Hold the Roses (11 page)

Danny was the big hit of New York. His wife, Rosemarie (I call her
the "other Rose Marie") and I sat at the back table in the club. One night
Danny went out between shows. His wife and I had a cup of tea together.
Danny came in all starry-eyed. I asked if he was all right.

He said, "I just did a benefit."

"Big deal, you did a benefit," I said.

"Yes, but it was at the Winter Garden Theater," he said. "Jolson sang
on that stage. You know what I did? I bent down and kissed the stage. It
was one of the biggest thrills of my life."

I said, "I hope you never lose that feeling."

We became good friends throughout the years and worked together
quite a bit. We became like family. Danny went on to become one of the
giants of our biz...and I don't think he ever did lose that wonderful feeling.

Life is funny. Little did I know I would be working for his corporation with The Dick Van Dyke Show!

Re LoLe o~ M9 Li~e

I always wondered who I would marry. Had I met him? Do I know him?
Had I seen him? I found out I had seen him-many times-but I hadn't
met

My father and mother took me to openings and premieres quite often. One of the places we went was the Pennsylvania Hotel to see Kay
Kyser. He had a radio show broadcast from there and he also played for the
dancing. The radio show consisted of the Kollege of Musical Knowledge.
They would ask musical questions and the winner would get a bottle of
wine. Whenever there were celebrities in the room, he would call them up
to play the game. It was fun to do and it went out coast-to-coast on the
radio. It was good for Kyser because a lot of celebrities would come down
to be seen and maybe get on the radio show. We would go down quite
often and he always called me up to do the show.

I was to open at the Capitol Theater on Broadway and 51st Street for
four weeks, with Mark Warnow and his Lucky Strike Orchestra and Ethel
Smith, the organist from the MGM musicals. But first I needed some new
gowns. After all, it was the Capitol Theater on Broadway. I found a great
designer, Baron Max Von Waldeck. He had made some beautiful costumes
for some of the acts and dance teams I worked with in Chicago. I got his
name and number and went to see him. He was adorable, with the accent and all.... about forty, bald, and sort of pudgy. I loved him. I ordered three gowns, a blue one, a white one, and a pink one. I must say
they were the most beautiful gowns I have ever seen or owned. Goodbye, Deanna Durbin! I also had to have new arrangements because the Mark Warnow Orchestra was big-it had thirty men. I wanted to be sure
everything was right.

I'd been booked at Frank Daily's Terrace Room, in Newark, New
Jersey, with Mal Hallet's Orchestra for two weeks right before the Capitol.
It was sort of a break-in date. I opened on May 18. I remember the date
because two years later, my daughter was born on May 18.

Frank Daily owned two nightclubs in New Jersey. The Terrace Room,
where I was working, was the winter place. The Meadowbrook was worldfamous-it was the summer place where the big bands played (Tommy
and Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and so on). Opening night at the Terrace Room went very well for me. Mal Hallet's Orchestra was okay. They
were all kids because all the top musicians were in the army.

As I walked toward my dressing room to change, I had to pass the
service bar, and the bartender Rudy said, "Great show, honey."

I thanked him.

"The gowns are too classy for this room," he laughed and said, "Get
changed, I'll have your cup of tea waiting."

I went downstairs, changed, and went back up to Rudy. He had my
tea. I sat on a stool at the end of the bar and started to drink, when this
soldier came up to me and said, "You were great. My name is Bobby Guy
and I'm from Trenton. You have relatives there, don't you?"

I said, "Yes, my father's cousin is the coroner, Joe Guiraro."

"May I sit down?" he asked.

"Sure. Would you like a drink?"

He said, "Fine."

He then proceeded to tell me he was in Kay Kyser's Orchestra before
the war-that was how he knew Rudy, the bartender. The Kyser Band
played the Meadowbrook many times. During the summer, Rudy worked
at the Meadowbrook; during the winter, he was at the Terrace Room.

Kay Kyser! So I had seen him-every time I went to the Pennsylvania
Hotel, he was there and I didn't know it! He was very nice, not too heavyabout 180 pounds, five feet eleven inches tall, adorable face, sparkling eyes
that were a purplish color with a navy blue rim around the iris, a great
smile, and a terrific laugh.

Rudy came over and said, "Did you meet one another?"

I said, "Yes, he's from Trenton and my father has a cousin there."

Rudy said, "Want another cup of tea? I know Bobby doesn't drink."

Well, I thought, that's nice. Bobby and I started talking. He'd been in the army about two and a half years and was stationed at Camp Shanks in
upstate New York. He was in the band that played for the boys when they
got shipped overseas, as well as for the groups returning home once their
European duty was over. In addition to the band playing for the boys,
Bobby said they would also do shows when there was a large group of guys
being shipped out.

He asked me if I would come up and do a show sometime: "The
band is the greatest, all top men from the Big Bands."

I said that I would love to, but I didn't know when. He told me that
he had been best man at Mickey Rooney's second wedding (to Betty Jane
Rase, Miss Alabama of 1944). He told me all about Mickey in the army
when they were stationed together at Camp Siebert in Alabama, and how
Mickey would think of wonderful things to do to keep up the spirits of the
guys. We've all heard how much fun boot camp can be, right?

