Walter Brennan

[RicoGregg]

Dean Martin on the other hand was the complete opposite. Many years ago my wife and I were staying at a hotel in Las Vegas where Martin was performing. As we got on the elevator from our room to go have dinner who gets on the elevator at the next floor but Dean Martin. He smiled at both of us, asked our names, and inquired if we were having a nice time and shook our hands before he left. A few minutes of kindness endeared both of us to this man.

It's kind of funny to read this as for many years, Dean Martin had a phobia about elevators that was legendary. For a long time, he would walk up eight flights of stairs to see his dentist. The offices that oversaw his business holdings - real estate, investments, etc. (at one time he was the largest individual landholder in Ventura County) were so far up a skyscraper that until he got over the fear with professional help later on, he never went there.

His cordiality with people was also well - known.

So did we ever solve the Walter Brennan question? ???

 

[Mark Giardina]

It's kind of funny to read this as for many years, Dean Martin had a phobia about elevators that was legendary. For a long time, he would walk up eight flights of stairs to see his dentist. The offices that oversaw his business holdings - real estate, investments, etc. (at one time he was the largest individual landholder in Ventura County) were so far up a skyscraper that until he got over the fear with professional help later on, he never went there.

His cordiality with people was also well - known.

So did we ever solve the Walter Brennan question? ???

According to Wikipedia, Dean Martin overcame his fear of elevators by riding inside for one a period of hours.

As for the Walter Brennan question, which I originally posted, it seems to be the consensus among posters that Brennan did not discriminate against African-American actors by refusing to work with them.

As for the Paul Anka/Annette Funicello debate; the original comment dealt with the way Anka mistreated some elevator operator. Personally I don't think that Annette would be disrespectful to anyone while Anka always struck me as a weenie.

 

[landtuna]

IMHO Annette's career lasted much longer than Anka when you factor in her stint with the Mickey Mouse Club, and those beach movies. She even co-starred in a spoof on those beach movies, I believe, in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Annette's primary career ran essentially from 1956 thru the mid-60's, about ten years. Beyond that she did some TV movies and appearances on several TV shows but her appearances were sporadic and without industry acclaim. Her last was in 1987.

I truly feel that had Annette not contracted MS her career would have continued to flourish.

In all probability she would have continued as a 'B' list player for a few more years but it is unlikely she would have reached any major performing level. She was a teen heartthrob character and they don't usually age well.

As for Anka, he had what..a few hit songs in the 50s and maybe one in the 60s?

Anka's career began in 1957 with his major hit "Diana" and continues to this day. He is not only a major performer but one of the most prolific songwriters of the 20th Century as well. He is in both the performing and songwriters halls of fame. That is major acknowledgement. A list of his songs are here: http://songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/bio/C146 At last count something around 450.

As for "Johnny's Theme" that song hasn't aired on TV since Carson retired in 1992, which is 30 years ago. Granted it was/is a very recognizable tune.

1992-2012 = 20 years. The song was performed an estimated 1.4M times.

One has to ask could Paul Anka (today) sell out a stadium like McCartney, the Rolling Stones, or many other acts? I don't think so.

There was undoubtedly a time when he sold out as a big act but obviously he was much more than just a performer. But I believe we were comparing Funicello and Anka.

We are probably from the same generation so we remember Anka. But he doesn't have the generational appeal as the acts mentioned above nor can he be classified in the same category as those artists. Only Fabian and Edd Byrnes rank lower on the 50's celebrity scale as far as I am concerned.

Once again, I believe we were comparing Funicello and Anka. I think you would have to agree that Anka has had the longer and much more successful career than Annette. And again, I say this as an Annette fan since her first appearance on Spin & Marty in the mid-50's.

 

[landtuna]

Some "B" movie actors go on to do quite well for themselves, including a former President.

But not as an actor.

John Wayne once had the following exchange with a young fan:

Boy: "Mr. Wayne, is it true that you used to do a lot of "B" movies?"

Wayne: "They went a helluva lot lower down in the alphabet than that, kid!"

I always have been a huge John Wayne fan and one of his portraits hangs in my media room but....it is interesting to wonder, given his terrible early potboilers as a singing cowboy (ala Autry and Rogers but without a singing voice) whether he would have become a film icon had it not been for WWII.

