Hey, kids, good afternoon, welcome to the Phile for a Monday. How are you? Instead of canceling all the fests this summer... we simply call them protests with food and live music... then thousands can come and it's perfectly fine. Oh great, 2020 is just getting better and better. In case you needed something else to worry about, well, this is it. Introducing the wild and gross cicadas. Yes, as if we didn’t have enough to worry about with the whole giant Murder Hornets invading the U.S. and the coronavirus pandemic, millions of 17-year cicadas are expected to emerge from the ground this year. As many as 1.5 million cicadas to be exact, and yes, people living in parts of North Carolina, Southwest Virginia, and West Virginia could witness this terrifying and unique phenomenon. The good news here is that cicadas are harmless to humans. At most, they are quite noisy and become a nuisance. According to Erik Day, Virginia corporate extension entomologist in Virginia Tech Department of Entomology, “communities in farms with large numbers of cicadas emerging at once may have a substantial noise issue. Hopefully, and the annoyance at the disturbance is tempered by how infrequent and amazing this event is.” Did you know that the cicada’s loud noise is made by males to attract females? The male cicadas contract ridged membranes on their abdomens to make their sound, which is then amplified by their almost-hollow abdomens. Each of the species has its own unique sound, and the chorus can reach up to 90 decibels which is as loud as a lawnmower. Still, this is a huge no for me. I hate bugs, anything to do with bugs, so this to me is terrifying. So, although annual cicadas aren’t a danger to humans, they are a danger to vines, orchids, and trees due to the egg-laying habits of its peanuts. Cicadas are large, cleared winged insects that occur either periodically or annually. Several people are scared of them due to their size, the largest ones having a 3-inch wingspan. If enough of them emerge, the critters can wreak havoc outdoors as they fly across patios, parks, sidewalks, and decks. An adult cicada usually lives two to four weeks, which isn’t very long after waiting 17 years underground. There are at least fifteen separate cycles, also known as “cicada broods,” of periodic cicadas in the United States. It’s still a mystery as to why periodical cicadas only emerge every 13 or 17 years, but scientists do believe that it’s to avoid sinking up with predator cycles. So, there you have it, don’t you just love some good news?
Democrats proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures today, a potentially far-reaching legislative response to the mass protests denouncing the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement. Before unveiling the package, House and Senate Democrats held a moment of silence at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, reading the names of George Floyd and others killed during police interactions. They knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds... now a symbol of police brutality and violence... the length of time prosecutors say Floyd was pinned under a white police officer’s knee before he died. “We cannot settle for anything less than transformative structural change,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, drawing on the nation’s history of slavery. The Justice in Policing Act would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police choke holds, among other changes, according to an early draft. It is the most ambitious change to law enforcement sought by Congress in years. Rep. Karen Bass, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is leading the effort, said called it “bold” and “transformative.” “The world is witnessing the birth of a new movement in this country,” Bass said. Tens of thousands of demonstrators nationwide have been protesting in the streets since Floyd was killed May 25th for an end to police violence. “A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession where you have highly trained officers that are accountable to the public,” Bass said. The package confronts several aspects of law enforcement accountability and practices that have come under criticism, especially as more and more police violence is captured on cell phone video and shared widely across the nation, and the world. The proposed legislation would revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are involved in misconduct “knowingly or with reckless disregard.” The package would also change “qualified immunity” protections for police “to enable individuals to recover damages when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights,” it says. The legislation would seek to provide greater oversight and transparency of police behavior in several ways. For one, it would grant subpoena power to the Justice Department to conduct “pattern and practice” investigations of potential misconduct and help states conduct independent investigations. It would ban racial profiling and boost requirements for police body cameras. And it would create a “National Police Misconduct Registry,” a database to try to prevent officers from transferring from one department to another with past misconduct undetected, the draft said. A long-sought federal anti-lynching bill stalled in Congress is included in the package. However, the package stops short calls by leading activists to “defund the police,” a push to dismantle or reduce financial resources to police departments that has struck new intensity in the weeks of protests since Floyd’s death. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a co-author with Bass and the Democratic senators, will convene a hearing on the legislation Wednesday. It is unclear if law enforcement and the powerful police unions will back any of the proposed changes or if congressional Republicans will join the effort. At least one Republican, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who has long pushed for a criminal justice overhaul, has said he’d like to review the package coming from Democrats. And Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said his panel intends to hold a hearing to review use of force issues and police practices. The presumed Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, has backed a ban on chokeholds and other elements of the package. “I can’t breathe” has become a rallying cry by protesters. Floyd pleaded with police that he couldn’t breathe, echoing the same phrase Eric Garner said while in police custody in 2014 before his death. “All we’ve ever wanted is to be treated equally... not better, not worse,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. “Equal protection under the law.” Senators vowed to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to consider the legislation. Sen. Cory Booker, a Democratic rival who had been critical of Biden during the presidential primary campaign, said Sunday he “fully” put his faith in Biden now “to be the person who could preside over this transformative change.” Booker and fellow one-time presidential hopeful, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, are co-authors of the package in the Senate.
