During my younger years, the authors I most admired were Flannery O'Connor, Franz Kafka and Nathanael West. They each had a unique penchant for comic irony and passed over at a relatively young age (39, 40 and 37 respectively). The three authors recalled from this period could never have imagined the range of bizarre circumstances I witnessed while working at a Nichols Canyon home-based talent agency in the Hollywood Hills from January 1980 through March 1987. Some of the people I worked with manifested emotional disturbances that I realized was something each wouldn't have wanted for themselves if only they'd been able to more carefully contemplate their actions and feelings.
Today the 'Me Too' movement is a complicated social adjustment to some of the aberrant personality manifestations of the culture of past eras when wealth and celebrity were aggrandized regardless of spiritual considerations; however, another complication of the 'Me Too' movement is that there's a factor of potential false or exaggerated accusations due to possible motivations involving attention seeking and financial benefit. Looking back, one typical predicament was my once receiving a call from an upset young female client who complained that at her audition for a lead role in a low-budget 'exploitation movie' she'd been handed a towel and asked to take off her blouse yet this was not something all that unusual during the 1980s. The casting notices would sometimes mention 'nudity required.' The 'casting couch' was another aspect of 'the industry' that was accepted as a common potentiality.
1979 was the year I first engaged in entertainment industry job interviews and none resulted with an employment offer. A part time job that I found was being a script reader for Ingels, Inc. in Hollywood. My twin brother Mike was working as a publicist for Disney and living in Burbank. When an upscale Orange Grove Boulevard townhouse in Pasadena near the Rose Bowl became available, my mother and I agreed to share it and considered ourselves fortunate that the main consideration of the owner (an Egyptian architect) was not exorbitant rent money but having trustworthy tenants. In addition to some temporary staffing assignments, I spent most of my free time working on writing projects such as short stories, novellas and screenplays, reading nonfiction books and watching movies in theaters or on VHS cassettes.
Today the 'Me Too' movement is a complicated social adjustment to some of the aberrant personality manifestations of the culture of past eras when wealth and celebrity were aggrandized regardless of spiritual considerations; however, another complication of the 'Me Too' movement is that there's a factor of potential false or exaggerated accusations due to possible motivations involving attention seeking and financial benefit. Looking back, one typical predicament was my once receiving a call from an upset young female client who complained that at her audition for a lead role in a low-budget 'exploitation movie' she'd been handed a towel and asked to take off her blouse yet this was not something all that unusual during the 1980s. The casting notices would sometimes mention 'nudity required.' The 'casting couch' was another aspect of 'the industry' that was accepted as a common potentiality.
1979 was the year I first engaged in entertainment industry job interviews and none resulted with an employment offer. A part time job that I found was being a script reader for Ingels, Inc. in Hollywood. My twin brother Mike was working as a publicist for Disney and living in Burbank. When an upscale Orange Grove Boulevard townhouse in Pasadena near the Rose Bowl became available, my mother and I agreed to share it and considered ourselves fortunate that the main consideration of the owner (an Egyptian architect) was not exorbitant rent money but having trustworthy tenants. In addition to some temporary staffing assignments, I spent most of my free time working on writing projects such as short stories, novellas and screenplays, reading nonfiction books and watching movies in theaters or on VHS cassettes.
In January 1980, I noticed a part-time job ad for an actor's assistant in The Hollywood Reporter and applied for the position. As the Ingels name on my resume was recognized by the actor who also had a high regard for USC, I went to the interview in the Hollywood Hills and was immediately hired by agent Ruth Webb as Mickey Rooney's in-agency assistant. From the start, it was a full-time job with me treated as an independent contractor. I didn't even consider such possibilities as what would happen if I'd been in a car accident commuting from Pasadena. Ruth also was a franchised agent for writers and I was an aspiring screenwriter so this is one of the aspects of the job that interested me. Ruth never discussed with me the precise dynamics resulting in the creation of my position. I first met Mickey in person when he came to the West Coast to attend the Academy Awards after having received an Oscar nomination for "The Black Stallion." While he was Ruth's most lucrative client, others included Gene Barry, Shelley Berman, John Carradine, Yvonne De Carlo, Dody Goodman, Kathryn Grayson, Julie Newmar, Martha Raye, Penny Singleton, Mamie Van Doren, Abe Vigoda and Alan Young.
Some clients had roles in famous movies, such as "The War of the Worlds" (Gene Barry), "Forbidden Planet" (James Drury"), "The Time Machine" (Alan Young), "The Ten Commandments" (Yvonne DeCarlo and John Carradine), "West Side Story" (Russ Tamblyn), "Guys and Dolls" (Vivian Blaine), "The Best Years of Our Lives" (Virginia Mayo), "The Greatest Show on Earth" (Dorothy Lamour), "Meet Me in St. Louis" (Margaret O'Brien) and "The Godfather" (Abe Vigoda).
