had a substance abuse problem at this time. She cites people in the film industry, like Bette Davis and Roman Polanski, discussing their own difficulties working with the tempestuous star. Dunaway has accused Mommie Dearest of ruining her career but, clearly, it was her own reputation to blame.

Ms Alda recalls emigrating from Latvia to the USA as a child and of her own physical and emotional childhood abuse by her mother. She also recalls meeting the real Joan Crawford on the set of Rosemary's Baby where she was Mia Farrow's stand-in.

Rutanya's book has many fascinating stories about the bevy of Hollywood stars and directors she's worked with, and her personal life, though the focus is on the chaotic set of 1981's now camp classic Mommie Dearest, based on Christina Crawford's best-selling autobiography at the time. Faye Dunaway is described as an unstable ego-monster, as over-the-top on the set as she is on-screen, assured she was going to be nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Crawford.

The book has a lot of off-topic padding as well as unnecessary diary entries, like "Friday, January 23 (No entry)," for instance. However, when it gets to the meat of the matter, Carol Ann indeed tells all in juicy, delicious detail: Faye's on- and off-the-set discord with Diana Scarwid (the teen & adult Christina); director Frank Perry's weaknesses as a director kowtowing to his star's whims; veteran technical people quitting the making of the movie; how Faye stole her role from under Anne Bancroft's nose; Faye carelessly cutting into child actress Mara Hobel's flesh during the haircut scene; Faye Dunaway insisting on eight takes of slapping Caol Ann (rehearsing for Mildred Pierce), once so hard as to leave an imprint on her co-star's face; and much more.

Everything considered, I can only recommend this book to die-hard fans of the film and avid readers of behind-the-scenes Hollywood memoirs.





Available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.

Beaverhausen Blabs: Rihanna and DiCaprio's Love Child

Rumors are rife that Rihanna is carrying Leonardo DiCaprio's love child. I was trying to imagine the child's forehead considering its biological parentage. Somehow, the image of James Arness in The Thing (at left) sprung immediately to mind. And that's if it's a girl!

In March, TMZ reported the celebrity pair were "all over each other" at Rihanna's birthday party. But it was earlier this month that the French Oops! magazine got catty, purring that the singer was having the movie star's baby. Great Gatsby!

Now, DiCaprio had turned litigious, suing Oops! Oops!
Gossip Cop reports that Oops owner, Frederic Truskolaski, received the lawsuit on Thursday, [and] says he’s completely shocked that DiCaprio has sued Oops. He tells Gossip Cop, “Why is he doing this?” The magazine’s part-owner thinks it may be “the first time an American superstar has sued a French magazine.”

According to the court papers, in addition to the erroneous claim that DiCaprio is having a baby with Rihanna, the magazine is being sued under France’s strict right to privacy laws. The lawsuit points out that Oops does not have the right to print information about DiCaprio’s personal life nor was it allowed to publish two paparazzi photos of him on the street. DiCaprio’s side is also asking Oops to print a retraction on an upcoming cover, and if it doesn’t, his legal team has asked the court to impose a 10,000 Euro fine (approximately $11,100).

DiCaprio’s legal team and Oops are set to face off in a Paris court on June 16. Truskolaski is fairly certain that because of France’s stringent privacy laws, a ruling will come down forcing Oops to pay the damages and legal fees. “Usually you lose,” he tells Gossip Cop, but he doesn’t think the magazine will have to pay the full 18,000 Euros that are being sought. “It won’t be much,” says Truskolaski.

Gossip Cop has reached out to both DiCaprio’s rep and his French attorney, but has yet to hear back.

Thanks Melvina Touchstone-Maness for the tip-off!

Faye Brays About Mommie Dearest

Tina, bring her the axe! Faye Dunaway's about to settle some old scores, perhaps, in writing a proposed memoir about her behind-the-scenes recollections of the making of Mommie Dearest. Undoubtedly, Ms. D will have many scores to settle indeed.

The actress has firmly, fiercely refused to discuss this debacle with the press, at times defensive, rude or just walking out on her interviewers. Now, however, I assume old girl needs money, as she's expected to blab all about Mommie Dearest, the movie.

The Best Actress Oscar winner (for Network) was a major star from the late '60s (Bonnie and Clyde, 1967; The Thomas Crown Affair '68) through the '70s. (Chinatown, Network, The Towering Inferno, Eyes of Laura Mars). That her star status came to a crashing thud is often attributed to her assaying the role of Joan Crawford in the Frank Perry screen adaptiaton of Christina Crawford's controversial and best-selling tell-all about her famous mother. Although long a camp classic best remembered for Dunaway's over-the-top, no-holds-barred performance, the film was a critical disaster for the most part (though Pauline Kael, at the time, called Dunaway's acting "startling, ferocious," with which I suppose no one would disagree). Obviously, director Perry must have given her the word that she could not go "too big" in her portrayal.

Anne Bancroft was originally set to star but pulled out when she got a load of script.

But was the failure of Mommie Dearest truly the cause of Faye Dunaway's becoming washed up in its tumultuous wake? I suspect it was the excuse the film industry needed to wash their hands of the tempestuous star. If Dunaway pens her book, she will no doubt cast blame on this one film. She was long known, however, for being radically late on sets, angering her co-stars and directors, and generally being a pain in the ass to everyone around her. The death blow may have been dealt by none other than Bette Davis who, on The Tonight Show, complained about her The Disappearance of Aimee (tv-movie) co-star. Bette called Faye out on her unprofessional behavior, keeping cast and crew waiting for hours with her extreme tardiness. "She's well named," Davis told host Johnny Carson. "Many a time I wish I could have done away with her!"

So, we await with much interest as to what this recollection will have to say. The news broke big-time about the book deal today at Querty.com. I anticipate it wil be a bitch fest, if completed, with Faye laying blame all over the place. "Bad scripts, bad directors, I can't keep making them work...," as Faye explains in the film. Let the character assassinations begin in the name of saving face.

