As many of you know, my former stepmother S (the nice one) was a dancer/actress. Most of the stuff she worked on was before a lot of my readers' time, but that's OK. I have many beautiful pictures of S, but just for grins, I was Googling her today to see if there were any I'd overlooked. She's on my mind, since I will be having lunch with her tomorrow.
Google, of course, is the land of segues. You search for one thing and it sends you off in myriad directions. Long story short: My stepmother was in a film in 1961 called The Ladies' Man, starring Jerry Lewis. It was, as films go, kind of stupid, with Jerry doing his usual shtick. So as I roamed through my stepmother's images, a few from that movie showed up. But then this popped into view: (NO, this is not my stepmom, but it is from Ladies' Man)
WTF?? Immediately intrigued, I Googled "Jerry Lewis" + "Not Listening Stick." Apparently, this was a prop he would bring on his movie sets. Not sure how far it dates back, or how many years he used it, but if anyone wasn't paying attention to his direction on the set or was screwing up their lines, they got a smack from this thing. (I may be going out on a limb here, but I bet it was applied to only the female co-stars, not the male.)
So... am I dying to ask S tomorrow if she was ever at the receiving end of the "Not Listening Stick"? You bet your a$%. I know they were good buddies; in fact, as you may recall my mentioning a year or so ago, that beautiful necklace that she passed on to me was given to her by him.
But am I actually going to ask? Nah. I don't have the nerve.
Besides, I don't really want to know if Jerry Lewis is/was kinky. He kinda gives me the creeps these days.
I get the same vibe from him now, even though I liked him when I was a kid. Considering that he doesn't consider females to be funny, I'm thinking there's a misogynistic bent there. I mean really, there are no female comedians or actresses that are funny?? Of course there are, but he obviously thinks that they're not worthy to be considered funny by HIM.
ReplyDeleteJen -- yeah, that's a pretty broad statement, no pun intended. I think he admired strong and confident women, which my stepmother certainly was, but yeah, there was definitely an air of superiority with him (still is).
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking it's more like arrogance at this point. He thinks he's great and that there's no woman who could compare to him.
ReplyDeleteI do admire his MDA charity involvement but that's the extent of how I feel about him in a positive light. I didn't care for his physical "comedy" of exaggerated crossed eyes over some blunder. lol
ReplyDeleteKelly -- when he was very young, partnered with Dean Martin, I thought he was funny. But when he went solo, his ego outgrew his talent, I think.
ReplyDeleteHi Erica -- I agree with you, he was funny before he went solo.Have fun tomorrow,I am so happy for you,that you get to have lunch with your Stepmom.How nice is that :-) Much Love and hugs from naughty girl Jade
ReplyDeleteHa! So funny!!
ReplyDeleteI CANNOT wait to hear what the answer is... You MUST ask! What would it hurt? And if you don't, you'll always wonder.
ReplyDeleteJade -- yes, I'm looking forward to it. :-)
ReplyDeleteRenee -- right?? :-D
Craig -- yeah, Steve says I must as well. I guess if I phrase it innocently enough, it won't sound too weird.
Maybe she would be willing to get the stick for you to have at Steve's disposal ..... Just sayin.... lol
ReplyDeleteSoooooo???????
ReplyDeleteWhat's the final answer on your stepmom? :)
D -- nope. Not happening.
ReplyDeleteKelly -- I'm going to save that for a separate entry! But yes, I did ask, under the guise of asking her about the shooting experience. And no, she didn't recall seeing the stick. I even showed her the picture, and her eyes popped. Oh well!
Even when I was a kid, I new he had the kink. It takes one to know one. This picture simply offers more evidence to support my suspicion. I never really liked the guy because he was so creepy, even when he tired to be funny. Dean Martin made him anyway. I don't know what Dean saw in him. Was it too many cocktails, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteAP -- I don't recall the story of how Martin and Lewis got together. I do think they complimented each other well when they were partners. But I may be prejudiced, since my father and cousin wrote for them. I don't think Dean believed he was funny (which indeed he was), and he was better off as the straight man.
ReplyDeleteHave never seen this film, but its keywords on IMDB include a dominatrix. Wonder who usually had that stick? Saw Lewis some years ago interviewed on Australian TV when he admitted to having been "an ass" when he was younger. Said becoming a father to a girl late in life woke him up.
ReplyDeleteJohn
Anonymous -- there is no dominatrix in the movie, not really. Just a brief vignette with a woman all dressed in black.
ReplyDelete