Happy Birthday, Judy Garland!

"The rest of us will be forgotten, never Judy."
-Frank Sinatra

10 June 1922: Somewhere over the rainbow near Grands Rapid Minnesota, Judy Garland was born. So much has been written about her. What more can I say? I can say this: What was it about her that touched the heart and soul of this little boy growing up on a tobacco farm in South Carolina...and STILL touches his heart and soul? Perhaps it is just her sheer desire to entertain.
A desire that I share as well. I want my blog today to focus on the legacy of work that Judy left behind. After all, that is what touched me in the first place. Memories of watching THE WIZARD OF OZ with my family every year. Even today, that iconic film is so closely associated with my childhood.

Memories of my first books on Judy Al DiOrio's LITTLE GIRL LOST

I still remember how excited I was the day I found this paperback at Rose's Department Store at The Coastal Mall. My mom bought it for me and I could not wait to get home to read it! I was 13!
My Pyramid Book on JUDY (I just ordered it on Amazon. I feel like I'm going to be reconnecting with an old friend!).

I remember vividly taking this book to school in the 7th grade and having an animated conversation with Rose Montgomery in Mr. Sargent's science class about how important Judy Garland was!

My Aunt Grace buying Christopher Finch's RAINBOW for me.

Then there was Gerald Frank's bio of Judy!

Based on over 200 interviews and full access to her personal papers, letters, contracts, and photos, as well as the complete cooperation of her children, husbands, relatives, doctors, fellow actors, and directors, this biography explores with candor and empathy the tempestuous, theatrical life of Judy Garland . Here, in all her glory and turmoil, is the singer-actress whose performances in films like The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, A Star Is Born, and on concert tours enthralled audiences, a woman whose brazen and tender voice continues to captivate listeners decades after her death at age forty-seven.
Anne Edwards' bio of Judy.

Hollywood in the early days - where stars were created, glamorized and lionized, and where child-star Francis Gumm took her first step on the path that was to rocket her to world-wide fame and fortune. The beginning of the legend of Judy Garland. In this searching biography that legend is examined and stripped of its glittering veneer. Revealed is a lonely woman desperately searching out love and affection, emotions she only discovered in the adulation of her millions of fans. Kept going by pills and the pressure of those eager to abuse and exploit her, she was driven to breaking point, but still the magic lingered on. A story of dreams and nightmares, marriages and divorces, financial crises and her tragic early death, the sensational Garland legend still survives today.

I also remember sneaking up late at night to catch the showings of Judy's concerts from her TV specials. I could go on and on. What are YOUR iconic memories? Here are some of mine...(Focusing mostly on Judy's early career!)
From A Star Is Born. Pure Judy Garland Talent.
Judy Garland (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in A Star is Born and for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1961 film, Judgement at Nuremberg.At 40 years of age, she was the youngest recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in the motion picture industry. After appearing in vaudeville with her sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager.
There she made more than two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney and the 1939 film with which she would be most identified, The Wizard of Oz.
After 15 years, Garland was released from the studio but gained renewed success through record-breaking concert appearances, including a return to acting beginning with critically acclaimed performances.
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States from the early 1880s until the early 1930s.

(Judy Garland in Pigskin Parade, her first feature film. A loan out to 20th Century Fox. The one and only time MGM would loan her out).

Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, female and male impersonators, acrobats, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, basketball athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies.
Vaudeville was a frequent theme in Judy's earlier films.
Her first feature film with MGM was BROADWAY MELODY OF 1938 which gave us DEAR MR. GABLE (YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU).

That was filmed in 1937. That same year she was rushed right into Thoroughbreds Don't Cry which is significant because this was the first time that she was teamed with her frequent co-star, Mickey Rooney.

What a rapport they had with each other!
Cricket West, played by Judy Garland, is a hopeful actress with a plan and a pair of vocal chords that bring down the house. Along with her eccentric aunt, she plays host to the local jockeys, whose leader is the cocky but highly skilled Timmie Donovan.
When a young English gentleman comes to town convincing Donovan to ride his horse in a high stakes race, the plot breaks into a speeding gallop. Donovan is disqualified from racing, but Cricket springs into action and heads into the home stretch riding high!






Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary burlesque. Called "the fictional heart of American show business," vaudeville was one of the most American types of entertainment for several decades.
The origin of the term is obscure, but is often explained as being derived from the expression voix de ville, or "voice of the city."

