Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman (106 page)

67. TC, interview with author, 11 September 2004-

68. A2, 243; RL, correspondence to author, April 2007.

69. BG, letter to author, summer of 2,005-

70. BG, interview with author, July 2,004-

71. A2, 244.

72. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

73. "Suicide Report Was Incorrect," Miami Herald 30 March 1968, MCNY, SC 31.

74. Carol Charming claims that Ethel tearfully confided this to her in a limo on
the way to shoot The Love Boat. Carol Charming, Just Lucky I Guess: A Memoir of
Sorts (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002), 41, 234-

75. BG, interview with author, July 2004-

76. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

77. BG, interview with author, July 2004.

78. This musical was later renamed Look to the Lillies, with Shirley Booth. Radie
Harris, Hollywood Reporter, ro June 1967, MCNY, SC 30.

79. Bob Freund, "Ethel Merman Reflects: `I'm Lucky with Composers,"' Ft.
Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, 24 March 1968, MCNY, SC 30-

8o. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

8i. Bob Freund, "Ethel Merman Reflects."

82. Stephanie Fuller, "Still`Klass with a Capital K,"' Chicago Tribune, io March
1968, MCNY, SC 31-

83. Ibid.

84. Mary Kimbrough, "Miss Merman of the Muny [Municipal]: The Quiet
World of Broadway's Loudest Star," Globe Democrat, 22 July 1968, 1, MCNY,
SC 31-

85. Virginia Kay, Chicago Daily News, io March 1968, MCNY, SC 30.

86. Fuller, "Still`Klass with a Capital K."'

87. BG, interview with author, July 2004-

88. Kimbrough, "Miss Merman of the Muny"; and Leonard Lyons, "Lyons
Den," NYP, 9 July 1968, MCNY, SC 31.

89. BG, interview with author, July 2004.

9o. Freund, "Ethel Merman Reflects." Levitt says he never had a house in Sausalito (letter to author, April 2007).

91. RL, letter to author, 17 May 2007.

92. Telegram to EM, December 1967, MCNY SC 31.

93. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

CHAPTER 17: AFTER THE BIG STEM-THE SEVENTIES

I. Fynsworth Alley, Jerry Herman interview, 13 November 2002, http://
fynsworthalley.com/sd, accessed fall zoo6.

2. Howard Kissel, David Merrick: Abominable Showman (New York: Applause
Books, 2000), 295-

3. Quoted in Bob Thomas, I've GotRhythm.!TheEthelMerman Story (New York:
Putnam, 1985), IN.

4. Tom Mackin, "Merman Takes Role," Christian Science Monitor, 30 March
197o, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: MWEZ, nc z6, 491, Ethel Merman,
1960-69.

5. Richard Coe, Washington Post (unidentified date), NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre
Collection: Ethel Merman, 1970-79 folder.

6. Walter Kerr, "Merman: A Kid Who Wins All the Marbles," NYT, 12 April
1970.

7. Kissel, David Merrick, 297.

8. Thanks to David Lugowski for his observations.

9. Hello, Dolly! press release, Associated Press Newsfeatures, 17 May [1970],
NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: MWEZ, nc z6, 491, Ethel Merman,
1960-69.

io. Kissel, DavidMerrick, 380.

it. Unidentified clipping, Newsweek, zi September 1970, microfilm, AMPAS.

12. Al F. Koenig Jr., "Merman-Solid New York," joslin'- jazz journal (1998).

13. "Too Many Smaller Stars Could Take Lessons from Her," Home Furnishings
Daily, to March 1967, MCNY, SC 30-

14. Az, 251.

15. Bob Hope, telegram to EM, MCNY, SC 31.

16. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004-

17. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

18. RL, letter to author, 16 January 2004.

19. Ibid.

20. Stephen Mo Hanen, letter to author, 20 February 2004.

21. RL, interview with author, July 2004-

22. TC, interview with author, II September 2004.

23. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

24. BG, interview with author, July 2004.

25. RL, interview with author, July 2004-

z6. TC, interview with author, is September 2004.

