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DE
Miami Beach was a just a different style. Not ???. But the clubs were hot and great and lots of nightclubs. But the club owners, I mean , but the hotel owners are thinking, "Gee whiz, you know, hey, we're going to all this trouble, spending all this money on food and everything. And not making a profit. And the minute it's over they hit the nightclubs. And they go nightclubbing all night long, spending their money.
MM
Oh, yeah.
DE
So every place tried to hold the people, you know.
MM
Anyway they could.
DE
Yeah. So they had to bring in big stars. Yeah, Miami Beach, then it died for a long time and now, of course, the Cubanas and the Latin influence and all of that have bought up those old, beat up, broken down hotels down on South Beach which were just dumps when I left. Real dumps. But I knew someday it would come back because the dumpy, broken down old dumb hotels where the only ones that had an ocean front. The rest of them, it's like a cement canyon because of the greed to make the - what do you call? Condos and everything.
MM
Maybe you could tell me how you first encountered Lord Buckley.
DE
I will do that. Just tell me when you're rolling.
MM
OK. Alright.
DE
And if I ramble give me a sign like they do in the baseball "safe" like.
MM
Safe.
DE
That'll mean "cut it" a little bit. It'll save you on the editing.
MM
Alright.
DE
OK.
MM
I think you should work with us.
DE
OK.
MM
OK.
DE
Are you rolling?
MM
Yeah, I'm rolling.
DE
I first worked with Lord Buckley in Miami Beach around 1953. It was an experience. Because he was booked in as a comedian and naturally we're used to the typical standup comedians like Joey Bishop and Jackie, I forgot a couple of those - there were a lot of Jackies in those days. But Lord Buckley was different. His jokes, you couldn't quite catch them immediately because he did it very British and he dressed also with tails and he'd leap all around the stage. And the first show you had to crane and strain to see what is this all about. And then once you get to know him you just go - you just can't sit still. He's just absolutely - I don't like the word crazy but he was. He was just wild and running all around on the stage and then he would get a lot of us up from the audience, or a couple of entertainers at one time and we sit in these long chairs and he would give us these little pieces of paper to study before we went on. And then when he'd poke us in the back we were to say whatever we were told to say. And he'd run behind us [makes poking motions] and I tell you it was a riot. Then there was a girl that worked on the show with me, Jacqueline Priest, she was in "Gypsy", she was the one that did, "When you bump it, you bump it with a trumpet." Well, I - Evans came in one night. A very powerful man. A big hotel owner, mostly up in Sheldreck upper state New York. Oh, big, big Grosinger places. So, he causally mentioned he'd bought this mansion. Now, when we say mansion you think of a mansion. No, Miami Beach had like the Firestone, built in the '20s, or maybe before that. They weren't close together. They were real far, far apart. But they were all broken down and torn. So, Jackie went out and looked at it. And she said, "Oh, don't tear that building down. You must keep it." He was going to build condos there. You know, and make upteen million dollars, you know that. But, at any rate, she begged him if she could stay there. And so he stayed. Then the Buckley's came in and they stayed there. Now Lady Elizabeth was Lord Buckley's wife and -
MM
Actually I was wondering - when you did, when you did - when you first worked with Lord Buckley was it in a burlesque house?
DE
No, it was in a nightclub in Miami Beach. When I was working with Lord Buckley it was in Miami Beach at the Place Vegal, it was a nightclub, a very popular nightclub. It opened up at eight o'clock and ran straight through to four in the morning. So, this girl Jackie conned Ike, not to tear this building down. And when we all went out we said, "Oh, how could you tear this down?" And he said, "For God Sake's." And the place was obliterated, nobody could have ever lived there. But the structure was there and it had a huge ballroom called The Valentino Room. And there was still gold up in the ceiling there. Some of it had been stripped from the sides. And, Lady Buckley, was a great ballerina. And she was giving these wonderful ballet dances all by herself. And people would stare. Well, Dianne Carroll, the singer, she showed up one Sunday afternoon and different entertainers would come out. And someone would run to the supermarket get a bunch of chicken and we'd barbeque chicken. Then Ike would come out. "Oh, God," he say, "Jackie, you've got to move, you've got to get these people out of here." He says, "This is -" And, you know, she'd say, "Oh, Ike, don't tear this beautiful building down." Now, the Buckley's had a little girl, a daughter. And they had a cat named Tutu the Terror. And Buckley would be doing all these dramatic things, running around on the beach. So every Sunday - there was nothing - we'd just run out to this big old, broken down mansion. It had a tower up on the top. A big prayer chapel, it was huge. But, it was so interesting to see her in this place. And us too. We just considered it a wonderful, elegant mansion like - when you would see it it was just ramshackle torn down. And so, I used to be out there every Sunday.