One key to success in the marketplace is eliminating your competition. This is true whether you’re Mark Zuckerberg buying out or publicly strangling every semblance of a competitor in your path, or just a farmer’s market tent secretly poisoning your neighbor’s produce. That’s also true of the dating market. One genius man realized as much and created his own dating app. Not to dominate the dating app business and compete with Tinder and Bumble, but rather to eliminate all his competition within the dating apps. You see, 31-year-old Aaron Smith of Greensboro, North Carolina created a dating app in which he is the only man. As many women as possible can sign up for the app, but only one dude. Him. Aaron Smith. The app is called Singularity and it turns out Smith even made a commercial for it. Smith built the app as a joke with his best friend, software engineer Scott McDowell. Why? Because according to them the online dating scene can kind of suck sometimes, so they wanted to poke a little fun at it. Fair enough. For those who’ve never used Tinder or Bumble, it might seem like a sea of endless sexual opportunity. A buffet of potential lovers, if you will. But swipe enough and you’ll start to go numb, become hopelessly cynical, and, eventually, you’ll want to delete the apps forever, encase your phone in a brick of concrete, and toss that brick into the ocean. Also like a buffet, the food usually looks better than it tastes, so to speak. Things can get pretty grim. But man it’s convenient. Hopefully, this app inadvertently works brilliantly for Smith and he becomes some sort of southern sex-king. Like a non-creepy version of Joe Francis.
Be still my heart. This is one of the sweetest things I’ve seen in a while. There’s no denying that the Internet is a scary place, but sometimes you find these kinds of videos that just make you believe in humanity a little bit more. Nurse Beth Porch definitely brought a little bit of brightness to the room after playing the ukulele while singing McFly’s “It’s all About You” for a boy battling cancer. Three-year-old Artie Vickerage has been bedridden for seven weeks after being diagnosed with a rare type of cancer known as Burkitts Lymphoma. The touching moment was posted by Artie’s mom, Gemma Vickerage, on Twitter which has been viewed more than 605,000 times. The clip even gained attention from Porch’s musical hero, Mcfly singer Tom Fletcher, tweeting back, “Beth, you are an absolute hero with the voice of an angel. Gemma, I hope your little one is doing okay. Wishing you all the very best. It looks like you’re in good hands there.” Artie, who is from Hockley in Southend-on-Sea, was taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London at the end of May last year after his mother found a large lump in his stomach. Unfortunately, with this type of cancer, the tumor can double inside within the first 24 hours. Artie’s current tumor was sitting at 11.5cm and has fluid on his lungs and lymph up near his heart. Artie was cared for by the 24-year-old through his intensive chemotherapy, who has made a significant amount of difference in a family’s life. Overwhelmed by the feedback, the singing nurse stated she tries to learn the patient’s favorite song to cheer them up and give them a little peace of mind. “I started bringing in my guitar for a boy who wanted to learn to play but the teacher couldn’t see him regularly, so I would play with him every shift. Then all the other families would hear and soon I would just take my guitar from room to room. Unfortunately, some patients are on our ward for end of life care, so I have been a part of some incredible moments with families, creating final memories with their children.” This is definitely adorable. We need more Beth Porche’s in the world.
The "Game of Thrones" actress Sophie Turner (known on the show as Sansa Stark) has been outspoken on social media about her support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and more specifically, the current protests responding to the death of George Floyd and decades of police brutality. A week ago, Turner wrote an Instagram post expressing solidarity with the activists leading the charge for racial justice, and shared the handles for some black activists and writers that her fans should follow.
