In a brilliant bout of superb detective work, our own Cousin Barnabas has unearthed one of the Holy Grails of Grayson Hall fandom--one of Grayson's Blue Oyster Cult voiceovers.  The file is posted here:

http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2013/07/grayson-hall-vs-blue-oyster-cult.html

Hats off to Cousin B!  You're the best!

G.

Fans, this evening I went to the one remaining gay bookstore in the area to hear veteran gay author Felice Picano read from his new book.  Felice's 1970s diaries were excerpted about 20 years ago in a book entitled The Violet Quill Reader.  I remember what a surprise it was to learn that Joel Crothers was a good friend of Picano's (and, he revealed this evening, an occasional bedmate).  I wish I had had a tape recorder with me this evening so I could simply transcribe Felice's words verbatim, but this was the gist of what he said.

During the Q&A, I explained my surprise when Joel turned up in the diaries.  Felice said that Joel was an amazing man, not only because he was so handsome and gifted, but also, he was something of a super-intellect--he gave Joel's IQ and it was quite high (I can't recall the number Felice cited).  He said that one morning he woke up in bed next to Joel and suddenly was seized with an urge to strangle him (very DS, isn't it?) because they were chatting and Joel "simply knew EVERYTHING."    He also recalled helping Harvey Fierstein get the first production of "Torch Song Trilogy" (a play which won awards and subsequently became a film with Matthew Broderick) and persuading Joel to act in the original production (I believe at Off Broadway's La Mama theatre).

He said that Joel was so brilliant that he eventually became bored with everything.  Joel was a huge star in the 1970s and 1980s on his various soap operas and Felice witnessed Joel being mobbed by women after a taping one afternoon, all seeking his autograph.

He said that Joel's work on DS could be considered "real acting" because the last thing Joel ever was was a "boy next door" type.  He said that Joel came from "a family of over-achievers" and he was just following in the family tradition.

Despite Joel's brilliance, he was a very kind-hearted and loving man and was popular among his friends.  He had a certain physical attribute that made him highly sought after among gay men but his friends cherished Joel because he was just such a nice person to be with.

I found this conversation quite fascinating since I have never read anything about who Joel was as a person.  I hope you enjoy reading these notes.

Best, Gothick

Clarice Blackburn appears in this episode of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, "A Preview of Death."  I haven't had the chance to listen yet, but she is mentioned in the cast listing.

I always thought Clarice would be wonderful on radio so I am excited to hear this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWXOJMJOi3c

Best,

Gothick

Footage and dialogue from Grayson's role in the 1966 film Who are you, Polly Magoo? is woven into this music video from Cosmicolor, Magnifigue:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNgOZ6Pizqg

I love the shots of Grayson speaking French on the telephone and... well, really, ALL of it.

Off to collapse on my fainting couch,

G.

This is a fun compilation, particularly whenever Liz says "Oh Roger!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agR1r-qxbzc

And some great shots of 1966-67 Carolyn frugging at the Blue Whale...

G.

I finally purchased the current (January-March?) issue of Video Watchdog--if you have a Barnes and Noble store in your area, you may be able to see the mag there.  There's a big feature with Quentin Tarantino (noted DS fan) discussing his list of his 50 favorite sequels.  One of the more obscure titles is "Son of Monte Cristo" co-starring George Sanders and our very own Joan Bennett.  There's a great still in the article showing Joan and George playing a tense scene together.  It was a cool thing to see.

There has been correspondence in the past couple of issues concerning last Summer's roundtable feature on DS, and editor Tim Lucas has made known his interest in doing a follow-up roundtable at some point on aspects of the series not covered in the original feature.

The mag also includes a long review essay on the upgraded Universal "Blu Ray" releases of their classic horror films (including The Mummy, The Invisible Man, and The Bride of Frankenstein), and reviews of releases of two of my favorite horror films, Horror Express (1972) and The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967).  Unfortunately the latter review is for a Germany-only DVD release.

cheers, G.

Fans, a friend just pointed me towards David del Valle's current blog:

http://delvallearchives.blogspot.com/

If you scroll down, the current entry dated March 4 and a recent entry from February contain material of interest to DS fans.  March 4 is David's review of Barbara Steele's new indie film, The Butterfly Room, while if you scroll down a bit further you'll see a photo of David with Ms. Steele and, further still, a memorial tribute to Jonathan Frid with some personal memories from David.

Best, G.

Fans, a newish penpal has been asking me all sorts of questions about the original early 1970s DS films and Lyndhurst.  The latest question is about hauntings at Lyndhurst.  I remember Diana Millay talking about spending the night there and encountering some sort of phenomenon, but I only heard her saying something like "it happened and later, I'll tell you the story sometime."  I'm pretty sure that she did tell the story a number of times at various fan meetings, but I never got to hear it.

Does anybody have any info about Diana's specific experience, and the more general topic of hauntings at Lyndhurst?  Does anyone know if there is a video out there of Diana recounting her story?

Thanks, Goth Ick