Hold the Roses (22 page)

We went to all of the New Year's Eve parties that Lucy and Desi
threw. Lucy never forgot my birthday, and she would always address the
card, "To Baby Rose Marie." I never forgot her birthday either. We are
both Leos and we remember!

I played Ciro's again, for six weeks this time. The owner, Herman
Hover gave me a silver tea set in appreciation.

Bobby's birthday was March 28, and I always had a big birthday
party for him every year. One year it was a circus party. The theme was
"come as your favorite circus performer." I had a cotton-candy machine
on the lawn. We served hot dogs, popcorn, soda, Cracker Jacks, and hamburgers. Everyone came in costume.

Another year we had a "Hobo party"-come as a hobo. We served
mulligan stew on tin plates, loaves of bread, no forks or knives, tin cups for
coffee, and-as always-a huge cake. We gave out prizes for the best costume. Nothing big, just little things to remind them of the party.

We had a "Come as your favorite song title" party. That was a beaut.
Andy Devine came in a Chinese outfit-his song title was "Slow Boat to
China." Sheila MacRae came in a gypsy costume-her song was "Golden
Earrings." I had three sets of falsies in my sweater and came as "She's Funny
That Way." Bobby just tied a pepperoni to his pants and came as "Lover."
Ginny Botkin came with a pillow under her dress and a sign saying, "You
Made Me Love You," and on her back another sign saying, "I Didn't Wanna
Do It." But Gordon MacRae won the prize that night. He came dressed in
an old terry cloth robe with a set of false teeth in one pocket; toothbrush
and toothpaste pinned to the robe and a douche bag for a hat. The song he
had come as was "These Little Things Remind Me of You." We served
shrimp boats-a half loaf of bread with shrimp in an Italian sauce.

What wonderful memories. Bobby was always so proud. We had such
good friends and in our social life we were batting a thousand. Whenever I
played Vegas, everyone would come up to see the show. I also played Tahoe
and Reno. Many of our friends would come to see me in those places as
well.

While I was in Reno, playing the Riverside Hotel ("the boys" againWurtheimers), I got a call from Bobby. I had been out shopping all day
and when I came back to the hotel, around five o'clock, there were many
calls from Bobby. I thought something was wrong with the baby.

I called him and he sounded very nervous. He said, "No, the baby is
fine, but your father died today."

I said, "Oh!"

Bobby said, "I've made all the arrangements. I told them at the hotel
what happened and they said you could leave tonight. I have your flight
number and your brother will meet you at the airport."

I said, "Okay. I'll call you when I arrive in Jersey."

I hung up. Didn't cry-couldn't even try to cry. I felt nothing! I packed
and left on the eight o'clock plane. My brother met me at the airport and
we went home to my mother. She was a wreck. She did manage to tell me
he died at "the other house!" What a mess. He humiliated her even at the
very end.

My father's cousin arranged everything for the funeral. My mother
didn't want to go to the funeral parlor-she cried a lot. "I don't want to see
him," she said.

I said, "We gotta go, but I promise you there will be no more embarrassing moments."

We went, and my mother just fell apart at first, but she wound up
being okay. I was in the side room with my girlfriends. My brother Frank
and his wife Marion were taking care of things in the front and I went to
my father's cousin and said, "I don't want the other family here, understand? No matter what they say, they are not allowed here... and I leave
that up to you." I don't think I shed one tear. That sounds cruel, I know,
but that was the way I felt.

I talked to my mother about what she wanted to do. She didn't know
yet. She wanted to keep the house, which I knew I would have to support.

P*(~ Sibet>.s avtd _RioadVa~..._Aga(-vt

Bobby insisted that my mother come to California just to get away from
everything. I was playing in San Francisco, at the Bal Tavern, and my mother
came out with me for the four-week engagement. After the date, we came
home to southern California. My mother and my mother-in-law got along
like two peas in a pod. It was wonderful. Bobby used to take them out to
the movies, and of course we'd all go sightseeing together. It was good
feeling and we were really a family.

My mother left for New Jersey in late May. I worried about her being
alone in that big house. She was happy in her castle and had her girlfriends
over a lot. I was paying the bills, but I didn't mind because I knew she was
happy and that she was getting the money.