And he was always on. Lord Buckley was never just like, "Well, I'm glad that show's over." No, he's always doing something. I obviously believe that he might have been, in his youth, in his younger, a Shakespearean actor of some kind. And then probably do to his brilliant mind went into to sort of comedy. And I don't like to say those words like he was kind of off. He really wasn't but you couldn't peg him in a hole like everybody else. He was entirely different. And, like the musicians and regular people used to just get hysterical and laugh but a lot of the other people, the audience they couldn't quite figure it all out.
MM
He was too hip for the room?
DE
Yes, that is the word I was going to use but a lot of people use. Yeah, he was too hip for the room there's no question of a doubt about that. Yeah, he was really way ahead. And he had to be very well educated. There's no way he could carry on these words that of a Shakespearean orientation. You had to be very well educated to put those words into comedy and make comedy out of it. He was good. And I understand the daughter is in Las Vegas, at least that's the last time I talked to her. Yes, she called me about five years ago. She wanted to know if I knew him. I said, "Oh, yeah, I do know him. And I remember you when you were two or three years old." She said, "Oh, really?" I said, "Yeah."
MM
Was he - do you think he was sane?
DE
Yeah, I think so. But I can understand - he wasn't conventional by any means. Whenever that I saw him, like on the stage, off the stage he was - yes, I would imagine that some people could probably - someone that's really trying to talk to him, maybe about a contract or a driver's license or something like that. I'm sure they couldn't figure him out. I would say the word "sane" is pretty - "insane" is pretty strong. But, you know -
MM
We never had the impression - some people thought that he was really crazy.
DE
Oh, OK. So, anyway I've heard a lot of people, not a lot, I shouldn't say that - but, sometimes people will say, "Have you ever heard of Lord Buckley?" And a big smile comes over my face because, yes, it was an honor and a priviledge to have known him. Because I believe totally controversial. But, he had a family. He traveled. He moved. Lady Elizabeth was absolutely a beautiful person in her heart and her soul and the ballet. And she taught quite a little ballet class there at this big old ballroom. And if you first walk in and there she is in this big, huge ballroom, with the walls all torn down and you see the ocean out there but she was - like she was in - at a palace somewhere. She never showed any kind of, "Oh, I wish this and that - or - " No, she never showed any signs at all that there was something kind of wrong or the money wasn't all that great or why isn't he booked somewhere. No, they kept a stiff upper lip both of them. They were really charming people.
MM
Almost like royalty.
DE
Yes, I would definitely say, royalty. And maybe he was. We don't know. I mean, people that are making the documentary, you people, I would imagine if you dig further there's some reason why he would call himself "Lord" Buckley.
MM
Yeah. Well, it seems right now the research just points to it being a combination of him feeling like everyone is noble. He called it the "Nobility of the Gentility".
DE
Yeah.
MM
And then, also, it's a gimmick as well.
DE
Yes, definitely, yes.
MM
It's like maybe, like your Marilyn Monroe thing.
DE
Yeah, too. Well, he got booked at our club but he was there for quite a while.
MM
How was people's reactions to him?
DE
Well, they laughed and he was an entertaining person but I don't think he got the thunderous recognition that I think he was hoping for. Because I think it was his either - not an infedement [sic] in his speech but it was the way it was so quick and this and that, of these funny little things he poke us - when he poked you in the back you'd have to read this and the other person - so it was a little skit that he'd put on like a little play. And I think maybe the audience didn't quite understand it. But they respect him and he'd fly around with the tails, with his swallow tails and lace shirt and cuffs - very well groomed all the time. Yep.