Mickey's career had again reached a pinnacle with the hit Broadway burlesque-inspired revue "Sugar Babies" at the Mark Hellinger Theatre. Born Joe Yule, Jr., Rooney's best-known films include "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the "Andy Hardy" series, "Boys Town," "Babes in Arms," "The Human Comedy," "National Velvet," "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," "The Bold and the Brave," and "It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" co-starring Rooney as Ding 'Dingy' Bell. Mickey was 59 years old when I met him yet he looked even older while Ruth had been born a few years earlier than him yet had the look without wrinkles that is shared by people who've opted for services provided by expert cosmetic surgeons. Mickey would frequently call from his home in New Jersey during the Broadway run of "Sugar Babies." I saw the show upon a New York visit and was surprised by how entertaining it was.
After life with my mother, Ruth's moods didn't seem all that problematic at first. As long as Mickey's "Sugar Babies" commission checks were coming in each week, Ruth was able to function with some degree of equanimity. The down-to-earth personality in the agency offices was Joan, the sub-agent who like Ruth had once been a New York actress. When Joan left several years later, I became the sub agent. There were also interludes when a succession of actresses assisted Ruth with whatever project she had in mind. These actresses seemed to have been selected on the basis that Mickey knew and liked them. Another familiar recurring presence was Lois, a middleaged woman who had her own talent agency in addition to being Ruth's longtime friend. Something Joan warned me about was Ruth's habit of leaving long notes each day. Joan said that she never read any of them and—gladly accepting this advice—I did the same and there never was a single complication resulting from my completely ignoring all the notes.
Soon after I was hired, the actor opened Mickey Rooney’s Star-B-Q in Hollywood, the first in a planned chain of fast food restaurants; shown below is Joan, me and Ruth's Cockapoo dog 'Tippy'
Ruth was living with a younger male companion who worked in some aspect of real estate development. It was a relationship that bewildered me because Ruth always seemed upset about something or another where her relationship with him was concerned. Their pets included a pair of Macaws that squawked in their
large metal cage all day and on the patio lived two pet raccoons in an
enclosure with a small waterfall that had been constructed according to Ruth's specifications. Ruth adored raccoons with sketches of them appearing on her personal memo pads.
In 1980, Rooney had to deal with the difficulties of being confronted with evidence that his current attorney had forged contracts to embezzle a $10,000 holding fee for one of his future projects. Ruth had brought the two together so there was a lot of turmoil about this yet Mickey never blamed her for the attorney's conduct.
In 1981, Rooney led a campaign for actors to receive residuals for movies made before 1960. He gained the support of more than one hundred of his fellow performers in preparation for taking legal action. It was then found that this agreement had been reached under the auspices of the Screen Actors Guild while Ronald Reagan was guild president. Mickey considered the President a friend and ended the project. He had contacted the President-Elect the previous December concerning the death penalty. The response from Ronald Reagan included the commentary: "I'm afraid on the death penalty I'm a little out of jurisdiction there. Penalties for crimes like murder are a state matter. And, as you know, I did every thing I could to get the death penalty reinstated in California. Like you, I believe it a necessary deterrent. Anything I can do to bring it about in this new job I'll be glad to do."
While performing in "Sugar Babies," Mickey simultaneously acted in other projects such as the Canadian movie "Odyssey of the Pacific" and the telefilms "Leave 'Em Laughing," "Bill" and "Bill: On His Own." Mickey's NBC TV series "One of the Boys" became something infuriating for him as he believed the mediocre viewer ratings were due to a complete lack of network promotion. When I later found a cameo role in the miniseries "Celebrity" for Mickey to do, he didn't realize this was an NBC production and I wasn't aware how angry he still was with the entire team of NBC executives. He ended up walking off the set. The incident had happened while I was on a European vacation and a lawsuit against him resulted. Ruth had to give testimony and she actually once brought me an immense transcript of her commentary and told me to memorize it all in case I was called to testify. I never read the transcript yet was well aware that Mickey was obviously at fault. It turned out I was never called for testimony because of my having been on vacation yet I was prepared to simply state what I knew about the project and didn't really care if that jeopardized my job. The case concluded with Mickey avoiding any penalty.
Working at Ruth Webb's home offices resulted with my encountering an extensive coterie of famous performers among a clientele that included a variety of artists seeking their big break. Something that amazed me about almost all of the actors and actresses me was how professional and gracious they were. A few struggled with depression and alcoholism influenced by the lack of employment opportunities for aging performers.
While performing in "Sugar Babies," Mickey simultaneously acted in other projects such as the Canadian movie "Odyssey of the Pacific" and the telefilms "Leave 'Em Laughing," "Bill" and "Bill: On His Own." Mickey's NBC TV series "One of the Boys" became something infuriating for him as he believed the mediocre viewer ratings were due to a complete lack of network promotion. When I later found a cameo role in the miniseries "Celebrity" for Mickey to do, he didn't realize this was an NBC production and I wasn't aware how angry he still was with the entire team of NBC executives. He ended up walking off the set. The incident had happened while I was on a European vacation and a lawsuit against him resulted. Ruth had to give testimony and she actually once brought me an immense transcript of her commentary and told me to memorize it all in case I was called to testify. I never read the transcript yet was well aware that Mickey was obviously at fault. It turned out I was never called for testimony because of my having been on vacation yet I was prepared to simply state what I knew about the project and didn't really care if that jeopardized my job. The case concluded with Mickey avoiding any penalty.