This past weekend, Turner put her convictions into action and attended a protest alongside her husband singer Joe Jonas. Both of them posted a handful of pictures and video clips from the protests on their social media accounts. While they both received a lot of support from fans across the world, one of Turner's posts inspired a question from a fan that merited a response. Turner captioned her photos of the protest "no justice, no peace," which is a common chant used in protests demanding accountability... whether it's from law enforcement or otherwise. In this case, Turner's call for justice directly references the list of black people who have been killed by the police while merely living their lives. In reference to Turner's caption, one commenter jumped on and asked why we can't have peace already, since the officers who killed George Floyd now face charges. The commenter wrote, "I mean they've been arrested and charge(d) with murder so there's justice, so can we have peace now?" While Turner doesn't regularly respond directly to comments, given the sheer size of her platform, she decided to swoop in to explain why charging those officers isn't enough. In her response, Turner clarified that the protests aren't just about Floyd, but about all a series of deaths at the hands of the police, and the systems that target black people. She wrote, "This isn't just about those four cops, this is about Breonna Taylor, this is about Trayvon Martin, this is about Eric Garner, this is about the systemic racism that black people have faced for hundreds and hundreds of years. This is about changing the system. Justice will be done when society reflects our beliefs that we are all equal. Until then there should be no peace." This exchange serves as a refreshing example of a celebrity shutting down a commenter's dissent in a way that opens up the door for discussion and growth. If you personally want to support the protests, but aren't able to make it physically... here is a list of places to donate and ways to help: timeout.com/things-to-do/how-to-support-black-lives-matter.
If I had a TARDIS I would probably end up at Jackson, Mississippi where a policeman ripped the American flag away from 5-year-old Anthony Quinn, having already confiscated his "No More Police Brutality."
Mrs. Ailene Quinn of McComb, Mississippi and her children were trying to see Governor Paul Johnson; they wanted to protest against the election of five Congressmen from districts where blacks were not allowed to vote. Refused admittance, they sat on the steps. The policeman struggling with Anthony is Mississippi Highway Patrolman Hughie Kohler. As Kohler attempted to confiscate the flag, Mrs. Quinn said, "Anthony, don’t let that man take your flag." Kohler went berserk, yanking Anthony off his feet. Anthony and his mother were arrested and taken to jail. Here's a tone-deaf thing brand has posted during the George Floyd protests...
Wicked the Musical deleted this graphic comparing hatred to gravity. Trump went across the street from the White House to St. John's again, and held up another book...
Father's Day is not too far away, so if you're trying to figure out what the best card to get how about this one?
Here is a brand new pheature called...
Okay, you know I live in Florida, right? Well, here's a story from this state...
Hamburger battery gone wrong! Ah, Florida, oh Florida! I knew you were going to come around again, you were getting a bit too quiet. Introducing Florida’s latest criminal, Tanya Cordero. The Florida woman reportedly spent three months in jail for battering her boyfriend back in October and attacking the man with a hamburger. According to the Pinellas county arrest affidavit, the 47-year-old denied smashing the hamburger into the alleged victim’s face. But, police stated that when they arrived at the couple’s trailer park, a 39-year-old man had a hamburger stuck in his ear. Yep, you seriously can’t make this stuff up. I can’t begin to describe how hard I laughed after reading this. But, apparently, the whole conflict began when the couple was arguing about whether opening or closing a window inside their mobile home that they shared with the victim’s mother. Yes, over a window. According to police officers, Cordero allegedly stated she hoped the Florida man would “choke on his burger” and shoved it in his face. She was charged with misdemeanor domestic battery and then later released on her own recognizance. And in case you were wondering, the whole incident occurred in Largo, Fla., which is near Tampa. I seriously don’t know what’s worse, I don’t know who to feel bad for here. Either this man who got smashed with a burger for not closing a window in their mobile home, or the woman who went to jail for attacking her boyfriend with a hamburger. Not even a gun, not even a knife, which of course I’m not condoning whatsoever, but a burger? That’s like the time a man got arrested for throwing a Taco Bell burrito at his wife. I mean, I get her, it’s a 100 degrees outside so you do what you can to stay cool. If that means throwing a hamburger at someone so they can get that message, then so be it. But know that if you do throw that hamburger, you might get arrested and charged. I don’t make up the rules here, that’s the criminal justice system for you. Might want to stick with a milkshake next time. I will say this, this woman found her Halloween costume.
