Tim was an acquaintance-friend, not quite in my circle, but dating one of my best friends. He was cute, bright, & talented. I knew him for a while before we had a long-ish conversation where I discovered that his father was the esteemed & popular big band leader & arranger- Paul Weston & his mother was the beautiful Jo Stafford, one of the great jazz singers of the 1940s & 50s, with a pure & understated voice.
I was, & remain, a huge fan of Jo Stafford’s & I think Tim was taken aback a bit when I gushed. I actually dragged him back to my apartment to show him my collection of LPs of his parents’ music.
He was kind enough to invite me over to the house in Beverly Hills. He owed me nothing & we were not really close. It was a lovely gesture. I brought one album for Jo Stafford to sign. She was very lovely & quite funny. She & her husband had a great act throughout the 1950s, as Jonathan & Darlene Edwards, a bad lounge act. Stafford, as Darlene, would sing off-key in a high pitched voice; Weston, as Jonathan, played an untuned piano off key & with bizarre rhythms. They won a Grammy in 1961 for Best Comedy Album for Jo Stafford & Paul Weston Present: The Song Stylings of Jonathan & Darlene Edwards, on which the pair intentionally butchered some of the best popular music. The couple continued to release Jonathan & Darlene albums for several years, and in 1977 released a final single, a cover of The Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive with I Am Woman on the flip side. A very funny couple.
During my short visit with the Westons, their neighbors from behind their Beverly Hills house dropped by to talk about what to wear to the Academy Awards the following week. This handsome couple were nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, for a little number that they called- The Way We Were, sung by their good friend Barbra Streisand who was also nominated for Best Actress. I was just a little starstruck, but I was able to tell Marilyn & Alan Bergman that I would be seeing them at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the following Monday (the awards were held on Mondays then, the day that theatres were traditionally dark, I guess so actors in Broadway or touring shows could attend).
My good school chum & fellow actor in the theatre program- Gina had offered me a ticket. Her father- Arthur Piantadosi was Secretary of the Academy that year & a 7 time nominee (he became an Oscar winner, for Best Sound for All The Presidents Men). They were not attending the awards & had a single ticket up for grabs. I wore my tux from Private Lives, which was still in production at the time. I was frantic about getting some makeup stains off the white dinner jacket. I got myself to the Chandler Pavilion, parking a mile away, & I was seated a row away from Paul & Linda McCartney & Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward (who was nominated). The nominees that year:
Best Picture:
THE STING, American Graffiti, Cries & Whispers, The Exorcist, A Touch of Class
Actor:
JACK LEMMON in Save the Tiger, Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris, Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, Al Pacino in Serpico, Robert Redford in The Sting
Actress:
GLENDA JACKSON in A Touch of Class, Ellen Burstyn in The Exorcist, Marsha Mason in Cinderella Liberty, Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were, Joanne Woodward in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
Supporting Actor:
JOHN HOUSEMAN in The Paper Chase, Vincent Gardenia in Bang the Drum Slowly, Jack Gilford in Save the Tiger, Jason Miller in The Exorcist, Randy Quaid in The Last Detail
Supporting Actress:
TATUM O'NEAL in Paper Moon, Linda Blair in The Exorcist, Candy Clark in American Graffiti, Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon, Sylvia Sidney in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
Director:
GEORGE ROY HILL for The Sting, Ingmar Bergman for Cries & Whispers, Bernardo Bertolucci for Last Tango in Paris, William Friedkin for The Exorcist, George Lucas for American Graffiti
My new good close personal friends- The Bergmans did win that night. I deeply wanted Streisand to win. I still love The Way Were & the moment where Barbra moves a lock of Robert Redford's blond hair with her gloved hand still destroys me. Babs lost to Glenda Jackson in a stunning upset. I still have my ticket/pass to the ceremony.
Jo Stafford left us in 2008. The Bergmans continue to work. I have watched the Oscar Ceremony on TV since I was 5 years old. I used to hold up a big brass candlestick & practice my acceptance speech in the bathroom mirror: " I thank no one for this award. I did it all myself with talent & gumption..."
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