Working at Ruth Webb's home offices resulted with my encountering an extensive coterie of famous performers among a clientele that included a variety of artists seeking their big break. Something that amazed me about almost all of the actors and actresses me was how professional and gracious they were. A few struggled with depression and alcoholism influenced by the lack of employment opportunities for aging performers.
Ruth had begun her show business career as a teenager working for her aunt who was a summer stock producer. Ruth soon became an actress and appeared in Broadway productions and numerous other stage shows before becoming an agent. While I was employed by her, the agency was known for representing older stars and having a busy Equity (stage productions) roster of clients. Once a year she was accustomed to mailing out a newsletter with information about all the stars.
Sometimes it was amazing to see who turned up at Ruth's parties or at the opening night parties for plays we attended (from Christine Jorgensen to Natalie Schafer). There were also unusual opportunities such as when we attended a presentation by Marvin Hamlisch about his work in progress musical "Smile" with Neil Diamond in attendance. There were periods when Ruth suddenly became more eager to represent newcomers while at other times she only cared about recognizable names. Ruth's knowledge about some artists were limited to her experiences in New York; for example, she once passed on representing an actress who recently had appeared in a hit movie because Ruth still estimated her to be a struggling unknown. My work station was a makeshift space in the dining room until a second level was added above the converted garage (where her mother lived) for office space. After her mother Helen moved to a retirement home at a monthly cost that exasperated Ruth, I moved downstairs and Ruth subleased the upstairs to a chef and her husband, Jimmy, who also became a friend.
Below: an annual Christmas party included photography for use in conjunction with "The Great Life" columnist George Christy of The Hollywood Reporter.
Mickey is at left with some unidentified friends; to my left is Alan Sues and Michael Cole
From left: Lette Rehnolds, Rudy Vallee, Joan and me. My friend Lette is an example of the countless talented stage performers who never had the opportunity for movie or TV stardom. She was so sweet and smart — I didn’t care that she wasn’t famous. I once booked Rudy in a role on a daytime soap opera but he refused to pay the commission because he hadn't liked his dressing room.
It was always exciting when a producer or casting director called to tell you that a client had been selected for a role. You never knew what opportunity the next telephone call would present. Concerning the screenplays I'd written, Joan helped me submit scripts until she left and then Ruth did this for me. Twice I wrote scripts for projects that interested producers who wanted to work with Mickey yet there occurred the 'unforeseen complications' that always seemed to happen with my 'on spec' writing projects. My screenplay for "Bob, Son of Battle" (adapted from a classic dog novel) was budgeted as a vehicle for Mickey with the writer's payment listed as $100,000. The ending of the book was problematic so in my version it wasn't other dogs that killed the evil sheepdog 'Red Wull' but the dog's owner who then took his own life — this was the lead role Mickey was to portray.
Around the same time, Roger Corman didn't like a script Mickey submitted to him although there was financing available for a project. I completely rewrote the screenplay as a black comedy/thriller inspired by his early Mickey McGuire two-reelers (1920-1931) and "Whatever Became of Baby Jane?" and Corman approved of it. However, I found out Mickey wouldn't allow any substitution of his script although he never discussed the matter with me. The dog movie for producer John Dark was set aside when there were economic troubles at the UK companies EMI and Thorncrest.
There developed a regular telephone call relationship between me and Mickey's wife Jan. On one occasion I went with her to a meeting with producers of "The Love Boat" regarding a guest starring role for her in a special Christmas episode starring Mickey as an angelic character. I was surprised upon discovering that one of Mickey's sources of inspiration was watching television Christian evangelism shows, among all the other activities in his frenetic life. Something I realized after interacting with Mickey was that his having worked in front of the camera to the extent he did while growing up had resulted in some uncultivated intellectual and social orientations. His main hobbies remained as golf and racetrack gambling. His acclaimed performing abilities seemed like an innate part of his nature and included playing the piano. I knew of two incidents when Mickey's treatment of Jan would sound atrocious to describe yet the melodramatic streak was just a part of the tornado of Mickey being Mickey. At first I didn't know what to think about the rumors about Mickey's clandestine sexual liaisons. The indications supporting this reality accumulated over the years.
One afternoon, Mickey called me to come over and write down his ideas while he was brainstorming with his friend Henry Gibson about one of the wacky comedy scenarios Mickey had devised. I still have the microcassette audio recording that I made during this meeting when Mickey was rethinking his "Introducing Suzie" mise en scène. As Mickey spoke, he intensely gave his concentration to every word of the scenario he was devising. It seemed unusual that Mickey was continuously including camera angles during the scenes he was imagining and describing as these are not usually included to such an extent in film scripts. Mickey occasionally attempted to suppress his laughter at the zany moments he envisioned. 'Suzie' was an inflatable plastic love doll.
