Meeting Lauren Bacall

[Kristie-K2]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 5:12pm

I would love to hear any stories of Meeting Lauren Bacall.

My friend Tommy(he is know longer with us) and I had a funny experience asking her to sign our playbills.

She yelled at us because we were not holding the playbill still.
We were just kids and she scared us both at the time.

We talked about that night meeting Ms. Bacall years later and would laugh...My lovely friend is dead now, but everytime someone brings up Ms Bacall I have to giggle

[Almira]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 5:28pm

I'm not a stagedoorer...but in my teens I waited to meet Bacall after a matinee of SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH.

Surprisingly there were only a few of us. Myself, some young girls around my age and a couple of others.

When she came out, I was, of course, in awe. She dutifully signed my program, then moved on to the girl standing next to me.

Bacall stopped, stared at the girl, cupped her chin and started scrutinizing her face. When done, she said in her distinctive voice: "You're very pretty." The girl said thank you and Bacall went on an on about how attractive she was and how she she should know it.

I walked away before the end of the conversation thinking how good that girl must have felt to be acknowledged by such a legendary beauty like Bacall.

Updated On: 3/16/12 at 05:28 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 5:51pm

About 10 years ago a friend of mine was working as an Events Planner at the Ritz-Carlton in Coconut Grove, Florida. Her being an ENORMOUS fan of the film CASABLANCA and all things Humphrey Bogart, she was thrilled to learn that Lauren Bacall would be staying in one of the suites.

Though it wasn't part of her job procedure, she took it upon herself to prep an enormous "welcome" fruit basket with champagne chilling in a bucket, etc. Well...

Less than 5 minutes after Miss Bacall was dropped off at her suite, my friend was informed that Miss Bacall called the Front Desk and asked that someone immediately go to her suite and REMOVE the f**king fruit basket someone f**king left in her room.

Needless to say, my friend's heart was broken but has this anecdote to cherish for the rest of her life.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 6:00pm

I've already apologized for my too-candid recollection of Betty in another thread.

Suffice it to say I love her on stage and on film, but found her difficult to work with. I think she takes the "I speak my mind and damn the consequences" schtick too far.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 6:48pm

I'm old enough to remember Betty as a beautufl, glamorous, sophisticated Movie Star, so the first time I met her, Blythe Danner grabbed me and said "Come meet Betty Bacall!" I was slightly embarassed because I had two bags of dirty laundry in my hands. Bacall shook my hand and said "Well, someone's gotta clean the stinky clothes, kid" (I wasn't a kid.)

The next time was not so pleasant, we had to break up a loud, unruly fight between her and ex-Jason Robards at a party.
That was fun.

[bk]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 6:54pm

I tell all in my new book :) The short version - we supped, we worked together, and I adored her.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 7:06pm

Bacall shook my hand and said "Well, someone's gotta clean the stinky clothes, kid"....

In fairness and to her credit, I agree: in my experience she was not the least bit pretentious.

[justoldbill]

Posted: 3/16/12 at 11:21pm

I met her backstage when she did APPLAUSE on the road. She was performiong while under the weather (it didn't show), and was surprisingly gracious backstage under the circumstances, signing autographs and making brief small talk. I suppose she felt diffrently about that kind of thing on the road. It's a diffrent dynamic.

[djb]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 2:40am

I met Ms. Bacall when she was signing "By Myself...and Then Some" in Chicago in 2005. At the time, I was just 13 years old (showing my youth, I suppose) but already a major fan so I couldn't wait to meet her. Everyone in front of me had gotten at "Thanks for coming (singing her name) Nice to meet you!"-sort of greeting. When I went up with my book, Ms. Bacall looked completely shocked and in her husky drawl said "How ooollllddd are you??" I said, quite speechless, "I'm thirteen" and she talked to me for about two minutes and even introduced me (and allowing me to pet) her dog. It was completely surreal, and I still can't even really remember it to this day.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 9:30am

As I've mentioned in earlier postings, I was friends with the late tenor Jerry Hadley who admittedly liked to "embroider the truth". He told me this Bacall story several times:

Jerry was at a posh affair at Lincoln Center and Bacall was in attendance. A young waiter accidentally spilled something on Bacall's lap and the star stood and bellowed, "Do you know who I am?" She then demanded that the poor kid be fired immediately.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 10:11am

I used to work in the same building as Bacall's publisher, Alfred A Knopf. One evening I was leaving my office later, around 7:30, during a pouring rainstorm.

As I exited the building, I saw what appeared to be a drenched bag lady, standing under the covered part of the building's entrance, scanning the street desperately, her clothes soaked, her stringy hair hanging down over her face.

I had an umbrella with me and always had several umbrellas in my office, since I never look at weather reports and I'm always caught in the rain and I invariably end up buying more and more cheap umbrellas on the street and at drug stores.

The woman looked so pitiful--and sort of manic and crazy--and I felt sorry for her, so I said, "Excuse me, would like this umbrella? I have another upstairs in my office."

The crazy, wet woman glared at me and said--in an unmistakable voice I felt I had known all my life, "Oh, for Christ's SAKE! Where is my goddamn CAR?!?"

