Last Week In “Gay Camp” History
Hey Kids
Just wanted to give you all a little lesson in keeping up with your “gay” past. Most of you know that all things “camp” are very important to remember. Especially if you are ever going to win a trivia based game these days. Though, I know most of you barely read or watch television, it’s important for you to know who these people were and their connection to your own history.
I’ll make it easier for you – look at the pictures below. I’ve numbered them for you so there won’t be any confusion. I hope you enjoy this little lesson that Mom assures you is very pertinent to all of our lives.
M’wah – M.
1) GRAHAM PAYN, ACTOR AND NOEL COWARD’S PARTNER, DEAD AT 87
Graham Payn, an actor and singer who was Noel Coward’s longtime companion, died this week in Switzerland at the age of 87, according to news reports. Born in South Africa in 1918, Payn moved to England in 1929. At the age of 14 he first auditioned for the Noel Coward revue, Words and Music. In 1945 Coward wrote a leading role for Payn in the show Sigh No More. The production marked the beginning of their professional and personal relationship, which lasted until the playwright’s death in 1973.
After performing in several other stage musicals, Payn turned to television and film, with little lasting success. Perhaps his best-known film was The Italian Job (1969), in which he shared comic scenes with Coward. Payn lived with Coward in lavish homes in Switzerland and Jamaica, and he worked less and less during the 1960s — a fact Coward commented on publicly. “He is, I fear, a born drifter,” Coward said, according to the Telegraph newspaper. “I know his theatrical career has been a failure but there are other ploys to go after. He sleeps and sleeps and the days go by. I love him dearly forever…. and am happy to look after him for the rest of my life but he must do something.”
Payn oversaw Coward’s estate after his death and co-edited the playwright’s diaries in 1982. In 1994 he wrote his autobiography, My Life with Noel Coward. “I loved the man totally,” Payn said of Coward. “I realized that I wanted nothing more than to share my life with this remarkable man, to help and protect him as best I could. If I had to write my epitaph it would read ‘Friend of Noel Coward.'”
2) MILDRED SHAY, ACTRESS, DEAD AT 94
“Hollywood’s Pocket Venus” Mildred Shay has died at her daughter’s home in Glendale, Calif., at age 94. The British resident who appeared in more than 30 films during the 1930s but was better known for her Hollywood scandals and escapades, recently suffered a stroke, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Columnist Walter Winchell nicknamed the 5-foot-2 actress “Hollywood’s Pocket Venus” for her alleged casting couch adventures and affairs with some of movies’ top stars. She was said to have fought off the advances of actors Errol Flynn and Johnny Weissmuller. Filmmaker Cecil B. De Mille reportedly fed her oysters with pearls still attached and her affair with Victor Mature made headlines. Shay had a number of small roles throughout her Hollywood career – most notably she dubbed Greta Garbo’s voice in the 1932 Oscar-winning Grand Hotel.
After two failed marriages, she married British Army Capt. Geoffrey Steele in 1941 and their union lasted more than 45 years. Shay is survived by her daughter, Georgiana Steele.
3) SHEREE NORTH, FILM, STAGE AND TV STAR, DEAD AT 72
Film, stage and TV star Sheree North, best known for her roles on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Seinfeld has died in Los Angeles at age 72.
The platinum blonde bombshell of 1950s Hollywood played Lou Grant’s girlfriend, Charlene Maguire, in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Kramer’s mom, Babs, on Seinfeld. North was groomed by 20th Century Fox to be a substitute for the unreliable Marilyn Monroe — and that is exactly what happened in 1955’s How to Be Very, Very Popular, in which North out-danced and outshone Betty Grable, the L.A. Times said.
Among her film credits were the 1956 musical The Best Things in Life Are Free, 1973’s The Outfit and The Shootist. Her many TV roles included The Virginian, The Big Valley, The Fugitive, Cannon, McMillan and Wife, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, Kojak, Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, The Golden Girls, and Murder, She Wrote. (Terrifying that I remember most of her appearances on most of these shows!) She is survived by her husband, Phillip Norman, two daughters and a grandchild.
4) JEAN CARSON, FILM AND TV ACTRESS, DEAD AT 82
Veteran film and TV actress Jean Carson has died in Palm Springs, Calif., from complications of a stroke at age 82. Carson, best known for her “Hello Doll!” greeting as fun girl Daphne on The Andy Griffith Show died Nov. 2, Daily Variety reported Tuesday.
The Charleston, W. Va., native began on Broadway in George S. Kaufman’s Bravo and later appeared in Arthur Laurent’s The Bird Cage, Anniversary Waltz and Two Blind Mice. Her TV appearances included The Red Buttons Show, The G.E. Theater, Wagon Train, The Untouchables, and The Twilight Zone episode “A Most Unusual Camera”.
Her films included The Phoenix City Story, I Married a Monster from Outer Space (one of my all time Sci-Fi Camp Favorites!), Gunn, The Party and Fun with Dick and Jane (The original!). She remained active in Palm Springs area theater after retiring from the public eye. She is survived by two sons.