Armani vs. Madonna

If Madonna had intended to outdo previous award ceremony wardrobe malfunctions, she couldn't have done a better job than tripping down the steps onstage at the BRIT Awards last week. It was quite a colossal fall, landing on her derriere with her head also hitting the floor.

Now it may have occurred to some -- though obviously not the 56-year-old pop diva ironically singing a song entitled "I'm Going to Carry On"-- that climbing stairs while wearing stiletto pumps and a floor-length cape might not be a wise idea. But, carry on she did, rather well, after that debacle during which the cape did not unhook when it was yanked off by one of her male dancers as it was supposed to do, and the star was yanked backwards down the staircase. Guess who I foresee getting kicked off the upcoming tour!

So, Madonna will do her Rebel Heart Tour sans cape. "No more capes. Cape fear is over," Madonna declared. Luckily, though she sustained several bruises (most of all to her ego), there were no injuries to her head. (How could there be, really, with all that hairspray?)

Publicly, Madonna was not mad at her dancer, she was mad at the cloak! On Instagram, she claimed: “Armani hooked me up! My beautiful cape was tied too tight!  But nothing can stop me and love really lifted me up!" After beating her down as it were.

Well, Mr Armani was just not having all this when it came to his fabulous fashion accessory! Today, he told the press in the UK:  ’Madonna can be very difficult."

Really? You don't say. A representative for Madonna told New York Post's Page Six simply, "Shit happens. Madonna loves Armani." Ain't that sweet?

Ronnie Spector Redux

When it comes to survival tales in the entertainment industry, Ronnie Spector is surely an outstanding example.The ex-Ronette and ex-wife of Phil Spector has been to hell and back, especially regarding the vindictive bullying by Phil, even from his jail cell to this very day. The problem with breaking up with obsessive-compulsives, I tell you.

Lesley Gore's recent passing reminds us how few of the girl-group artists of the '60s are alive, well and actively performing today. I saw Ms Spector's annual Christmas show, back at BB King NYC, just two months ago. She is ageless, her voice still as girlish and vibrant as it was more than 50 years ago.

The recent issue of the Uk's Mojo magazine has an exclusive interview with Madonna inside and her picture on its semi-gloss cover. However, up in the upper right corner of the cover is the blurb: "RONNIE SPECTOR HAUNTED BY PHIL." I was hooked and had to have it.

The interview by David Mignis probably has no big revelations for Ronnie fans, focusing on her relationship with Phil. Everything she discusses, she's discussed before in other interviews, in her autobiography Be My Baby and in her multi-media stage show, "Beyond the Beehive," which I saw twice in New York at City Winery.

Perhaps the most revealing thing in Mr Mignis' well-written article is how, after Ronnie received her first check after recording with the Ronettes, the girl from the ghetto went out and splurged on a mink pants suit.

Mojo's artwork and layout for this article, with a related side column by Andrew Mali highlighting some of Ms Spector's iconic singles, is top-notch magazine eye candy.

I recommend this article to Ronnie fans on both sides of the Pond. You may want to add this to your collection. You'll learn little new but we never get tired of hearing this tale. Do we?

Polly Bergen, Rest in Peace

This is becoming an obit blog, sadly, as one celebrity after another leaves this mortal coil to go beyond the studio gates of heaven. I loved Polly Bergen since childhood. I mean, I had a schoolboy's crush on her. And it's never gone away.

Obviously the week's supermarket tabloid, The Globe, didn't pick this death up on their deathdar.

I vividly remember my own mother, who left us in 2011, taking me to the drive-in so I could see Kisses for My President, a 1964 sitcom co-starring Fred MacMurray in which Polly was elected President of the USA, which proved awkward for hubby. Old sexist flavorings but in some ways very modern and relevant. Anyhow, I loved it in my jammies and a blanket in the back.

Ms Bergen (nee Nellie Paulina Bergin of Knoxville, TN) had a career that spanned six decades. She began on radio at age 14. She was born the same year as my mother (1930) and died 11 days shy of the same date, though three years later.

She had her own cosmetics line and published articles on cosmetics and beauty. She co-starred with Joan Crawford in The Caretakers. She was a patient/inmate at Joan's mental institution. Drama! The film opened with Polly going polly-wack-a-doodle at the movies and running up in front of the projected movie on-screen, to scream and act out badly. I loved every second of it. Perhaps her finest role was as Gregory Peck's wife in the original Cape Fear (1962), also opposite Robert Mitchum. She played Mitchum's wife in the mini-series The Winds of War and its sequel.

Polly was part of the romantic triangle in Move Over, Darling opposite Doris Day and James Garner. She co-starred with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in three of their feature films. She was a star and she always looked like and comported herself like one. She came across as highly intelligent, down-to-earth, and her natural beauty and sultry brunette persona could not be ignored.

Polly was in John Waters' Cry-Baby. She had a recurring role in Desperate Housewives though I think I last saw her in a stand-out episode of The Sopranos, playing Tony's father's mistress who was also mistress to JFK.

She was a recording artist as well, and performed many shows in clubs and cabarets throughout her life, mostly in NYC as she lived in Connecticut. She died, surrounded by family, of emphysema-related illnesses. She was a life-long smoker.

Rest in Peace, pretty Polly, I loved you from afar all my life.

The Globe's Celebrity Death Clock

I tried to resist my morbid curiosity in The Globe's cover this week. Under the banner headline: "Paris death crash medics finally tell all: 'We Saw Diana's Unborn Baby," the tabloid licked its lips to ask: "After Robin and Joan... WHO'LL DIE NEXT?"

