September 14, 2006

Dean Martin appreciation day

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Peter Bogdonavich interviewed Dean Martin in the mid-60s. I love Bogdonavich. His whole essay on Dean Martin is really not to be missed, for Martin fans. There's SO MUCH in it - and this is just a taste.

In his portable MGM dressing room - a small moveable bungalow on the sound stage - Dean sat very politely with me and was quite forthcoming. He had been told that I was writing a piece on the state of Hollywood for Harper's Magazine (it ultimately went to Esquire), so I assume he thought of this interview as fairly weighty stuff, answering my questions with a kind of uncharacteristic earnestness and little kidding around. Which doesn't mean he was pretentious or less than candid. Since he had just done Bells Are Riging the year before, I asked if he would ever consider doing a musical on Broadway. He made a face. "'Doin' the same thing ev'ry night?" he asked rhetorically. "Jesus, how borin'." He shook his head once. "I wouldn't mind tryin' it for about three nights," he said, "but I'd sure as hell hate to be in a hit."

hahahahahahaha

Posted by sheila