A Two Foot High Pineapple Head-dress?

Right before I left the ballet world, at the age of 17, I auditioned for the legendary Alicia Markova for a chance to join the Metropolitan Opera Ballet.

The audition went great and I was told I would definitely have a spot with the company! I was overjoyed at the prospect of dancing with the renowned NYC Metropolitan Opera!

My excitement was short lived. As Alicia Markova stated in her book, "Markova Remembers", 'an unfortunate nine month strike at the Met ended our arrangement.' I was devastated. To make matters worse, we were asked to "help out" the Radio City Ballet at the Radio City Music Hall in the interim. We were assured that our place with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet was safe and as soon as the strike was over we would be back!

I felt dancing for the Radio City Ballet was a major demotion. I thought the Rockettes were incredible, but the ballet company did not enjoy the same kind of reputation. It turned out to be one of the hardest jobs I've ever had and surprisingly a lot of fun! Performing in the Christmas extravaganza at Radio City Music Hall was a humbling experience. There were five shows a day! (out of necessity, napping became a way of life) There were also camels, sheep and all their natural elimination processes and some very challenging Costumes!

The theme of the ballet portion that year was a loose (very loose) variation of "The Nutcracker". We were dressed in kind of boxy yellow tutu with the most humongous pineapple head-dresses you've ever seen! It turned out we were supposed to be pineapple confections or candies. After emerging from a gigantic candy box we performed our little ballet. (praying that the stage had been swept clean of you-no-what) Strategically the triple pirouettes (performed on pointe) had to be downgraded to doubles due to the centrifugal force of the said "pineapples".

Before the nine months were over Alicia Markova left the Met and all bets were off. What could I do but move on to summer stock and eventually audition for Dean Martin's Golddiggers?

Pigs Trample George Balanchine . . .

When I was cast as Katy, Fembot #1 (in the Kill Oscar trilogy), I found out I would be working with the great John Houseman. He turned out to be a longtime friend of George Balanchine's and had a keen interest in ballet. As a child I studied ballet at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet in NYC.

One of the stories I shared with Mr. Houseman was my experience working with Balanchine in the ballet "Don Quixote". When I was thirteen, several of the young dancers at the School of American Ballet were asked to participate in Balanchine's delightful version of "Don Quixote". I was fortunate to be included in the selection! It turned out that we were to make our New York City Ballet debut as . . . pigs.

Not very glamorous, but it was still a chance to perform with the famous New York City Ballet! We were "choreographed" to stampede across the stage in a scene in Act 3. We had to carefully navigate around the dancer portraying Don Quixote, who would be lying on the ground, directly in our path. The goal was to give the illusion that Don Quixote was being trampled.

"Mr. B" liked to step in and perform the roll of Don Quixote from time to time and unfortunately no one told us this was likely to happen. One night, the "pigs" ran across the stage in usual formation, only to find Don Quixote was not on his mark! Too late we came upon him and inadvertently trampled him for real. Balanchine was furious and raced back to our dressing room as soon as the scene was over. He demanded to know which of us had done the trampling!

Luckily part of our pig costumes were full pig head masks and they turned out to be the perfect disguise. None of us confessed to the unforgivable trampling, we all just sat there and shook in fear!

Mel Brooks in a golf cart . . .

While I was working at Warner Bros. on "Mame" with Lucille Ball and Robert Preston, another movie was being shot on the lot. Mel Brooks was busy directing his comedic masterpiece "Blazing Saddles".

I was approached by one of his representatives and asked if I would like to be a small part of the movie! I, of course said YES!

The next day I reported to the set and met Mel Brooks! He drove me around the set in a golf cart while explaining what he wanted me to do. He told me about the "pie fight" scene he was filming, and how he wanted a tour guide and her charges to walk right through the middle of the scene. Oh, and by the way, did I mind getting pie in my face?

Check out the pie fight on YouTube:

The Great Pie Fight

The time I met David Niven . . .

During my stint as a Golddigger I had the opportunity to perform on the "1971 Emmy Awards TV Show". Lots of stars were in attendence and I was very excited to be part of the show.

I found out that one of my childhood crushes, David Niven,,was going to be on the show. While waiting back stage before the performance, I noticed that David Niven was sharing a dressing room with Jack Lemmon. Mr. Lemmon was chatting with some of the

Golddiggers, so I joined the group. After the other girls had drifted away, I asked Jack Lemmon if he was indeed sharing a dressing room with David Niven? (my face turning beet red in the process) Mr. Lemmon smiled and asked me if I would like to meet him. But upon checking the dressing room, David Niven was no where to be found.

The show went on and afterwards I was getting ready to leave when I ran into Jack Lemmon in the backstage hallway. He immediately grabbed my hand and started running in the direction of the exit. He was shouting, "David! David, you have to meet my sister!" I received a kiss on the cheek and a great photo with David Niven, courtesy of the incredible Jack Lemmon!

Meeting Santa

While I was putting myself through Art School I took a job at a department store. At Christmas time the store was always swamped with shoppers. As a sales associate, I was expected to maintain a certain degree of decorum and in those days the customer really was always right! I was busy wrapping a purchase when I looked up to greet the next customer. "SANTA!" I involuntarily exclaimed! There in front of me was the spitting image of Santa Claus! White hair, rosy cheeks and a real long white beard! I immediately started to apologize for my outburst, but the "Santa" just laughed. He explained how he loved being mistaken for Santa Claus. During one summer (he told me) he was walking in the surf in Florida when he overheard a little boy talking to his mom. "Mommy," the little boy said, "There's Santa. He's on vacation!". This "Santa" really illustrated the true spirit of Christmas!

The Orangutan Incident

After I left the Golddiggers I joined the Beautiful Downtown Beauties on the last season of "Laugh-In". During that time the Dean Martin Show featured an exotic animal at the beginning of the show for Dean to interact with. Both shows were recorded at NBC Studios in Burbank.

I was walking through the walkway between sets and came across a trainer who was showing off a very nervous baby Orangutan. A crowd had gathered to admirer the little cutie. They say that animals are color blind . . . but that little Orangutan took one look at my red hair (a very close match), scurried through the crowd, ran up my leg and held on for dear life! There I was hugging the little guy, who obviously thought he had found his Mom!

I love Orangutans!