Supreme Wilson meets Hudson
|
"GETTING LOCKED inside a celebrity stronghold, an ivory tower, is the death of creativity, and the unhappy lot of the rich and famous. They lose themselves in the quest for security," writes Rupert Everett in his engaging, very well written memoir, "Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins." I am going to lunch with Mr. Everett this week but meantime I had a high old time reading his unusual autobiography, which is candid to the max. This openly gay British actor is one of the rare stars that have managed to be cast within and against type. You will remember him as Julia Robert's gay pal in "My Best Friend's Wedding" and as the gay father of Madonna's child in "The Next Best Thing." He has played it straight in such films as "Dance with a Stranger" and two Oscar Wilde movies, "An Ideal Husband" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" (He also had a funny supporting turn in "Stage Beauty," as a wacky King Charles II.) In his life story, however, Mr. Everett doesn't give us too much detail about his attachments to men. What he seems besotted with are the women he has encountered along the way. (He even slept with some of these beauties in his rather distracted life.) His acting friendships with Madonna, Julia and Sharon Stone dominate in terms of interest. But he has worked as well with two of England's greatest Dames -- Helen Mirren and Judi Dench.
HERE'S RUPERT brushing up against celebrity at various points in time: "At 17, I had sat with David Bowie downstairs at the Embassy Club and been lectured on the mystical potential hidden in the number seven. At 18, I had dined at La Coupole in Paris with Andy Warhol and Bianca Jagger. I had sniffed poppers with Hardy Amies on the dance floor of Munkberrys. I had done blow with Steve Rubell and Halston at Studio 54. I was spoilt for excitement and I knew what it was to be drunk on fame by association, how it felt to be a part of 'the gang,' the cluster of small gems around the large canary diamond, the obligatory whirlwind dancing dangerously about the eye of the storm. It was intoxicating to be around stars ... you were a part of the queen bee's hive. ... Nights under the stars were feeding frenzies of self-interest. Yet everything was a pale imitation of the impact Madonna had as she walked from a car across a sidewalk and into a restaurant ... there was an energy field around her, like a wave. ... In no way was she conventionally beautiful. She was a bit like a Picasso. ... She was mesmerizing. She oozed sex and demanded a sexual response from everyone. ... Time stands still for a superstar. ... I lost myself in Madonna's attention and by the end of the meal I had fallen in love." Mr. Everett is equally smart about Julia and Sharon. You have to read this book if you have even the slightest interest in actors, stars, the cult of celebrity, being true to your nature and clawing one's way to the middle.
CLORIS LEACHMAN is a Hollywood phenomenon and has been for all the years since she vaulted to public adoration as the dizzy character Phyllis on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Then she won a supporting actress Oscar for 1971's "The Last Picture Show." She has worked steadily and successfully, but leapt back to big attention and acclaim last year after winning her seventh Emmy. This one for her role in "Malcolm in the Middle." She also has a Daytime Emmy. So nobody was surprised that Cloris became part of the recipe for putting Mel Brook's classic movie "Young Frankenstein" on Broadway as a musical. The producers were so intent on having Cloris reprise her role as the hilariously sinister Frau Blucher that they flew her to New York at the end of last year for a table reading where she brought down the house. This week the veteran Ms. Leachman, 80 years old, received a "Dear John" letter from the future production of "Young Frankenstein" saying the producers, in their wisdom, had decided to keep their two properties -- "Young Frankenstein" the movie; "Young Frankenstein" the stage musical, apart. So they said they would not be offering her the role after all. Cloris is disappointed I'm told but handling the rejection with her usual good humor. In any case she is up for the Screen Actor's Guild Award for her outstanding work in HBO's "Mrs. Harris," which starred Annette Bening. All I can add is that whoever does this part on Broadway will have a hard time measuring up to Cloris as the onscreen Frau.
(E-mail Liz Smith at MES3838@aol.com)
