Greetings, darlings! I hate to do this but there is tres sad news.. so let’s get it out of the way. Several folks have gone to that great cocktail party in the sky over the last 24 hours.
First, there was “Laugh-In” co-host Dick Martin, who went on to become a famed TV. director ( notably of “The Bob Newhart Show” series), just died at age 86. ( How is it POSSIBLE he was that old? I mean, I remember “Laugh-in” and he was pretty young back then ...good golly, Miss Molly, I must only THINK I remember it.. I must have been a mere toddler when that show was on TV... cough)
A little known “Laugh-in” factoid for you, sweeties: rumor has it that Eon’s own SUZY was the original “sock-it-to-me girl” but after “ accidentally-on-purpose” losing her top one too many times during the taping of the show, the producer canned her.. lucky for Goldie Hawn, who was the replacement! OkokokokOK, I don’t know if that’s a true story but I like it.
Does the name Thelma Keane ring a bell? How about the picture of the mom in the famed comic strip about family life “The Family Circus”? Thelma was the wife and inspiration of Bill Keane, who created the strip and used Thelma’s image and parenting for the lead mom character. Thelma passed last week of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 82, her husband said."She was the inspiration for all of my success," the 85-year-old cartoonist told The Associated Press from his home in Paradise Valley on Sunday. "When the cartoon first appeared, she looked so much like Mommy that if she was in the supermarket pushing her cart around, people would come up to her and say, ’Aren’t you the Mommy in ’Family Circus?’ and she would admit it."
Can we have a collective “ awwwwwww” and let’s toast Thelma and Bill, darlings... there aren’t many couples that stay together and mutually inspire.
From the Has the World Gone Big Brother NUTS File: Our borders are wide open, crime is so rampant it is considered part of every day life ( especially in the city) but the police in the Hamptons know how to spend their time protecting the citizens. Uh-huh. They ARRESTED East Hampton gallery owner Ruth Vered (of the Vered Gallery) for the dastardly crime of serving champagne at a posh reception for the opening of a Steven Klein photography exhibit.
It was a party, she thought. The cops said she couldn’t serve liquor without a license.
Vered, I heard, stood right up to them and said in their faces “ I SERVED LIQUOR BEFORE YOU WERE BORN. YOU ARE NOT INVITED, LEAVE!”
The police didn’t take well to this suggestion and popped her into a squad car to take her in for a booking – while the gallery opening guests shouted ( I am not making this up) “ FREE RUTH! FREE RUTH!”
Some happy news: Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa were in the crowd over the weekend as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs 101-71 . Patrick, as has been widely reported, is battling often deadly pancreatic cancer.. he’s looking tired and a little thin but word is he is responding to treatment and let’s hope his chances of making it are better than originally reported.
His sister-in-law, Dr. Maria Scouros, is a Houston oncologist , by the way... which must be a comfort for wife Lisa when she has questions and concerns.!!! He and Lisa are handling the situation with grace and strength. No whining or hiding... just keeping on keeping on. WE LOVE YOU PATRICK!
You know who else I’ve always loved? Well, besides Cary Grant, of course..... I love Jerry Hall. NOT in the same way I lust after Cary, natch, but she’s one southern lass with class tempered with just enough trash and sass to be outrageously fun and interesting. Anyhoo, she’s selling her designer wardrobe to raise at least $60,000 for a homeless charity.
So if you’d like her lace Antony Price wedding dress, worn for her 1990 Balinese "marriage" to Mick, which he and his lawyers later claimed was a REAL wedding ( after years together and four kids), or goodies by Vivienne Westwood, Gianni Versace and Bruce Oldfield, stay tuned for the where and when, as soon as I hear! Now what’s up with you, you and YOU!?? C’mon darlings, and spill those beans.. and go out there and do something so BOOMerific people say with a grin, “I haven’t seen so much joie de vivre in eons!!”
