Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1963)

Continued from page 14 She fell in love with and married the son of a rich tobacco man. Her mate was killed in a tragedy that stayed on the front pages for weeks. It also wrecked Libby’s career — the high spot came with a song she introduced. Ironically, it’s title was “Moanin’ Low.” ❖ New "York Novelet: “The Boys From Syracuse,” an early Rodgers & Hart production, won favor again with the critics and audiences when it was revived recently. The twenty-five-year-old musical gem cost only $35,000 to produce. “Hot Spot” and “Sophie,” two casualties, sent about One Million $ down the Broadway drain in the same season. But what we started out to jot down was that its new producer, Richard York, is a former waiter at Pablo’s Restaurant on East 58th Street. Mr. York got the option rights with money he saved from tips. He also lined up several of his customers as backers. One of them was lyricist Dorothy Field. York quit his waiter’s job last January to give all of his sweat, blood and tears to staging the show. It garnered rave notices at Theater Four on West 55th Street where they expect to keep selling out all summer — this yeaT and next! ❖ “Dear Mr. Winchell,” passionately writes a reader, “I am always delighted to read about all the celebrated people you run into making your rounds in Hollywood and New York. But honestly, I have never been that fortunate. I just never happen to be at a restaurant, cafe or theater when some celebrity is breathing the same air as I am. Would you please find space in one of your Photoplay pieces to tell some of us real fans where to go to see our favorites?" Well, lessee now. . . . If it’s a weekend, John Edgar Hoover (the famous G-Man) is likely to be seen coming out of the Waldorf-Astoria where he dwells when in Manhattan. You might catch up with Mr. Hoover at Lindy’s Restaurant on Broadway near 51st Street. He never fails to feast there when in Our Town. If it is a Sabbath evening — try the executive entrance (on 50th Street) of Radio City Music Hall. If you see a limousine parked nearby with the license plate J-42 there’s your man and autograph! The Waldorf Towers entrance on 50th Street near Park Avenue is where you stand a good chance of catching a fast look-see of many well-knowns. General MacArthur lives there, as does Ambassador Adlai Stevenson, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and scads of other famous folks. The Kennedys? Try Voisin, a very swank restaurant, or the Carlyle Hotel. Margaret Truman? When she thirsts tor an ice cream soda she often gets it at Rumpelmayer’s in the St. Moritz Hotel on Central Park South. Papa Joe Kennedy? In New York he lives at 24 West 59th Street. If you have the patience to wait outside of Sardi’s or the Stork Club you are likely to run into Zsa-Zsa, Bert Lahr, Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy and other show folk pets. Jack E. Leonard and Milton Berle usually dine at Danny’s Hideaway on East 45th Street or at Reuben’s on West 58th. Lauren Bacall and husband Jason Robards, Jr. prefer the not too famous places such as Harold’s Show Spot on West 45th where the cuisine and price are Just Right. Too bad you weren’t at the Eden Roc on East 48th Street the night Major Cooper and the other astronauts dined there. That was the night following his reception and parade. Who should come in the same night but Grace Kelly and her Prince! ❖ The Broadway-Hollywood Line: Arlene Dahl keeps me confused. One day the lovely thing announces she is against brides who reveal cleavage and then you pick up Playboy and there’s Arlene, the dahl, posing au naturel . . . Barbra Streisand (she became a star after clicking as a secretary in the “I Can Get It For You Wholesale” play) now has two Girl Fridays answering her fanmail . . . Cary Grant’s comment about a newsmag’s snide crack rates added circulation. It said Cary saved “his first nickel.” To which Our Hero nimbly niftied: “I wish I had — in case Internal Revenue demands the four and one half cents I pay out of every five I earn." They keep showing a film we made with Alice Faye and Ben Bernie in 1936 on the Late Late Shows. The title: “Wake Up and Live.” Amazing how much of the wordage in it doesn’t seem stale. Only the clothing of the gals appears dated. The score is delightful. But what entertained me most was hearing a line that has become famous wherever they use Safety Slogans, to wit: “Drive Carefullv. Save a Life. It may be your own!" Two of our top playwrights, Tennessee Williams and William Inge, were among the season’s casualties. This happens, of course, to the best writers as they challenge The Big Street. But Mr. Inge has been belting back at the drama critics publicly and Mr. Williams complained that Broadway is too much of a big business. That he hated it and couldn’t stand it, et cetera, et cetera. How times change. We can remember all the way back when Tennessee worked at the Strand Theater as an usher and hoped that one day he would scale Mt. Broadway. (End of Long, Deep Sigh.) * We are relaying the following true tale from Insider’s Newsletter because we know several waitresses who will appreciate it. And another girl who depends on good tippers — the hatchick at Lawry’s Restaurant on La Cienega in Hollywood. (The latter always flatters this correspondent with: “I never miss an issue of Photoplay and your stories.”) The scene: Washington D.C. The heroine: A waitress. She received a notice from Internal Revenue, saying that she hadn’t reported enough income as tips; that they should “come to at least fifteen percent of your gross sales.” She remembered the agent’s name. He was one of her patrons — always chose her table. So she replied: “You and three other men ate at our place just two nights ago. I remember you very well because your bill was $30 and you left $1.50 tip. So I guess you owe me $3.” It was a futile gesture. She lost the argument and the case. ❖ Danny’s Hideaway, a popular restaurant in Manhattan for show people, just added another room. They call it “The No Longer Room.” The walls are covered with famous patrons now in Splitzville. Such as Tony and Janet. Frank and Ava. Bob and Natalie. Bobby and Sandra. Eduardo and Liz. The Broadway backers (Angels) suffered their worst season in decades. We noted only the other morning that “How To Succeed” would make more money than all the Broadway productions (combined) this season. One attraction called “Pajama Tops” started its tenancy at the Winter Garden by offering two tickets for the price of one. The slang word for it is “Twofers.” But you never can tell. Take “Enter Laughing” which we recently recommended in these pages. Sylvia Sidney is the leading lady. It opened during the newspaper strike which lasted 114 days. The advance ticket money in the till totaled only $2,873. It is now well over $100,000 with ducats selling into February. The backers are wearing Very Wide Grins. — The End Walter Winchell narrates “The Untouchables,” ABC-TV, Tuesdays 9:30 PM, EDT.