Another plausible etymology finds origins in the French Vau de Vire, a valley in Normandy noted for its style of satirical songs with topical themes.
The term vaudeville, referring specifically to North American variety entertainment, came into common usage after 1871 with the formation of Sargent's Great Vaudeville Company of Louisville, Kentucky. It had little, if anything, to do with the Comédie en vaudeville of the French theatre.
Leavitt's and Sargent's shows differed little from the coarser material presented in earlier itinerant entertainments, although their use of the term to provide a veneer of respectability points to an early effort to cater variety amusements to the growing middle class. Though vaudeville had been used in the United States as early as the 1830s, most variety theatres adopted the term in the late 1880s and early 1890s for two reasons. First, seeking middle class patrons, they wished to distance themselves from the earlier rowdy, working-class variety halls. Second, the French or pseudo-French term lent an air of sophistication, and perhaps made the institution seem more consistent with the Progressive Era's interests in education and self-betterment. Judy's next film, EVERYBODY SING also dealt with a Vaudeville theme.

Some preferred the earlier term "variety" to what manager Tony Pastor called its "sissy and Frenchified" successor. Thus, vaudeville was marketed as "variety" well into the twentieth century.

As I write this, GIRL Crazy is on TCM.
GIRL CRAZY (1943) Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Gil Stratton. Dir: Norman Taurog
All day today till 8PM this eve EST is devoted to Judy Garland!

Girl Crazy is a 1943 musical film produced by Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Based on the stage musical of the same name, Girl Crazy stars Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in their ninth of ten pairings, partly filmed on location near Palm Springs, California.
This was also June Allyson's feature film debut.
Judy's second pairing with Mickey was part of the Andy Hardy series. This time out it was LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY Judy said, when first meeting Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney), "I'm Betsy Booth. I sing you know!"
Young Andy Hardy finds himself torn between three girls before returning to the girl next door. Garland's first appearance in the acclaimed Andy Hardy series features her singing "In Between" and "Meet the Best of my Heart."

LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY was 1938 as was LISTEN DARLING.

Then came the film that brought Judy into our homes year after year like a cherished family friend, THE WIZARD OF OZ!

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs were written by E.Y. Harburg, the music by Harold Arlen. Incidental music, based largely on the songs, was by Herbert Stothart, with borrowings from classical composers.
Based on the 1900 fairytale novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, the film stars Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, and Frank Morgan, with Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charles Grapewin, Clara Blandick and the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins.
BABES IN ARMS was also made in 1939.

Babes in Arms was the first of four Mickey / Judy "backyard musicals" directed by the legendary Busby Berkeley. June Preisser

made her MGM debut in this film as Baby Rosalie - a bit of a spoof of Shirley Temple. She refers to two of her films, "The Baby General" (Shirley's The Little Colonel) and "The Queen's Little Daughter" (Shirley's The Little Princess). Mickey has dinner with Baby Rosalie to discuss the production with hilarious results - probably the best scene in the movie. Judy sings "I Cried for You" with a tongue-in-cheek monologue written by Roger Edens.


Judy also sings "Figaro" and "Good Morning" (with Mickey Rooney) - a song that would turn up again in the 1952 production, Singin' in the Rain. The film was on the exhibitor's top ten list for 1939, and Mickey Rooney was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award. The film was based on the Rodgers and Hart stage play of the same name, but bore little resemblance to the play.

Judy also left a legacy with her three children. Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JUDY! You will NOT be forgotten!


SOURCES: The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

YOU TUBE

And especially THE JUDY GARLAND DATA BASE

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Tomorrow's blog will be about YOU TELL ME!! I'm open to suggestions

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TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED SUMMER!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com

BILLY BARNES & FRIENDS at THE PANTAGES THEATRE and GETTING HAROLD ARLEN BACK TO BROADWAY!

(Show Host, Barry Williams performs “Flash In The Pan”)
Yesterday, I received information on two of my favorite composers which led to the perfect content for my blog today. Billy Barnes and Harold Arlen. On Monday night, The Actors' Fund in Los Angeles did a tribute to Billy Barnes. I was lucky enough to be in Los Angeles in February when they honored Carol Channing on the occasion of her 90th birthday. I've always loved Billy Barnes. I'll get to Harold Arlen a little further into the blog.