Up to 1939 "Stagecoach" he'd done nothing but quickie oaters and a few forgettable serials. Then during WWII, because he did not serve as did most other major male stars of the day, his portrayals of military heros made his career.

Aside from major mistakes like "The Conqueror" Wayne played Wayne and he was one of the only actors that could get away with it. He admitted as much in his later days.

 

[landtuna]

Especially when the actress is best remembered for the impressive way in which she pulled off a bikini?

As long as Annette worked for Disney she honored his request that she always appear in a one-piece.

In thinking back to her several beach pictures I recall that she was the most modestly dressed female in the movie (and her hair was always cemented in place).

 

[therealjm12]

Annette is just a "Utica Girl" at heart. I did see one movie with her in a two piece bathing suit - I think on TCM. Can't remember the title but I remember I thought it was unusual because I had always seen her in modest one piece suits.

I was out in L. A. a few years back and wanted to meet her (as a "Utica Boy"). I was reluctantly turned down because she was too ill to receive visitors.

 

[Bob1370]

In general, when you encounter celebrities (or, in a business like mine, spend some time in conversation with them in an interview situation) the cordial ones far outnumber the nasty ones.

I've met very few difficult celebrities.

Conversely, the friendly and open ones seem IMHO to be the rule rather than the exception. Whether you're talking with Hall of Fame athletes like Whitey Ford or the late Willie Stargell, masters of music like Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole and B.B. King, or actors and actresses like Candice Bergen and Ben Gazzara, what you find are people who are gracious, open and candid.

 

[chrish]

Walter Brennan grew up in Swampscott, Mass, and was a childhood friend of my sister-in-laws father. He would often return for the summer and attended
Sunday Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Salem where I also attended as a kid, he was always very gracious and friendly to everyone and spent time talking to his fans outside after the services. Like most people he may have had his moments but I never witnessed any of them.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Annette is just a "Utica Girl" at heart.
I was out in L. A. a few years back and wanted to meet her (as a "Utica Boy"). I was reluctantly turned down because she was too ill to receive visitors.

Perhaps if her health was better you might have been able to see her.

Even if one is not a fan of Annette I truly believe that a large majority of people would agree that this lady, and her family, have suffered dearly because of her MS.

Hard to believe that this year Annette will turn 70 years old.

 

[AlbumOldies]

Heck, I always thought his 1962 hit record "Old Rivers" was about a black farmhand.

 

[chrish]

Now that you mention it so did I

 

[Markxxx]

I worked in one of the top five hotels in Chicago as the Revenue Manager (despite the title, Revenue Managers handle reservations). I found the "Broadway type" celebrities to be the worst. Joel Grey, Bernadette Peters, and especially Chita Rivera. Miss Rivera and her "No one can know I'm staying here." I felt like telling her, "Look I could go out on Michigan Avenue and yell 'Chita Rivera is here,' and everyone would yell back 'WHO'?"

Most celebrities are low key and come in and out without much note. Two outstanding ones I dealt with were Don Rickles, (He is just like you expect him to be) and Ringo Starr.

Brennan always had a bad rep and whether or not he was a racist, it's hard to know. Jimmy Stewart also had that handle put on him. I doubt anyone would refuse to work with blacks. They may not like them or actively hate them, but they'd still work with them. Especially since Brennan was never big enough to pull off a lot of demands.

 

[therealjm12]

Brennan always had a bad rep and whether or not he was a racist, it's hard to know. Jimmy Stewart also had that handle put on him

Jimmy Stewart a racist! That a pretty big accusation to make. I have never heard anything like that about him.
Walter Brennan was born in the 1890's not far from South Boston. I'm sure that racism was the ongoing philosophy at the time. Doesn't excuse it. Just helps explains why he MIGHT have been anti-black.

 

[RicoGregg]

Whether the actors previously mentioned were racist or not is almost immaterial. Unfortunately, racism and Hollywood are not strangers to each other. Cases in point:

*African Americans became the victims of one of the most vicious stereotypical labellings in 1915 with the release of D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, in which they were portrayed as dim-witted, lazy, drunk, sleazy, and two-faced. Griffith, the son of a Confederate general, added insult to injury by casting mostly white actors in blackface to portray the black "characters." The effect on African Americans in both society and the movie business was devastating, and the worst of it lasted for decades.

