Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe
In case you haven’t heard the tremendously moving story about how Marilyn Monroe “stepped in” to help change the fortunes of Ella Fitzgerald, who – due to her race – was not allowed to sing in certain nightclubs, here it is.
And here’s Ella’s words about it:
I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt. She personally called the owner of the Mocambo, and told him she wanted me booked immediately, and if he would do it, she would take a front table every night. She told him – and it was true, due to Marilyn’s superstar status – that the press would go wild. The owner said yes, and Marilyn was there, front table, every night. The press went overboard. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again. She was an unusual woman – a little ahead of her time. And she didn’t know it.
As the saying goes, Game recognize game.
//game recognizes game//,
Love that. Must remember that phrase and the story
I stole the phrase from my friend Felicia – although since she said it, I’ve heard it elsewhere. It’s one of the inspirations for this Dynamic Duo thing I’ve started doing – one of my favorite things is artists’ appreciating one another, bolstering one another up, standing up for the work of another.
Generosity is more the name of the game with artists than petty careerism although you wouldn’t know that from a lot of the cultural commentary.
This is one of my favorite stories of artistic appreciation – and making it your personal business to help another person. Those prestigious nightclubs were still segregated, although there were exceptions. Marilyn Monroe helped shatter that color line for Ella. Using her privilege for the ultimate good. I love her for that, and for so many other reasons.
Oh, what a gorgeous story!
Isn’t it wonderful?