Goodbye Omar, King of Melancholy

Egypt's greatest gift to the world is dead, and the world mourns this magnificent actor whose soulful brown eyes are simply unforgettable.  That he achieved immortality with Doctor Zhivago is without question.  It was a perfect union of actor and role and he made it his own for eternity.  He was not only an exquisite actor, he was a star.  The price of glory didn't come easy and he lost his home and bearings in the process, never been able to regain the stability and direction he once had with his first and only wife in the turbulent years that followed their divorce.  Years during which he tried his hand at many things, acting, gambling, horse racing and embracing the gypsy lifestyle from luxurious hotel to hotel (and with his looks and allure no doubt) from spellbound lady to lady.  Yet there was always a touch of melancholy in those searching brown eyes, a look that's most visible in Doctor Zhivago of course, but also with Funny Girl and other performances.

He was already a big star in Egypt before he was discovered by the rest of the world in Lawrence of Arabia, so Egypt's loss was our gain.  Rest in peace Omar and thanks for the memories.

Adieux Louis

Louis Jourdan est mort et ce ne est pas possible.  Je le adorais et je l'adore toujours.

He was dashing and handsome, distinguished and gorgeous, with an innate elegance, class and charm that Hollywood exploited beautifully.  He was the answer to a maiden's dreams and I'm sure he set many hearts afire during his lifetime, yet this prince of love in every way, was faithful to one woman and one woman only.  How lucky can a girl get?  The love of his life died last year and he followed shortly thereafter.  

He made many movies but "Gigi" will always be my personal favorite.  That he chose Valentine's Day to make his final exit doesn't seem ironic but fitting.

Repose en paix Louis, a cote de votre amour et merci pour les splendides souvenirs.

Hold your head high Brian

Impossibly handsome and sexy, personable and gifted, you didn't know you engendered such secret animosity, envy and profound resentment, did you?  Well you found out, alright.  You remind me of the character in Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "Everything came too easily to him," because that's how people saw you, except you paid your dues, but people who resented your success didn't know that, did they?  They only saw the big bucks you made anchoring that chair and didn't see any of the pressures you were under.  To maintain your status as "Numero Uno" you had to keep rolling them in, wearing different hats and who can blame you if in the process of so many talk shows, a little fiction became blurred with reality?  An apology should have been sufficient but the uproar wouldn't end till you were mocked, humiliated and punished.  Well they extracted blood and still they're not satisfied.  Don't let them get you down.  You deserve your success because you were a star.  Many others can do the job but there are very few that shine in the role the way you did.  You remind me a lot of Jessica Savitch, another ill fated star who commanded that chair the way you did because when she was there, we couldn't see anything else.  I don't know if you'll come back when your banishment is over, I don't know if you'll want to.  But whatever you do, I wish you lots of luck.

MAKING LIGHT OF EBOLA

Two nurses got infected even though they had protective equipment, an NBC camera man got infected and now two doctors who returned from the Ebola affected zones got infected.  A nurse from Spain who returned from West Africa got infected in Spain, and in a panic even her beloved dog was destroyed.  And now nightmare of nightmares the last one to contract the virus was a doctor who rode the subways, played bowling and went about his business completely happy and undisturbed.  But listen public, do not panic and don't worry be happy; that seems to be the singsong they are feeding us.  "Don't worry be happy."  Really?  In a dense, overpopulated city like New York?  In those subways where all the time now we ride like sardines from dawn to dusk?  Tell that to the unfortunate cab driver who took the doctor to his destination.  Tell that to the hapless, innocent people who rode the subways with the doctor.  Tell that to the dry cleaning man who must be terrified.  Tell that to the waiter or waitress that served him in a restaurant.  Yet no matter what happens or how many more people fall victim to this often deadly, terrifying disease, we are told not to worry, that it can only be contacted through bodily fluids.  Really?  The truth is that we don't know everything and we are a reactive government rather than a preventive government.  If doctors without borders want to risk their lives caring for those unfortunate souls in West Africa, they should be quarantined upon returning to America and come back in special, private planes, the rest of the population there should not be allowed in this country till Ebola is eradicated and there is a vaccine.  That would be the logical, self protective, life saving thing to do; but  no, we're sitting ducks here with no protection whatsoever.  Taking the temperature of people arriving in America is a joke.  How South Africa who banned all flights from West Africa must be laughing at us now.  They haven't had one case yet because they have made sure that they wouldn't.  . But we're full of ridiculous excuses such as "They will only find a different way to get here."  Really?  How does South Africa control that?  The hard truth is that we don't want to instill measures that will work, period, end of conversation.  We're too busy worrying about others to care about our own population, to say nothing of our economy.  But listen people, "Don't worry be happy."  The world is going to hell, with ISIS, with home grown terrorism, with different groups of terrorists competing for attention and everything else, but we should continue plugging along.  And that phony stock market should continue rising because the feds left everyone else without a penny of interest permanently so there is nowhere else to go if you happen to have a little money saved.  Yet out of all those threats, Ebola is by far now, the deadliest of them all. But nothing is going to be done about it so once again, "Don't worry be happy."

Farewell to Lauren Bacall

I think this is how most people will remember her.  Her haughty, insolent beauty and gravel voice had a unique presence and authority and also exhibited a keen intelligence and fortitude that served her very well throughout her life.  She enjoyed success, passionate romances and marriages, and a rather nice long life.  That also makes her a very lucky lady.  My favorite movie of her is still "How to Marry a Millionaire," because I think her character Schatze was in many ways similar to her own character in real life.  I think she was a brainy, strong, passionate and determined beauty who commanded respect and always got what she wanted.  Have a good journey Lauren.  I saw you in person in Applause and you were terrific.

HOMAGE TO A FALLEN HERO

After having been previously captured and held for six weeks in Libya, he knew, oh so well, the risks he was taking, yet his love of journalism was such, it compelled him to go back to the most dangerous places in the world, and this time it was Syria.  And after the horrible images posted everywhere by the monsters who assassinated him,we all know what his tragic fate ultimately was.  We know how he was singled out and for special torment daily for two years.  His courage and determination to stay true to himself, his faith in God and prayer brought out the sadism in his captors and they took turns torturing him.  This time he had encountered true evil and he lived with that knowledge every second of those last two years.  Did he regret his choices?  Did he wish daily for the nightmare to end?  Or knowing that regrets and lamentations were a waste of time and energy, did he retreat into a hidden corner of his soul that was left untouched by physical and emotional pain?  I think he did.  I think we saw that in that horrific video.  We saw a man unafraid, unbroken and ready to die.  This is his victory over evil and this is the lesson for all of us.  Let's not be haunted by what happened to him, let's learn from it as we encounter the storms and trials of our lives.

THE DAY THE LAUGHTER DIED - A SHOCKING ENDING TO A FABULOUS LIFE

Beyond the accolades, material compensations, adulation and recognition of his undeniable comedic genius, this was a man who suffered.  His tragic ending brings to mind the following poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson:

"Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,
We people on the pavement looked at him,
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked,
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good Morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes richer than a king -
And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fine we thought he was everything
To make us wish we were in his place

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night
Went home and put a bullet through his head.