Barbra Streisand - Have I stayed too long at the fair (from Color me Barbra)
Director/Producer John Bowab along with producer Martin Wiviott have yet again brought another successful “Musical Monday” cabaret to the historic Pantages lobby. Under the musical direction of Steven Smith, the most recent sell out production focused on the stellar career of beloved composer and lyricist, Billy Barnes with a special evening of “Billy Barnes and Friends.” In addition to performances by Eileen Barnett, Carole Cook, Nancy Dussault, Jane A. Johnston, Karen Morrow, Barry Williams and JoAnne Worley along with host Barry Williams, were multi media clips from film, television and stage featuring the talents of Judy Garland, Bette Midler, Carol Burnett, Barbra Streisand,
Angela Lansbury, Goldie Hawn, Joel Grey, Carol Channing, Diana Ross, Lucille Ball and Cher performing classic songs, created by the man affectionately known as “the Revue Master of Hollywood”-Billy Barnes.
Production numbers included: “MOVIE STAR”, “CHAPLIN WALKED HERE,” “INNER CHILD,” “CAPTAIN'S DAUGHTER,” “BUNS,” “THE VALLEY,” “LEADING LADIES” “QUEEN OF EQUITY WAIVER,” “FLASH IN THE PAN,” “WHO IS…,” “A LITTLE LIFT,” “DOES ANYONE HERE LOVE ME,” “SHOW VOICE,” “SOMETHING COOL,” and “HAVE I STAYED TOO LONG AT THE FAIR.”
Among those in attendance were noted Billy Barnes Revue performers such as Ruta Lee, Mitzi Gaynor, Patricia Morison, Jackie Joseph, Marcia Wallace and more. Barnes hits include "(Have I Stayed) Too Long at the Fair" recorded by Barbra Streisand (in her album "Color Me Barbra"), and "Something Cool", recorded by jazz vocalist June Christy. His revues were the springboard for many talented comics and singers, including Bert Convy, Ken Berry, JoAnne Worley, Jackie Joseph, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Donald Ross, Dick Patterson, Dave Ketchum and Barnes' former wife, Joyce Jameson. On television he wrote special material and original musical production numbers for Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Danny Kaye Show, The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, Cher and The Carol Burnett Show, as well as writing opening production numbers for several Academy Awards telecasts. He wrote the songs for the 1976 television musical adaptation of Pinocchio starring Sandy Duncan in the title role, Danny Kaye as Mister Geppetto and Flip Wilson as the Fox. Barnes also had a recurring acting role on Mad About You in the 1990s as "Mr. Edlin," the musical director and pianist of a community theatre.(Carole Cook performs “Queen of Equity Waver”)
Producer/writer, David Rambo, remarked “What an amazing night! This show could easily go on the road and perform to sold out audiences everywhere.” Rambo is currently very actively working with colleague Marc Cherry on the upcoming Actor's Fund Tony Awards® Party honoring the remarkable career of Hal Holbrook on Sunday, June 12th at the Skirball Center. The evening will feature host Marilu Henner and a special presentation of the Julie Harris Award to Mr. Holbrook by friend and colleague Sean Penn.(Eileen Barnett performs “The Valley”)
The highly anticipated Musical Monday's series benefits THE ACTORS FUND, a national human services organization that helps everyone - performers and those behind the scenes - who works in performing arts and entertainment, helping more than 12,000 people directly each year, and hundreds of thousands online. Serving professionals in film, theatre, television, music, opera, radio and dance, The Fund's programs include social services and emergency assistance, health care and insurance, housing, and employment and training services. With offices in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, The Actors Fund has - for nearly 130 years - been a safety net for those in need, crisis or transition.
Visit www.actorsfund.org.
Nancy Dussault (pictured)was born in Pensacola, Florida, her parents were George Adrian, a naval officer and Sarah Isabel (née Seitz).She grew up as a "Navy junior". A former resident of Arlington, Virginia, she graduated from Washington-Lee High School (W-L) where she was an actress and singer in the W-L drama program under director Jack Jeglum and a choral singer in the nationally known Washington-Lee High School Choir and Madrigal Singers under director Florence Booker. She is an alumna of Northwestern University.
In 1962, Dussault stepped into the role of Maria in the Broadway production of The Sound of Music. She received a Tony Award nomination in 1961 for Best Featured Actress (Musical) for Do Re Mi and was nominated for her performance in Bajour (1965). Of her performance in Do Re Mi and later career, Bloom and Vlastnik wrote: "Confidently clowning alongside such pros as Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker...she never faded into the scenery. Equally comfortable as a pure soprano or a rangy high belter, her versatility was well captured on the...cast album...Well cast as a situation comedy wife, she spent much of the 1970s and 80s in California." Other stage shows included Quality Street in 1965 at the Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania.She also appeared in the City Center Gilbert & Sullivan NYC Company, directed by Dorothy Raedler, with such Metropolitan Opera singers as Nico Castel, Muriel Costa-Greenspon, and Frank Poretta, Sr. Dussault took over as the Witch in Into the Woods on Broadway (1987–89).