*Hattie McDaniel, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Mammy in 1939's Gone With The Wind, was not allowed to attend the world premiere of GWTW in Atlanta due to Georgia's strict segregationist laws in effect at the time. Clark Gable and others connected with the film protested and wanted the premiere moved out of Atlanta, but McDaniel, not wanting to rock any boats, urged them to go on ahead to Atlanta.

*Staying with McDaniel, she suffered two more slights because of her race. On what should have been the greatest night of her life, she and her husband, the only blacks in attendance at the 1940 Oscar presentations, were placed in the very back of the room at the Ambassador Hotel, where the ceremonies were being held. They were not allowed to sit with other people from GWTW.
Upon her death in 1952, McDaniel's final wishes included to be interred at Hollywood Memorial Cemetery. The then-owner of the cemetery denied that request, because he had a policy of whites-only being buried there. Hattie McDaniel was subsequently interred at a cemetery in South Los Angeles. The Hollywood graveyard, now known as Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and under more modern ownership, now has a cenotaph for her as a tribute.

*Hal Roach Studios, which produced The Little Rascals, aka Our Gang, gave its child actors catered box lunches in its dining hall. However, black child actors such as Buckwheat and others had to take a sack lunch outside and sit on the sidewalk on Washington Blvd. outside the studio.

*Louis B. Mayer, one of the founding fathers of MGM, lost his 1951 power struggle with Dore Schary in part to a creative difference in the casting of a black actor. Mayer, who always referred to black people as "Schwarzas", a Yiddish term for black people, not necessarily derogatory, wanted the black character to be Uncle Tom in nature, while Schary wanted the character to be proud and defiant. Schary, much to Mayer's dismay, went over his head to the head of MGM's parent company Loew's Inc., and won that argument. Mayer was ousted a short time later.

Since Walter Brennan isn't around anymore to answer the question at hand, I guess we'll never really know for sure, but whether he was racist or not, he certainly would not have been alone.

 

[landtuna]

*Hal Roach Studios, which produced The Little Rascals, aka Our Gang, gave its child actors catered box lunches in its dining hall. However, black child actors such as Buckwheat and others had to take a sack lunch outside and sit on the sidewalk on Washington Blvd. outside the studio.

I've read a ton of material on Hal Roach and his studios and have never read anything approaching the accusation you make above. I would appreciate a source because it is at odds with virtually everything similar to the following:

"The Our Gang series is notable for being one of the first times in cinema history that blacks and whites were portrayed as equals. The four African-American child actors who held main-character roles in the series were Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas. Ernie Morrison was, in fact, the first African-American actor signed to a long-term contract in Hollywood history,[7] and was the first major African-American star in Hollywood history as well.[8]

In their adult years, Morrison, Beard and Thomas became some of Our Gang's staunchest defenders, maintaining that its integrated cast and innocent story lines were far from racist. They explained that the white children's characters in the series were similarly stereotyped: the "freckle-faced kid," the "fat kid," the "neighborhood bully", the "pretty blond girl," and the "mischievous toddler." "We were just a group of kids who were having fun," Stymie Beard recalled.[9] Ernie Morrison stated that "when it came to race, Hal Roach was color-blind".[10] Other minorities, including Asian Americans (Sing Joy, Allen Tong, and Edward Zoo Hoo) and Italian Americans (Mickey Gubitosi), were also depicted in the series, with varying levels of stereotyping – commonplace in the stylized, slapstick comedy tradition in which the Our Gang films are firmly rooted."

Source: http://www.ramseyltd.com/rascals/history.html

 

[Stanislav]

Roach was particularly fond of Matthew "Stymie" Beard, and used to carry him around while running errands on the lot.

 

[landtuna]

Roach was particularly fond of Matthew "Stymie" Beard, and used to carry him around while running errands on the lot.

There are literally hundreds of these little vignettes about the Roach studios and their personnel. Matthew Beard was actually nicknamed "Stymie" by Roach with the explanation that Beard continued to "stymie" efforts around the studio.

