An Opinion On Stardom - And A Great Movie
I am going to start this post by asking two questions. I don't know if there is an answer to.
First question - What do you after you become a "star" and then you get old and the stardom goes away?
Question two - Would it be better if you never became a star but were still able to make a living doing what you love doing?
Both are interesting show business questions that I have no answer to. I ask the first question because it came about after watching a great movie starring Jack Lemon, James Garner and Dan Aykroyd and also featuring the great Lauren Bacall. This comedy movie is called "My Fellow Americans" and it is a riot. It is not a kids movie because the kids won't get the political humor that is well written in the script. And because of all the election news at this time it is a great time to watch this kind of a movie.
Getting to the part played by Jack Lemon a "past" President who goes around the country making speeches for grand openings for different business. Dancing with the business mascot a person in the costume of a Panda Bear. Writing several books and doing show business things to make money.
During the film close to the end the ex-President (Played by Jack Lemon) said something like that he did all that stuff so people don't forget him. And he did all that stuff in hope that it would give him the feeling of the importance and the attention from people that he had when he was the President when he was in the spotlight.
I liked that a lot because it reminded me of many of the show business people I have met that are gone now that were "vaudeville stars" and when I met them they were "older" and the attention had moved away from them to newer younger things.
I have known people like Jack Gwynne - who knew Houdini, invented the sword Temple of Angee and the flip over vanish box. He was a star in vaudeville headline night club act. Jack Gwynne was the feature magician that performed on the ABC "Super Circus" show. When he got older he did school shows and birthday parties for audiences that had no idea who he was and how big of a star he was in vaudeville and in the night clubs.
In my Dads case he was almost a star and did a lot of television during the years that television was just becoming popular. In my opinion he could have continued his success and made it very big in show business. But that would have involved travel - and his choice was work local and not to leave his family. And of course that is the root of question two.
But getting back to question one. It seems that show business people and this includes movie actors and other personalities. It seems that when they are just breaking into the business and after they get older - or when a "star" is past their moment of popularity - many of them seem to have to do almost whatever comes along in show business in order to make a living. When a movie actor gets older - the good parts are not offered to them as often.
At times it seems a really hard way to go through life - even when the rewards can be great!
Just my opinion.
Onward and upward!
First question - What do you after you become a "star" and then you get old and the stardom goes away?
Question two - Would it be better if you never became a star but were still able to make a living doing what you love doing?
Both are interesting show business questions that I have no answer to. I ask the first question because it came about after watching a great movie starring Jack Lemon, James Garner and Dan Aykroyd and also featuring the great Lauren Bacall. This comedy movie is called "My Fellow Americans" and it is a riot. It is not a kids movie because the kids won't get the political humor that is well written in the script. And because of all the election news at this time it is a great time to watch this kind of a movie.
Getting to the part played by Jack Lemon a "past" President who goes around the country making speeches for grand openings for different business. Dancing with the business mascot a person in the costume of a Panda Bear. Writing several books and doing show business things to make money.
During the film close to the end the ex-President (Played by Jack Lemon) said something like that he did all that stuff so people don't forget him. And he did all that stuff in hope that it would give him the feeling of the importance and the attention from people that he had when he was the President when he was in the spotlight.
I liked that a lot because it reminded me of many of the show business people I have met that are gone now that were "vaudeville stars" and when I met them they were "older" and the attention had moved away from them to newer younger things.
I have known people like Jack Gwynne - who knew Houdini, invented the sword Temple of Angee and the flip over vanish box. He was a star in vaudeville headline night club act. Jack Gwynne was the feature magician that performed on the ABC "Super Circus" show. When he got older he did school shows and birthday parties for audiences that had no idea who he was and how big of a star he was in vaudeville and in the night clubs.
In my Dads case he was almost a star and did a lot of television during the years that television was just becoming popular. In my opinion he could have continued his success and made it very big in show business. But that would have involved travel - and his choice was work local and not to leave his family. And of course that is the root of question two.
But getting back to question one. It seems that show business people and this includes movie actors and other personalities. It seems that when they are just breaking into the business and after they get older - or when a "star" is past their moment of popularity - many of them seem to have to do almost whatever comes along in show business in order to make a living. When a movie actor gets older - the good parts are not offered to them as often.
At times it seems a really hard way to go through life - even when the rewards can be great!
Just my opinion.
Onward and upward!
Labels: A Few Things I have Learned
posted by Glenn Bishop "Bish The Magish" at 7:21 AM
2 Comments:
Glenn: My friend Jim West is 84 and played in The Dick Lane Quartet in the late 50's through 1961. He played alongside Sarah Vaughn, the Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald and loved it. But he left the Vegas scene to start a family. He reinvented himself as a voiceover artist and took over a jingle business he later sold to Disney. Today he still narrates books for Disney Malaysia.
Rick Springfield hit it big in 1973, then at 25 the career died for 9 years before he hit it big again. He took a break in 1985 for about 5 years but came back reinvented from a pop star to a serious rock star still touring at 58. So, for me the answer is "reinvent".
Hey Michael,
Your answer to "reinvent" I think it would be an answer Houdini would agree with.
Thanks for stopping by.
Glenn Bishop
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