Another set of circumstances that bewildered me was when an older male stage actor friend of Ruth spoke to her in my presence about his endeavors on behalf of two famous actors. He described going to gay bars to seek out handsome young men interested in meeting one of his famous friends. Some sad and pathetic details were divulged. He mentioned that on the previous night his famous friend allowed him to watch from the closet when sexual intercourse ensued and he blurted out "See what you get when you're a star," leaving the stage actor frantic that this could have exposed his voyeurism.
One of the biggest news stories of the 1980s was continuously the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On one occasion, a young gay actor with AIDS told me that he thought God hated him (as the possible reason for what had happened to him). My reaction to the dismaying statement was that he must be wrong. At this time I occasionally reflected about spiritual and religious subjects yet nothing I'd read or experienced had resulted in bringing any certain insights beyond the familiar concepts of God. There was one experience that made me realize that reality was far more complicated than anything indicated in school textbooks. The unforgettable event occurred one morning on an otherwise typical day when I was making my morning commute, hurrying to arrive early enough to read the script breakdowns and complete the morning’s casting submissions before the messenger pick up time.
I was headed south on the Hollywood Freeway in my small Plymouth Horizon. When I saw a sudden traffic jam less than a hundred yards ahead of me, I remember frantic thoughts quickly spinning through my mind. I knew there wasn’t enough time for me to stop the car. I felt abysmally foolish and sorry for having been so needlessly careless. I’d seen a TV news report that Horizons have a design flaw so that when you jammed on the breaks the vehicle could become airborne and I recalled this in the moments that followed; however, that doesn’t fully allow for what happened next. Upon hitting the breaks, the car went upward like a helicopter. There was a bounce and then the car spun around, ending up turned in the opposite direction. The drivers in the cars around me probably couldn't believe their eyes. I was thankful to still be in one piece and was incredulous that there was no damage. I knew that something miraculous had just occurred yet couldn't deduce anything beyond that.
There was also an interval when my car would stall suddenly in the middle of traffic. The Glendale dealer where I'd been taking my car eventually informed me that during one of the previous repairs something hadn't been fixed properly. When I complained about having paid for unnecessary work, no restitution had been offered so I decided to file a state complaint as I could show the documentation for all the improper repair work. A state representative called me to negotiate a settlement yet there was a follow-up call that made me see my predicament in a new and completely unexpected way. I still find it hard to fathom how a state representative could have behaved in the way that then transpired. The representative in a haughty tone bluntly told me that she was friends of the owner of the repair facility and that since I hadn't accepted the initial offer, I would have to settle for even less and that this would be the end of the negotiating. I decided that since this was the way the government operated, there was nothing more that I could do and I didn't want to waste any more time on the matter. I considered it a lesson learned and found a new facility to service my car.
Ruth and I attended the Tony Awards together when Gene Barry was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for "La Cage aux Folles." Gene had auditioned and been cast in the role by producer Alan Carr during one of Ruth's rare vacation weeks when she took a cruise so Ruth expressed her appreciation by letting me share in the various New York festivities. I once attended a party held at Alan's Beverly Hills home basement disco.
There were some situations concerning my agency work that kept making me think about finding a new job. One typical aspect of office life was that the couriers for various messenger services would ask to use a telephone to find out their next assignment destination. (Cell phones weren't yet in common usage.) One day Ruth came into my office and insisted that from then on the couriers were no longer to be allowed to use the telephone because she didn't want to be charged for their calls, etc. The sad responses to this that were elicited from the couriers made me realize how complicated Ruth could make just about anything.
Around the same time, Roger Corman didn't like a script Mickey submitted to him although there was financing available for a project. I completely rewrote the screenplay as a black comedy/thriller inspired by his early Mickey McGuire two-reelers (1920-1931) and "Whatever Became of Baby Jane?" and Corman approved of it. However, I found out Mickey wouldn't allow any substitution of his script although he never discussed the matter with me. The dog movie for producer John Dark was set aside when there were economic troubles at the UK companies EMI and Thorncrest.
There developed a regular telephone call relationship between me and Mickey's wife Jan. On one occasion I went with her to a meeting with producers of "The Love Boat" regarding a guest starring role for her in a special Christmas episode starring Mickey as an angelic character. I was surprised upon discovering that one of Mickey's sources of inspiration was watching television Christian evangelism shows, among all the other activities in his frenetic life. Something I realized after interacting with Mickey was that his having worked in front of the camera to the extent he did while growing up had resulted in some uncultivated intellectual and social orientations. His main hobbies remained as golf and racetrack gambling. His acclaimed performing abilities seemed like an innate part of his nature and included playing the piano. I knew of two incidents when Mickey's treatment of Jan would sound atrocious to describe yet the melodramatic streak was just a part of the tornado of Mickey being Mickey. At first I didn't know what to think about the rumors about Mickey's clandestine sexual liaisons. The indications supporting this reality accumulated over the years.
One afternoon, Mickey called me to come over and write down his ideas while he was brainstorming with his friend Henry Gibson about one of the wacky comedy scenarios Mickey had devised. I still have the microcassette audio recording that I made during this meeting when Mickey was rethinking his "Introducing Suzie" mise en scène. As Mickey spoke, he intensely gave his concentration to every word of the scenario he was devising. It seemed unusual that Mickey was continuously including camera angles during the scenes he was imagining and describing as these are not usually included to such an extent in film scripts. Mickey occasionally attempted to suppress his laughter at the zany moments he envisioned. 'Suzie' was an inflatable plastic love doll.
