Female Sidekicks

My Return to Grey Gardens post made me think about women sidekicks. I mean, Little Edie surely is the star of Grey Gardens and Big Edie her sidekick.

Famously, when I think on this subject (which, believe me, I'm oft to do), I remember -- first and foremost -- Lucy and Ethel. And after that, I really cannot think of a lot until Absolutely Fabulous came along in the '90s!

I suppose, Marilyn Monroe might have been Jane Russell's sidekick in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). Or was that the other way around?

And a case can definitely be made for Laurie Metcalf being a sidekick to Roseanne Barr on Roseanne (1988-97).  I'm sure there are a ton of sitcom women with their female sidekicks that I'm just not thinking about. Frankly, I don't watch a lot of tv.

Joan Crawford was Bette Davis' sidekick in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. And kick her in the side she did. Anne Baxter was Bette's sidekick in All About Eve (1950). Or was the sidekick in that film Thelma Ritter or maybe Celeste Holm?

Crawford had a number of sidekicks. Eve Arden in Mildred Pierce, for one. Judy Geeson in Berserk.
Diane Baker in Strait-Jacket. Debbie Reynolds' sidekick was Shelly Winters in What's the Matter \with Helen. Olivia DeHavilland was Bette Davis' sidekick in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Can you think of others? Love to see your responses. Remember, this blog is interactive-friendly.

Diva Dish ~ Gay Pride Edition

LGBT Pride Month begins June 1st, which is Marilyn Monroe's birthday. And LGBT Pride in June celebrates the political liberation that was initiated during the Stonewall riots on June 28, 1968 -- the day after Judy Garland's funeral. Coincidence? I think not. Both icons cherished and were supportive of their legion of gay fans.

LGBT Pride Day, in city after city around the world, will embrace dance-music divas. They're the idols of the post-Stonewall age. These divas will be on parade floats! In clubs! In cabarets! And even right on the streets during Pride Days internationally. Oklahoma City Pride this year will feature the double-powerhouse appearance of Taylor Dayne and Martha Wash, for example. Lucky city! As is Milwaukee, where that burg's PrideFest has the divine Debby Holiday onstage ahead of comedy divas Sandra Bernhard and Lisa Lampanelli.

I've been fortunate to have interviewed both Martha Wash and Ms Holiday:
http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/12/queens-our-city-radio-exclusive-q-with.html

http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/06/buddy-bs-exclusive-q-with-debby-holiday.html

Here in New York City, Queens Pride kicked off June 1 with the fabulous Inaya Day belting out her Billboard club hits, "Movin' Up" and "Make Some Noise" 1 a.m. at Icon in Astoria. The Pier Dance in Manhattan will be on Sunday, June 29. This year, the Pier Dance diva will be Demi Lovato who is not enough of a draw, personally, to bring me to that event. Last year, I was there with bells on (only figuratively) to see Cher and Deborah Cox. What an amazing show that was!
http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/07/on-pier-with-cher-and-hot-cox.html

So, what diva or divas are appearing at your city's event? Dj Buddy Beaverhausen would love to hear from you, all over the world. Don't be shy. Enquiring minds need to know. Wishing a happy Pride Day to all, wherever you might be!

Link to Jackie Vs. Marilyn

I wrote an article exclusively for Queens Our City Radio, commemorating the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination. Perhaps a tad irreverent ~ but I am Buddy Beaverhausen after all! Icons are there so I can get clastic with them, no?

Anyhow, this is about the tensions between Marilyn Monroe and First Lady Jackie Kennedy over a man. Who happened to be the President of the United States.

Check it out. You may be surprised by what I dug up.

http://queens.ourcityradio.com/stations/americana-news/jackie-marilyn

Nick Lion on Marilyn, Ari Gold and Love Goddess

The rather dashing music producer/songwriter/new club owner Nick Lion informs us:

I've been an avid fan of Marilyn since I was 8-years-old, after just seeing a picture of her. I was smitten, as were so many millions of others. 