27. RL, letter to author, 15 May 2007.

z8. RL, letter to author, 18 May 2007.

29. TC, interview with author, it September 2004-

30. RL, letter to author, 15 May 2007.

31. Kaye Ballard, interview with author, June 2004-

32. Az, z5r.

33. Al E Koenig Jr., letter to author, 2004.

34. Ibid., 252-

35. Al F. Koenig Jr., letter to author, February 2006.

36. Az, 16.

37. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

38. Az, i7.

39. Ruth Munson, conversation with author, fall of 2003-

40. A2, 26o.

41. Al F. Koenig Jr., "A Beginning," unpublished essay.

42. A2, 26o.

43. Koenig Jr., "A Beginning," s.

44. Kaye Ballard, interview with author, June 2004.

45. Az, 258-59-

46. Ibid., 263.

47. Ibid.

48. Al F. Koenig Jr., letter to author, 14 February 2005.

49. TC, interview with author, it September 2004.

50. The New York Post reported cattily that sales of the book were flat. "Barnes and Noble, for instance, has sold only five copies." The reason? The Post surmised it
was because she refused to spill the beans on her marriage to Ernest Borgnine. NYP,
I August 1978, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Ethel Merman, 1970-79 folder.

51. Az, 143-

52. Frances Swaebly, "La Merman's Baffled [by] `New Show Biz,' " Miami Herald, 7 April 1968, MCNY, SC 31.

53. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

54. Lewis Segal, "Merman Sings at Hollywood Bowl," Los Angeles Times, 8 August 1977, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: 1970s folder.

55. Unidentified clipping, ca. February 1968, MCNY, SC 31.

56. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

57. Carol Charming, Just Lucky I Guess: A Memoir ofSorts (New York: Simon and
Schuster, zooz), 41.

CHAPTER 18: TWILIGHT AND TRANSFORMATION

I. Fred Bernstein, "Don't Worry about the Size of Ethel Merman's Belt," People,
24 September 1979, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: 1970s folder.

2. Quoted in Peter Brown, "Ethel Merman Making Debut as Diva of Disco,"
LosAngeles Times Calendar, 29 July 1979, 5, AMPAS.

3. NYT, 24 August 1979, H, AMPAS.

4. Dave Hirshey, "Crowd Pleasers," New York Sunday News, 23 September 1979.

5. TC, interview with author, a September 2004.

6. Bernstein, "Don't Worry about the Size of Ethel Merman's Belt."

7. RL, interview with author, July zoo4; TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

8. Thanks to Al F. Koenig Jr.

9. Arthur Bells, "Bell Tells," Village Voice, 27 August 1979, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: 1970s folder.

1o. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

ii. Howard Kissel, David Merrick: Abominable Showman (New York: Applause
Books, 2000), 16.

12. RL, letter to author, April 2007.

13. RL, letter to author, 16 February 2005.

14. Quoted in Bob Thomas, I've Got Rhythm! The Ethel Merman Story (New York:
Putnam, 1985), 2,03-

15. Personal communication with author, 2003.

i6. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

17. Thanks to Al F. Koenig Jr. for program notes and recollections.

18. Clive Barnes, "La Merman at Carnegie Hall: Still and Simply the Very Best!"
NYP, a May 1982, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Ethel Merman, Music Clippings file.

19. The show had begun in 1977, with Hugh Downs as host.

20. Thomas, I've Got Rhythm! 213.

21. Fans have speculated that Martin's close friendship with Gaynor was actually
a lesbian relationship, a liaison that exists passionately in the minds of many but not
in historical reality.

22. RL, letter to author, 28 January 2007.

23. TC, interview with author, a September 2004.

24. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

25. Thomas, I've Got Rhythm! 205-6.

z6. Ibid., 210.

27. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

28. Courtesy Al F. Koenig Jr.

29. Considering the aftermath, it is hard to imagine how the letter got to Marchesani. Was Ethel able to send it off? Did someone else?