Plastered on the front of this issue are plenty of celeb pics and blurbs about what's wrong health-wise with each. Jane Fonda, looking like Annie Lennox impersonating a leper -- wears a cap, badly designed sunglasses and a leper skin-print scarf (oops, I meant leopard skin-print)  -- is in a "Breast Cancer Battle." Cher has a "New Mystery Illness" we're informed (or perhaps misinformed) while Liza Minnelli, who appears to be suffering sinusitis and make-up deprivation as pictured, is dying of a broken back.

Glen Campbell? Alzheimer's Horror! Leonard Nimoy? Lung Disease! Mary Tyler Moore, we're told, is suffering her Sad Last Days as Regis Philbin is dying of Heart Problems!

"Who'll Die Next?" is not merely posed as a rhetorical question. The Globe is happy to inform you who it will be. Inside, you can discover that, while Motley Crue's Tommy Lee is "Wasting Away," Chevy Chase is eating himself to an early grave as is Paula Dean. David Cassidy is drinking himself to death. The rag is happy to remind you of Linda Ronstadt's Parkinson's Disease and inform you of Paul McCartney's bad heart as well as Loretta Lynn's struggle with cancer. Plus there's more as the Death Wish List prattles on.

The problem is "Who'll Die Next?" has become a tacky perennial for the paper that has predicted imminent death for Liza and Mary Tyler Moore previously and yet they're both still ticking. Bill Clinton, Queen Elizabeth, Kenny Rogers, Nick Nolte, Tina Louise, Heather Locklear and Demi Moore have been declared half-dead already. Look, we're none of us getting out of here alive, but what's the point of this exercise?

Another supermarket tabloid says Enquiring minds want to know. But "Who'll Die Next?" is just an exercise in  pure (or perhaps impure), unadulterated sleaze. And that's why I love it.

The Continuing Chronicles of Casey Kasem's Carcass

When will Casey Kasem finally rest in peace? Jean Kasem, Casey's widow, made arrangements to bury the famed dj and radio/tv personality in Oslo, Norway. Despite Casey's wishes -- expressed in his will -- to be buried in California, Jean announced, "My heritage on my mother's side is Norwegian and I plan to move to Norway by the end of this year, therefore, I would also like to be near my husband's resting place so my daughter and I could visit him often." Kasem died June 15th, by the way, and so far funeral and burial dates have yet to be arranged.

"As far as I know, he is not in Norway yet," the Oslo funeral director told NBC News. Meanwhile, "The family wishes that Jean would honor their father’s wishes and bury him in Forest Lawn where he’s always wanted to be," a spokesperson for Kerri Kasem, Casey's eldest daughter, said to the press. Kerri later added that Jean "is not by any means of Norwegian descent."

Twenty of Casey Kasem's relatives and friends recently appealed to the Norwegian government, by letter, to deny Jean's request to bury her husband's remains in Oslo.  "Do not be fooled into believing his wife, Jean Kasem, who abandoned and isolated him during the last year of his life in favor of her boyfriend, John Paul Gressy,"the letter adds. They're just sayin'.

Two days ago, TMZ reported that Jean "is NOT off the hook just because she's thwarting the efforts of cops to get a full autopsy ... to determine if she committed elder abuse ... because we've learned cops are confident they have the goods to nail her....

"Law enforcement sources now tell TMZ ... although they'd like to have a full autopsy, detectives believe they have enough evidence to present the case to prosecutors. They've interviewed doctors and others who examined Casey during the car ride ... and cops say it's incriminating stuff."

And so the ghoulish saga goes on... and on. Stay tuned for Buddy Beaverhausen's next episode of As The Corpse Spins.




                          

Bacall's Big Sleep

Lauren Bacall (nee Betty Joan Perske) died last week, August 12th, at age 89. The iconic movie star is best remembered for her sultry style with a tough-as-nails edge.

According to Wikipedia, "During her screen tests for her first film To Have and Have Not (1944) Bacall was nervous that to minimize her quivering, she pressed her chin against her chest and to face the camera, tilted her eyes upward.This effect became known as 'The Look', and became Bacall's trademark."

She was married to leading man Humphrey Bogart, 25 years her senior, until his death in 1957. She starred in a series of silver screen successes throughout the 1940s and '50s, like The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, Key Largo (all with Bogart, along with To Have..., in which she delivers the famously suggestive line: "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow."), How to Marry a Millionaire, Written on the Wind and several more.

In the 1960s, Bacall transitioned to the Broadway stage and won Tony Awards for her starring performances in Applause (1970) and Woman of the Year (1981). She previously headlined Goodbye, Charlie (1959) and Cactus Flower (1965).

Notable later films included Murder on the Orient Express (1974), the campy, so-bad-it's-good The Fan (1981), and a brief role in Misery (1990) with James Caan and Kathy Bates

“What a terrible loss for us all. First Robin [Williams] who was a genius and now Lauren,” said Barbra Streisand who co-starred with Bacall in The Mirror Has Two Faces. “It was my privilege to have known her, to have acted with her, and to have directed her. And, most of all, to have had her as a wise and loving friend. She was an original. Even with all those great films we can visit again and again, she will be missed.” Bacall received an Oscar nomination for her part in that film and was 1996's odds-on favorite. When Juliette Binoche won for The English Patient, Bacall was captured by cameras as being visibly shocked and outraged.

Known for being difficult and acid-tongued, the UK's Daily Mail wrote that, of Bacall's Marry a Millionaire co-stars, Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable, "She got on well with Grable, but Monroe exasperated her almost beyond endurance. She regarded her as selfish, ill-mannered and unprofessional, and found it hard to say anything polite about her even after her untimely death at the age of 36."

In her short marriage to actor Jason Robards Jr, whom she divorced due to his alcoholism, Bacall said, "I invited a few friends over to celebrate Jason’s 40th birthday, Jason showed up at 2am — loaded. I grabbed a bottle of vodka, smashed it into the cake and yelled: 'Here’s your goddam cake!'”

