PINKY AND ME

Meadowbrook again.....Pinky Lee (remember him?)  Nice man.  As the "Technical Assistant" on this show, one of my duties was to drive him (and usually his wife) to rehearsals....(They always were supplied a limo during the run.)  I picked them up regularly during this period at the Beverly Hotel on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan and drove them into the "wilds" of  New Jersey.  During the trip, they were always very talkative and inquisitive about me. (He may have been impressed that I knew he had been in "Lady of Burlesque" with Barbara Stanwyck which was based on a Gypsy Rose Lee 1941 novel called "The G-String Murders.")


There is not much to tell about the Meadowbrook production.  We did have a swimming pool/tank at one end of the stage which was a requirement for this look at "summer camp" and Pinky was very funny as the camp counselor, incorporating some of his "vaudeville shtick" into the script.

Pinky thanked me at the end of the run for all my help and presented me with a gift.  A ring.  With the letter L, written in cursive "rhinestones" and surrounded by "garnets."

He was quick to inform me that it was my first initial.   L for LaRue.   .I am being kind, however, it was a very gaudy piece of jewelry and one I've lost over the years.  But hey, it's the thought that counts.  Perhaps that is why it only occurred to me weeks later that it may well have been a re-gift with the L standing for his last initial...Lee.  I must add that it also occurred to me that this gentle man wanted to do something for me and I treasure that.  He was one of the best human beings I ever came across.





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