Jo Anne Worley (pictured) (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. She is best known for her work on the comedy-variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
Worley was born in Lowell, Indiana, the third of five children. In 1962, her father remarried and his second union gave her two half-brothers and two half-sisters.
Always known for her loud voice, Worley once said that when she attended church as a little girl, she never sang the hymns but would only lip-synch them for fear that she would drown out everyone else. Before graduating from high school, she was named School Comedienne.(Eileen Barnett, Carole Cook, Nancy Dussault, Jane A. Johnston, Karen Morrow and JoAnne Worley)After graduating from high school in 1955, Worley moved to Blauvelt, New York, where she began her professional career as a member of the Pickwick Players. This led to a drama scholarship to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.(Eileen Barnett, Carole Cook, Nancy Dussault, Billy Barnes, Karen Morrow and JoAnne Worley)
John Bowab(pictured here with Billy Barnes and Martin Wiviott) is an American director and producer of television and theatre.

Bowab began his career in theatre, directing a number of stage productions. Such as Mame (1983), The Night of the Hunter (2003)[2] and most recently 70, Girls, 70 (2010).

In the late 1970s, he moved on to television, amassing a large number of notable directing credits.
Some of directing credits include The Cosby Show, Benson, Bosom Buddies, Gimme a Break!, Small Wonder, Making a Living, Full House, Who's the Boss?, The Facts of Life, Family Matters, Double Trouble, Ellen and among other series.

(Joni Berry, Billy Barnes and Ruta Lee)Barnes started writing musical comedy sketches while still in high school, and continued while at UCLA. He started collaborating in college with Bob Rodgers, and their first professional revue, a Cabaret Concert Show, was staged in 1956 in Los Angeles. (Patricia Morison and Dale Olson)He wrote the songs for the 1976 television musical adaptation of Pinocchio starring Sandy Duncan in the title role, Danny Kaye as Mister Geppetto and Flip Wilson as the Fox.(Cast, Crew and Actors Fund staff - Back Row: John Bowab, Meg Thomas, Eileen Barnett, Barry Williams, Steven Smith, Carole Cook, Keith McNutt and Louie Anchondo, Front Row: JoAnne Worley, Jane A. Jonston, Billy Barnes, Nancy Dussault and Karen Morrow)




(Photos Credit: Daniel Lam) (Source Harlan Boll)

FORGET WONDERLAND! BRING THE MAN WHO TOOK US "OVER THE RAINBOW" TO BROADWAY!


My dear friend Fred Barton(pictured, right) is collaborating on a new show with Scott Thompson, a musical celebrating the music of Harold Arlen. (http://www.oneformybaby.com/demo.html)
ONE FOR MY BABY is a sexy new song-and-dance book musical based on the songs of the legendary Harold Arlen, celebrating the Golden Age of Big-City Nightlife. ONE FOR MY BABY will be directed and choreographed by Scott Thompson, with arrangements and musical direction by Fred Barton.
They both have collaborated on the book. Of course, we ALL grew up with Harold Arlen thanks to THE WIZARD OF OZ! Wow! What a rich legacy Mr. Arlen has left us. Harold Arlen wrote some of the greatest hits from the 30's and 40's, including the entire score to the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz. Songs such as Over the Rainbow, Get Happy, Stormy Weather, It's Only a Paper Moon, I've Got the World on a String, and Last Night When We Were Young are just some of the standards that live on today and have distinguished Harold Arlen as one of the Great American Composers of the 20th Century.
With shows like WONDERLAND (HOW DID THIS SHOW MAKE IT TO BROADWAY!?!?!), AMERICAN IDIOT (It kills me that this is in my beloved St. James Theatre!), and ROCK OF AGES, NOW, IS THE TIME FOR "ONE FOR MY BABY" ON BROADWAY!
About “ONE FOR MY BABY” and HAROLD ARLEN



This book musical is a sexy, funny, slightly dark, tribute to the golden age of night-life in the big city – a time when people smoked, drank, and danced, and weren’t nearly as afraid to die. Like a 1940’s film, the characters are fast-talking and familiar – yet as the story unfolds, their unique, intrigues and heartbreaks collide, culminating in an inevitable, fatal explosion.