If you spot the Mindphuck let me know, kids. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York, here is...
Top Phive Things Said About Democrats Wearing Kente Cloth And Kneeling To Support Black Lives Matter
5. What if they, like, just passed some laws instead of dressing up like a Wakandan chess set?
4. Are these motherfuckers really wearing Kente cloth?
3. Nancy Pelosi getting "Wakanda Foreva" tattooed on her forearms so you'll top asking about Federal student loans forgiveness.
2. Who is gonna be the first to put a kufi on Nancy Pelosi?
And the number one thing said about Democrats wearing Kente cloth and kneeling to support Black Lives Matter is...
1. Definitely didn't have politicians dressed in Kente cloth on my 2020 bingo card.
This bride who is upset that the global pandemic clashes with her wedding theme.
Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we?
Ahhhh. A lot of people are out this afternoon having picnics. I wish I was one of them.
Less than five months before voters will decide his fate, President Donald Trump is confronting a vastly different political reality than he once envisioned. For starters, if the election were held today, he’d likely lose. The president, West Wing advisers and campaign aides have grown increasingly concerned about his reelection chances as they’ve watched Trump’s standing take a pummeling first on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and now during a nationwide wave of protests against racial injustice. His allies worry the president has achieved something his November foe had been unable to do: igniting enthusiasm in a Democratic Party base that’s been lukewarm to former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump was facing tougher political prospects even before the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee for almost nine minutes into Floyd’s neck last month. COVID-19’s mounting human and economic tolls... and the president’s defiant response... cost him support among constituencies his campaign believes are key to victory in November. His signature rallies had been frozen for months, and his cash advantage over Biden, while vast, wasn’t growing as quickly as hoped because the pandemic put a halt to high-dollar fundraisers. Internal campaign surveys and public polling showed a steady erosion in support for Trump among older people and in battleground states once believed to be leaning decisively in the president’s direction, according to six current and former campaign officials not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. The campaign recently launched a television ad blitz in Ohio, a state the president carried by eight percentage points four years ago, and it sees trouble in Arizona and warning signs in once-deep-red Georgia. Trump aides have warned the president that the renewed national conversation about racial injustice and the president’s big “law and order” push have animated parts of the Democratic base... black and younger voters... whose lagging enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton in 2016 cleared the way for Trump’s narrow victory. “I have polls,” Trump told Fox News Radio on Thursday, dismissing a spate of public surveys showing him trailing Biden in key states. “Just like last time, I was losing to Hillary in every state, and I won every state.” Though outwardly confident, Trump has complained to advisers in their roughly weekly White House meetings about the perception that he is losing to Biden and has pressed his aides for strategies to improve his standing. Late last month, the Trump campaign moved two veteran political aides into senior leadership roles, reflective of an effort to bring more experience to the campaign team. And on Friday, the campaign brought on board former communications chief Jason Miller as a senior adviser as well. The White House seized on better-than-expected economic news Friday... the nation added 2.5 million jobs in May and the unemployment rate fell... with an over-the-top victory lap, selling it as a sign of a post-pandemic economic comeback that the president’s advisers believe will be the single most important factor in victory in November. The campaign’s plan had been to spend the spring of 2020 trying to negatively define Biden, a strategy that went out the window when COVID-19 reached American shores. Trump’s aides have been frustrated that the pandemic has allowed Biden to largely stay out of public sight; they believe the gaffe-prone Democrat often damages himself when speaking in public settings. Now discussions are underway for a renewed effort to attack Biden on several fronts, according to the officials. Among the lines of attack: his ties to China, which the White House blames for the spread of the pandemic; Hunter Biden, the vice president’s son, whom aides believe can be painted as a symbol of corruption; and Biden’s support for a 1994 crime bill, which Trump says helped create conditions that have led to the unrest in American cities. “A lot of Americans know of Joe Biden, but not too many know Joe Biden. And our job is to educate voters about the real Joe Biden,” said Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtagh. “He’s sided with the rioters. He’s barely made a passing reference to all the violence that happened. Black Americans care about safe communities, too.” Driving up Biden’s negative ratings is an imperative for the Trump team: It sees little it can do to increase the president’s own favorability numbers, which have been stubbornly underwater since Trump took office. In 2016, Clinton’s negative favorability ratings were nearly as high as Trump’s, and