"You know how to whistle don't you Steve? You just put your lips together. And blow."  Lauren Bacall in “To Have and Have Not” (1944) 

LAUREN BACALL – THROUGH THE MAIL 

I can still remember her address off the top of my head: 1 West 72nd Street in New York City - The Dakota.  

When I sent my first fan letter to Lauren Bacall in '79 or '80, I don't think I had seen any of her movies yet, all I knew was I had all these gorgeous stills and pictures that I had cut out of movie books.  She was so acquiescent to autographs and had that old school Hollywood studio approach to her fans. Even when her handwriting started to be a little shaky she was still answering fan mail as you can see from my last batch of pictures that I received just a while before she passed away.

I think I wrote to Lauren Bacall maybe four times over the years, Lord only knows where I got that picture with her and Henry Kissinger, but it is a very interesting one that I haven't seen before.  And I got her signed biography when they had a fire sale at Limelight books in San Francisco. Before closing their doors they let me look through all the books in the backs storage area and I got so many biographies (including Lauren's) for a dollar each!

PETA would probably be in an uproar if celebrities posed in fur for an entire series of ads and then a book.  But the “What Becomes a Legend Most” campaign featuring various female stars in furs was awesome!  I was glad to come across this 9x12 signed Lauren Bacall in Blackglama.  After all, she DOES become a legend most! 

LAUREN BACALL – IN PERSON 

Lauren Bacall stands out to me from our in-person meeting because she is only one of three female celebrities, (and I have met so many I can't even count), that exuded "movie star". (Sharon Stone and Faye Dunaway are the other two.)  She was in San Francisco appearing in Woman of the Year with Harry Guardino when I met her on October 7th,1983. I seem to recall that it was daylight out when I met her so it must have been when she was coming in for or leaving the matinee.  She was tall, dressed beautifully but understated, had a steely piercing gaze, fantastic hair and of course that incredible voice. She was in a rush, but not brusque and I think I was babbling about loving her so much in The Fan and Murder on the Orient Express.  She did that polite nonverbal acknowledgment of the compliment with her eyes and a nod and continued to sign my photos. She paused for a second looking at the photo in the yellow shirt and said "Good picture".  Then she was in her limo and gone.   

I waited for Harry Guardino and got him to sign some pictures as well.  One is from the “Woman of the Year” program (How did I get that? Did I actually see the play? Zero recall, if I did. It’s much more likely that my thieving teenage ass walked into the theater as the matinee was being let out and stole one; either from under a seat or brazenly from the lobby.  I was capable of either.)  The other Guardino picture is cut out from a book on TV shows that I probably stole from the library. (Such a klepto. But I’ve made amends.)  My interaction with Harry Guardino is not memorable; simply that he accommodated my request.  What is Harry Guardino famous for anyway, you ask.  Yeah, I don’t know.  Lemme check.  From just now looking at his credits, the only thing that pops out to me is “Houseboat” and I don’t even remember him in THAT.   

Autograph collectors.  Tsk.   

BOGIE & BACALL & ROBARDS 

HUMPHREY BOGART - His charms as an actor has always slightly eluded me. I'm not a Casablanca, African Quern or Sabrina fan.  Even Maltese Falcon, I remember liking most for Mary Astor.  So I guess I do like some of his films, but primarily because of his female co-stars like Lizabeth Scott, Gloria Grahame, Bette Davis and of course Lauren. I do really love his performance as duke manatee in the Petrified Forest. Maybe I need to re-watch some.  Lord knows I have a ton of books on him, including the most ridiculous, sex filled and unbelievable too many pages biography by Darwin Porter.  I got his autograph when I purchased a massive vintage Hollywood collection, it's a great photo and  a nice inscription but I am pretty sure that it's secretarial.  It doesn’t match most of Bogies’s tell-tale authentic autograph signs in the H, the p, or the t.  Oh well.  It’s a nice vintage piece.   I like this fun bit of flirting between him and Martha Vickers in "The Big Sleep"

Check out this Hollywood dub song that includes Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart by Kodak IV: 

As you can see from a portion of my collection, this Hollywood Power Couple had a ton of press, photos and biographies.  My niece was helping me and taking pictures and she said “How come there are so many biographies on this guy?  Aren’t they just repeating the same thing?”.  Hmmmm … out of the mouths of babes.  

JASON ROBARDS - They were married from 1961-1969. And I know nothing much about Robards. But I do like this clip from his win at the Academy Awards where Richard Pryor introduces a young Tatum O’Neal to announce Robards as the winner for Best Supporting Actor in “All the President’s Men” 

LAUREN BACALL – THE CLASSICS 

it wasn't until I was in my 30s that I really started to delve into Bacall's earlier film career.  Perhaps it was seeing her in Too Rich: The story of Doris Duke (I'm obsessed with all of the debutants and heiresses of the past) or maybe a TCM week of her movies. I just remember seeing a bunch of her movies in a short time frame.  

I guess my favorites are obvious choices: all of her movies with Bogart, Written on the Wind and How to Marry a Millionaire.  

Okay but it is kind of ironic that I'm just going to go through some of her film titles off the top of my head as I realize that I remember ANOTHER female in each movie as being a scene stealer  

How to Marry a Millionaire - obviously Marilyn walking into walls  

The Big Sleep - Martha Vickers looking absolutely beautiful and languorous in bed and getting slapped by Bogie when she’s addled out of her mind.   

I’ve included Martha's autograph here since her best-known role was in “The Big Sleep” with Bogie and Bacall. (Its a pity that she died so young at 46. And that she was married to Mickey Rooney. That guy1.) 

Written on the Wind- Dorothy Malone and her best supporting actress winning performance dancing wildly in her room  (And yet again, Dorothy Malone merits a separate page featuring HER autograph!) 

Dark Passage - Agnes Morehead throwing herself out of a window-incidentally that building is still standing here in San Francisco (I’ll share Agnes’s autograph separately) 

Key Largo - Claire Trevor looking almost directly into the camera having her mouth covered when she starts to scream (My great autographs from Claire Trevor will also be on a separate page) 

P.S. Included here also is Charlotte Austin who appeared in an outfit called “Trouble in the Afternoon” during the Monroe, Bacall, Grable fashion show in “How to Marry a Millionaire”. See my signed photo by her in the outfit.

P.S. I can't believe I'm so late and just now finding out and realizing that "Applause", the vinyl LP soundtrack of which I have constantly passed up in Thrift and music stores, is a tony-winning performance by Lauren Bacall in a theater version of All About Eve. I mean talk about me missing the bus on something that should be right up my alley!  

In her own words:  "A woman isn't complete without a man. But where do you find a man - a real man - these days? "

Perhaps if Lauren Bacall was still alive, she'd be on Raya??