Fay McKenzie Autograph

Yesterday, while digging through my bedroom closet looking for something, I came across some large mailing envelopes of portrait photos of my parents and daughter along with some celebrity autographed photos.

One of them was a mailing envelope from actress Fay McKenzie. I didn't immediately remember how or why she sent it to me. The date of the mailing envelope was from 2010. Then it came to me. Her son Tom Waldman was one of my co-workers in Malibu and he arranged for her to send the autograph. Tom is an actor as well.

She starred in 1940s westerns with the likes of Gene Autry. She was in The Party (1968) with Peter Sellers, one of the funniest movies ever made.

According to Wikipedia:

Eunice Fay McKenzie was an American actress and singer. She starred in silent films as a child, and then sound films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles opposite Gene Autry in the early 1940s in five horse opera features.   She was also known for her collaborations with director Blake Edwards on five occasions. 

She also appeared on Broadway, radio, and television, having appeared on screen at ten weeks old in 1918. She was still appearing on screen at the time of her death, with her latest project opposite her son Tom Waldman Jr. in the comedy Kill a Better Mousetrap, based on a play by Scott K. Ratner, filmed in the summer of 2018 and not yet released at the time of her death. She was briefly billed as Fay Shannon.

She passed away on April 16, 2019. She was 101.

First Week In July

The week is ending on a financial high note for me.

First, copies of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan made it to G-FEST XVII and are selling. See report. I had to FedEx them to Chicago as Kevin Ratliff of Monsterland Toys had to depart for Chicago before the original shipment arrived at his home in Kentucky.

Secondly, I've new claim assignments in my adjuster job that were assigned to me yesterday. Those will keep me happily busy.

Those, plus my "parachute" job of patrolling "the wilds of Malibu" are keeping me afloat. (Malibu had a spectacular sunset last evening, too bad I didn't have my camera with me.)

My daughter Amber's car (she calls "Sergio") sprung a cooling system leak that cost $500 to repair. She and I split the cost, but I had to dip into the funds I was holding for Nebraska property taxes that are due in September. Drat!

So far, the summer has been relatively mild temperature-wise. I have to put on a jacket in Malibu about an hour or two after the sun sets and the San Fernando Valley has also seen milder-than-usual (for summer) temperatures. I haven't had the need to turn on the air conditioner, which saves me money on the electric bill.

Finally, you may be wondering who the lady in the autographed photo is. She's Fay McKenzie, who starred in westerns during the 1940s, many with Gene Autry. She also appeared as the upset movie producer's wife in the Peter Sellers classic comedy, The Party (1968). Her son Tom is one of my co-workers out in Malibu and he arranged to have his mom send me an autographed photo. The end of my shift in Malibu is very enjoyable as Tom comes on duty at 11:00 PM and we talk about Hollywood before I head for home. He's got hundreds of stories to tell, most of which are hilarious.

I told Tom that he must be adopted as his mom was so pretty in her starlet years. He got a good laugh out that one. She's now in her 90s, but is doing very well. Tom says she's in better shape than he is, and he's pushing 60. He's also an actor, but has to work security to make ends meet. Acting jobs are hard to come by due to the economy and the studios have cut back.

One of our co-workers looked at the picture and asked, "Which one's your mom?" Yes, I work with a bunch of comedians.

That's it for the week. I should have more weeks like this.

The Party (1968)

One of the funniest movies ever made was 1968's The Party, starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. It was directed by Blake Edwards.

Sellers plays a bumbling Indian movie extra, Hrundi V. Bakshi, who accidentally blows up an expensive movie set. When the executive producer, Fred Clutterbuck, is told of the incident, he gives the order to have Bakshi fired, but writes Bakshi's name on the guest list for a party he's going to throw at his swank Beverly Hills mansion.

As one can imagine, Bakshi attends the party and proceeds to make an enormous mess of it.

The Party was purportedly Elvis Presley's favorite movie.

One of the players in The Party was Fay McKenzie, who plays the producer's wife. She spends much of her time falling into the mansion's swimming pool. One of my co-workers is Fay McKenzie's son. I knew she was in many westerns in the 1930s and 1940s, some with Gene Autry, but I found out last night that she was the party's hostess, Alice Clutterbuck. Her encounter with an elephant is hilarious.

Above, an upset Alice Clutterbuck (Fay McKenzie) after falling into the pool.

If you've never seen The Party and want (or need) a good laugh, go out and get the DVD!

My grade: A+