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.

Platrix No. 2, Gene Autry and Anaheim Stadium

Above, newly-initiated member of Platrix Chapter No. 2 Gene Autry
attends the plaque dedication at Anaheim Stadium. Photo by Paul Evans.

Back in August 1985, Platrix Chapter No. 2, E Clampus Vitus had the honor of inducting into the order Gene Autry, the singing cowboy and then-owner of the California Angels.

Above, Gene Autry and Platrix Chapter No. 2 at the plaque dedication. Photo by Paul Evans.

The initiation rites were held in private in Autry's office. Following that, Platrix Chapter No. 2 dedicated a plaque at the stadium with our new member in attendance.

Above, the clamper parade on the field of Anaheim Stadium. Photo by Paul Evans.

The chapter had its own section of seats to watch the ballgame. But before the game, we had a clamper parade on the stadium field.

Above, the clamper parade. Photo by Paul Evans.

A fun day was had by all!

Satisfactory!

Enjoying It Again

Since the 1994 Major League Baseball strike, I have paid scant attention to the game.

I practically lived at Dodger Stadium (and, on occasion Anaheim Stadium) since the late 1970s by attending at least one game during every Dodger homestand. I have followed the Dodgers since I was a kid.

Above, enjoying Game 2 of the World Series.

I have been on the fields of Dodger Stadium and Anaheim Stadium. I participated in a flag ceremony at Dodger Stadium while in the Cub Scouts between games during a (circa 1963) double-header and a ceremonial parade at Anaheim Stadium with Platrix Chapter of E Clampus Vitus (we inducted then-Angels owner Gene Autry into ECV that day).

The baseball strike effectively killed my enthusiasm. The first Dodger game I attended since 1994 was two years ago. It was a shock to see how much things changed at Dodger Stadium and the prices for tickets. What used to cost $6.00 for a reserved seat (blue level), now cost $42.00. How in the world can a family afford to attend a baseball game with any regularity anymore? It boggles the mind.

Well, since the Los Angeles Dodgers made it to the World Series this year, the old enthusiasm is starting to come back. I have watched each game of the World Series and am enjoying them tremendously.

Even though the Dodgers lost to the Astros last night (13 to 12 in ten innings) in a wild game, I had a great time. The old anxiety (in a fun way) has returned.

Christine Nguyen, A Real Sweetheart!

Photo courtesy of Christine Nguyen.

A funny thing happened the other night.

I was about an hour and a half away from going off-duty in my "parachute" job as a security patrol officer when I stopped at the guard shack at one of the gated communities I patrol in Malibu.

Inside, the guard had on television the Poorman's Bikini Beach show. The show was about ten minutes away from ending and they played a teaser (just before a commercial break) of their hotline segment with a panel of three bikini-clad lovelies who would answer callers' questions. One of them was very familiar to me, but I wasn't sure as the teaser whisked by.

After the commercial break, segment came on and one of the panelists was Christine Nguyen! Hot damn! (Ahem.) It truly is a small world.

I told the guard of Christine and he was very impressed with her. He hadn't heard of her before, and he comes from a show-biz family (his uncle was comedian Billy Gilbert from the Hal Roach Laurel & Hardy comedies (see "The Music Box" or "County Hospital") and his mother acted in many Gene Autry westerns) He also has acted and is a card-carrying SAG member. I sent Christine a text message telling her that we just saw her on the show.

Minutes later (around midnight) she text her thanks. Tom, the guard I was with, speculated that she may have been up watching too.

The next day, I followed up by telling Christine the circumstances on how we happened to see her on the show. I won't post what she said in our exchanges (at one point she did say I made her "blush"), but Christine is one real sweet lady! (I knew this before, as she was the first to send me a condolence message the morning of my mother's passing.)

It is Christine's natural sweetness and humor that comes through in her acting and model work. One cannot avoid being drawn to her. That shouldn't be too difficult to understand: she's an Aquarius! Christine and I both were born on February 4.

Besides being a fan, it is an honor for me to also be a friend of Christine Nguyen. She's a real sweetheart!