WHY ARLEN- WHY NOW?
Unlike his peers (Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Kern), Harold Arlen has yet to receive his due on the Great White Way, and Fred Barton and Scott Thompson are passionate about changing that. We ALL think his time is long overdue.
After recording their demo CD, starring Anika Noni Rose, Carolee Carmello, and Gavin Creel, and attracting the enthusiasm of major Broadway producers, they are now ready to fund the all-important full Workshop production which will propel the show to Broadway.For an unprecedented figure of under $100,000, we will produce a FULL PRESENTATION, including choreography, musicians, and a full cast that will include major Broadway headliners.
(Carolee Carmello, pictured)
The workshop will be co-produced by the One For My Baby LLC, and The Broadway Musicals Company, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation – so your contribution here will be TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.
( Pictured:Scott Thompson)
ONE FOR MY BABY is a cinematic song-and-dance extravaganza, which we intend to showcase in its fully-realized form. With the producers' interest we've cultivated, and the outstanding connections we've made, your contributions (matched by Broadway producers) will facilitate this Workshop, on our way to the ultimate Broadway production!

His music is everywhere! You have probably heard, and maybe even hummed, a Harold Arlen song today and didn't even know it! Though he is most noted for composing the songs for the film "The Wizard of Oz," particularly Over the Rainbow, which was recently named the Number One Song of the Century, he has written over 400 songs including favorites like: It's Only A Paper Moon, Stormy Weather, I've Got the World on A String, and Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive.


And yet, it’s been over 40 years since the last complete Arlen score was heard on Broadway. How is it that one of the greatest composers of popular, film and Broadway music has been absent so long from the Great White Way?

George Gershwin said of Arlen- “He’s the most original of all of us” and Irving Berlin opined, “He wasn’t as well known as some of us, but he was a better songwriter than most of us!” We agree- hence- “ ONE FOR MY BABY” - the Harold Arlen Musical.


At www.HaroldArlen.com, you can learn about Harold Arlen, one of the Great Twentieth Century Composers, and his music.

There you can discover how Harold developed his musical career, browse through his catalogue of compositions, and listen to several samples of his works. Take a look at his life in pictures by visiting their on-line photo album. Find out where you can see and hear Harold Arlen's works performed in "What's New" and then shop for your favorite Harold Arlen tunes from the comfort of your own home. For the media, they have provided an avenue for licensing and easy access to press releases and updates on various projects. HAROLD ARLEN (A fellow Aquarian! No wonder he wrote about rainbows!)
(Born Hyman Arluck)
February 15, 1905 - April 23, 1986At www.HaroldArlen.com, learn how his musical career developed, see pictures of him and his friends throughout the years, and hear clips of some of his greatest songs by visiting the LISTENING LOUNGE located in the MUSIC page of the site.


Please consider a contribution large or small to ONE FOR MY BABY at Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/21512231/new-broadway-musical-one-for-my-baby, if you love top-notch show music and great big Broadway song-and-dance musicals as much as we do – have we got a show for you!

DON'T LET THIS SHOW GET AWAY!


All you have to do today is bask in the LOVE and talent that surrounds you!


Tomorrow's blog will be about Ken Greves(who has his own Harold Arlen project happening!), Leslie Orofino (who just had two incredible appearances at The Laurie Beechman and is about to take this incredible show to Bob Egan's New York), and Barbara Porteus (who has a brand new show opening next week with Barry Levitt and directed by Peter Napalitano)...the first three suggestions I receive!

Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING & HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: http://www.carolchanning.org/foundation.htm
TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED WEEK!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com

Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian: A true LOVE story!

