Yesterday, we wished a Happy Rose Marie Day to a lady I loved on television, then got to know and admire in person. Today, we continue the trend and note that it's the birthday of that great symbol of glamour, beauty and star power, Julie Newmar.
The two women have many things in common but a biggie is longevity. Julie captivated audiences in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1954 and she was not new to movies then. Her looks and grace obviously had a lot to do with early stardom but they don't explain her long, long career. Lots of women in Hollywood and on Broadway have looks and grace. Almost none are active for so long and loved even longer.
There is something about her that has kept her famous for several more decades than most. One I can tell you that isn't so obvious is that she's smart, very smart. She has managed her career and also her investments well. But I don't think that completely explains it and just as being a good actress doesn't explain the rest of it.
I do have an explanation, though. The following is an edited version of a column I wrote in early 1998 for the Comics Buyers Guide…
Last Sunday night (3/29/98) in New York, City Center's "Encores!" series presented a "concert" version of Li'l Abner — six performances only — and guess who was in seat B-105.
(I thought they were lousy seats until I noticed that my pals Jim Salicrup and Don McGregor were sitting a few rows behind us. Then ours didn't seem quite as bad. My date, by the way, was the scintillating Carolyn Kelly, whose late father gave us one of the other all-time great comic strips with political overtones, Pogo. I don't think Walt Kelly was quite as attractive as his offspring, but the wit and drawing talents do seem to be hereditary.)
Concert versions of musicals are becoming increasingly popular. Mounting a full-scale Broadway-style musical can run into the millions so, in New York and L.A., and often in-between, there are outfits that put on limited runs of classic shows with no scenery and but a modicum of costuming. (For Abner, most were in tuxedoes but, to get the rustic flavor, some added hillbilly hats, some omitted shoes.) The actors often carry their scripts, yet the whole experience, if done well, is surprisingly effective.
Limiting the run makes it possible to assemble a cast that could never be assembled or afforded for a multi-year commitment. It also means that the audience is usually packed with folks who already love the show in question, which was definitely the case for Li'l Abner.
In the lead role…well, I have an "I-told-you-so" here: In this very column, in the edition dated December 23, 1994, I wrote a review of the Broadway version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and I said, in print: "…the standout performance is Burke Moses as Gaston. Whenever the inevitable revival is mounted of Li'l Abner, its producers would be dumbbells not to conscript Mr. Moses to play the title hillbilly."
Someone had the same notion: Last Sunday, I saw Burke Moses play the title hillbilly in Li'l Abner and he was, as expected, superb. So was David Ogden Stiers as General Bullmoose. So was Alice Ripley as Daisy Mae. So was comedienne Lea DeLaria in a brilliant bit of cross-gender casting as Marryin' Sam. So was everyone. But the real coup — the thing that tore the roof off the dump — was the casting of Stupefyin' Jones.
Before I tell you who they got, let me remind you that this was the character whose looks stunned men into a stock-still stupor, played originally by the lovely, leggy Julie Newmar. She had not one word of dialogue but she darn near stole both play and film. One cinema society named it the sexiest appearance ever in a motion picture that cost more than 25 cents to view.
So you figure, for this special production, they've got to get someone real special…someone altogether amazing, right? You can't just cast a good-looking dancer in that role. You need a goddess…a vision of beauty that really could stop a hetero male dead in his Nikes.
They got Julie Newmar.
No one could believe it beforehand. Her name was there in the program book but we just plain didn't believe it. It was like hearing that Ted Williams was in the starting line-up again. Then, round about scene 5, she made her entrance, rising up on an elevator from under the stage. She was wearing a flesh-colored body stocking and the audience was…well, stupefied.
I do not know how old Ms. Newmar is but during intermission, every single person in that theater tried to do the math. ("Let's see…she was in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1954 and she had to be at least 16 then…") And, yes, I know it's not polite to discuss a lady's age but, geez, if she was 40, she'd have cause to be proud. That she's probably more than half again as old makes you wonder if maybe Ponce DeLeon didn't find that fountain and pass out gallon containers on the set of the Batman TV show.
The audience went absolutely, full-goose-bozo crazy. I've never seen anyone get applause like that, just for standing in one place. The other leads all got huge ovations — richly deserved — but they all acted and sang and danced their heinies off. Julie Newmar just stood there. And she did it so well.
Everyone did their jobs well. A few seasons back, a concert version of Chicago at City Center was so well-received that it spun off to a regular engagement and is still selling out. The tale of the Yokum family may well follow. If it does, buy a ticket and get in line behind me…'cause I'm going again and again. Especially if they can hire Julie Newmar to just stand there.
Looking back at what I wrote then, I don't think I made it clear how Julie didn't just stand there. She gyrated and posed and reacted and really turned her wordless role into a star turn. You couldn't take your eyes off her and I believe there were moments when the director consciously got her offstage so she wouldn't pull focus from the actors carrying the plot.
I also don't know why, having mentioned the musical Chicago — which is still running back there, more than eighteen years later — I didn't mention that the night after we saw Li'l Abner's last performance there, Carolyn and I went to see Chicago. And sitting right behind us, taking in the performance alone, was Julie Newmar! We talked with her and offered to walk her back to where she was staying.
It was the third or fourth time I'd met her and now that I've had a lot more, I'm very sure that the secret to her longevity is a combo of looks, brains, talent (a quality that doesn't always flow from looks or brains) and that basic, undefinable star quality. Some people got it but most don't and she's one of those people who's got it. You get the feeling I sorta like her? And it ain't just the looks or the brains or the talent or the stardom. I like her because she reads this blog.
I hope you do today, Julie. Happy birthday.