Between her marriages to Bogart and Robards, Bacall had an affair with Frank Sinatra who was married to Ava Gardner at the time. Gossip columnist Louella Parsons wrote that Bacall had confided she was engaged to Sinatra and he was going to get a divorce so they could marry.

When Ava Gardner read this item, she screamed at Frank, "Don't tell me you're actually gonna marry that bitch!" "Don't worry," said Frankie, "I ain't marrying no pushy broad!"

Bacall is the last Hollywood legend referenced in Madoona's "Vogue" to vogue her way to celluloid heaven.

Lauren Bacall passed away in NYC, at her longtime residence in The Dakota, due to complications from a stroke.

Where Is Casey Kasem? Part 2

Cherchez la femme when it comes to the whereabouts of Casey Kasem's mortal remains. The Hollywood Reporter wrote yesterday that Kasem's corpse was taken from Tacoma, Washington's Gaffney Funeral Home to Canada, confirmed by a Gaffney employee. Family spokesperson, Danny Deraney, told the press that Kasem's children "deserve the right to know where their father is buried. Nobody is asking to negotiate. It's a right they, along with his family and friends, deserve."

Mike Kasem, Casey's son, called widow Jean Kasem, "bat-shit crazy" to answer the question as to why she might be hiding her husband's cadaver. He also posed these rhetorical questions to The Hollywood Reporter: "If she loved him, then where was she at the end of his life when we reached out to have her by his side? Why would she leave his remains for weeks before making a move? Why would she recite scripture while hurling raw hamburger meat at my sister? Why would she cut him off from everyone he loves, friends included — are we all assholes? Why would she rip him out of a care facility at 2 a.m. against doctors' orders to take him on a road trip he is not equipped to handle? Why would she list their residence on the death certificate for the last 18 years as 'Jerusalem, Israel'? Why would she play actress, fall to the floor in front of cameras outside the courtroom, screaming, 'They have blood on their hands,' and then go hang out with her boyfriend? Or tell a judge he's incompetent? Why would she call a nurse at the hospital a fat-ass? Why wouldn't she ask the doctors why we took him off life support? Because your husband was choking on his own fluids! Which you would have known if you had cared to be there or inquire! Pattern much? Would anyone care for some nuts? I've had too much over the last 30 years, no thanks."

THR also added: "Neither the widow's lawyers nor Jeannie Kasem herself responded to THR's emails, except for sending THR an apparently accidental cc of a letter to her attorney instructing him to 'stick to the agreement' — apparently an agreement not to give THR an interview.

"Widow Kasem did tell CNN she has been 'blackmailed' by her husband's children for 35 years. 'This is a shakedown and I will not negotiate with terrorists.... I will not give in to their blackmail and attacks.'"

Meanwhile, TMZ informs us on-line that Jean's "attorneys are cutting her off ... claiming she's a pain in the ass client who also happens to owe them a ton of cash." TMZ candidly continues:

According to documents filed in Casey Kasem's conservatorship ... attorneys at Haney & Young are asking the court to relieve them as counsel for Jean, ASAP.

The lawyers claim Jean rarely responds to their emails -- and refuses to communicate by phone -- and worst of all ... she's racked up $500,000 in unpaid fees during her various legal battles.

In a letter to Jean, the firm says if she doesn't pay up ... the money's gonna come out of Casey's estate.

We've made calls to Jean, but she's not getting back to us either.

Santa Monica Police, meanwhile, confirmed there's still an ongoing investigation into elder abuse by Jean Kasem.

Jean, Jean, you're young and alive, come out of your half-dreamed dream. Hiding your celebrity hubby's corpse isn't cute anymore. It's old and cold, just as he must be right now. The countdown is on, babycakes, because the way the shit is going down, life is just not going your way.

Cher's Last Tour ~~ And This Time She Really Means It!

An article in England's gay magazine, Attitude, reports:

Cher has insisted that her current tour will be her “honest to God last”.

The Grande Dame of gay icons played her first show on ‘Living Proof: the Farewell Tour’ in June 2002 – and didn’t wrap up the 325-date global trek until August 2005.

She later played 192 shows during a residency at The Coliseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas between 2008 and 2011, before hitting the road again earlier this year on what she has named the ‘Dressed to Kill Tour’.

Attitude bases this on the diva's Tweet to a fan today, July 9: "...This is my honest 2 god 'last' farewell, farewell tour, cuz I'll b dead."

Well, for one thing, I think Old Girl still has a lot of life in her, frankly. And note that the word "last" is in quotes. As in her so-called last tour?

"The Dressed to Kill tour began this March – and is currently scheduled to run until November, with a total of 74 dates on the itinerary, all in North America," Attitude points out. Might she extend it to tour the rest of the world between now and then? Perhaps after a brief respite for the holiday season?

My hunch is, despite what Cher may have written on Twitter, Dressed to Kill will go back on the road but outside the US. Why would Cher not play to her adoring fans worldwide? For one thing, think of all the money, honey! It's a Diva's World.

Diva Dish for the Merry Month of May

According to Us magazine, Hunger Games' Jennifer Lawrence puked on the carpet at Madonna's Oscar night after-party. The American Hustle Best Supporting Actress nominee was so drunk by the time of that event, she retched right in public, the Oscar-winning song of the night, "Let It Go," perhaps influencing her. Miley Cyrus was passing by and snarked, "Pull it together, girl!" Hell, when Miley Cyrus tells you to pull it together, you know you're a hot mess.

No mention of who cleaned up the upchuck but it most probably was not Jennifer, Madge or Miley.

