Posts Tagged ‘Freddy Duke’
Friday, April 8th, 2016
I was living the life in Malibu. Beachfront. On the water. Waves crashing, lulling me to sleep. On the street side, the monotonous drone of Pacific Coast Highway was its own kind of white noise. Everything was good in the world.
My agents phoned about an interview. They always called auditions interviews. Some director in New York wanted to hear a recording of my voice reading the script for a commercial. No on-camera audition required. I was the only actor in Los Angeles requested, not that I knew this at the time.
I landed the job and took off for Miami, Florida. Filming would be in Coral Gables. At the hotel, I was met by “it” director Melvin Sokolsky, who gave me the warmest hug. Sokolsky had been an award-winning photographer who, at the age of twenty-one was invited to join the staff of Harper’s Bazaar. He also contributed to Vogue, Esquire, McCall’s & Newsweek. In 1969 he embarked on a new career in television commercials. He would eventually win 25 Clio Awards, the Oscar of the ad business. (more…)
Tags: Clairol commerical in the 1970s, Filming commercials in the 1970s, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Joe's Stone Crab, Malibu Beach, Melvin Sokolsky director and photographer, Travel to Miami and Coral Gables Florida, vintage Clairol commercial
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Monday, January 11th, 2016
Memories from when I lived in my first apartment — a beach cottage on the sand, just north of the Santa Monica Pier…
Cosmo, my beloved Siamese cat. Beach volleyball. Daily trips to Campos, on Pico, for taquitos. My surfer boyfriend decorating the courtyard cottage, all in red: red Persian rug, red picnic table. My must-have, wrought iron, decorative spiral staircase, adorned with ferns that I could not keep alive.
Dennis Schafer, the manager of the building, with his retro mustache. His incessant Sunday night listening, on a cranked-up radio, to Dr. Demento. And listening to Stan Freberg, too – so I told him I knew the family. Speaking of cranked up – my boyfriend playing his favorite record Suffragette City by David Bowie over and over and over again, standing by our record player to turn up the volume as it builds at just the right part towards the end of the brilliant song — and then the lyrics “Ohh wham bam, thank you, mam.”
The postman, who was also an actor, who lived two doors north. Bob Englund, the actor who lived next to the postman, then out-of-work. Ed Carter, who toured with The Beach Boys, living a few doors south. Jan Heininger actor from Michigan living in the same courtyard with his girlfriend Kerry — my doppleganger. His best friend Bruce Pearn. The Beverly High crew that moved into another bungalow, Alex Gamble and Jerry Smith. Their visitor, Steve, whose last name was the cigarette my mom smoked, and the first person I knew on Quaaludes – every single day. (more…)
Tags: 1973, beach cottage, Burnt Scallops recipe, Campos taquitos, Chez Puce crepes, David Bowie, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, hippie days, living on the beach, Memories of life in the 70s in L.A.
Posted in Recipes | 4 Comments »
Saturday, August 15th, 2015
When new electronics fell off a truck and into my father’s apartment (don’t ask) he would place a call. “Screwdriver, come over and set this shit up.”
I don’t know how Kevin, AKA Screwdriver — so named by my dad for his skills at setting up sound systems and things — found his way into Duke’s posse, but this young hip black dude became a full-fledged member of the team.
Some nights I might call and ask my dad what he was doing. Okay, most nights I made that call. I often crashed, the only chick allowed in an almost exclusively male-dominated club. The group consisted of ex-CBS president Bud Grant, a bigwig ornery PR guy (Sinatra’s and Michael Jackson’s) named Lee Solters, Screwdriver, my dad, his current “with,” and a few other hanger-ons. Did I hear you ask what a “with” is? Read here.
Everything in my life was freebie style. Free tickets to Disneyland. Comp’d seats at Broadway plays. Freebies to shows and hotels in Vegas.
And on one memorable night, Screwdriver hooked us up with the Greatest – and Hippest — Show on Earth: The Black Circus in South Central. This was not your Ringling Brothers, it was your Ringling Brotha. (more…)
Tags: African American circus, best crab cakes, Bestia Restaurant, fredde duke, Fredde Duke and children, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, hip hop happening, Kevin Barnes, maryland crab cakes, Maurice Duke, rap music, Santa Monica Yacht Club Restaurant, Son of a Gun Restaurant, the best circus ever, Universoul
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Tuesday, July 21st, 2015
I was in my head so much that I didn’t watch TV, never read. Playing with friends was distracting because I would rather be in my fantasy world. Who I pretended to be was a full time job. Let me introduce you to all the roles I played. It was exhausting being me.