Another set of circumstances that bewildered me was when an older male stage actor friend of Ruth spoke to her in my presence about his endeavors on behalf of two famous actors. He described going to gay bars to seek out handsome young men interested in meeting one of his famous friends. Some sad and pathetic details were divulged. He mentioned that on the previous night his famous friend allowed him to watch from the closet when sexual intercourse ensued and he blurted out "See what you get when you're a star," leaving the stage actor frantic that this could have exposed his voyeurism.
One of the biggest news stories of the 1980s was continuously the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On one occasion, a young gay actor with AIDS told me that he thought God hated him (as the possible reason for what had happened to him). My reaction to the dismaying statement was that he must be wrong. At this time I occasionally reflected about spiritual and religious subjects yet nothing I'd read or experienced had resulted in bringing any certain insights beyond the familiar concepts of God. There was one experience that made me realize that reality was far more complicated than anything indicated in school textbooks. The unforgettable event occurred one morning on an otherwise typical day when I was making my morning commute, hurrying to arrive early enough to read the script breakdowns and complete the morning’s casting submissions before the messenger pick up time.
I was headed south on the Hollywood Freeway in my small Plymouth Horizon. When I saw a sudden traffic jam less than a hundred yards ahead of me, I remember frantic thoughts quickly spinning through my mind. I knew there wasn’t enough time for me to stop the car. I felt abysmally foolish and sorry for having been so needlessly careless. I’d seen a TV news report that Horizons have a design flaw so that when you jammed on the breaks the vehicle could become airborne and I recalled this in the moments that followed; however, that doesn’t fully allow for what happened next. Upon hitting the breaks, the car went upward like a helicopter. There was a bounce and then the car spun around, ending up turned in the opposite direction. The drivers in the cars around me probably couldn't believe their eyes. I was thankful to still be in one piece and was incredulous that there was no damage. I knew that something miraculous had just occurred yet couldn't deduce anything beyond that.
There was also an interval when my car would stall suddenly in the middle of traffic. The Glendale dealer where I'd been taking my car eventually informed me that during one of the previous repairs something hadn't been fixed properly. When I complained about having paid for unnecessary work, no restitution had been offered so I decided to file a state complaint as I could show the documentation for all the improper repair work. A state representative called me to negotiate a settlement yet there was a follow-up call that made me see my predicament in a new and completely unexpected way. I still find it hard to fathom how a state representative could have behaved in the way that then transpired. The representative in a haughty tone bluntly told me that she was friends of the owner of the repair facility and that since I hadn't accepted the initial offer, I would have to settle for even less and that this would be the end of the negotiating. I decided that since this was the way the government operated, there was nothing more that I could do and I didn't want to waste any more time on the matter. I considered it a lesson learned and found a new facility to service my car.
Ruth and I attended the Tony Awards together when Gene Barry was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for "La Cage aux Folles." Gene had auditioned and been cast in the role by producer Alan Carr during one of Ruth's rare vacation weeks when she took a cruise so Ruth expressed her appreciation by letting me share in the various New York festivities. I once attended a party held at Alan's Beverly Hills home basement disco.
There were some situations concerning my agency work that kept making me think about finding a new job. One typical aspect of office life was that the couriers for various messenger services would ask to use a telephone to find out their next assignment destination. (Cell phones weren't yet in common usage.) One day Ruth came into my office and insisted that from then on the couriers were no longer to be allowed to use the telephone because she didn't want to be charged for their calls, etc. The sad responses to this that were elicited from the couriers made me realize how complicated Ruth could make just about anything.
Anyone who has worked in the capacity of a talent agent understands how challenging an acting career can be. I remember that one actor had worked for years in occasional regional theater or dinner theater shows. He then was granted an opportunity to audition for the role originated by George Hearn opposite Gene Barry in “La Cage aux Folles” for a national tour. The producers were very impressed; however, upon telling him he’d won the role he became so emotional that they then withdrew the offer as his outpouring of emotion had influenced them to rethink their decision. When the same actor was offered a small role in the movie “Prizzi’s Honor,” he was undecided about accepting it until the casting director assured me that he would receive co-star billing. Later, director John Huston unexpectedly disagreed with the casting director about the billing and this became another lost opportunity.
Once when I saw Shelley Berman perform his one man show, it was amusing to listen to a vignette where one of my telephone conversations with him was the topic for commentary. Shelley was a perfectionist and when I passed on a cosmetician's fake beard preparation comments concerning an upcoming production of "Fiddler on the Roof," he became upset because he was worried that the fake beard would end up appearing less than ideal. Shelley's career had been impeded by one major bad publicity disaster. A 1963 TV documentary about him entitled "Comedian Backstage" showed him having a tantrum with a subordinate after a telephone ringing backstage interrupted his routine. His obsessive personality was what made his comedy so unique yet the backstage footage offered a context that people found disgraceful. If only he could've seen the humor in some of the things that made him so angry. Shelley changed the emphasis of his career from comedy routines to more controlled performances starring in plays such as Neil Simon's "God's Favorite."