MM
Now, do you remember, Dixie, at all, do you remember - they used to call that "The Four Way Bit" or "The Four Chairs" or whatever.
DE
Yes, yes.
MM
Did you ever remember any of his other routines?
DE
No, it seems to me that that was just - when he came to the club he might of done something else but I don't recall that. He would make a little intro and something and then he would get the four chairs up and then the people. That was the main thrust as far as I was concerned.
MM
Do you remember - did he ever do a piece about Jonah and the Whale? Or -
DE
Yeah, he did do somethings like that. And at the mansion on Sunday afternoon, oh, he had a lot of them. He was really on. He did a lot of standup by himself, entertaining us while we were either cooking the chicken or drinking beer or whatever. He was entertaining at the beach. And that's why different celebrities, maybe Joey Bishop and a few other entertainers and it caught on. So, on a Sunday afternoon, you know, you just couldn't stay away from this old, broken down place. Because there's this lady doing this ballet and this, you might say odd, strange person in character, always with a tuxedo. He didn't wear a regular tee shirts and shorts and anything. But Sunday he always had those tails. And he would entertain us. But, of course, not for very long. He'd dart off and do this and that. He was very, very agile, and leap and jump from one thing to the next, you know. And sometimes he'd sit down crosslegged and flip up his tails and talk to us for a few minutes. Maybe grab a bite of a chicken. But that didn't last too long. He was emoting. He was Shakespeare. He was everything. And he was everything to all of us entertainers that used to go down there because we'd never seen anyone quite like him. And he didn't use any foul language and, I don't know, he was intriguing. He was very intriguing. And Sunday afternoons was very special to go down there to catch Lord Buckley.
MM
Did he ever give you a royal name?
DE
I'm sure he might have at that time I'm not positive. But, yeah. A lot of times he'd say, "Oh, you're the star on the show. You don't have to - better not." I said, "No, no, no,no, I like to be part of the acting thing." I was always - anytime a comedian in burlesque would need an extra girl in the talk, "Oh, I'll do it. I'll do it!" and "The boss - he'll recognize you." "I don't care. I'll put a babuska on my head. Or -" I loved to always be in the acting thing.
MM
So, you did do some acting?
DE
Well, just doing those skits. "Meet Me Round The Corner" the burlesque skits, yeah.
MM
Well, maybe - could you tell me - because Buckley - did you ever work with him anywhere else?
DE
No, I only worked with him that one time. And associated with he and his wife.
MM
He did work in burlesque all over the place as well. And I think it would be really interesting for people to know a little bit about burlesque.
DE
Well, no I didn't - working in burlesque he would either be the comic or the straight man or the juvenile. And in all the burlesque theaters and the skits and the scenes, they would have two or three people. Now, how he worked into that I don't know. Because I didn't work with him in a theater. In less a couple other fellows would jump in and work with him but the typical burlesque comedians I can't see working into his realm of what he was doing. Buckley may have booked him in as a single and probably got some people up out of the audience and probably got a couple of show girls and chorus girls and did that little poking in the back and then you "wa wa wa" you mouth whatever he told you to say.
MM
Studs Terkel, did you ever hear of him?
DE
Ah, no.
MM
Guy from Chicago, an interviewer.
DE
Doesn't ring a bell.
MM
Well, we interviewed him in Chicago and said that he saw Buckley in Burlesque and Buckley was a straight man for these two other guys.
DE
Oh, then he did conform for a while.
MM
Well, he was called Dick Buckley and Studs felt like - Studs is eighty-eight years old so he's seen a lot and he said, what he felt like was - he said Dick Buckley was a great straight man but you could tell it wasn't going to be the only thing he did that he would go on. And then he said, he felt like at some point that Buckley almost - you know how people have religious revelations?
DE
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
MM
He says he thinks what happened was that Buckley did all this straight material and then somewhere along the line something changed and he felt like he almost had a mission. Like he -
DE
Yes, yes, that was very well put. Yes, yes. I believe there was that quality that would come out in him. That - I believe that there was a quality of - it could be a religious type of a nature that would draw him into another sphere for a while. Yeah, I mean, I don't recall - because it's been a long time since I worked with him so I can make specifics but I would definitely, yeah, that there was quality about him.