Today marks the 8th anniversary of Carol Channing and Harry Kullijian's wedding after a 70 year separation!My blog today is their story.I am SO LUCKY to call them my friends.
The first time I met Harry was when Carol was appearing in THE FIRST 80 YEARS ARE THE HARDEST. A part of a series called SINGULAR SENSATIONS at The Village Gate with Glen Roven. Harry welcomed me with open arms and insisted I stay in touch. Every time they have been in NY since then, they always fit me into their ALWAYS busy schedule. Last year, I was lucky enough t interview them both at Barnes and Noble Lincoln Square in conjunction with her latest CD, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE. I stayed at their condo in October when Carol received her star on the PALM SPRINGS WALK OF FAME. Two of the greatest people I know and an inspiration to us all. This is their story.
This is my anniversary gift to them. I hope they and YOU enjoy this!
I'm a sap for great love stories:GONE WITH THE WIND, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, LADY AND THE TRAMP. But if you want to see a truly amazing love story, don't miss CAROL CHANNING: LARGER THAN LIFE produced and directed by Dori Berenstein, edited by Alan Zuker, and co-produced by Harlan Boll. (all pictured here). Dori Berinstein is a Tony-winning Broadway producer of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Fool Moon." She's also an award-winning documentary filmmaker, chronicling a toy-making competition, "Some Assembly Required," and an entire Broadway season, "Show Business: The Road to Broadway."
It is the truly amazing story, not only of Carol Channing's amazing career, but of this truly amazing love story of Carol and Harry Kullijian.Carol and Harry were junior high school sweethearts at Aptos Junior High (now called Middle School) in San Francisco. She had an entire new battery of faculty members and students to take home in her imagination. They both had a love of the arts. Harry led the school band. Carol ran for vice-president of the student body and he wrote her campaign song, "When I'm vice president..." Carol gravitated to the school band because she needed them for her campaign song.
Her slogan was "If Carol is your vice, it's a virtue." The president and vice president functioned with, and were elected by , the entire school. Harry and Carol were both serious students. They developed a passionate love of the arts. He gave her a book of poetry by Edgar Allan Poe. Their favorite poem being Annabelle Lee. He says Carol was his Annabelle Lee. Harry and Carol were both serious students. On weekends, they would go for ice cream, and with the little bit of cash his band brought in, he could buy.
Harry confided to Carol's mother how affectionate she was to him. He had a serious talk with both Carol's parents (without her), assuring them, "I will never get your Carol into any kind of trouble".
Carol says "Being With Him was the happiest time in my Life"
Their love story is passionate, tender, and enduring. When Harry's family spent summers in Southern California, he wrote her love letters. He even had a conversation with Carol's parents, promising to take good care of her. Carol's father said, "I like that boy."They both remember a rare kiss at Carol's house.

They met in their early teens more than 70 years ago, in 1933.
"When I first saw him", she says, "he looked biblical, as if he should have been sitting on Mount Sinai eating a fig." According to Carol, Harry had silken, bronze skin; long, almond shaped eyes that stretched almost to his ears; and that "sweet contented smile with which camels in the holy land are born.Standing in the sun was a bronze god, so you can imagine why I never stopped hugging and kissing him.Gorgeous! The Turks are built with wide shoulders and great strength. I simply felt extremely girly-girly standing next to a boy-boy, and he treated me as suck".
Harry, too, was smitten.Harry said that at first he was intimidated by Carol's family. But they were so warm to him. Harry's father was a tailor, a Turkish immigrant who'd only gone through sixth grade.
Although Harry was proud of her accomplishments, he wanted all of her time on weekends.
Like most great love stories, they drifted apart. He went off to military school because it was the natural course of things. They agree that although they were not together, they always remained connected spiritually.
There were bleak years for Carol. Breaking into the New York theatre world was daunting, and whenever she was rejected, she thought of Harry.
She would think of Harry because being with him was the happiest time of her life.
Carol, of course went on to a smashing success in the 1950's Broadway musical GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES.