voters who disliked both candidates largely broke for Trump. But those same type of voters, at least for now, favor Biden this time around and the former vice president is viewed more favorably by the public. “The Trump campaign keeps calling the same play, talking a big game and then getting smoked on the field,” said Biden campaign spokesman TJ Ducklo. “The Trump Campaign and their Super PAC have spent nearly 20 million dollars attacking Biden since April 1st, and they have watched Trump steadily decline in the polls.” Trump has tried to adjust to the new reality in which packed rallies are prohibited by social distancing requirements. He’s been scheduling taxpayer-funded official trips to battleground states to highlight his leadership during the pandemic. Friday’s trip to Maine was the latest White House visit doubling as a campaign stop, following others to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona. But Trump has been hankering for a return to his old mainstay, so much so that he yanked the public-facing parts of the Republican National Convention from North Carolina, casting doubt on millions of dollars of commitments and more than a year of planning. Now the boring business of the convention will remain in Charlotte, but the celebratory aspects will shift to a to-be-determined city that will allow Trump to put on the show he desires. While Trump has demanded that the campaign prepare to schedule rallies as soon as the summer, aides have cautioned that it could be risky to fill an arena... creating the potential for negative news stories if the virus were found to have spread at a campaign event. And that is if they could even persuade the requisite crowds to gather before there is a vaccine.
The shipwrecked mariner had spent several years on a deserted island. Then one morning he was thrilled to see a ship offshore and a smaller vessel pulling out toward him. When the boat grounded on the beach, the officer in charge handed the marooned sailor a bundle of newspapers and told him, "The captain said to read through these and let us know if you still want to be rescued."
Today's guest is a retired American actress and voice actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom "Happy Days," on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Her memoir, My Days: Happy and Otherwise is the 127th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Please welcome to the Phile... Marion Ross.
Marion: I'm great, and it's great to be talking to you.
Me: So, your memoir My Days: Happy and Otherwise is the 127th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. So, after all these years why did you decide then in 2018 when the book came out to share your story?
Marion: I didn't decide this at all. Jason, it was not my idea. My son, Jim Meskimen, who is a wonderful actor came to me with this writer named David Laurell and said, "Come on, mother, David is going to write you your book. You're going to talk to him." I said, "No. No, no, no. I'm not going to do that." So the next thing I know they made it so easy and they got me talking, even recorded me. When anybody wants to write their life story that really is the way to do it. Because otherwise you're not going to sit down and do that. We're not writers, but we're all talkers. By the way, you need to interview my son Jim.
Me: So, what made you decide to become an actress?
Marion: I think because of my brother who is only 16 months younger than me was a crippled boy and I was a little, little girl and a middle child. Are you a middle child?
Me: Nope. I am the oldest of three.
Marion: Well, sometimes a middle child has a lot of drive inside because we don't get a lot of attention. Because I had a crippled brother I really had to step back because all the attention went to him. So I think that's what age me such a drive.
Me: Didn't your brother become an actor as well?
Marion: He did become an actor and he did very nicely. He made good use of the fact he had a bad leg. By the time he reached adolescence the bone there was not good and they said they were going to take the lower part of his leg off at the knee. So he had to go through all of that but he made good use of it as an actor. He would carry a wooden leg in his trunk. One time the police pulled him over and said, "Get out of the car." He said, "Well, first I have to go get my leg." He had a lot of fun with that leg. You could tell that I had good parents. I can handle all these difficulties. My mother was a Canadian. I always say my mother was an immigrant, an Irish-Canadian from Saskatchewan but I was raised that I can be anything. I can be whatever I dream of. Were you raised that way?
Me: Yeah, my parents were cool.
Marion: That's good because some people are told the opposite that they wouldn't amount to anything.
Me: Yeah, that's not good. So, when you first went to Hollywood what was it like?
Marion: Oh, I was a starlet. This was at the Paramount Studio. At that time, this was in 1952, it was so long ago but at that time everything was shot in Hollywood. Now everything is shot in location somewhere. The studios are not empty but used by television series and so forth. But at that time at Paramount when I went into that commissary C.B. DeMille was there, all the big movie stars were there. James Mason was there, Marlene Dietrich would come swooshing in, Ginger Rogers, it was thrilling because everything was happening on that lot. They would hire a bunch of young hopefuls, we were under contract and we were called "The Golden Circle." We would have this seven year contract, odd but it had options every six months they had the option to drop us.