Disco diva France Joli, meanwhile, is now on Off-Broadway in the show, My Big Gay Italian Funeral. Last year, the singer debuted in My Big Gay Italian Wedding. She performs her timeless hit "Come To Me" in the show. I had the pleasure of interviewing France Joli last November:
http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/11/dj-buddy-beaverhausen-comes-to-france.html

'60s diva Lesley Gore just celebrated her 68th birthday... and she still hasn't gotten over that damned party when Judy fooled around with Johnny. The girl-group era songbird still performs and enthralls with songs old and new. I saw her a few years back at Joe's Pub, where none other than iconic radio jockey Cousin Brucie (Bruce Morrow) was in the audience. Happy Birthday, Lesley Sue Goldstein!
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/05/lesley-gore-its-her-birthday-and-shell.html

And rumor has it that silver screen divas Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange were attached to make a cable tv-movie about the making of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with Sarandon as Bette Davis (because she has Bette Davis eyes) and Lange as co-star/rival Joan Crawford. The idea was pitched to HBO but was rejected. Hard to believe since both actresses were notably in previous HBO films, with Lange winning an Emmy for Grey Gardens.

Gray LeBlanc now has a Facebook petition page you can go to. 

Welcome to my petition page for Jessica Lange & Susan Sarandon to star in Ryan Murphy's ''The Making of...What Ever Happened to Baby Jane.'' This was brought to HBO by Murphy and turned down. I have written a lengthy email to the head of HBO programming, Michael Lombardo (Michael.lombardo@hbo.com) on the matter. Lange has contributed GREATLY to HBO with ''Grey Gardens.'' Sarandon has also contributed w/both ''Bernard and Doris'' and "You Don't Know Jack.'' It's a travesty for HBO to pass on this script, with these ladies, at this point in perspective their careers. They have both paved the way for fantastic HBO movies past and future, and that's why this makes me sick!, writes LeBlanc on his Page.

You can visit it and be part of the grass-roots protest. I'm certain there'd be much interest in this project. I say, shop it around! After all, HBO isn't the only fish in the sea.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/269238183246016/

I'll be back next week with more divas' dirty linen. Meanwhile, I wish all you diva worshippers a month of May as fabulous as the goddess of your choice!

Dj Buddy B's Latest Diva Dish

We were on Spring Break! Did you miss us? Well, the divas are back, some with steaming hot scandals, so get ready!

Madonna's showing her age lately. I look better than she and I'm older than huh! (See pic at left. That's Madonna; not me.) Well, the dance-music diva turned off most of her gay fan base when she used the term "gay" in, like, a totally pejorative context.

According to WonderWall: Remember the '80s and '90s? Those heady times of unrestricted political incorrectness when high school kids used the word "gay" as a slanderous term (i.e.: "those mom jeans are gay, this 9th grade homework assignment is gay, my immature lack of respect for my fellow humans is soooo gay")? Not so surprisingly, Madonna seems to be stuck in that time period -- at least when it comes to language.

During a Buzzfeed segment that aired this week, she was asked to write down the first word that came into her head after hearing a variety of topics. The words kale and Vladimir Putin inspired her to write down "gay." An online firestorm ensued, with social media users pointing out that (duh) she was being pretty offensive. 

Putin = Gay? Big whoops, Madge! Were you trying to be ironic? Major fail.

"Saying kale is ‘gay' is meant to convey that she doesn't like it, so it is an insult. I am SO TIRED of people using ‘gay' in a negative context," wrote one user who was later quoted by ABCNews.com.

Helter-Skelter's li'l diva Squeaky (Lynette) Fromm is back in the news! The Charles Manson sidekick and would-be President Gerald Ford assassin's pre-trial audiotape from her psychiatric exam on the latter account is now being released, 40 years after the incident.

The Sacramento Bee "requested the tapes be made public, reports that Fromme spoke confidently about her ability to represent herself at trial and be acquitted," according to the Guardian UK. 

"'What would you estimate to be your percentage chance at this point of being found not guilty?' the psychiatrist James R. Richmond asked Fromme on the tape. 'Oh, I feel, I feel definitely I have probably a 70 per cent chance on the percentage scale,' Fromme said in response."Ah, Squeaky! Ever the optimist!

I love the 1997 bio from St Martin's Press by Jess Bravin. Still part of my home library. 

Cher doesn't have to walk alone! New dj-promo-only mix from Matt Consola and LFB via Sobel Promotions is, like, so gay! As in epic, make you want to dance! The premier club mix is far superior to the highly touted and overrated Tracy Young Ferosh Reconstruction mix in my humble opinion. The third single remixed off her latest album. Cher is currently touring and she arrives in Brooklyn May 9th (right around both of our birthdays)! http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/11/audio-beaverhausen-chers-closer-to-truth.html

By the way, I interviewed both Matt http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/03/exclusive-q-with-dance-music-producer.html and LFB (Leo Frappier) http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/11/exclusive-q-with-leo-frappier.html recently.

Also loving Tony Moran's GMC Mixshow Anthem & the Moran/Deep Influence remixes of Martha Wash's "I'm Not Coming Down." Martha will be appearing outdoor at Lincoln Center on July 3rd along with divas Linda Clifford and the girls from Chic! http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/12/queens-our-city-radio-exclusive-q-with.html

/http://www.marthawash.com/beaverhausen-im-into-something-good-martha-wash/

So, yes, Spring Break is over! The Divas are back -- on the dancefloors, in the news, in your face ~ and beyond!

EXTRA! EXTRA! Exclusive Q&A with Bob Esty About Barbra & Cher

Bob Esty Blabs It to Beaverhausen about Barbra & Cher ~ Part One

 
It was a true pleasure for me to have the joy of interviewing Bob Esty again. I love hearing his "backstage" stories because they're always full of good humor and he's so vivid and forthcoming. The legendary producer has talked with me before http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/09/links-to-parts-1-through-4-of-my.html, but that four-part interview went on quite long and we had to postpone focusing on his work with Barbra Streisand and Cher because that would require further, serious Q&A. Can we talk? Well, now, several months later we can, and it was worth the wait! The original interview took place before the holiday season settled in on us. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed conducting the interview with this iconic dance-music producer. Bob lives in L.A. and is still very active as a songwriter/producer/arranger. His birthday is on Easter Sunday this year and we wish him a happy one!