MM
Was there - people have said that sometimes they felt like he had a preacher quality about him.
DE
Yes, that too. Yes, that too.
MM
And -
DE
Well, like you said, the preacher quality type of thing and the comedian liked I'd mention before - you would never hear a foul word or filthy word or a dirty word in any of his repertoire. Now, for a comedian to do a thirty-five or forty minute act without using some kind of an expression of a foul word or indicate foul, dirty or sexy or something, most of the comedians do have to draw to that sooner or later in their act - and there was none of that, to my knowledge in any of his act, no. It was mostly Shakespeare, far out, he'd twist things around in his trick.
MM
In Burlesque, itself, was it a hard life? DE
[laughs] It was a good, wonderful, hard, steady life. That's one thing. You worked four shows a day and you worked seven days a week constantly and you traveled every two weeks, every two weeks. Except in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It's the only place you didn't work on a Sunday. But, most of the times you worked all the time. And I worked with lots of great comedians and comics and other dancers, of course. Now the Burlesque theaters were wonderful. And then along came television and time goes on.
MM
How long did you work in Burlesque?
DE
OK. I worked in Burlesque for twenty years, actually I was in little chorus lines before I got into actually Burlesque. And then, of course, I was the Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque, [imitating Marilyn Monroe's voice] Everything I did I did like Marilyn. [normal voice] And when her death came, of course, I was out of Burlesque doing Marilyn. And I struggled on to do other things. Which did not work. But all through my career in Hollywood and coming across comedians, and working with lots and lots - I worked with Joe E. Ross of “Car 54 Where Are You?” A lot of comedians. Buckley stood out as being entirely different, entirely unique. He was unique. There was no one like Buckley. Yeh, he was alright, good.
MM
That was lovely. Did he ever do anything that really touched your heart?
DE
What Buckley?
MM
Yeah.
DE
If I could recall any incidents I would. But, somehow, I notice sort of a sad quality because - I wondered where is his future? He's got this wife and this little girl and somehow it didn't seem like he could go on and be mainstream because I think there was something there that was a little - they use the expression "far out" "different", probably "unpredictabl"e would be a good word. And sometimes you can be very good at something but if someone's going to promote you to be a real big star you really have kind of adhere to certain principles and I don't think the quality was there because he was just Lord Buckley and he did his own thing. And he had no fear of the future. But, somehow most of his - that kind of knew him - and on the Sunday sessions when we'd go away, we kind of go away sad - weary, here's a great guy, gee we love this guy, you know. I mean, he has to live in this little broken down mansion that she got him in and to stay. And the car wasn't that good and I don't think the money was that good. And so I did feel very sadly when we'd go away because - where could he fit in? There's no place in my mind that I felt he could really fit in on the long haul to be an actor or something. He was totally wrapped up in himself. And yet he was very, very fond, naturally of his wife and the little girl too just ran right along.
MM
That's interesting, yeah. You are the first person to say - people hinted at that but nobody's ever actually said it, about the kind of sadness that can be -
DE
Yeah, there's a sadness that was - because I could see his age and I just knew where places were to work at that time. And I just didn't know - I was - didn't know where he could really fit in I'm sure there was a spot - there was probably a lot of spots all over the United States where he could just sort of fall in and be really accepted great because comedy was big at that time. Because there was a club called Murray Franklin's and that's where Don Rickles mostly got started there. And now a club like that Don Rickles, oh, god he was so sharp and so fast and so quick, you know. And he had a life and family but see you could actually - with Don Rickles, there was no thinking or wondering what he was saying. He was just out and out insulting the audience, which was his gimmick. And he was good at it and the people loved it and liked it. So, Don Rickles could work a lot, because, hey, he's got Sinatra and all of the other entertainers to shoot at for his material. Where Buckley, you see, was strictly in his own mind kind of a Shakespearean thing. You know, he wasn't about to do anything modern or any - bring in to his repetiore any other comedian, Marilyn or like a lot of comedians, you'd bring up something in the news, so to speak, some kind of incident that would happen that would trigger off a comedian on a patter of material but not with Buckley. It wasn't going to happen.
