“Danny La Rue…the most professional, the most witty and the most utterly charming man in the business.”
Noel Coward.
“London is a man’s town… London is an even worse town to find a man in than Hollywood…A couple of weeks ago I was in London and I was out to dinner at Caprice…Anyway, into the restaurant came the most ravishing creature you can imagine with lovely long black hair and gorgeous dark eyes wearing a man’s suit and a mink coat. To my friend I said, “Look at that beauty. Who is that lady?” And my friend looked and said, “That’s no Lady, that is a Lord.”
And did you ever hear of Danny La Rue? Danny La Rue is a man in London who is the most beautiful woman I ever met. He had a big hit play on the West End with eighteen costume changes. The most fabulous clothes any woman ever had! Sometimes he looks like Garbo, sometimes he looks like Rita Hayworth when she was at her best on that calendar, but always he looks beautiful.”
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Hello, poppets! What, may you ask, has chivvied me out of blogging hibernation? A darling friend of mine has written a book, and something he said:
A little laughter in grim times is better than Xanax,
has opened my eyes. Thus begins a week long celebration of wit, warmth, and connection. It also will touch upon literature, Hollywood, royalty, the bonds of family, and coming of age.
All will be revealed by the weekend, but, now I want to share a little genealogy with you. Did you know that HRH Princess Diana (that’s right, good old Di, see autograph above) was related to Humphrey Bogart? Yep, they shared a common ancestor who was born in 1577. Now if you trace anyone back far enough distinctions dissolve, because everyone walking around on the planet today could be called your 16th cousin. Think about that. Care to discuss?
Welcome back, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
NO!
TRUMP ISNOT MY COUSIN……………….
PLEASE NO!!!!!!!!!
WELCOME BACK……………..I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY!
XX
Thank you, ever so! It’s good to be back, and I claim YOU as my cousin! xox
I’ll vouch for Danny being a darling. I met him once when I was working with Lionel Blair’s sister Joyce and one night after the show, we went off to the club he was appearing in and he was utterly charming. As for connections, I’m spending too much time building my family tree on Ancestry.com and have discovered a third cousin living very near me on the Island. I’ve now met him and it’s almost like looking in a mirror! In fact, he’s more like me in many ways than my first cousins. xx
I was fascinated to find out he played Dolly Gallagher Levi to rave reviews — wish I could have seen the show! Speaking of connections in this big wide world, I recently found out Brian Epstein was a cousin of my dad’s, and I’m so wobbly on genealogy I don’t know what degree of relationship that is, but the cast of his face is very familiar to me…
How fascinating. I can’t get to grips with all the first-cousin-once-removed-and-twice-convicted shenanigans but if you find out what number cousin he was to your father, you should be able to work it out. No, I still wouldn’t be able to either! Ancestry.com is very helpful in that way.
Welcome back, Ms Vickie, I hope you have been feeling tickety-boo and having a super time even in this dark age.
Ah, Danny the Street! Alas, poor Danny got ripped off in his later years by someone he had trusted; he lost virtually ALL of what he had worked for and his health wasn’t very good to boot. The awful things some creatures will do to other human beings… Danny was a pioneer, and it should be noted that homosexuality was still illegal in Great Britain when he was a young man and the gay culture was very much underground for much of his life. Brave. And a unique performer.
I await your next post with breath fresh-bated.
Toodle-pip.
A pleasure to be here, Mr Kaplan, I consider you one of the beacons of light. Yes, Danny was a very brave soul, and I think in an era of great repression he was very open about his orientation, am I right? I do know that when he fell ill his stalwart companion was his dresser, she stayed with him to the very end. Wonderful to see you back, and let me know if I can send you a copy of Bill’s book. It very much deals with coming to grips with some of the darker aspects, in a light and charming way, I think you would enjoy it.
I had no idea when I dropped a casual reference to Danny La Rue into my book that I’d actually get to participate in this blog, or to read comments from people who knew him firsthand. He appeared at a theatre in London in 1968-69 when I was 12. I knew he was a man who dressed as a woman, but that was all. I was frightened. I was fascinated. I never got to see him. It’s wonderful to see a picture of him, to hear his backstory and to read what Zsa Zsa had to say about him. Thank you!
You are most welcome! That is what I find utterly fascinating about this blogging community, one spark, one mention of something, and minds go racing. It’s a wonderful thing to participate in — thank you!
Welcome back! We’ve missed you!
So glad to see you! I am very happy to be back. The Kid is entering his Master’s year in Antwerp, I am emerging from my political shock, The Mister is about to start on a movie in town (huzzah!), and I have started writing again… I don’t know about the arc of history right now, but on a personal front things are looking up. xox
So say we all!