I had to play the Roxy again, so I went to New York and stayed at my
mother's house. At least I didn't have to pay a hotel bill. While I was at the
Roxy doing five shows a day, I got a call out of the blue from Phil Silvers.
He was doing a new Broadway show and wanted me to be in it.

I said, "No, it means being away too long from Bobby and the baby."

He said, "Bobby can come in from time to time and you can bring
the baby with you."

I thought, Hmm, Broadway again ...I wonder if the show will make it?
I knew the Broadway legit crowd loved Phil, so I told him to send me a
script. He sent about fifteen pages with pages saying, "Phil does funny bit
here.... Phil does funny elopement scene here." I never saw a script like
that in my life. It was written-if you can even use that word-by Hy
Kraft, who I think had some credibility in legit theater.

Noopy, Bobby, my mother, Stella, and Bobby's
mother, Nan

I told Phil, "This is stupid, there's no script."

He said, "I know. We'll do it as it comes. It's all about burlesque and
we can all add things to it."

I said, "You gotta be kidding."

The only good thing was that Johnny Mercer had written the music
and lyrics. Paula Stone and her husband, Mike Sloane, were the producers.
They got Jack Donahue for the director-thank God for him. Donahue
had done all the Esther Williams movies and had been in the biz for years.
He was like a teddy bear and kidded Phil all the time. We practically wrote
the show. The rest of the cast were burlesque comics. They were the best!
Joey Faye, Herbie Faye, Eddie Hanley and Jack Albertson. Herbie Faye
later played the guy with the cart full of goodies on The Dick Van Dyke
Show.

When I say that they were the best, I mean that they knew all the old
burlesque bits. If we ran into a snag in a scene, one of the guys would say,
"Hey, how about the bit about...?" Donahue took Hy Kraft to see a TV
show so that he'd know what we were doing. Actually the show we were putting on was about Berle and his Texaco show, and how crazy he was
when he did his TV show. The only difference was that Phil played a comic
from burlesque who had a big hit TV show.

With Phil Silvers in Top Banana

The rehearsals were the most fun I have ever had. All of these great
comics.. .1 was in my glory. Phil and I did a duet that became a classic.
Johnny Mercer wrote a song for me called, "I Fought Every Step of the
Way." It was a double entendre combining boxing with getting a guy. The
lyrics were unbelievable. Each chorus was a round of boxing. Round One:
I knew that he outweighed me, but "I fought every step of the way," and so
on.

He wrote six rounds and said, "I know you'll be doing encores."

"Oh, sure," I said.

We opened in Boston, so Ruthie was with me all the time, which was
great. I could blow off steam with her. I got so many flowers and telegrams
on opening night. One from Jackie Gleason said, "Watch Silvers, he's pretty sneaky," signed "The Great One." Phil was a dream to work with. As with
Berle, we both knew what the other wanted. We had a shorthand language
of our own. The elopement scene hadn't been written yet, and Jack Donahue
called a great act to come to Boston... Walter Dare Whal and Johnny. Walter
was a big man and Johnny was the little guy. They would get all tangled up
holding hands and would try to get out of the tangles. Donahue thought it
would make a great elopement scene. How right he was. It was one of the
highlights of the show. The opening was a smash... standing ovations and
all. We knew we were in a hit show, and Ruthie threw a big Top Banana
party.

Bobby came to Philly for the opening and gave me a big charm with
the masks of comedy and tragedy engraved, "To my mommy, the greatest
star I know." I wear it all the time. Bobby, Phil, and I had a great time in
Philly. The reviews were raves. Judy Applebaum and her parents came to
see the show. It was a nice reunion. They were so happy for us.

Bobby went home, and we went to New York. He couldn't come to New York because of his work, but at least he saw one opening. He would
come to New York every two or three weeks, so it all worked out fine.
Opening night in New York was sensational! My "I Fought Every Step of
the Way" number stopped the show. Again, it was before the first act finale. Usually when the curtain opens up to full stage and the star-in this
case, Phil-is in the scene, that really kills a hand, but they kept applauding and the entire cast turned to me. Phil took off his hat and put his arm
out to me. Talk about thrills! This was at the Winter Garden Theater on
Broadway-and I stopped the show with my first number.

With Audrey Meadows in Top Banana