BEVERLY HILLS —This week in Hollywood “As The World Turns” star and cabaret phenomenon Eileen Fulton celebrated her 50th anniversary as Lisa on the daytime soap, Lindsay Lohan was issued a bench warrant, two authors released new books, the networks released their upcoming fall lineup, a Hollywood legend was memorialized and so much more happened in the entertainment capitol of the world.
On Tuesday, Lisa Mitchell played by my dear friend Eileen Fulton proved the old adage, “The show must go on.” With a feather boa covering her arm cast, she as Lisa enjoyed her 50th anniversary on the long running soap. The setting for Lisa’s celebration was her nightclub called Metro. Dr. Bob Hughes, starring talented singer and actor Don Hastings, was called at the last minute to emcee the program. Dr. Bob was Lisa’s first of eight husbands. As Bob introduced Lisa, he had a sheet of paper with the list of her married names and rattled them off to a laughing audience. Bob’s wife and Lisa’s longtime friend Kim Hughes, played by my late client Glenn Ford’s favorite wife Kathryn Hays was the producer of the program. During the clip session where a big screen was behind Lisa, as she explained each of the photos on the screen, audience members were laughing loudly. Instead of showing the old clips of Eileen as Lisa, the show’s executive producer and director Christopher Goutman (someone I consider an entertainment genius) decided to use current cast members dressed in retro ’60s, ”˜70s and ”˜80s clothing, acted out some of the highlights of Lisa’s life over the past 50 years.
Actress Terry Colombino, who portrays Katie Snyder on the show, was the most hilarious of the actresses who portrayed Lisa from the past. Terri played a young Lisa who met her soon to be mother-in-law Nancy Hughes for the first time. Fulton tells Canyon News, “That was a bitter sweet moment. Here we were celebrating Lisa’s and my 50th anniversary, and our beloved Helen Wagner, who has played Nancy since 1956, was not there by my side. She however would have been very proud of the scene with Terri playing me. And perhaps Helen was there in spirit.”
Eileen as Lisa got to sing the show’s title song, “As The World Turns.” Many of her cabaret fans have heard this beautiful song before. You can find it on Eileen’s CD “Looking Back,” which is available on Amazon. Lisa wrapped up the celebration with, “This Is A Song For My Circle of Friends.” In terrific soap fashion. The episode ended with characters Henry and Barbara in a climatic kiss, as Henry’s fiancé Vienna looked on in shock. Kudos to my friend Eileen Fulton and award-winning director and producer Christopher Goutman for a very entertaining and nostalgic episode.
I’m proud to report that one of my very best friends Maximillien de Lafayette, who is one of the classiest biographers in the entertainment world and remains a respected authority and historian of all of Hollywood history, has just released the definitive guide and story of cabaret music, singers and performers in the entertainment world. “Thematic Encyclopedia of Cabaret Jazz” is now available along with the all of the prolific author’s books atstores.lulu.com/maximilliendelafayette. Canyon News will be reviewing this incredible new book next week. Lafayette lived in a magical world of the arts, music, travel, adventures, drama filled with superstars, composers, singers, painters, authors, adventurers, news makers, artists, celebrities and even legendary people to say the least. They became a part of his life and the man who many of us consider a star himself now writes about many enigmatic people in pop culture and celebrity-dom that he finds fascinating. Having written over 150 books, Maximillien remains one of the most accomplished authors in history.
Best-selling Author Terrance Dean celebrates the publishing of a new book titled “Visible Lives,” which he dedicates to the late E. Lynn Harris, who was a New York Times Best-selling author. Harris passed away in July of last year. His novels about successful and glamorous black men with sexual identity conflicts, and the women and men who love them, made him one of the nation’s most popular writers. Dean’s tour begins with two special L.A. signings. Terrance Dean will autograph copies of “Visible Lives” on Monday, May 24, at 3:15 p.m. at Cal State Los Angeles, in the Los Angeles Room A, 3rd Floor, U-SU at 5154 State University Drive. Then on Tuesday, May 25, the release date for “Visible Lives,” he will also make an appearance from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the In The Meantime Book Club at Catch One in the Village Health Foundation Community Room at 4067 W. Pico Blvd.
