Monday, August 14, 2017

To Absent Friends - Bologna, Campbell, Cook, and Solomon

While I was on vacation last week, the Grim Reaper was not, so it is time to catch up and wish a Melancholy Happy Trails to some Absent Friends.  We'll do it alphabetically....

Joseph Bologna
1934-2017

Joe Bologna was an actor, a playwright, an Oscar nominated screenwriter, and a director.  His credits as screenwriter and playwright include a terrific 1970 comedy called "Lovers and Other Strangers" which she wrote and starred in on Broadway with his wife, comedienne Renee Taylor.  However, his very best work, in my humble opinion, was in the role of King Kaiser in the wonderful 1982 movie, "My Favorite Year", one of my all time favorites.  The role of Kaiser was a thinly disguised depiction of Sid Caesar, and he was terrific in it.  If you've never seen "My Favorite Year", make it a  point to see it sooner rather than later.

Perhaps Bologna's (and Taylor's) greatest accomplishment was that their marriage lasted an incredible 52 years.  How often do you hear something like that in Show Biz?

Glen Campbell
1936-2017

The death of Glen Campbell has been extensively written about already, so I won't go into great lengths here.  It was incredible to read that prior to him becoming a breakout recording and television star, Campbell made his bones in show biz as a session musician in Los Angeles, appearing on the recordings of such disparate artists as Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley and over 500 other artists.  A victim of Alzheimer's Disease and dementia, Campbell's final years were not pleasant ones, but what a musical legacy he leaves behind.

Barbara Cook
1927-2017


As a star of the Broadway stage and the musical cabaret scene, Barbara Cook probably was not all that well known outside of New York City, but make no mistake, in the 1950's and 1960's, she was a major star on Broadway.  She won a Tony Award for playing the original Marian the Librarian in one of my favorites, "The Music Man".  Her obituary - as obituaries often do - tells a fascinating story of how Cook, following a divorce in 1965, fell into depression and alcoholism.  As she was quoted in the New York times obit 

“I was not some lady drunk,” she said. “I was a real non functioning alcoholic. Dishes, always in the sink. The kitchen a mess. The bathroom a mess. Everything a mess.”

Her weight shot up to over 250 pounds (she weighed 106 pounds when she did "Music Man"), but she eventually overcame all of that, and with help, she reinvented herself as a nightclub and cabaret performer.  Her Times obituary was a terrific story.

The dimmed all the lights on Broadway last week to honor her memory.

Joe Solomon
1933-2017

The death of Joe Solomon last week was not a story anywhere outside of Pittsburgh, but it was sort of personal to me.  I wrote this on my Facebook page last week, and I will let it suffice for The Grandstander as well:

A gentleman named Joe Solomon passed away on Sunday at the age of 83. Joe had a long and distinguished career at Blue Cross of Western Pa, and as a Senior VP of Sales, he was instrumental in hiring me at Blue Cross in 1988, and I will always be grateful to him for that. Joe Solomon also may well have been the greatest wrestler to ever come out of western PA. Joe went to Canonsburg High School ('47) and the University of Pittsburgh ('55). He was a WPIAL, PIAA, and NCAA wrestling champion. He was invited to compete for the 1956 US Olympic team. He is a member of no less that ten different Halls of Fame (WPIAL, Pitt among others) for his career as a competitor and a wrestling official. I know that several of my FB friends are still very much involved in the sport of wrestling, and I wanted them to know of Joe (perhaps that already do) and be aware of his passing. There are also many Pitt alums among my friends, and I wanted them to be aware as well. RIP, Boss.

RIP Joe Bologna, Glen Campbell, Barbara Cook, Joe Solomon.

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