MM
Studs Terkel, that man in Chicago, also mentioned the same way you did that Buckley felt. Buckley had the feel of an old Shakespearean actor.
DE
Yes. Well, when you first see him and you hear the first few lines and everything, then you know that's what it is. Then when you stop to think about it, like I'm doing right now. It would be interesting to find his path way, way back where he started. Was he really from England? Was he really a lord? Yeah, these thing could be - should be explored. I'm sure his daughter, Laurie isn't it?
MM
Yeah, she's been doing research.
DE
She's been helping you a little bit?
MM
Yeah, we've had a lot of contact with her.
DE
Oh, good.
MM
And - the - I'm interested in the, like you said, you felt it was sad. I mean it wasn't just you saying it was sad. You felt like he might not have a future. But he didn't care, huh?
DE
That's the way I perceived him. Yes. Well, because I'd been around the country and I know what was going on and where and what. And, like I said, I'm sure there was one club where the boss was a little off beat and nuts and stupid and screwy and his head and say, "God, I love that guy, he's crazy, man, I like that guy." There probably is one or two little clubs somewhere where they don't' care what the audience thinks, "Hey, I like this guy." I'm sure there would have been a place where he could have fallen into where people would have come just to laugh and holler and every Saturday or Friday night. Maybe just him alone with maybe one or two other acts. But when you've got girls and bands and this and that and then him in here - no, it didn't gel that great. But I knew there was a future for him if that other thing would exist somewhere, that someone knew, you know. Because I've fallen into little dumpy places all over the country, you know, way back and I just laugh at this silly, dumb, stupid person on the stage - it could be a young woman or a heavy old woman or lady and they were a riot, you know, but they stayed there. They didn't go try to make the big time or something, you know.
MM
You had a feeling that he really wanted that?
DE
That he really wanted what he was doing?
MM
No, the big time.
DE
Oh, no, I don't think he cared one way or the other. But I know he knew he had to have money for that family and to travel, yes. At the Apollo in New York, you know, Moms Mabley, you know [imitates Moms Mabley] "Old Moms Mabley", [regular voice] now people couldn't understand what - she was a hit, she was a riot. I used to love to go catch the show. I caught the show there when James Brown was there. There's a perfect example, you know. She stayed there as a part of that theater group, but like trying to be on big stage in New York, I mean Vegas - no, I'm not so sure. And there's a couple of other people I bumped into in weird towns and off beaten bars - oh, you may say, oh what do you? After hours joints and things. They'd always have some one hanging around. They might have been drunk or drug addict, I don't know for sure. But they would be there in that place all the time. They weren't interested in being big time and all of that. They were just happy doing what they were doing. Now they might have a little quirk about themselves. Probably those kind of people have a little bit of insecurity. I've gone to a lot of people where I was rejected and nobody liked and, oh god, it was miserable to stick out the engagement, you know. And so, who wants to take that chance. If you've got a funny little gimmick going and that town, within a hundred miles and strangers coming through and the owner's smart enough to know, "Hey, this guy may be stupid, but hey, I'm making money.", you know. And the bar's packed and people are coming. So, why, why, why change a good thing? And maybe that person doesn't know where another club - he's going to go where he's going to be accepted. But your traditional ones like a Joey Bishop and all the others. They're traditional. They can travel, they can go any place. And they can get booked in any big hotels because the public, the audience, is traditional and they know what to expect.
MM
I think you hit it on the head when you say, you know, it was almost like he's not stable enough.
DE
That could have been a part of it. Fear could have been a part of it, yeah.
MM
But, it's just like you said, he was too much - just being Lord Buckley to care about what happened.
DE
Yes, he was Lord Buckley. He was not Lord Buckley on the stage and then in the dressing room take off the tie and throw off the tails, "Ah, I'm going to get a drink." No, he was Lord Buckley all the time.
MM
You know, you're a great mimic. You do Moms Mabley, you do Marilyn. I mean.
DE
Oh, Moms Mabley.
MM
I think you have a good ear for that.