30. Copy of the note to Marchesani and the story of Ona Hill provided by Al
F. Koenig Jr.

31. Thanks to Tony Cointreau for his account. TC, intreview with author, 6
April 2oo6.

32. Ibid.

33• RL, interview with author, July 2004.

34• Ibid.

35. TC quoted in Biography episode: "Ethel Merman: There's No Business Like
Show Business," A&E, 1999 broadcast.

36. RL, letter to author, 28 January 2007.

37. Murray Schumach, "Ethel Merman, Queen of Musicals, Dies at 76," NYT, 16
February 1984, NYPL, Billy Rose Theatre Collection: Ethel Merman, Music Collection.

38. BG, interview with author, July 2004-

39. Radie Harris, "Broadway Ballyhoo: Lack of Sentiment," Hollywood Reporter,
15 October 1984, MCNY, box i.

40- RL, letter to author, z8 January 2007.

CHAPTER 19: AFTERLIFE

The epigraph is from JS, interview with PM, transcript, 27, USC, HMC: Pete
Martin Collection.

I. Az, 249-

2. Some say it was the Imperial.

3. Christopher Edwards, Daily Mail, reprinted in the London Theatre Record
5, no. 13 (19 June-z July 1985): 611-i2.

4. Clive Hirshorn, Sunday Express, reprinted in London Theatre Record 5, no. 13
(19 June-2 July 1985): 611-1z.

5. Dennis McGovern and Deborah Grace Winer, Sing Out, Louise! 15o Stars of
the Musical Theatre Remember 50 Years on Broadway (New York: Schirmer Books,
1993), 150.

6. Nellie McKay, "Change the World," Get Away from Me, compact disc, Columbia-Sony Music Entertainment, 2004.

7. BG, interview with author, July 2004-

8. RL, letter to author, 16 January 2004-

9. A pun on the Book of Mormon (Blackhurst was raised in Utah).

io. KB, interview with author, 5 October 2004.

11. Margo Jefferson, "An Echo of Merman: Nothing to Hit but the Heights,"
NYT, 19 April 2001.

12. KB, interview with author, October 2,004-

13. Ibid.

14. John M. Clum, Somethingfor the Boys: Musical Theater and Gay Culture (New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1999), 147.

15. Ibid., 149.

16. Interview with author, April zoo6.

17. RL, letters to author, 9 April 2005 and revised 15 May 2007.

i8. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

19. Bob Fosse quoted in John Kenrick's "Our Love Is Here to Stay: Gays and Musicals" at www.musicalsioi.com, accessed fall zoo4; Clum, Something for the Boys,
146; Stacy Wolf, A Problem Like Maria: Gender and Sexuality in the American Musical (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, zooz), ch. 2.

20. E-mail to author, fall 2003.

2i. Podcast of 23 December 2004.

22. Lillian Libman, And Music at the Close: Stravinsky s Last Years, a Personal
Memoir (New York: W. W. Norton, 1972). Thanks to Richard McQuillan.

23. Ai, 36-37.

24. Earl Wilson column, NYP, 17 December 1968, MCNY, SC 31-

25. Donald O'Connor, quoted in Biography episode: "Ethel Merman: There's No
Business Like Show Business," A&E, 1999 broadcast.

26. Henry Pleasants, The GreatAmerican Popular Singers (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1985), 336.

27. Bob Thomas, I've Got Rhythm! The Ethel Merman Story (New York: Putnam,
1985), 14.

28. RL, interview with author, July 2004.

29. George B. Bryan, Ethel Merman: A Bio-Bibliography (New York: Greenwood
Press, 1992); Geoffrey Mark, Ethel Merman: The Biggest Star on Broadway (Fort Lee,
NJ: Barricade Books, 2005).

30. TC, interview with author, ii September 2004.

A WORD ON THE SCRAPBOOKS

i. MCNY, box i.

STAGE WORK

i. Historically, show directors were rarely credited as such until the postwar era.
Before then, credits were usually given as "staged by." Stage Work uses the "directed
by" credit throughout, even on shows whose Playbill doesn't reflect that language.