Me: Ms. Marion, you were a knock out. I have to show this picture of you back then...
Me: So, how long did you last?
Marion: I lasted a year. And I was "whew!" I was glad to get out of there when I did because it was pretty fast company for me. I was a college graduate from San Diego State College and I was a big drama major and I've done all the plays in San Diego but going up to Hollywood was pretty swift competition.
Me: Do you fit in with that scene, Ms. Marion?
Marion: No, I was very well brought up and had very high morals. One man said to me, "Come on, I can take you around to parties and Vegas. I can help you. You can meet everybody." I said, "I'm married." Because I had run off and eloped in my last year in college. So I said, "I can't do things like that." I said, "You have no character. I'm married, I can't do things like that." So you can see I wasn't going to give in very fast.
Me: That was way before the MeToo movement. Did you see a lot of situations like that?
Marion: It always is, there's a lot of hungry people coming to Hollywood and they want to be somebody. They're willing to do an awful lot of things.
Me: So having morals do you think it worked out for you in the long run? I think so.
Marion: Do you think I'd become Mrs. C if I acted like that? I was 50-years-old by the time I became Mrs. C. I'm glad my stardom, in those sense stardom, came when I was 50. That was comfortable.
Me: So, what's the story where you were pregnant and had to go into a submarine but you didn't want to?
Marion: I was doing Operation: Petticoat and we were on location in the Florida Keys. We had this submarine and I'm sitting on top of this submarine and Carey Grant came up and sat down besides me and I was playing this Navy nurse and I said, "I don't think I should go down in the submarine because I'm two months pregnant." He said, "You are?" And he started to cry. Carey Grant and I, we had this beautiful moment.
Me: That's a cool story. Was "Happy Days" your first comedic role?
Marion: Yes, that's true. I was the fair maiden in "The Lone Ranger," and I got to say, "Who was that masked man?" LOL. I never got to thank him.
Me: What other shows were you in, Ms. Marion?
Marion: "The Outer Limits," "Mike Hammer," "Perry Mason," "Ironside." And I was in the movie The Glenn Miller Story. That was really a long tome ago. I was with Jimmy Stewart and June Allyson.
Me: I bet you have some cool stories other famous people you met back then, right?
Marion: Yes, I have to tell you one day at lunch working on The Glenn Miller Story there was no other actor in my category so I had to go have lunch alone. I went down to Century 20th Fox, into the big commissary and sitting at the counter was Louis Armstrong, Cosy Cole, Barney Bigard and all these black musicians in Louis Armstrong's band. So I hung out with them. Can you believe that? I got to know Louis Armstrong. He was very nice to me.
Me: A lot of TV shows were also filmed live on stage, did you do any of those?
Marion: Yes, it was fun. Early on I did a lot of live drama at CBS. I was in "Life With Father" with Leon Ames and Lurene Tuttle and we did that live. We had an audience out there and a lot of times we just stumbled over our words. We couldn't think of a line so we just had to barrel through it and get through it. Because I was stage trained you see, I could do that. Now a lot of actors are not stage trained and so I do recommend please, please start on the stage.
Me: And didn't you do something with Noël Coward?
Marion: Yes, they said," Would you be able to come over to Humphrey Bogart's house and we're going to have a little read through with the script because Mr. Coward has to see you and has to meet you first." "Ah ah ah... okay." So I got into Beverly Hills and the butler says to me, "What would you like to drink?" I was like 25 and a nondrinker so I said, "Scotch and water." LOL. That was some experience I have to tell you. Claudette Colbert played one of the wives and Lauren Bacall was wonderful and Humprehy Bogart wasn't even in it. He was just there and said, "Oh, thank God, I don't have to read today." Everybody was so nervous. It's been a thrilling career.
Me: So, is it true you wore red dresses in all your auditions?
Marion: Yes, I tried to, I tried to stand out and I thought what shall I do? I was very ambitious. The other thing I did was it occurred to me it was all about publicity. We used to read the trades, I don't know if they have the trades anymore. It was called Variety in Hollywood. To get a press agent was a smart move.
Me: Why was that?