DE
Well, I like the entertainers and I like show business and I loved it. I had a great life. Burlesque was my mother, my father, my life. It paid my rent, it paid my bills. Hey, I was having a wonderful time. Where could a little girl from the oil fields go to Washington, D.C. and get to meet Macaroni the Pony, you know. And be in big clubs in New York. Play the Waldorf Astoria, by mistake, they booked me in by mistake. You know, it was a big show - well, Tempest Storm played Carnegie Hall. They booked her in. She played Carnegie Hall.
MM
Now, back in those days - one of the things that happened on Saturday. This is really not - this is just an aside I'm curious to know. These guys - this is the first time I ever came to the Exotic World Contest. And they said, "Well, you know, it's kind of old fashioned, nobody really takes their clothes off a lot."
DE
Yeah.
MM
But there were a couple of really naked girls.
DE
Yes, I know, well, you see time marches on and most of our older girls that wear the pasties and do the traditional stuff. They are a little bit older, they're in their seventies and eighties and to drive up here - and it's my fault that they did remove too much clothes and maybe that's why The Times was here, The New York Times - flew all the way from New York and also Los Angeles. I looked at - but, you know, I should have had a sign in the dressing room "Girls, please do not remove - " you know, some kind of a thing. But, I didn't expect it. The two little beautiful black girls came all the way from Washington, D.C.
MM
Oh, really?
DE
They're competing for Miss Nude USA - Black USA. And, yes, Toni, is going to fly back in a couple of weeks to be in the big HBO special, the black nude special. So, at any rate, no, the girls are - don't wear an awfully lot of clothes any more today. It's not their fault. There's no theaters, there's no stagehands, there's no electricians, there's no Burlesque anymore. Just a topless, bottomless bar. Where if they're young and beautiful and pretty and wish to show everything and get the heavy tips, that's fine. What's going on today is their own business. You can't change time and put it back. Society has moved on. You can't compare your grandmother's iron skillet to the microwave. But, on my particular show, no, I wish it didn't happen because it kind of broke the trend of our tradition, see. But, it's my fault - they came in late from Washington and came just before the show. And I didn't get a chance to talk with them. But the one little girl named China, she had a gorgeous little face. Oh, a beautiful girl and did a real good act with that royal blue outfit on. Oh, she was cute.
MM
Was she doing any of the like Arabic -
DE
No, that was the one before. Yeah, the one before did that. And little China, she cried and wouldn't go on. Oh, Toni had to coax her and coax her, and coax. Someone used her number before. "Take everything off but your hat.", you know. And that was - I never heard the song until Saturday. But we coaxed her and thank goodness she came in second or in the money. Because, because, not going on and crying and coaxing her on, she went away happy, you know.
MM
I had the very distinct feeling on Saturday that you have - that you really do want people to be happy.
DE
Oh, well, you know, we've had big crowds and there wasn't one argument. There isn't one person that complains about the heat. There's no fights, there's no drug thing. The girls all get along wonderful. I mean, we really established a pattern that this is their roots. We are trying to build a retirement center for entertainers, not just striptease dancers but - there's a lot of comedians and musicians that are of a lesser agent and they can't pay those enormous rents in Los Angeles, and even Vegas is high. So, they can feel comfortable to come here and work in the show. We are trying to build something here in the middle of the desert. And I'm just impressed every year, I think, a couple of weeks before, "Oh, my god, what if no one shows up for the show. Oh, my god! What if there's no audience?" And I don't sleep for weeks and weeks and days and days. Yet I keep going on and buying the food and making the flyers and all of a sudden, all these people show up. I'm surprised and I'm shocked and happy but I'm more shocked.
MM
You are too humble I think.
DE
I think they come here every year just to see if we're still alive.
MM
You know, the thing that impressed me - I studied theater in college. And the thing that really impressed me were the girls that did the Burlesque type things.
DE
Yeah.
MM
It really took acting and it really took timing and knowledge of an audience.
DE
Yeah, to put on a little specialty act of some kind, yes. Well, they all kind of know that that, no matter if they do pole dancing, or whatever do in their private life it doesn't matter. But they know when they come here it's kind of expected to do something really unusual and cute and twirl the tassles or act like the old time strippers.
MM
Well, it seemed to me more artful.
DE
Oh, yes, oh, and let me tell you "artful" - there's some girls - one other girl, a nude girl, another girl, I understood, went all the way too, Jessie St. James. She's a fabulous sewer. She made costumes, gorgeous things.