For one night only, actress and singer Andrea Marcovicci celebrates the songs of Frank Loesser, on what would be 100th birthday on Tuesday, June 29, at the Gardenia in West Hollywood. Injected with the spirited bravado of the beloved composer of “Guys and Dolls,” this delightful tribute spans the early Hollywood years, the hits during World War II and his many Broadway triumphs. Highlights include, “On a Slow Boat to China,” “Heart and Soul,” “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year” and “I Believe in You.” For Reservations call 323-467-7444. The Gardenia is located at 7066 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. Tell Andrea, her friend Tommy sent you! Andrea stars with Tanna Frederick in Henry Jaglom’s “Irene in Time.”
I’m not sure who is more confused about reality, Republican senatorial candidate Rand Paul who used an example of the 1964 civil rights act as a law he disagreed with on principle, or movie star Lindsay Lohan who ignored a court order to appear before a California Superior Court Judge? A warrant was issued by a Los Angeles judge on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. when actress Lindsay Lohan, who is attending the Cannes Film Festival in France to promote her upcoming film about porn star Linda Lovelace, refused to show up in court. She left the U.S. knowing that she was ordered by a judge to appear in court on Thursday. On Wednesday she claimed her passport and paperwork to leave France had been stolen, and therefore she was unable to return to the U.S. French authorities told the media that Lohan had not reported to them that her paperwork had been stolen and the U.S. Embassy in Cannes stated, she’d not requested help from them. All the while, photos emerged of the actress partying on a multi-million dollar yacht while she claims her papers to be in the country are missing. She’d better be thankful she’s not in Arizona right now. On Friday the judge resended the warrant for Lohan’s arrest. Her attorney tells the media Lohan will appear in court on Monday to answer questions to the judge directly. Hollywood justice?
This fall’s lineup on television was revealed this week. CBS and NBC prime time are making the biggest changes this year. Though the CBS daytime soap “As The World Turns” ends its run on September 15, CBS also announced on Wednesday the cancellation of “The Ghost Whisperer,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Cold Case,” “Miami Medical,” “Numbers,” “Gary Unmarried,” and “Accidentally On Purpose.” New shows for the CBS network include the return of a ”˜70s hit “Hawaii Five-O,” “Blue Bloods,” “Defenders,” and one that doesn’t sound too appealing to me, “$#*! My Dad Says.” Also, a spin-off of the series “Criminal Minds” will air mid-season starting Forest Whitaker. NBC is cutting “Trauma,” “Mercy” and “Heroes” along with the venerable “Law & Order.” The network is adding a spin-off of “The Law & Order” franchise, “Law & Order: Los Angeles.” This surely is a great show for Lindsay Lohan, when she finally returns stateside. J.J. Abrams’s spy drama “Undercovers” and Jerry Bruckheimer’s “Chase.” ABC made the smart decision not to do too many shakeups of their lineup. It’s adding new shows including, “No Ordinary Family,” “Body of Proof” and “The Whole Truth.” Fox’s lineup announced returning series “Bones,” “Fringe,” “Glee,” “American Idol,” and “Lie to Me.” Fox is also planning to debut Steven Spielberg’s pre-historic drama “Terra Nova” as well as “Bob’s Burgers” and “Mixed Signals” as mid-season replacements.”
Diminutive co-star of “Poltergeist” Zelda Rubinstein, who died at age 76 in January of this year, was recently paid tribute in a very touching memorial at the Vista Theater. That’s the landmark movie house at the juncture where Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards meet in the Silver Lake district of Hollywood. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of the classic Steven Spielberg-produced ”˜haunted house’ thriller in 2002, Rubinstein made a personal appearance at the Vista, which has its own version of Graumann’s Chinese’s walk of fame outside the theater. The little star signed her autograph and made impressions of her tiny hands and feet in the cement on the sidewalk. Rubinstein’s longtime companion, David Wittow, decided the Vista was the perfect place to have a tribute for Zelda and put the whole event together. The actress was a frequent patron at a piano bar in Silver Lake called The Other Side, where entertainer Bryan Miller performs each week. So there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Miller and his life partner, Gilmore Rizzo, sang an incredibly moving version of a favorite song of Rubinstein’s called “When I Grow Too Old to Dream,” written by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein. (The song is played at the end of the ”˜50s MGM musical biopic, “Deep In My Heart,” in which Jose Ferrer portrays Romberg.) Also heartfelt was the rendition of “I’ll Be Seeing You” by an actress friend of Rubinstein’s named Janet Carroll.