Marion: Because it was about selling a product and I was a product. I'm so proud I was smart enough to figure that out early on. It is about merchandising. They assumed I had talent, they assumed I was marketable. But having a press agent, as well as an agent I treated it like a business. Because of that I made it last all these years. Because I'm now 91 and I am retired.
Me: You might be the oldest person I ever had on the Phile, Ms. Marion. You look so good for being over 90 though, I have to say. So, how did you get the role as Mrs. Cunningham in "Happy Days"?
Marion: We get into these bad patches and I was in a bad patch and I wasn't even 50 yet. I thought, "Oh my God." So I went to George Seaton, because I have done another picture with him and I was friends with everybody and I went to him and said, "I want to be in your movie because I'm getting a divorce." He said, "What do you want? A short part or a long part?" I said, "A loooonnnngggg part." I was just one of the passengers on the plane in Airport. I didn't even have lines. I sat two rows in front of Helen Hayes. But because I did that movie, and my friends said, "How did you do that part? How did you do that? It's such a step backwards." I said, "I have to." Because of that I met Sandra Gould who was doing the movie just for the fun of it. I cried every day and she had me over for dinner and she invited this casting woman from Paramount and the woman said, "You'd be good for the mother of Richie on this pilot we're doing called 'Love and Happy Days.'" If I hadn't stepped way back and ate crow I would not have met Sandra Gould and she wouldn't have me come for dinner and I wouldn't have gotten "Happy Days." So it's kind of a lesson, some days you have to back up waaayyyy back and it hurts but you do it.
Me: That's crazy. So, in the pilot you had another "husband," right?
Marion: Yes, Sandra's husband, Harold Gould was the first "husband." He was a really nice man but they wanted Tom Bosley. But Tom was busy on some other movie or something.
Me: And the first pilot wasn't picked up, right?
Marion: They made the pilot, but they didn't pick us up then I went down to San Diego to do a play, I was doing Summer and Smoke and I got a phone call, "You know that pilot you made? That sold, that 'Happy Days' thing. Come home immediately. Get out of that play." So I did.
Me: So, why and how did the show get sold?
Marion: Ron Howard really scored with American Graffiti and then what happened they hired this actor to play this motorcycle guy and the Fonz was created. Henry Winkler walked off that show in his pocket, right?
Me: Hahaha. Yeah. What did you think of him then?
Marion: A nice Jewish boy playing an Italian tough guy. But half the company was Jewish I think. Ron Howard and I weren't either and Garry Marshall was Italian and everybody else was Jewish. Oh, little Erin Moran was Irish. But we made a good family, I'll tell you that.
Me: I used to have a big crush on Erin Moran and was sad she passed. Also I have to mention you are the second cast member of "Happy Days" I interviewed. I had Anson Williams on the Phile before. So, I have to ask, what's the deal with Chuck? Hahahaha.
Marion: Two actors played my oldest son and he was written off. Actually one time we actually had three different sons. Tom Bosley would have lines like, "If you go up to the attic and see Chuck..." LOL.
Me: So, did you and Tom act like a real married couple?
Marion: No. At first Tom didn't like me at all. Everybody always liked me so God, this was hard for me. It was really hard for me. So I had to go to a shrink to help me. Then eventually Tom learned to like me. And I of course learned to like him.
Me: So, why didn't he like you?
Marion: He had just come from Broadway and he was a Chicago boy and he was a pretty big star. He had somebody else in mind to play his wife. So he got stuck with me and we became very, very close through the years. Tom would say, "Don't touch me." And I'd say, "Okay."
Me: Are you surprised Ron has become such a fantastic director?
Marion: No, we all knew that he wanted to be a director. We wanted him to do well but my gosh, to become top of the heap. We're tremendously proud of him.
Me: So, you mentioned I should interview your son Jim. What has he done?
Marion: He played George Washington in a Geico commercial.
Me: Okay, I'll definitely interview him then. Haha. Marion, thanks so much for being on the Phile. Please come back again, and tell Jim I'll have him on the Phile.
Marion: Thank you so much, my darling, bye bye.
That about does to for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Marion Ross for a sweet interview. What a lovely, nice lady. The Phile will be back tomorrow with actress Kerry Washington. Spread the word, not the turd... or the virus, or hatred. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye, Mask it or casket.
I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon
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