MM
Is this the real tall girl?
DE
Yes.
MM
Put her hair down in the middle of things?
DE
I didn't see the act but she was selling a lot of costumes that she had made. I forgot what I was going to say. At any rate, yeah, she has a lot of costumes and she's of an age kind of like - maybe not the long legged California, 19 year old blonde that all the club owners, that's the only kind they like. But it's so silly for the owners to think like that. Because here's a man calling me all the way up and he said, Somehow I can't think of her name." And he described her and I said, "Oh, yes, her name is Jessie St. James." He said, "Now, she was good. She was real good." So you see, that in these clubs in Vegas and different places there are so sophisticated or tuned in that the only- the real 19 year old people can be on those stages. But there's a man that liked her and said she was really good, you see.
MM
Remember that guy on Saturday that kept trying to get her autograph.
RM
Oh, yes, that's right.
MM
I wonder if it's the same guy?
RM
Could be, could be that fellow.
DE
Oh, maybe they called up maybe and wanted to be on the mailing list. And that's another thing. Whenever they leave I have - I guarantee you tomorrow or the next day, they'll say, "When is the next reunion?" I got to go look for a calendar. But this year I got a calendar so I know when it is. I can't remember right now maybe it's the second or first. But, I mean, yeah, they will call up all through the year, yeah. The same audience comes back and sometimes someone will call me and they're going to come back, and I'll say, "Do you know how to get here?" "Yeah, I've been there three years in a row." I mean, you know, I have one man flies out here - oh, no - one man does fly out and another one comes on the Greyhound. And another fellow drives all the way from Missouri every single solitary year for I don't know how long. And he'll call about four, "Is everybody really going to be on the show?" He said, "Just before I crank the old car up and head out I've got to know." And I say, "Yeah, yeah." And he comes every year. Drives all the way from Missouri. It's just a thing. It's something they look forward to. Like some people look forward to the Kentucky Derby every year, you know, if they can afford. And more affluent, you know. Oh, I got a lot of people say they like this place better than Disneyland.
MM
Well, I do.
DE
Yeah, well, maybe because there's no crowds.
MM
No, I think it's because, because this was a real era.
DE
Yeah, that's true, yeah. There's nothing fake or phony here. That's true. These are not just a bunch of black and white 8 X 10 photographs slapped on a wall. These are real people that had to wait at five o'clock in the morning for the milk train to take them the next town. And they get to a town and the club is broken down or shut up or closed up and there you are with fifty cents in the middle of nowhere knowing how you're going to get back to New York. These are things that everyone of these people had to experience and go through. Nothing goes smooth in show business. Even my show, the opening was really screwy and the ending - we didn't wait for Tempest, it was screwed up. So these things happen. Because this happens once a year and the girls come from different parts of the country and we put it together in the last minute. There's no rehearsing and -
MM
Well, I think people will give you a lot of latitude.
DE
Well, they all, yeah they all understand that, yes, yeah.
MM
Dixie, is there anything else you can think about Lord Buckley?
DE
Oh, Lord Buckley, I wish I could think of some more things. It's just in my - he's just seared in my memory. It's a funny thing, I've worked with lots of comedians and comics and there's something - he does burn a good section of my brain. Now, I can see him flitting around, yes, on that stage, flipping out his tails and I just loved the guy. And I'm sure, wherever he is, I mean, I don't think he's here anymore but he's doing Shakespeare somewhere. And that's unique if you stop to think about it, a comedian doing Shakespeare. How many of these other guys wanting to do Shakespeare? No, but Buckley did, yeah, yeah, I love Lord Buckley.
MM
Oh, Roger you have a question?
RM
No, I think that was a lovely ending. That was poetry.
MM
Alright.
DE
I should have used that word poetry. Lord Buckley was poetry. Lord Buckley was Shakespeare poetry in action. How many times do you get to see a comedian do Shakespeare? And a lot of our audience never heard or saw a Shakespeare so thank goodness we had Lord Buckley.
MM
Lovely. Thank you, Dixie.
DE
Think that's a wrap.
RM
Beautiful, beautiful, thank you. |
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