I was Haley Mills in The Parent Trap.
I played tambourine and sometimes drums in my famous all-girl band – The Pink Pussycats. We wore pink Helanka turtlenecks, pink stretch pants and pink Courreges boots. We wore Mary Quant and Yardley makeup. Because of our sudden rise to fame, we did many glamorous magazine covers like Vogue and Seventeen.
I was all the characters in Peter Pan, my favorite being Tinkerbell. I would spend days hunting butterflies to collect the sticky stuff off their wings which would enable me to fly. This required leaving my house and the fantasy bubble I lived in.
As Shirley Temple, I sang The Good Ship Lollipop and tap-danced on the top of pianos. (more…)
Tags: Andy Warhol, Audrey Hepburn, Beverly Hills, daydreaming, Dudley Moore, Edie Sedgwick, Elizabeth Taylor, Fantasizing being famous, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Growing up in my head, Julie Christie, living in my head, Mick Jagger, turkey club sandwiches at hotels, Twiggy
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Wednesday, June 10th, 2015
Food borders on obsession with me. No, it doesn’t border on anything – I’m being coy. Food is my obsession. I’m not alone. I share this passion with many. One friend of mine — I call her The Scout — tries out restaurants immediately after reading reviews. Sometimes we sample them together.
Her recent find was a bomb and I came home like a cranky three-year-old who hadn’t been fed. I took one bite of their well-reviewed, raved-about-on-Yelp cheeseburger, and pushed it away. I couldn’t bear to tell the waiter how much I loathed it. Everything the restaurant served was just so rich, I want to rename the place Truffles and Gruyere. I have a few girlfriends who love overly rich food. They should go back to this new restaurant together, because I’m out.
Since I’m not the biggest meat-eater and ate only one bite of that particular cheeseburger, I am now out-of-control craving my favorite cheeseburger. Let me tell you about it. It is served three thousand miles away. No, I take that back. It used to be served. It was on this restaurant’s lunch menu, but now they are only open for dinner. If you call Prune, in the East Village in Manhattan, to ask about their famous cheeseburger, they refer you to an online recipe. As if. I’m not that handy in the kitchen and I prefer ordering my burgers, not preparing them. (more…)
Tags: Best Cheeseburger ever, English Muffin as bun for burger, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Prune Cheeseburger, restaurants in Los Angeles, Restaurants in New York
Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 18th, 2015
I was driving past my childhood home, my architectural symbol of security.
At the time, I didn’t own a house and had only purchased my first condo a year or so before. It was dark and depressing. Living in it was like living in Portland or Seattle – one of those places where it rains too much. I not only was sad, I had SAD. Seasonal Affective Disorder. It’s a condition that puts you in a bleak mood during the winter months when there isn’t enough sunlight. Only mine wasn’t seasonal. In this apartment, I had it all the time.
I’d just lost both my parents, a year apart. I shed so many tears while living in this condo I should have had flood insurance. But I really wanted to enjoy my first place with my first mortgage, even though the word mortgage was still so grown up and confusing. I hired the tile guy all my friends were using to hip the place up. Saltillo tiles. Trying to make it Spanish because this is the style I knew and loved, the style I grew up with. (more…)
Tags: chocolate pudding recipe, Evelyn Duke, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, getting even, growing up with divorced parents, Maurice Duke, men that didn't marry women, Mid Century Modern homes, parents, parents that remarried each other, Spanish homes, Spanish homes in Beverly Hills
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Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
I met him when I was 14 about to turn 15 at a place we all hung out in Roxbury Park called the teen center. Scooter soon became my personal chauffeur, my best friend and my biggest crush. Scooter was 16, about to turn 17 so on September 17th of that year, I organized a surprise party for him at his house. I don’t remember a thing about it but I imagine I made my signature onion dip, brought a bag of chips and a case of cokes and called it a party. I put the contents of the Lipton Onion soup mix into the sour cream container and stirred. I didn’t even put it in a bowl to serve. That’s how ghetto this party was. I do however remember the surprise party thrown for me just weeks later on October 12th. I thought I was organizing a surprise party – this one would be for Sol, another friend we shared from the teen center. My friend Diane and I planned a big bash at a rich chicks house on the other side of the tracks and all was going smoothly. All, except Scooter said he couldn’t be there that night. I was crushed. I lived for nights that included Scooter. He was adamant that he couldn’t change his plan. (more…)
Tags: Blue Plate Oysterette, coming of age stories, dying too young, eulogy for Paul "Scooter" Silverman, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, friends for life, friends from high school, Milos Greek restaurant in New York, RIP Paul "Scooter" Silverman, Santa Monica Seafood, Scooter from Beverly High
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Monday, January 5th, 2015
I’ve had two mothers-in-law. Neither were big fans of mine. One was the “I will not reveal my recipes to you” kind, and the other, many years ago, gave me the few recipes I still use. I think I’m kind of likeable, but maybe not if I’m married to your son? Moving on.