When I attended the opening night of a local production of "Prisoner of Second Avenue" starring Shelley with the reviewers in attendance, a prop picture suddenly fell off the wall at a very awkward moment. I knew how upset Shelley must have been about this and was relieved to see that he managed to stay in character. This was one of several incidents in my career that I would recall during the next decade while observing 'poltergeist phenomena' manifestations in the vicinity of a house in Oklahoma and wondering about the actual scope of such peculiar occurrences in life. Another correlation that gave me pause from my talent agency years was the role of agency client Victor Rogers in the movie "Thoroughly Modern Millie." His character's only dialogue was "Yeah yeah yeah" and this word happened to be one of the most consistent words reported to have been repeatedly said by the haunting presence (along with "YOU KNOW") — both being common utterances that one may make in accordance with subconscious thought processes involved with the manifestation of one's individual personality.
I remember booking elderly John Carradine in a small role in "Peggy Sue Got Married" and in an afterschool special entitled "Umbrella Jack" that brought him a daytime Emmy even though his character had few lines. When John visited, he was so frail that I had to pull him up when he was sitting down in order for him to return to a standing position. The cast breakdown sheet for Francis Ford Coppola’s "Peggy Sue Got Married" had described a small role as befitting the John Carradine 'type.' Coppola was happy to learn that the actor was an agency client and available to make a cameo appearance. On the day his scenes were to be filmed, John was feeble and ill as he attempted to portray an ancient master of ceremonies at a Masonic-styled lodge gathering. Upon realizing that Carradine was no longer able to memorize lines, Coppola directed him to simply read from a book of rites.
When Mickey won a Best Actor Emmy for the television movie "Bill," he'd decided not to attend at the last minute because he didn't think he was going to win. The Emmy Awards show that year was televised from Pasadena and Ruth in her limo stopped by my apartment to take me to the nearby Civic Auditorium. The only thing I can still remember about that afternoon was Ruth and I talking to Ann Jillian, who had been in the cast of "Sugar Babies" and was now a TV star with her husband managing her career. The following year when Ruth and I went to the Oscars and Mickey received his honorary Academy Award, she was thrilled when he praised her in his acceptance speech: "The woman who put it all together was Ruth Webb, my agent, who picked up the pieces, picked up the pieces and put 'em back together."
Martha Raye worked in TV and stage productions yet there were few motion picture opportunities after her lucrative Polident commercials and recurring roles in the TV shows "McMillan and Wife" and "Alice." She’d received acclaim decades earlier first in a variety of Paramount films including "The Big Broadcast of 1938." There were also several films with war storylines during the '40s such as "Navy Blues." Raye herself was most proud of her role as Annabella Bonheur in Charlie Chaplin’s "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947). She was appreciated by military servicemen after USO tours during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. When interest was expressed in making a movie based on Martha’s life, Martha's ex-husband and manager Nick demanded the deal breaker of one million dollars. This was especially sad because Martha didn't actually need the money. Martha remained hopeful that a musical might eventually be developed based on the "Jiggs and Maggie" comic strip that would allow her to star on Broadway opposite Mickey. The project was being overseen by a top producer yet the results never seemed to offer the right combination of elements. During the daytime, she passed many hours speaking to war veterans on the telephone of her Bel-Air home in the company of a monkey from Vietnam called 'No Nuts,' having been stuffed and given to her as a memento after the animal had been struck by a bullet that otherwise might've hit her.
Once when I saw Shelley Berman perform his one man show, it was amusing to listen to a vignette where one of my telephone conversations with him was the topic for commentary. Shelley was a perfectionist and when I passed on a cosmetician's fake beard preparation comments concerning an upcoming production of "Fiddler on the Roof," he became upset because he was worried that the fake beard would end up appearing less than ideal. Shelley's career had been impeded by one major bad publicity disaster. A 1963 TV documentary about him entitled "Comedian Backstage" showed him having a tantrum with a subordinate after a telephone ringing backstage interrupted his routine. His obsessive personality was what made his comedy so unique yet the backstage footage offered a context that people found disgraceful. If only he could've seen the humor in some of the things that made him so angry. Shelley changed the emphasis of his career from comedy routines to more controlled performances starring in plays such as Neil Simon's "God's Favorite."
When I attended the opening night of a local production of "Prisoner of Second Avenue" starring Shelley with the reviewers in attendance, a prop picture suddenly fell off the wall at a very awkward moment. I knew how upset Shelley must have been about this and was relieved to see that he managed to stay in character. This was one of several incidents in my career that I would recall during the next decade while observing 'poltergeist phenomena' manifestations in the vicinity of a house in Oklahoma and wondering about the actual scope of such peculiar occurrences in life. Another correlation that gave me pause from my talent agency years was the role of agency client Victor Rogers in the movie "Thoroughly Modern Millie." His character's only dialogue was "Yeah yeah yeah" and this word happened to be one of the most consistent words reported to have been repeatedly said by the haunting presence (along with "YOU KNOW") — both being common utterances that one may make in accordance with subconscious thought processes involved with the manifestation of one's individual personality.