Among the speakers was TV producer Mark Perry, who cast Rubinstein in his award-winning series, “Picket Fences,” and he shared some touching and funny stories about Rubinstein with the attendees. Warner Brothers Studios furnished the full 35mm version of “Poltergeist” so guests could see again on the theater’s big screen the scene in which Zelda has a powerful monologue as Tangina, the clairvoyant who saves the couple’s little girl from the monster that haunts their house. An exquisite photographic montage of Zelda from childhood to her final months of life had people reaching for handkerchiefs and tissues. Then, an emotional Wittow said a final farewell to his beloved Zelda and thanked the audience for coming to the memorial.
We all in turn thanked David for creating such a beautiful tribute to a Hollywood legend Miss Zelda Rubinstein.
If you have been paying attention lately, you have noticed my friend Bradley P. Bell who is in charge of “The Bold and the Beautiful” is one talented man in Hollywood. This week the Guinness World Records® named his show, “B&B”“Most Popular Daytime TV Soap – Current.” A Guinness World Records® Adjudicator presented Emmy® Award-winning Executive Producer and Head Writer, Bradley P. Bell, and the cast which included, Susan Flannery, John McCook, Ronn Moss, Katherine Kelly Lang and all of the others, with the certification of this coveted distinction on Stage 31 of CBS Television City, where the series has taped since its inception in March 1987.
“B&B’s” international ratings success is unequaled in its genre. The series can be viewed on more than 45 broadcasters in over 110 countries. In the 66 countries and territories where there are scientific people-meter systems in place to measure television viewing audiences, the soap garnered 24.5 million viewers in 2008—a higher figure than any other telenovela or soap opera.
The new Guinness World Record comes on the heels of 11 Daytime Emmy® nominations, which the series received last week, including Outstanding Drama Series, Writing, and Directing. These nominations come for episodes that feature an all-female cast, headed by former “Golden Girl,” Betty White, which deal with the sensitive subject of dying with dignity. Winners will be announced live at the Daytime Entertainment Emmy® Awards on Sunday, June 27. “B&B” was the recipient of the Daytime Emmy® Award for “Outstanding Drama Series” at the 2009 awards gala for the first time in its 23-year history.
This week on television, the final episode of “Lost” airs. Here’s hoping the secrets are finally revealed to viewers. Patrick Duffy returns as Stephen Logan to “B&B.” The Logans become very concerned about a man who becomes more unhinged by each day. Maria Bell’s “Y&R” has lots of drama with the Newman clan and some big surprises in store for viewers. On Sunday night King Henry VIII plans his inevitable invasion of France with Spain, and Catherine Parr becomes the new Queen of England on Showtime’s “The Tudors.” On Tuesday, the most hated man in America biker mogul Jesse James gives an exclusive interview to ABC’s “Nightline” to discuss his adulterous relationship while married to America’s sweetheart Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock. Good luck. Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl and I had a great time debating the Roman Polanski case this week. Next week Canyon News prints “Wiehl and Garrett, The Polanski Factor,” which is no holds barred. Check it out!
Congratulations to Kelly Preston and John Travolta. After losing thier son Jett almost two years ago. The couple is now expecting a baby. Preston is 47, but in excellent health. Here’s hoping all goes well for the couple.
Happy 49th birthday to my best friend and client actress Constance Towers who stars as Helena Cassadine on the award winning daytime drama “General Hospital.” Towers and her husband businessman Ambassador John Gavin are residents of Beverly Hills.
Have a great week, see you next Sunday! XOXO
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