Artwork courtesy of Dj Jandry

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen: Bob, so good to talk to you again. Happy holidays!
Bob Esty: Thank you. To you, too!

DBB: Let's start with a hypothetical question. Barbra and Cher each call you to produce their next album. Due to conflicting time constraints, you can only do one and both are offering the same money. Whom would you work with?
BE: I think Barbra. I know her better because I worked with her at least three or four other times after "Main Event." And I really haven't seen Cher in years. You know, she's autographed things for me. [We both laugh.] If she wants to do the type of music she does, I could be a producer, though Barbra is doing the types of things I'm producing now. I've been doing non-disco music for many years. But I love both of them.

DBB: Have you heard Cher's new album?
BE: I haven't yet. I saw her on BBC America's Graham Norton Show. She did a ballad and, of course, brought the house down. And I've heard her new dance single, "It's a Woman's World" and I thought it was great. And I never saw the Barbra Brooklyn concert. Even though people say she doesn't have the same kind of energy, obviously....
DBB: Who does?
BE: Right. And not the same kind of attitude. I loved Motown growing up, and I loved Bette Midler more than Barbra at the time. I mean, I liked [Barbra's] singing but I wasn't that into it.
DBB: From my point of view, I think Barbra has the better voice by a traditional standard but Bette's gritty; Bette's real.
BE: I almost produced her.
DBB: Aww, Bob! Aww!
BE: Yeah. Ah, well...!

DBB: Have you heard the Donna Summer remix album they recently released?
BE: I didn't like what I heard of it. "Last Dance" did not have the energy of the original production I did for Paul [Jabara]. It was sort of a Donna Summer watered-down energy. And Universal didn't have the tapes. They couldn't do anything else! Universal LOST the tapes; they can't find the tapes!
DBB: That is really amazing.
BE: Yeah!

DBB: Let me ask you what brought you to produce Barbra Streisand's "The Main Event" and do you recall your first encounter with her and what it was like?
BE: Yes! Paul Jabara and Bruce Roberts wrote this song, though Barbra initially was against it because she didn't want to sing a song in this movie. But Jason [Gould, Barbra's son] liked "Last Dance" and "Take Me Home" and talked her into doing the song with me and Paul.
DBB: How old was Jason at the time?
BE: Fourteen, I think. But, basically, at first, I didn't want to do this because I just finished producing disco songs for Andy Williams and the Beach Boys and I didn't feel "Main Event" lent itself to a disco arrangement. But I worked with Paul in his apartment and came up with ideas and the format of the song. I worked on it on piano and did the chord changes and everything else. And Paul really wanted to work with Barbra because that was his goal in life! He wrote a Broadway musical about her: Rachael Lily Rosenblum. That's when Paul and I met because of Ellen Green, who starred after Bette Midler turned the part down. I went to the audition with Ellen because we had the same manager in New York. Robert Stigwood produced the show and ~ oh, God! ~ it was overblown to the nth degree. I felt it would have done better off-Broadway....
DBB: You're right! Your instincts were right. I think if it was produced off-Broadway, it could have been a smash.
BE: So that's where I met Paul who moved to California, where I was living since January 1975. Anyhow, "The Main Event"! We met Barbra on the hottest day of August at her Malibu ranch, dripping wet with sweat. Paul, Bruce Roberts and I in a convertible. So, I was the Baltimore boy with sunburn while the other guys were tanned. I really didn't want to go. For another thing, I had worked with Lesley Ann Warren, who had been married to Jon Peters, and he was going to be there with Barbra. I was arranging a song for Lesley on The Tonight Show where I saw her shaking, crying and just not being her usual self. Later, in the parking lot, she was scolded by Jon Peters for not wearing the right dress. And now I was meeting him with Barbra.
The first thing I saw when we got to the ranch was Barbra in a schmatta and no make-up. But looking great and so friendly and gracious! And Jon Peters was there, standing off to the side and not saying anything. Anyhow, Barbra wanted to show me the art deco house she had built with art deco motifs. So she took me through this and it was quite, you know, a display. I loved it but I didn't know she was so into this. The other thing: I noticed the garden and it was full of corn. And she said: "I planted that!" And I thought, "With those nails?!"
DBB: Maybe she dug the holes for the seeds with her fingers.
BE: [laughs] Well, she served corn later! And I remember the house was painted yellow. It had a grand piano inside. And Jason was there, so I met him. And Bruce Roberts sat behind me when I was asked to play the piano. Paul Jabara was drinking, slouching and leaning on the piano. Barbra was also standing at the piano as I played the arrangement [for "Main Event"]. She loved it, except, she said to me, "There's nothing about 'fight'." "Uh-oh-oh," I thought and Paul looked at me like "Ooo!" But he reminded me of a song we wrote for The Village People with sort of a corny hook:"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight! For what you want!"
DBB: Did that ever get released?
BE: No. I figured out the bass line of that unreleased song and I played and sang it to Barbra. "That's it!" she cried out. But then she said, "But I'm not doing 'The Main Event.'" I thought Bruce Roberts would be mad and I talked her into doing it as a medley of "The Main Event/Fight." Barbra said "I don't like "Main Event' and I don't like that 'Extra! Extra!' It sounds like a newspaper song." I said, "No, no, you have to sing it like this [demonstrates what Barbra was later to record], then she said, "Oh. I'll try that." I sang the guide vocal for her later and I sang the whole fucking song and she was flabbergasted, sitting on a couch there, looking at me cross-eyed.
At the recording session, Bruce played piano of my arrangement and I conducted the strings. Barbra sang it live and when it came through the headphones, it just sounded brilliant and thrilling. But Paul Jabara hated it because the arrangement was too simple for him. When we eventually did the vocal session, Barbra really appreciated being directed. She appreciated whatever I did for her, really.