I remember booking elderly John Carradine in a small role in "Peggy Sue Got Married" and in an afterschool special entitled "Umbrella Jack" that brought him a daytime Emmy even though his character had few lines. When John visited, he was so frail that I had to pull him up when he was sitting down in order for him to return to a standing position. The cast breakdown sheet for Francis Ford Coppola’s "Peggy Sue Got Married" had described a small role as befitting the John Carradine 'type.' Coppola was happy to learn that the actor was an agency client and available to make a cameo appearance. On the day his scenes were to be filmed, John was feeble and ill as he attempted to portray an ancient master of ceremonies at a Masonic-styled lodge gathering. Upon realizing that Carradine was no longer able to memorize lines, Coppola directed him to simply read from a book of rites.
When Mickey won a Best Actor Emmy for the television movie "Bill," he'd decided not to attend at the last minute because he didn't think he was going to win. The Emmy Awards show that year was televised from Pasadena and Ruth in her limo stopped by my apartment to take me to the nearby Civic Auditorium. The only thing I can still remember about that afternoon was Ruth and I talking to Ann Jillian, who had been in the cast of "Sugar Babies" and was now a TV star with her husband managing her career. The following year when Ruth and I went to the Oscars and Mickey received his honorary Academy Award, she was thrilled when he praised her in his acceptance speech: "The woman who put it all together was Ruth Webb, my agent, who picked up the pieces, picked up the pieces and put 'em back together."
Martha Raye worked in TV and stage productions yet there were few motion picture opportunities after her lucrative Polident commercials and recurring roles in the TV shows "McMillan and Wife" and "Alice." She’d received acclaim decades earlier first in a variety of Paramount films including "The Big Broadcast of 1938." There were also several films with war storylines during the '40s such as "Navy Blues." Raye herself was most proud of her role as Annabella Bonheur in Charlie Chaplin’s "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947). She was appreciated by military servicemen after USO tours during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. When interest was expressed in making a movie based on Martha’s life, Martha's ex-husband and manager Nick demanded the deal breaker of one million dollars. This was especially sad because Martha didn't actually need the money. Martha remained hopeful that a musical might eventually be developed based on the "Jiggs and Maggie" comic strip that would allow her to star on Broadway opposite Mickey. The project was being overseen by a top producer yet the results never seemed to offer the right combination of elements. During the daytime, she passed many hours speaking to war veterans on the telephone of her Bel-Air home in the company of a monkey from Vietnam called 'No Nuts,' having been stuffed and given to her as a memento after the animal had been struck by a bullet that otherwise might've hit her.
Yvonne De Carlo (star of the TV show "The Munsters") was cast in a couple horror movies, one made in Canada and the other in Italy. She hadn't had cosmetic surgery as some older actresses do. I once accompanied her to a meeting for one of the primetime soap opera TV shows and could tell that the creative team members at the meeting had hoped for a more glamorous appearance. Personally, I thought it would have been sensational to see someone like Yvonne interacting with the other characters in that type of show.
I always had a special affinity for actress Julie Newmar after seeing her in such TV shows as "My Living Doll," "Batman" and "Star Trek" during my childhood. I found her some offbeat roles, including that of a regularly lingerie-clad hooker in a movie entitled "Streetwalkin'."
Dody Goodman was another actress who was familiar to me from her mother role in the TV series "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." It was frustrating when Dody turned down TV roles that she thought were too small. One part she accepted was a starring role in a teen comedy called "Private Resort" with newcomer Johnny Depp. She sent me to the cast screening to let her know how the movie had turned out. I didn't have the heart to tell her about some scenes that seemed needlessly raunchy. The size of a role and how much money a particular movie will make are usually important considerations for actors hoping to have a long career. One boxoffice movie failure can make an actor suddenly be perceived as a has-been. A career as extensive as Mickey's is something quite rare.
Sometimes even successfully booking a client in a guest role on a TV series could result in second-guessing. Once an actress and a manager sought out the description of her new role in the casting breakdown sheet for the episode and were upset that the role was listed with some unflattering words including 'facelift' and one word that is unmentionable by today's standards. I found myself having to explain that the role descriptions aren't meant to be taken literally.
At one pitch meeting I'd arranged for an actress and her manager with a development executive at a top Burbank production company, it was embarrassing when the manager suddenly warned the executive not to steal his client's ideas. An agent just couldn't always know what necessary precautions to take in order to forestall an associate's lapses in social etiquette during a meeting like this. At a lunch appointment with the same manager, I discovered a reason for some of his erratic behavior when he quipped, "Excuse me, I have to go and powder my nose."
Some of Ruth's occasional misadventures derived from bad advice from her male companion. (I never did learn about how the two had met one another.) A directive from him that turned out especially costly for Ruth was her investing in the silver market on margin. Upon being notified that she needed to send over a costly payment each time the market went against her speculation, she would scream out his name and then take a trip to her bank. An especially exasperating incident for me occurred when the two of them together suddenly visited me and asked me to sign a document putting in writing that I was an independent contractor for my agency work. By this time, I was aware that my work didn't meet any conceivable definition of what was entailed by a person being an independent contractor so my response was that I wouldn't be able to sign anything. It was more obvious than ever that I needed to find a new job. I wondered how Ruth (or anyone for that matter) could continue to listen to a significant other whose advice had been realized to be terrible so many times before.