I opened my umbrella, said, "Have a good evening, Miss Bacall," and walked into the rainy night.





Oh, for Christ's SAKE! Where is my goddamn CAR?!?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 10:38am

Danny Aiello had a funny story about an encounter with her but it included saying the eff word and the see word right to her face.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 10:43am

I met Lauren Bacall at the Tony afterparty, a couple years back. Her escort was Alec Baldwin. She could not have been nicer. I'm not an autograpgh seeker anymore, just like to take pictures. I asked her if I could take a picture of her. She was very sweet. Later she seemed to lose track of Alec's whereabouts and seemed panicked for a few seconds of where he was. I believe her eyesight might be failing her. But it was a memorable encounter of a Hollywood legend.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 12:23pm

"Danny Aiello had a funny story about an encounter with her but it included saying the eff word and the see word right to her face."

I take it the two words were not 'fun' and 'caring'...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 12:42pm

Maybe in another context with a person other than Betty, they might have been.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 2:27pm

"Jerry (Hadley) was at a posh affair at Lincoln Center and Bacall was in attendance. A young waiter accidentally spilled something on Bacall's lap and the star stood and bellowed, "Do you know who I am?" She then demanded that the poor kid be fired immediately."

That story may be apocryphal, but it is consistent with behavior I witnessed. That was what was so appalling to me: her treatment of the so-called "little guys".

I don't doubt there were times when she, as a young Hollywood widow, had to be tough. But in my book, playing hardball with Louis B. Mayer or Darryl Zanuck is very different from abusing waiters and interns.
Updated On: 3/17/12 at 02:27 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 2:42pm

I tend to think that Hadley story had a germ of truth in it because I heard him repeat it several times and the details didn't change much.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 4:25pm

Worked with her on Sweet Bird of Youth and the woman was a C***.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 4:40pm

^^^How ironic that you have to use asterisks to indicate a word the woman herself would have no trouble saying out loud!

At my theater, we had a special person assigned just to run her body mike because she started cussing a blue streak every time she exited the stage. We had to get the mike turned off instantly to keep from broadcasting her "remarks" to the house.

(I suppose out of fairness I should admit that Betty was touring in WONDERFUL TOWN that summer (1977) and the reviews everywhere commented on the oddity of a 53-year-old Ruth Sherwood moving to NYC to become a writer. Maybe it's no surprise she was in a bad mood by the time she got to us, the last stop on the tour. Actually, I thought she was good enough in the show I could overlook the age issue. And Maureen Moore and George Hearn were wonderful as her co-stars.)

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 4:46pm

I love paljoey's story above and I think it may offer a window into Bacall's life: alienating people who are actually trying to help her.

When I met her I knew her largely from APPLAUSE on Broadway, and there wasn't anything within the limits of the law I wouldn't have done to try to assist her. By the fourth or fifth day, I was doing as little as possible for her and only when I couldn't dodge her calls.

Updated On: 3/17/12 at 04:46 PM

[AC126748]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 5:59pm

I once witnessed Ms. Bacall do something in public that was truly rude and disgusting, and that's all I'll say here.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 6:15pm

As much as I'm dying to hear the story, AC, you're probably right to take the high road.

After I was completely candid on this subject in another thread, I realized I was trashing a legendary performer who has brought pleasure to millions (including me) and is now nearing 90. I woke up this morning feeling none too proud of myself.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 6:26pm

That's a slightly ageist attitude if I may say, gaveston - 90 is the new 75, and I'm sure Ms.Bacall isn't sweating it so you shouldn't either.

[raker]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 7:27pm

During the Boston tryout of Woman of the Year, Lauren Bacall dined at the restaurant where I worked. As she was leaving, I saw a man entering through the door/vestibule/door entryway. Seeing that people were leaving as he was entering, the man had his arms outstretched to hold open the inside door and the outside door at the same time. As the people passed, he realized that the woman whose face was next to his was Lauren Bacall. His jaw hit the floor. Seeing his reaction, she looked at him slyly and coquettishly turned up her collar as she slid past, while he stood there, his mouth wide open, speechless. It was very sweet.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/17/12 at 7:51pm

I've posted this before, but this is the way I was told the story, by someone who guaranteed that every Merman story he ever told was fabricated, exaggerated and adapted to the audience.

===

Merman was dragged against her will to see Lauren Bacall in Woman of the Year on opening night. At the climax of Bacall's big song "One of the Boys (Who's One of the Girls)" Bacall hit one of her legendary "foghorn" notes.

Merman squirmed through the big build-up to the big note, as Bacall "sang":

I've layers of lacquer a lady enjoys,
I've earrings and bracelets and various toys,
But I love when I've slipped into ripped corduroys,
Because I'm one of the girls...
One of the girls...
One of the girls
Who's one of...
Thuuuuuuuuuuuhhh--

And as Bacall let go of that awful note to take her breath for the final note, the entire audience heard a familiar voice from the middle of the 10th row mutter loudly,

"JEEEZUS!"

Onstage, Bacall could here her too. The entire audience, watched silently, while Bacall held her arms at 10-and-2, seething, before singing the final word:

--boys.

The reception in the dressing room after was icy.