DBB: Well, that's a producer's job, right?
BE: Yeah, of course. But, Cher, on the other hand, when we did "Take Me Home," didn't want me at the first vocal session.

[Stay tuned for Part 2 coming in May]

Buddy B's Monday Night News Report: Everything That Fits.

Welcome, infotainment mavens. Here are the latest tidbits you can chew on, hot off the press:

According to Metro, they took a poll of the Best Single by a Female Artist Ever (for International Women's Day) in the UK and Cher's "Believe" was  #1. Here was their entire top ten:

1. Cher – Believe
2. Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
3. Britney Spears – Hit Me Baby One More Time
4. Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
5. Adele – Someone Like You
6. Jennifer Rush – The Power of Love
7. Spice Girls – Wannabe
8. Celine Dion – Think Twice
9. Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – We Found Love
10. All Saints – Never Ever

There is nothing like a Dame, possums! Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries) just received an Olivier Award nomination for 2014, it was announced. He is currently performing on the West End, direct from the successful Australian farewell show for Dame Edna (Eat, Pray, & Laugh) that, hopefully, will be coming to Broadway in the not-too distant future.

The show, now at the London Palladium, is nominated for a Best Entertainment and Family Award. The Olivier ceremony will take place April 13th at London's Royal Opera House.

Meanwhile, a blast from the arctic vortex returns as Disney's kiddie film, Frozen, stands accused by one of the Tea Party's wingnuts of Satanism. Kevin Swanson (ironically as in the frozen dinners), a religious-right talk show host, got into a Satanic panic that the movie was "going to indoctrinate my 5-year-old to be a lesbian or treat homosexuality or bestiality in a light sort of way." Anything involving Adele Dazeem ~ whose name spelled backwards is Meezad Eleda (!) ~ is direct from Beelzebub, without any reasonable doubt. Burn, witch, burn!

Finally, give a listen to this 7-year-old girl from Norway channeling Billy Holiday. Uncanny! (Or perhaps demonic possession? Kevin Swanson, we await your enlightened verdict.) "Gloomy Sunday." Well, we just got over that. Here's to Titillating Tuesday!

Religious Right talk show host Kevin Swanson railed against the Disney film Frozen on Wednesday, accusing Disney of using the movie to turn children gay.
Swanson told cohost Steve Vaughn that Satan is using the movie “to indoctrinate my 5-year-old to be a lesbian.”
- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/swanson-disneys-frozen-satanic-push-turn-kids-gay#sthash.OB4jNe3m.dpuf

http://dailypicksandflicks.com/2014/03/07/norways-got-talent-7-year-old-girl-sings-gloomy-sunday-by-billie-holiday-video/

Back to the Bistros with Buddy B

Although the nation will be focused on the Academy Awards on Sunday night, New York City's big night of its glitterati will not be televised. However, Buddy Beaverhausen will tell you all about it as I rub elbows with the NYC cabaret community once again when I attend the Bistro Awards on Tuesday night. I will march forth on March 4th to the big event at the elegant Gotham Comedy Club in Chelsea, covering the Bistro Awards this year for Queens Our City Radio.

Working the red carpet for the first time this year will be Bistro committee member and Buddy's buddy, Mr Kevin Scott Hall. (Who knows, maybe I'll end up with a brief red carpet moment to share with everyone!) Also, I hope to possibly get a few words from this year's Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Ben Vereen. (Last year, I got to speak to Bistro winner Maurice Hines and we caught on like a house on fire. He was the most down-to-earth celebrity I ever encountered.) Fingers crossed.

I will certainly bring you the best dish, the best blab, the best reportage of this wonderful annual event now in its 29th year. Prior winners who have appeared at the Bistros include Lainie Kazan (an especially outstanding live performance), Melissa Manchester, Dionne Warwick, Tyne Daly, Elaine Stritch, Mitzi Gaynor (who kissed me at Feinstein's one night after her show there; a sublime diva contact high I'll never forget), Cheyenne Jackson (who I wish kissed me) and numerous others.

Sherry Eaker has been producing the Bistros since 1990. "As she did when she was editor [of Backstage magazine], Sherry still sees the importance of recognizing, encouraging, and supporting new and aspiring talent," reads her bio on the Bistro Award website. All true. I know Sherry and she is just a sweetie pie! I was involved with the Bistros last year as Social Media Manager (as I am described in the 2013 playbill for the show) as I then managed the event's Facebook page. Busy now, writing for Our City Radio, I really didn't have enough time to dedicate myself to the Bistros Facebook page this year, though it was a very enjoyable experience for me in 2013.

So, darlings, coming to you from New York, center of the universe, just a little local event full of celebs and local talent: the 29th Annual Bistro Awards. Always such a brilliant, glam night in gay Manhattan. Check it out exclusively at Queens Our City Radio (and on my Leave It to Beaverhausen blog) this coming Wednesday!

Visit the Bistro Awards website: http://bistroawards.com/

Buddy B @ the Bistros 2013: http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/03/buddy-beaverhausen-blabs-about-bistros.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LeaveItToBeaverhausen+%28Leave+It+to+Beaverhausen%29

Buddy B @ the Bistros 2012: http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/04/night-of-1000-super-troupers-bistro.htmlhttp://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/04/night-of-1000-super-troupers-bistro.html

Thursday's Diva Dish

Bette Midler, who was nominated for Best Actress Oscars for The Rose and For the Boys, will for the first time ever perform at the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 2. Wondering what she's going to sing? So's The Divine Miss M! She tweeted: "Now that the news is out, what shall I sing at this year's Oscars?" No worries as the multi-GRAMMY and three-time Emmy winner has sold over 30 million albums worldwide with quite an impressive repertoire to choose from.