Something that I realized interacting with the lovely actress/office assistants whom Ruth placed on salary periodically was that some of them didn't even realize how badly they had been mistreated by the male dominated social order where some men apparently regarded it as an acceptable aspect of the status quo to treat women as sexual objects to manipulate and exploit. This was something that I hadn't considered when I'd worked as a pornographic magazine story writer during my last semester at USC. One actress/office assistant who became a close friend once confided to me that she wouldn't go out any more with men who indicated they had romantic inclinations. There was one morning when I noticed she was in a tense mood. When I asked her if there was something wrong, she told me that on the previous night she'd accepted a male acquaintance's invitation to go to dinner with him after he promised not to expect anything else from her in return. Nonetheless, after dinner a proposition had been made and she was still very upset about the seemingly inescapable turn of events whenever she socialized with any man.
My expectation continuously had been that I would only be working at the agency for a few more weeks but this occupation lasted for more than seven years. The agency logo of a spider’s web seems to have been an apt metaphor concerning my plight. Some of Ruth's personality quirks I eventually estimated to have been amplified due to her assorted prescription medications. Her pharmaceutical hobby had begun early in her talent agency career when she decided she needed to find something to help her work long hours. When Ruth experienced a number of fainting episodes, the resulting tests brought the unexpected diagnosis of manic-depression (what is now called 'Bipolar Disorder'). As with Mickey, Ruth’s mood could result with tempestuous behavior. In fact, she mentioned that a doctor had informed her the newly diagnosed mental condition could encompass emotional responses learned through one's close personal relationships. I could only wonder 'What am I learning working here?'
A new shock was experienced when I found out that Ruth was monitoring all of my agency telephone conversations with a listening device that had been installed in her bedroom. Her friend Lois was the one who confided this to me.
Abe Vigoda was another famous actor who was always friendly whenever we spoke. Once I found myself in an uncomfortable position when he called and sounded unusually distraught. He told me that a Broadway producer had informed him that when he called Ruth to negotiate a deal, she'd tried to talk him into using another actor. I realized Ruth was probably eavesdropping on the call at the time and responded to Abe by saying something vague. There were many unexpected situations such as this. As with Mickey, sometimes during casual conversation Ruth would make some remark that I would find utterly disturbing, such as once when she confided with amusement that as an actress in New York she’d once paid off a bartender to put a horse laxative into a rival’s drink. Another remark that I never forgot was when she mentioned to me her realization that wherever she went she had to take herself with her.
One especially dismaying turn of events occurred after Ruth's nonagenarian mother was relocated to a Christian Science facility. After Ruth visited and found her mother at the point of physical demise, Ruth eventually consulted a specialist attorney for advice about filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility. I found out from Lois that the attorney had informed Ruth that if anyone had been negligent, it was her for not having read the admission paperwork.
As I became more determined to find another way of making a living, there was at least one encouraging sign. One of the films my brother was publicizing at Disney was "Ruthless People" and he gave me a tie-in marketing windshield reflector that proclaimed "Think Ruthless!"
When Ruth informed me one day that she wanted to become more closely involved in the daily operation of the agency due to the end of the "Sugar Babies" engagements, that was enough for me. She was worried about losing Mickey as a client and this resulted in behavior that seemed crazier than ever, such as her agreeing to represent a porno movie actress without seeming to even consider how this could affect the reputation of the agency. During a meeting in Ruth's office, I overheard the porno actress say: "Ewwwwww, you mean with that disgusting old man?" She evidently was making it clear how it would be impossible for her to even consider having sex with someone like Mickey. Soon thereafter, I gave Ruth two weeks notice and began seeking new opportunities.
I later learned that when the term of his agency contacts ended, Mickey decided against renewing his representation with Ruth.
Ruth was always seeking publicity for herself as she thought this would help her gain potentially significant new clients. The publicity aspect is probably one of the reasons that during the 1990s she and her associate Sherri Spillane began specializing in representing 'scandal division' celebrities, including Tonya Harding, John Wayne Bobbitt, Joey Buttafuoco, Divine Brown, and a variety of individuals promoting some form of connection to the O.J. Simpson trial.
Today there is the realization that my and other people's dilemma in the 1980s is the same one today for anyone who doesn't understand the essentiality of devoting time for developing one's spiritual perspective and metaphysical understanding about life and then manifesting what is learned through your own actions.
Ruth once gave a thank you to me in a Daily Variety ad celebrating her 23rd Anniversary working as a talent agent, as shown below. A previous blog article about this period in my life is "Remembering Mickey Rooney".
1982 newsletter photo of Ruth and Mickey
Ruth (center) with her "great ladies" Mamie Van Doren, Dorothy Lamour, Yvonne De Carlo and Edie Adams
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