Ethel Merman: A Life (47 page)

“shield, sounding-board, escort, and confidant,”
Christopher Wilson,
Dancing with the Devil: The Windsors and Jimmy Donahue
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000), p. 44

“And to think I gave up a king for a queen!”
Merman,
p. 173

“epicene gigolo,”
Dancing with the Devil,
p. 10

“She loved tough, masculine guys,”
Bob Schear, interview with author, July 26, 2005

“We all do it,”
Helene Whitney, interview with author, July 28, 2004

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“I am desperately afraid of too much emphasis…”
conference on writer’s working script, April 2, 1952, 20th Century Fox files at University of Southern California Cinema Library

“This is a
personality
piece,”
ibid.

“I’m the Madam, and you’re just one of the girls….”
memo to Darryl F. Zanuck from Joseph I. Breen, April 30, 1952, University of Southern California Cinema Library

“a gentle genius,”
Barbara Hale, interview with author, November 2, 2004

“Guess I’ve got to feel that I’m reaching through to the audience,”
20th Century Fox publicity handout, 1953, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

“If anything, Ethel is better…”
Los Angeles Examiner,
March 5, 1953

“better than ever—in spades!”
New York Times,
March 26, 1953

“Miss Merman has appeared in previous movies,”
New Yorker,
March 28, 1953

“It is unbelievable, right now,”
Washington Evening Star,
June 17, 1953

“only one other artist has been able…”
Dallas Morning News,
October 12, 1953

“royal family,”
memo from Darryl F. Zanuck to Sol Siegel, December 17, 1952

“a showmanship venture,”
ibid.

“I think we should avoid so-called elaborate production numbers,”
memo from Darryl F. Zanuck to Sol Siegel, December 19, 1952, University of Southern California Cinema Library

“We have much more story than we need,”
memo from Sol Siegel to Henry and Phoebe Ephron, February 2, 1953, housed at University of Southern California Cinema Library

“she was the business agent…”
ibid.

“simply tremendous,”
memo from Darryl F. Zanuck to Sol Siegel, December 19, 1952, University of Southern California Cinema Library

“I am secretly hoping…”
Ethel Merman to Walter Lang, letter, November 12, 1953, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it,”
20th Century Fox publicity handout, 1954, University of Southern California Cinema Library

“
DEAR ETHEL: WE HAD TRADE PAPER SHOWING
…” telegram from Harry Brand to Ethel Merman, December 4, 1954, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

“
DUST OFF ALL THE SUPERLATIVES
…”
Film Daily,
December 8, 1954

“undoubtedly roll up enormous grosses…”
ibid.

“an excellent show,”
Motion Picture Daily,
December 8, 1954

“seedy plot,” “caterwauling,”
New Yorker,
December 25, 1954

“Somehow,
There’s No Business Like Show Business
didn’t turn out as well…”
Merman,
p. 192

“Ethel on paper is as brash…”
Pittsburgh Press,
July 3, 1955

“Ethel Merman’s [book]…”
Best Sellers,
July 5, 1955

“Broadway has been good to me,”
San Francisco News,
January 4, 1955

“We’ve got maybe one really good store out there,”
Henderson (Kentucky) Gleaner,
August 30, 1955

“Bob was a brilliant businessman,”
Jayne Meadows, interview with author, February 16, 2005

“overboard on corny sentimentality,”
Variety,
May 16, 1956

“I may be back on Broadway in a musical next season,”
New York Times,
March 25, 1956

“This is strictly a one-show deal,”
Denver Post,
April 3, 1956

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“one of her weaknesses,”
Anna Crouse, interview with author, March 18, 2005

“I don’t know anything about dancing,”
Virginia Gibson, interview with author, April 14, 2005

“When I went to rehearsal,”
ibid.

“If I’d wanted it sung that way,”
Klea Blackhurst,
Everything the Traffic Will Allow,
CD, Lunch Money Productions, B0002C72JU, 2001

“That man is never to speak to me again,”
ibid.

“Oh, Miss Merman—your voice is going to go into the wings,”
Virginia Gibson, interview with author, April 14, 2005

“didn’t give the impression of being conscious of other writers,”
Mark Zeller, interview with author, June 17, 2005

“Well, I just thought
movie star,
” Virginia Gibson, interview with author, April 14, 2005

“Tell them I’ll be an hour late for rehearsal,”
Seth Riggs, interview with author, September 2, 2005

“He jumped over the side…”
ibid.

“like a monster from the deep,”
ibid.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
ibid.

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!,”
ibid.