Craig Zadon and Neil Meron, producers of the 86th Oscars event, expressed confidence, telling the press, “We are thrilled to have Bette perform on the Oscars for the very first time...! We believe she will make our Oscar telecast an especially moving evening."

It's a lackluster week on the latest Billboard dance songs/club chart, meanwhile, that finds Mel B's "For Once in My Life" stalled at #2. She looked poised for #1 but was leapfrogged over by Sweden's Avicii with his single, "True." Meh. Cher and Gaga take a tumble down the chart with Beyonce ascendant with "Blow." As I said of that song last week, "...not impressed by mixes of Beyonce's 'Blow.' Blowing that one off."

However, it's Mardi Gras Down Under and rumors are rife that Cher will be performing in Sydney. Festivities began February 7 and continue through March 2. Though there's been no announcement, officially, that the diva will lend her talents to the tres gay event, Australia's Same Same is fanning the gay community's flames on this one.

Reports Same Same:

We’d love to see Cher join us for the Sydney Mardi Gras Party, and there’s a few good reasons to think she will.

Mardi Gras haven’t announced anything and won’t comment on special guest rumours… but they are making a lot of Cher-themed fuss this week.
 
On Sunday, dozens of drag divas dressed as Cher along with no shortage of sailors performed a Turn Back Time tribute to the star on board the HMAS Vampire in Darling Harbour [for a special video yet to be unveiled].

Welcoming the video tribute, Cher herself tweeted some encouragement to her two million followers:





Meanwhile, Cher’s son Chaz Bono is flying down for the Mardi Gras festival – could he be joining his mum on stage during the Party or on a float at the Parade?

As Mardi Gras points out, Cher’s always been a sterling supporter of the LGBTI communities, and made a special surprise appearance at New York Pride last year http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/07/on-pier-with-cher-and-hot-cox.html.... Is Cher free for Mardi Gras? Yes, it appears so. Her ‘Dressed To Kill’ tour dates don’t [start] until March 22 in Phoenix.

After all this hype, Cher had better appear or there will be an awful lot of pissed off queens who will, indeed, be dressed to kill. And then, Shame Shame, Same Same. You'll want to Turn Back Time.

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen's Mondo Entertainment

Several days ago, there were shock waves over the Internet when word was out that seemingly timeless diva and newlywed Tina Turner had suffered a stroke at her home in Zurich. But the rumors were dismissed by none other than TT's bosom buddy, Ms Oprah Winfrey. "Tina had a bad flu weeks ago. She's recovered. And LIVING life! Sent me a single long-stem red rose for my birthday," Oprah Tweeted three days ago. Living life? Well, nobody said the diva had died! And, hmmm, yet no word from Tina herself. Most odd! Who's hoaxing who here?

It is true that Devo band member Bob Casale left this mortal coil on Presidents Day. After all, People magazine said so. His band mate and brother, Gerald, said Bob died due to "conditions that lead to heart failure." Well, many "conditions" can lead to heart failure! The world awaits further details.

Devo's lead singer//co-founder, Mark Mothersbaugh said: “We are shocked and saddened by Bob Casale's passing.... He was a great friend. I will miss him greatly.”

I loved, and continue to love, Devo's debut album, Are We Not Men? We Are Devo! Bob Casale wrote the politically incorrect and yet so correct, "Mongoloid," one of my fave Devo songs. They are, however, best known for their New Wave hit, "Whip It!"

Birthdays today, too! Closet celeb John Travolta turns 60 today. Other celeb birthdays for February 18 include Cary Grant (handsomest movie star ever and possibly closeted), Oliver Hardy, Danny Kaye (closeted), Kevin Costner (59), Jason Segal, Jane Horrocks (AbFab's Bubble, aged 50), and Patricia Routledge of Keeping Up Appearances' Hyacinth Bucket just had her birthday yesterday, still keeping up her appearances at age 85.

Cheers, till next time with more dirty linen, dahlings! Keep calm and gossip on!

My Valentine's Day Night: ICON Illustrated

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen Faces off with Dj Ian Ford

Dj Ian Ford was in the house at Icon last night in Queens, where I spent my Valentine's Day night. I have a real love hangover this morning, let me tell you. But I had the most fabulous time with equally fabulous company.

The music was magnificent, I must say, and my friend Kevin and I took to the dancefloor to shake it to Ford's hot set on a cold winter's night. We shook our booties to everything from Kylie's "Love at First" to StoneBridge's classic Robin S track, "Show Me Love." http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/01/exclusive-q-with-producerremixerdj.html

I recently had the opportunity to interview the iconic NYC dj Ford (over the Internet), so it was a pleasure to finally meet in person before he took to his turntables:

http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/01/on-icon-splash-clubland-and-divas.html

It has been quite a winter assault of frigid weather, snow and ice in NYC, yet Icon drew people in with its warmth, its excitement, its glamour and its shelter from the storm.

What follows is my scrapbook of snapshots of a wonderful Valentine's Day evening that involved many tasty and potent cosmos and that kicked off a three-day holiday weekend for many.

An Iconic Conga Line

Icon's bartender formal wear!

Icon Undoubtedly Has the Hottest Bartenders in NYC

Heaven & Kevin

Travis, Nick Lion's New Club Assistant

Go-Go Gods Were Swingin' It!

This woman, an Icon regular (with her Valentine) sounded just like Karen on Will & Grace

Part of what keeps Icon hot on a February night

Nick introduces us to Icon's new manager 

Nick & another dashing friend

Caught celebrating, seated on a plush, diamond-studded stool near the dj booth