Anecdotes
I find that sprinkling in an occasional story about the subject of a lecture adds to the audience’s enjoyment of the program. Below are a sample of historical tidbits (some humorous, some not) that I have shared.
The great composer Jerome Kern had his life saved by a broken alarm clock. In 1915 he had booked passage from New York to England but stayed up late playing poker the night before his scheduled departure. When his clock failed to ring and wake him, he literally “missed the boat," which just happened to be the Lusitania, later torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat killing all on board. Had he been on time so many outstanding songs such as “All the Things You Are," “Long Ago and Far Away," “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and “Ol’ Man River” would never had been written.
Frank Loesser, composer of “Guys and Dolls” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'" had a brother Arthur who was known for his acerbic reviews and nasty disposition. Upon spotting him walking the streets of Manhattan a theatergoer remarked to his friend, “There goes the evil of two Loessers.”
Frank Sinatra was the original choice to star as Billy Bigelow in the film version of “Carousel”. After arriving on set and being told he needed to shoot the film twice, first in 35mm, and then in 55mm, he demanded to be paid double his contractual salary which the studio refused. In her recently published biography Shirley Jones, who had the female lead in the film, claims that Sinatra had another reason entirely for leaving the set. According to her, Frank received a
call from his then-wife Ava Gardner who was on location in Africa filming “Mogambo”. She demanded that Sinatra join her there immediately or “I’m going to have an affair with Clark Gable”, her co-star on the film. He took the next plane out.
The great composer Jerome Kern had his life saved by a broken alarm clock. In 1915 he had booked passage from New York to England but stayed up late playing poker the night before his scheduled departure. When his clock failed to ring and wake him, he literally “missed the boat," which just happened to be the Lusitania, later torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat killing all on board. Had he been on time so many outstanding songs such as “All the Things You Are," “Long Ago and Far Away," “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and “Ol’ Man River” would never had been written.
Frank Loesser, composer of “Guys and Dolls” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'" had a brother Arthur who was known for his acerbic reviews and nasty disposition. Upon spotting him walking the streets of Manhattan a theatergoer remarked to his friend, “There goes the evil of two Loessers.”
Frank Sinatra was the original choice to star as Billy Bigelow in the film version of “Carousel”. After arriving on set and being told he needed to shoot the film twice, first in 35mm, and then in 55mm, he demanded to be paid double his contractual salary which the studio refused. In her recently published biography Shirley Jones, who had the female lead in the film, claims that Sinatra had another reason entirely for leaving the set. According to her, Frank received a
call from his then-wife Ava Gardner who was on location in Africa filming “Mogambo”. She demanded that Sinatra join her there immediately or “I’m going to have an affair with Clark Gable”, her co-star on the film. He took the next plane out.