THE BOOK HOLLYWOOD DIDN'T WANT PUBLISHED

"THE GOSSIP COLUMNIST"

NOW AVAILABLE

Must be 18 years old. Rated "R" for expletives

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Retailers may order at INGRAM Book Distributors.
ISBN  978-0-615-37758-2
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Published by Studio "D" Publishing Company
WORLD WIDE DISTRIBUTION
 

Flying into Heathrow Airport was an adventure in itself. The plane had to circle for over an hour because of the fog and many planes were stacked up and circling, trying to land. I just "knew" the plane was going to crash. I couldn't see a damned thing out the window, just fog. I built up quite a sweat. But, suddenly we were going down and I could see land. I took a cab into the city and was taken to a bed and breakfast place, that was cheap, trying to save money. I left the states with the intention of leaving for good. I was tired of Nixon and his crusade against "adult" literature. Turns out he used expletive dialog in the Whitehouse too. I was tired of paying attorney fees and having to go to jail and post bond, after bond. I knew that adults should have the right to read or watch anything that they wanted to. I'm glad to see that is the case today, although it took thirty or more years to achieve this.

I took a cab to Picadilly Circus to compare it with Times Square. I felt that it was so small that it would fit in the corner of Times Square. When I would go to New York a few years later, Times Square didn't look as big as it had to me in 1957. Sometimes our memories play tricks on us. Leicester Square is where all the large theaters are and they are all lit up, like those movie Palaces in New York. But, the year I was there, was when they were having an energy crisis. They had notices in front of the theaters saying they would give out rain checks in the event the electricity would be shut off.

The streets were very narrow and large cars had a hard time trying to maneuver through them. There weren't too many large cars on the streets around Leicester Square. London had their girlie shows, of course. I always get "taken" in those places. I just wanted to see the strippers. But, then one sits down next to you, chats and then asks you to buy them a drink, which costs ten times as much as it should cost. I wasn't trying to get laid by a woman. I just wanted to watch the strippers.

There was a gay bar on Dean street, (I seem to have forgotten the name of it), but it was cold inside, due to the electrical shortage and no heat. I met a young male singer there, Roy Tierney, whom they all called Tiffany, and he had a hit record of Sam Cooke's "Cupid." Tiffany and his boyfriend showed me the bar scene in London. At that time the Pubs would be open an hour or two, then close for a few hours, and you would have to go to another club, that might be open an hour or so, then they would close. You would go from Pub to Pub and then Club to Club. I think they sold more booze in an hour than they do all day in bars here. I heard that this has now changed and they stay open like the American bars. I also learned you "never" tip the bartenders. They feel offended when you do, but I always did anyway. I did have a date with a real cute hustler I met in the Dean street bar. He was a young male model. I still remember him today. My "only" trick on my European tour.

London's weather was a bit strange. It was around Christmas, no snow, but one time I was walking down the street and it was raining on one side of the street but not on the other side, where I was walking. The London fog was always there too. Frank was right, "a foggy day, in London town."

All the sandwiches in the restaurants were like the Subway sandwich shops here. They had something called a Whimpy Burger, that was supposed to be Kangaroo meat. It was terrible. The only American hamburger place was closed. That was the name of it too, American Hamburger Shop. This was before McDonald's and Burger King franchises were there.

I did go to see Danny LaRue, a famous female impersonator, at the Prince of Wales theater. There was a live animal act prior to his appearance, and they would make lions disappear on stage, like Siegfried and Roy. There were also a lot of mini-theaters. You would take an elevator to a small screening room, with a screen about as large as our home theaters we have here today. I went to a couple but don't recall what I saw.

The bed and breakfast place was terrible too. My window wouldn't close all the way, and it was freezing. I never ate breakfast, even though it had been included in the rate. The plumbing pipes were outside of the buildings and they would always freeze up. The toilets were flushed from an overhead bowl, by pulling a chain. I phoned actor, Alain Delon's manager, George Beaume, to see if Alain could use an American secretary. George said he sure could, so I flew to Paris.

(link:the-gossip-columnist-29.blogspot.com) Paris (Alain Delon), Berlin, Hong-Kong, San Francisco