 

I wrote this song "Love Goddess" as contemporary tribute to her in honor of the 51st Anniversary of her passing. I was also a big fan of Ari Gold's, and I felt his voice had the perfect tone for the song.

I wanted him for the recording, and after the producers auditioned countless talented singers both new and known, none of them were the right vibe. So I finally decided to reach out to my personal choice.

 

Knowing he usually only sings songs he writes himself, I was hesitant, but I felt if he loved it he would do it. So I sent him the demo, with an email saying, "you're the one I think is the perfect match for the song and the one I want to do it...if you luv it...we'll make it happen. I'm a Leo like Madonna, when we want something we usually get it and make it happen." Two weeks later I got the response I wanted! He loved it, we recorded it and the rest is history!

 

Order from Amazon.com mp3, and hear sound bites:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_12?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music&field-keywords=love+goddess+ari+gold&sprefix=love+goddess%2Cdigital-music%2C398

Happy Birthday, Albert Einstein!

"Imagination is more important than knowledge" ~ Albert Einstein

In the late 1940s, actress Shelley Winters shared an apartment with Marilyn Monroe, and in her autobiography, Winters claimed that the Blonde Bombshell hinted about a dalliance with Mr E = mc2.  It has also been rumored that, at a party together, Marilyn breathlessly told Albert: "Imagine if we made a baby together. He'd have your brains and my looks." But, my dear," said Albert, "He might have my looks and your brains."

Today is Albert Einstein's Birthday. Celebrate! I dedicate this song to his memory. Albert Einstein's great intellectual achievements and originality have made the word "Einstein" synonymous with "genius." Get it, Einsteins?

This video is dedicated to the genius of Mr Smarty Pants:

Madonna Kennedy

"I think we should dress Madonna up as my mother. Wouldn’t that be a riot?” said JFK Jr. This according to the memoir, due January 24, Fairy Tale, written by RoseMarie Terenzio, JFK Jr.'s assistant back in 1999. Such was John-John's stunningly bad-taste idea for the cover of his George magazine. Surprisingly, Madonna had the good taste to decline! Too much of an ick factor for her, dressing up as her ex's mother? (Jackie? Oh!) The only reason Madonna gave for turning down the photo op: “My eyebrows aren’t thick enough...." (My God, how thick did they have to be, honey? You were asked to impersonate Jacqueline Kennedy, not Groucho Marx!) In any event, Madonna just wasn't ready for this kind of drag.

Madonna was no stranger to portraying First Ladies, however, as she famously assayed the role of Argentina's Eva Peron in the film version of Evita. So, maybe she simply decided she didn't want to make a cottage industry of it.

All this Madonna-goes-Jackie madness was reported by The New York Post on New Year's Day, and it was that sterling periodical that Photoshopped the above image, apparently, with the caption, "IM-MADGE-INE THAT! Madonna wrote a letter turning down John Kennedy Jr.’s offer to pose as his mom for George magazine — an image that might have looked something like this." The tabloid never fails to entertain, though not always for the right reasons. I doubt George's cover would have had Madonna wearing the iconic outfit Jackie wore in Dallas on the fateful day of JFK's assasination. Leave it to The Post to push the envelope on bad taste.

“'When you want me to portray Eva Braun or Pamela Harriman, I might say yes!'” [Madonna] wrote, referring, bizarrely, to Hitler’s mistress and the British socialite who married New York Gov. W. Averell Harriman and Winston Churchill’s son Randolph," The Post lasciviously informed its readership.

Yellow journalism has its advantages, like gossip as page 3 news. Anyhow, it was Drew Barrymore who ended up on the cover of the “Women in Politics” issue, ironically dressed as Marilyn Monroe in her infamous white halter dress from when she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to President Kennedy. Kind of twisted, no? (Hey, wait a minute! "Women in Politics?" Marilyn? Go figure.)