“Nobody looked at Merman, and she was furious,”
Seth Riggs, interview with author, September 2, 2005

“Lamas was no big talent,”
Bob Ullman, interview with author, November 17, 2004

165 “
Fernando used to call Ethel ‘the Mack Truck
,’ Arlene Dahl, interview with author, July 8, 2005

“too much plot,”
Philadelphia Inquirer,
October 23, 1956

“Miss Merman brings a formidable zest to everything she does,”
Philadelphia Daily News,
October 23, 1956

“Boisterous and hilarious,”
Boston Advertiser,
November 18, 1956

“It looks like a bordello,”
Arlene Dahl, interview with author, July 8, 2005

“Ethel called in a designer,”
ibid.

“because you could tell that they were sitting there hating it,”
Anna Crouse, interview with author, March 18, 2005

“hardly more than adequate…”
New York Times,
December 7, 1956

“ageless and individual…”
New York Journal-American,
December 7, 1956

“a jeep among limousines,”
Merman,
p. 197

“If you watched her,”
Mark Zeller, interview with author, June 17, 2005

“He looked like he was anticipating Ethel coming onstage,”
Jack Dabdoub, interview with author, September 12, 2005

“Some of the kids were saying,”
Virginia Gibson, interview with author, April 14, 2005

“not even the new songs…”
Variety,
June 5, 1957

“improperly censured,”
New York Times,
April 8, 1958

“It was the most gentlemanly, wonderful thing,”
Mark Zeller, interview with author, June 17, 2005

“Do you think it will be better for you?”
Virginia Gibson, interview with author, April 14, 2005

“I’d like to do one more big show,”
Denver Post,
December 10, 1957

“She didn’t want to be late for meeting her father,”
Virginia Gibson, interview with author, April 14, 2005

“just seemed to go haywire,”
Merman,
p. 167

“habit-forming, dangerous, and new drugs without prescriptions,”
New York Times,
November 4, 1960

“this horrible thing,”
Merman,
p. 169

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Mark, I have the greatest script—
finally!
” Mark Zeller, interview with author, June 17, 2005

“Have you seen
Fanny
?”
New York Times,
n.d.

“There’s a horse’s ass for every light on Broadway,”
ibid.

“What they charge us for this room…”
television interview between Gypsy Rose Lee and Ethel Merman,
The Gypsy Rose Lee Show
(syndicated, 1967)

“the need for recognition,”
Arthur Laurents,
Original Story by Arthur Laurents
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), p. 382

“a talking dog,”
ibid., p. 378

“Teacher,”
Merman,
p. 204

“I thought in the first act,”
Stephen Sondheim, interview with author, July 8, 2005

“Brains was not her forte,”
ibid.

“I had to sing at the final audition,”
Jack Klugman, interview with author, August 5, 2003

“Ethel was a calliope. Mother was a clarinet,”
June Havoc, interview with author, April 2, 2004

“So for the first several days…”
Jack Klugman, interview with author, August 5, 2003

“She would never look at you onstage,”
ibid.

“I swear it was the best performance…”
Carole Cook, interview with author, July 31, 2005

“Everyone always said that about her,”
ibid.

“She didn’t care for anyone who she thought was competing with her,”
Jack Klugman, interview with author, August 5, 2003

“He kept trying different things,”
Sandra Church, interview with author, August 3, 2005

“Ethel played her as a heroine,”
Jack Klugman, interview with author, August 5, 2003

“I’ve had people come backstage…”
Philadelphia Inquirer,
n.d.

“We’ll get to it next week,”
Margaret Styne, interview with author, September 14, 2005

“He got up onstage with Jerry,”
ibid.

“
DEAREST ETHEL GLAD YOU ARE BACK
…”
telegram from Frederick Brisson to Ethel Merman, May 21, 1959, Theater Collection, Museum of the City of New York

“the best damn musical I’ve seen in years,”
New York Times,
May 22, 1959

“Stephen Sondheim has set revealing lyrics…”
New York Mirror,
May 22, 1959

“her incomparable ability to belt out a song…”
New York Post,
May 31, 1959

“Since she acts the part of an indomitable personality,”
New York Times,
May 31, 1959

“Miss Merman not only sings, she acts,”
New Yorker,
May 30, 1959

“Once Miss Merman has started to sing,”
ibid.

“Jerry made her act as no one did,”
Sandra Church, interview with author, August 3, 2003

“People said she walked through the show,”
Jack Klugman, interview with author, August 5, 2003

“Is the pope Catholic?”
ibid.

“How are you going to buck a nun?”
Merman,
p. 206

“She took my hand,”
Alice Playten, interview with author, July 14, 2003

“‘Miss Merman doesn’t care how sick your daughter is,’”
Jacqueline Mayro, interview with author, July 13, 2003