They were great buddies. As a matter of fact, Bobby got the marriage
license, bought the rings and so on, so nobody would think it was Mickey
who was getting married. Bobby spoke with real affection about Mickey
and was very impressed with the fact that Mickey would call his mother
every day from camp.

I asked Bobby what he was doing at the Terrace Room. He told me
that Joe Schribman and Joe Gaukin had an apartment on 57th Street and
that all the guys in the band from Camp Shanks hung out there. It was a
place to meet or stay when they had days off. Schribman had booked Mal
Haller into the Terrace Room. They had two radio shows a night, and
Schribman asked Bobby if he wanted to make seventy-five dollars for the
week. Well, of course he said yes. So he came down to play the two radio
shows as the first trumpet player. First trumpet is usually called the "sergeant" of the orchestra.

We continued talking, and I told him I was opening at the Capitol
Theater in a few weeks and had new gowns and new arrangements. He
told me that he had enjoyed my first show.

Just then Rudy came over and said to Bobby, "The band goes on the
air in ten minutes."

Bobby said, "Thanks, Rudy." Then he turned to me and said, "I'll see
you later."

I sat there and listened to the radio show. He played very well, had a
great sound and played the ballads with a lot of heart. I thought to myself,
he's good-Kay Kyser or not-he's very good.

He came back and sat next to me and I said, "That was great. Now I
have to do my second show."

He said he would watch it again. "Maybe we can have another cup of
tea before you go home."

I smiled and said, "Okay."

I went to my dressing room, changed my clothes, did the second
show and changed into my street clothes. I ran upstairs to see if he had
waited. He was there.

We had a cup of tea and he said, "I'll be here all week to do the radio
shows."

"Wonderful," I said,

"I'll see you tomorrow."

With that I got up and left.

On the way home, all kinds of thoughts came into my mind. He's
awfully great smile and really great to talk to... and a very good musician. He's really adorable. The next night, he did the radio shows and I did
my two shows. In between shows, we talked and talked. He lived in California and was going back after he was discharged. His horns and clothes
were in California. He told me about the movies he had made with Kyser.
He had been with the band since he was seventeen. He was now twentyeight, and he was sure that he would get his job back with Kay. I told him
about being in showbiz since I was three, doing the theaters across the
country and that I was looking forward to playing the Capitol Theater. We
had our cup of tea and then I went home.

The next day, I got a telegram on the phone:

CAUGHT YOUR ACT AT THE TERRACE ROOM. NEW WARDROBE.
NEW ARRANGEMENTS. AND CAN BOOK YOU ON THE GUS SUN TIME.

-GASPER FINITINBAUM.

I laughed so hard my mother thought I was throwing a fit. I hadn't told her
about meeting Bobby, so she didn't understand the joke. She thought someone wanted to book me.

I couldn't wait to get to work the next day. My girlfriend Gerri
Danna came down to the club with me. She was a wonderful hairdresser
and had taken over her brother's famous beauty salon while he was in the
army-and doing a damn good job of it. The minute I met her, she
became my hairdresser, in addition to my very good friend. We went to the dressing room. I got dressed for the show. Gerri did my hair and we
went upstairs.

The love of my life, my husband, William Robert Guy, affectionately known as "Bobby"

I saw Rudy at the bar and introduced him to Gerri. But Bobby wasn't
there. I said, "Where's Bobby?"

Rudy said, "Take it easy, he's in the john."

"Oh," I said, laughing.

Bobby came out and I introduced him to Gerri. She stayed with him
and Rudy while I did my show.

When I was through, Rudy said, "Tea for three?"

"Fine," I said.

I went and changed my clothes, went back upstairs and listened to the radio show. Bobby was really great-he pulled that orchestra together.
By now, it was time for me to get dressed for my second show.

When I returned from the dressing room, Bobby said, "Did you get
my telegram?"

I said, "Yes, and I knew it was from you and I laughed my head off."

He smiled and said, "Good, I gave you a laugh. I hope to give you many."

I just looked at him and smiled. This guy was really getting to me.

After my second show, I changed my clothes, went back upstairs again
and said good night to Rudy and Bobby.

He smiled that great smile of his and said, "See you tomorrow."

On the way home, I said to Gerri, "Did you see that guy in the uniform?"

She said, "Yes ...so?"

I said, "I'm gonna marry him."

She said, "That fat sergeant?"

I said, "Yes, and he's not fat. He's just solid all the way round."

She said, "You ...who won't go on a blind date or double date .... You've
only known him three days."

I said, "I don't care. He's the man I'm gonna marry." She was
dumbstruck!

Two more days and I would close at the Terrace Room. I saw Bobby
every night. We had talked about everything under the sun, including some
of the same people we knew. He also said I looked a lot like Margaret
Whiting-I had never heard of her at the time. Little did I know then that
we'd work together-for eleven years!-and that we'd become good, good
friends.