Pondering Two Dancing Blondes...

TC highlights two incredible ladies whose backgrounds have some similarities and whose pure joy will be greatly missed. Read on!

During the past two weeks, we lost some talent to the big dance floor in the sky. A generation apart, both of these women led a path that was not typical and conventional. I salute them both for similar and very different reasons.

First Talent Lost…

First talent lost was the great Mitzi Gaynor.

I was introduced to Mitzi back in 1983 when at Bayley Ellard High School, we were give a copy of the musical South Pacific for viewing at my buddy Tim Strack’s house. We were both cast as Luther Billis, a character that was a scheming with a tattoo of a ship on his belly. Well I was cast for other talents other than my belly, however, who would have thought that this would foreshadow a future drag career.

[ Just look at the song Honey Bun, and you will know why.]

Anyway, the film version of South Pacific was a strange endeavor. For some reason, instead of relying on the location vistas, director Joshua Logan somehow adjusted the color tint whenever a major song came on. It seemed like a big blur.

If you can get past that, Mitzi Gaynor stole the show. A beautiful dancer and singer, South Pacific was the crown jewel of her film career. Her humanity carried this big musical. Rodgers and Hammerstein had a very set style of music score.

The message of diversity had been whitewashed at most high school productions, hence most productions removed the song, “You Got to be Carefully Taught” mostly since it came too close to home.

Mitzi was not a typical actress and dancer. Her studio struggled to find a vehicle for her. Mitzi found success in Vegas during the 60’s. Followed by a performance at the Academy Awards, that led her to a television special on NBC. The last element to complete the package: a collaboration with costume designer Bob Mackie.

Mitzi had an annual television special through the 70’s. She was in rotation in the showrooms in Atlantic City, along with Vegas. I never got into Mitzi until later in life, and after a PBS special about her television specials appeared in 2009. Wow!

I finally got to see her live at The Orleans Showroom, and in her 80’s, in her Honey Bun outfit, she still was a smash. She was first and foremost a dancer. She advocated for dancers all over the spectrum. A pistol through and through.

Second Talent Lost…

The second talent, dancer number 2, may not actually be known for her dancing… but that is how she got her start. First as Terri Hope, and finally as her name Teri Garr.

In my household, my brother and I knew her as the ditsy blonde featured on a Star Trek potential spin off involving Gary Seven. That was the start.

Also appeared as the worried wife to Richard Dreyfuss’ character in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

I never got to see her in “Young Frankenstein” until it was on NBC in the 80’s. Mom and I saw her in Tootsie back in 1983, a film that my mother rolled on the floor in laughter. In Mr Mom, she was the straight character opposite Michael Keaton. She also had a permanent guest spot on David Letterman’s talk shows.

Teri Garr was very accessible. A funny blend of talent and insecurity. An everywoman that held her own and was never the butt of the joke…while being funny. No wonder she was cast as Phoebe’s mother on the NBC show Friends.

Sadly Teri had been dealing with the ravages of MS for the last 20 years. Her suffering has ended now. The everlasting feeling? To me it is the joy of thinking about this everywoman, who just so happened to want to have a “roll in the hay.”

Build a Fest: The Essential Mitzi…

South Pacific– The one and only abuse of Technicolor and filters.

There’s No Business Like Show Business– Marilyn, Ethel and Irving Berlin, in Cinemascope.

Mitzi Gaynor Razzle Dazzle (documentary), The Television Special Years – and the actual specials.

Mitzi at the Oscars- Georgy Girl – on YouTube

Build a Fest: The Essential Teri…

Pajama Party (1964) and Viva Las Vegas 1964—uncredited) as Teri Hope, a dancer.

Star Trek The Original Series- Gary Seven

Young Frankenstein- Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder bring you Teri as Inga and her Knockers.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind– Spielberg follows up Jaws with this classic.

Tootsie– Hard to compete with Jessica Lange in this, both got nominated for best supporting actress

Firstborn– a rare flop as a mother with a new creepy boyfriend. I only mention it since it was filmed in Morristown NJ by my hometown. Right in front of Epsteins, Bambergers, and Lobels on the Morristown Green.

And for sure, check out the David Letterman clips on YouTube.

That’s a Wrap…

So if you get a chance, do a deeper dive into the works of these fantastic ladies. Truly a treat!!

Thanks for reading and pondering with me. —TC