Then in 1964 she tore up the great white way as matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi in HELLO, DOLLY!It's no surprise that Carol has won numerous Tony Awards and a Golden Globe.
On occasion over the years, Harry tried to contact Carol just to send his regards but he could never get through.
As most of you know, Carol had been married. Three times prior to Harry. The last being a lengthy one in which she was mistreated. She used to ask if God really loved her, and was "He" watching out for her? "Look," she told God, "I know that YOU exist. Help me, please!" She wanted a sign. You won't believe this, but around the same time, Harry also prayed, " Lord, I'm lonely (his wife had just died) and if you want it so, I'll be alone."
Their prayers were answered.Carol wrote her memoir, JUST LUCKY I GUESSCarol Channing, took on her most challenging role yet: as the author of this funny, ribald, and moving memoir. In her book, Carol described Harry as "exotic and beautiful," and recalled that she loved hugging him.
Mervyn Morris of the Mervyn Department stores was a neighbor of Carol's near Palm Springs. Merv read Carol's book AND found a matchmaking opportunity as irresistible as it would have been to Dolly herself. He just read how dearly Carol felt about Harry in the past, so he gave Harry Carol's number.

Carol recalled that even after 70 years she was not nervous while awaiting Harry's call, " I knew him too well," she said, " and I'd loved him."
Their reunion at the condo was explosive. No doubt in Harry's mind was that Carol was about to come his wife. Their romance took off from there.
He proposed to Carol at a breakfast for 35 people who were their neighbors. It just evolved. Once again, she could not stop hugging and kissing him. Harry began to help Carol with work challenges, such as planning Carol's performance schedule and making sure her management was honest.
The invitation to their wedding showed a picture of Carol and Harry from their junior high days.
Carol said that Harry made her feel so girlie and feminine even though she was wearing a silk PANTS suit and low heels. They now laugh at the memory of their quick Thoroughly modern-day courtship and admit that part of the rush is that they WAITED to be intimate until THEY were man and wife.
People were and are so intrigued by their romance that when they appeared on THE LARRY KING SHOW on CNN, all lights on the incoming phones lit up.
Carol has been performing her one-woman show to rave reviews across the county and overseas.
She and Harry treasure their homes in Modesto, California and Palm Springs.
Their story is all about hope. Society is at a place in history where LOVE and respect seem to be fading away, but they are helping to change that by respecting the institute of marriage. The love they have is invigorating, and they are younger than springtime.
And their LOVE for each other extends to a love of instituting the arts back in education. So today, I want to remind you of the DR. CAROL CHANNING & HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS.
The Arts are among the most important things we learn about in school. They provide a well-rounded education not based on a test's requirements.
Every study of how to make cities more attractive to prospective citizens, new businesses, etc. says that a thriving arts scene is a key issue. So of course the local yokel politicos ignore that and invest in new stadiums.
The return to the teaching of the arts in the public schools requires that each state and its citizens reevaluate, reexamine and rethink the benefits to be derived from a complete and adequate education that includes exposure to the arts as a part of the regular curriculum. Education, not only in the arts but education as a whole in California and throughout the United States must be lifted to a considerably higher priority. If we do not act upon this soon and begin serious discussions about remedying this increasingly serious lack of the standards for which this country was known, we are at risk to lose the main ingredient of the world class goals of a true democracy. On May 2nd, 2009. The Children's Arts Advocate Award 2009 - the state PTA's first such award - was presented to the First Lady of Musical Theatre during an appearance at the organization's 110th annual convention. She and her husband, Harry Kullijian spoke to a crowd of thousands of PTA members and delegates, representing the organization's nearly 1 million volunteer members in the state of California.

Once again, Happy Anniversary, Carol and Harry! Wow! What you have accomplished these past eight years! I can't wait to see what the next eight years bring!
Everyone, if you love Carol and Harry as much as I do, please make a contribution to The Dr. Carol Channing-Harry Kullijian Foundation For The Arts!
http://www.causes.com/causes/148596
(PLEASE NOTE: The sources for this blog were MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK
5o True Stories of Reconnecting With A Long-LOST Love by Donna Hanover
and JUST LUCKY I GUESS: A MEMOIR OF SORTS by Carol Channing

Happy Tuesday to you all!

All you have to do today is bask in the LOVE and talent that surrounds you!
(Buy JUST LUCKY I GUESS: A MEMOIR OF SORTS by Carol Channing)Available at Amazon

Tomorrow's blog will be YOU TELL ME...the first three suggestions I receive!

Please contribute to the DR. CAROL CHANNING & HARRY KULLIJIAN FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: http://www.carolchanning.org/foundation.htm
TILL TOMORROW...HERE'S TO AN ARTS FILLED WEEK!
Richard Skipper, Richard@RichardSkipper.com