By all accounts I've ever read the only conflicts on Roach's sets were between several of the major long-time stars and their stage-mother parents (all of them white).

Most of these kids came from very modest homes and in several cases the kids were the only employed members of the family and their only source of income particularly during the Depression. Virtually all of them returned to their humble homes once their work on Our Gang was complete. A few had minor roles in motion pictures but only Jackie Cooper and Mickey Gubitosi (later known as Robert Blake) had any significant post-Roach film career.

 

[Mark Giardina]

I just don't believe that Jimmy Stewart was a racist.

 

[RicoGregg]

*Hal Roach Studios, which produced The Little Rascals, aka Our Gang, gave its child actors catered box lunches in its dining hall. However, black child actors such as Buckwheat and others had to take a sack lunch outside and sit on the sidewalk on Washington Blvd. outside the studio.

I've read a ton of material on Hal Roach and his studios and have never read anything approaching the accusation you make above. I would appreciate a source because it is at odds with virtually everything similar to the following:

"The Our Gang series is notable for being one of the first times in cinema history that blacks and whites were portrayed as equals. The four African-American child actors who held main-character roles in the series were Ernie "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison, Allen "Farina" Hoskins, Matthew "Stymie" Beard and Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas. Ernie Morrison was, in fact, the first African-American actor signed to a long-term contract in Hollywood history,[7] and was the first major African-American star in Hollywood history as well.[8]

Fair enough request, and I am looking. However, this seems to be one of those things that someone knows to be true, but can't prove it, and that is my case right now. I'll keep up the search. There are older industry people I could ask, but they are up there in years, and memories may be shaky. Bear with me.

In their adult years, Morrison, Beard and Thomas became some of Our Gang's staunchest defenders, maintaining that its integrated cast and innocent story lines were far from racist. They explained that the white children's characters in the series were similarly stereotyped: the "freckle-faced kid," the "fat kid," the "neighborhood bully", the "pretty blond girl," and the "mischievous toddler." "We were just a group of kids who were having fun," Stymie Beard recalled.[9]

All well and good, but was the "freckle-faced kid" and the "fat kid" ever denied service at a restaurant? Did the "neighborhood bully" ever get turned away from a hotel because his kind wasn't served? Was the "pretty blond girl" ever denied treatment at a hospital or did the "mischievous toddler" get limited to a certain part of town? We're talking different levels of stereotyping here.

Ernie Morrison stated that "when it came to race, Hal Roach was color-blind".[10]

According to Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson's 2001 obituary, that wasn't the case, especially when it came to money.

http://www.articles.latimes.com/2001/oct/28/local/me-62611

The link may not work, so here is the quote I wanted to point out:

"Jackson experienced early Hollywood's stereotype casting and pay differentials for minorities firsthand. For 'Our Gang', he earned a top of $55 a week compared with the white children's $75, he told The Times in 1992."

The link did work after Googling Eugene Jackson.

Other minorities, including Asian Americans (Sing Joy, Allen Tong, and Edward Zoo Hoo) and Italian Americans (Mickey Gubitosi), were also depicted in the series, with varying levels of stereotyping – commonplace in the stylized, slapstick comedy tradition in which the Our Gang films are firmly rooted."

Source: http://www.ramseyltd.com/rascals/history.html

And, here's another goodie for you: Hal Roach went into a partnership with Benito Mussolini. Scroll about 2/3 of the way down:

http://www.ioffer.com/i/allen-farina-jannie-hoskins-hal-roach-our-gang-photo-164902695

If nothing else, this proves that Hal Roach was not without faults. He was human, and times were very different back then.

I will keep searching for the info on the black kids' lunch situation. In the meantime, I hope these other findings are informative.

 

[LKellerIII]

It's easy to forget that during the 1930s, a considerably large percentage of Americans were against our involvement in World War II. Many were isolationists, but many others wanted us to side with the Axis powers. More than a few American businessmen made profits providing war-era materials to Japan, and especially to Nazi Germany. One of the industrialists who reportedly made mega-millions from trade with Nazi Germany was Joseph Kennedy (father to President JFK., Robert, and Ted).