Cooking scares me. I’m just not that talented in the kitchen. I can dance. But I can’t follow steps. Cooking is all burners and timing and chopping and it’s something that has always overwhelmed me. So, here is what I am: a great guest. I’ll eat your food. I’ll tell you how great it tastes. I actually clap, applauding you when I’m sated.
I’m in awe of traditions that people have created. I dropped that ball. I’ve been divorced, and with blended families found it’s just not my thing. But I appreciate this quality in other people, and this Chanukah my husband and I were invited to our friends Chuck and Karen’s party.
You walked through the front door into the tantalizing aroma of potato pancakes. Like a bloodhound, I followed the scent till I was at the stove where two of my friends, now married 37 years, were hard at work. A tag team of latke makers, Richard was using a ladle to drop the round balls into burning oil. At his side, JoAnn, with a spatula, turned and removed them from the heat at just the right moment. I watched, mesmerized. I hugged them as they told me they have been dressed in aprons performing this act at Chuck and Karen’s holiday party for over thirty years. Impressive, the closeness of these longtime friends and the traditions they have built with their families. I flashed on JoAnn telling me how they all, with kids in tow, vacation together every year at the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna. I have great friends but we don’t do group vacations. (more…)
Tags: Beverly High, Blini's and caviar, Candlelighting ceremony, Chanukah, family traditions, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, friends for life, hiking, Latkes, mother -in-law giving recipes, mother- in-laws who don't give recipes, Poppy seed cake
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Tuesday, November 25th, 2014
I was sitting with my husband in our sorry little kitchen. It’s small. Totally old school with a swinging hinged door that closes you in. No modern open floor plan where the kitchen blends into the family room. I love our little 1700-square foot Spanish Bungalow, but I’m never sure it’s where he feels most at home — but that’s a whole other story that I may, or may not, get back to.
This night, I had thrown together a meal. I hate cooking. It’s not something I’m that great at. It’s always a struggle. And lately, I have gotten even lazier than the naturally lazy person I was when we had kids at home. So, I might make a “salad” of pre-washed lettuce that I throw in a bowl, and my husband will make fun of the little effort that went into it. I’ll serve it with a large potato that we share — and he will inform me that for now we can still afford two potatoes – though with retirement looming, we may soon have to cut back to one. (more…)
Tags: Braun coffee makers, coffeemakers, dinner's, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, living in New York or Los Angeles, marriages, mike barrie, retirement, small cozy home
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Thursday, October 2nd, 2014
I was supposed to see my friend Bob that weekend. He didn’t know it though. He would never know it because, as it turns out, the plane he was on flying from Los Angeles to San Diego, crashed. It was September 25, 1978 and Pacific Southwest Airlines first accident involving fatalities. Bob Levine would never know how deep the connection was that I felt with him. We were only casual friends.
I was in my twenties and had been visiting my mother at her house in Palm Springs. Anything for a quick weekend trip, I was always up for a vacation. I was with my lifelong friend, Diane. My mother nurtured us in the form of guacamole. No one made it better. Then we lay around in the sun, catching rays and vitamin D, even if I didn’t know it then. After our quick two-day getaway, we headed home. On the way back from the desert, I noticed something on the freeway I never had before, and that was a connecting freeway and a sign that read South to San Diego. I asked my know-everything-about driving-and-freeways friend Diane about it. I wondered if it might be a great, spontaneous idea if we switched our route and headed south to visit our old pals, Matt Browar and Bob Levine. They had moved to San Diego, a place that was chill, where they could find good waves. (more…)
Tags: Beverly Vista friends, Bob Levine, eating with friends after surfing, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, friends who died too young, Matt Browar, nicest guy from my high school, Pacific Beach Fish Shop San Diego, PSA crash of 1978, surfing buddies
Posted in Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
