The DougBlog
"Et sans savoir pourquoi, disent toujours: Allons!" —Baudelaire

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Hooray for Hollywood, Part 2: The “Barber to the Stars”, my connection to royalty, and lots of famous dead people



Growing up, I often heard about one celebrity in our family: Harry Drucker, “Barber to the Stars”.

He was married to Millie Tischler, sister of my Great Grandpa Morris. They met in New York after emigrating from different parts of Eastern Europe and eventually moved to LA. He opened his barbershop in 1936 and became the preferred barber of many big stars of the day. Regular customers included Clark Gable, Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra, George Raft, and Bugsy Siegel. Ronald Reagan got his hair cut by Uncle Harry for 50 years—even after he was President. He was even the subject of an article in LIFE Magazine:


The members of the Rat Pack got their hair cut there, so they used it to film the opening scene of the original (1960) Ocean’s Eleven—and Uncle Harry is one of the extras. He was most famous for the “Invisible Haircut”, which kept your hair looking neat and clean without it being obvious that you just had it cut—a subtlety that was essential for actors while filming their movies:


Originally in Hollywood, the shop eventually moved to Beverly Hills, and in 1959 moved to Wilshire Boulevard. Uncle Harry died in 1998 and the shop became “Gornik and Drucker”. Although I never met Uncle Harry, I decided I would at least go for a haircut at this historic establishment:


Well...I got there to find that they had just recently moved! Gornik & Drucker is now located in the lobby of the chichi Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. But this had clearly just happened, as I was able to peer in the windows:




So that was a little sad but at least I made it while the place was still more or less intact and get a sense of this establishment that holds so much history—both for Hollywood and for my family.

(If you want to read a bit more about Uncle Harry, you can click here to read his obituary from Variety or right-click/option+click here down download a PDF of the 1949 LIFE Magazine article about him.

Now, in case you don’t think being related to the Barber to the Stars confers enough glory on my family name, I’d also like to take this opportunity to point out the fact that—also thanks to Uncle Harry—I’m related to royalty! That’s right, Harry’s daughter Rosalind married produce mogul Mel Finerman, who was known as ”The Lettuce King of California:


But I digress...since I never got to meet Harry and Millie while they were living, I figured I would at least head over to Hillside Memorial Gardens for a “You’re-A-Little-Too-Late” family reunion. I started out by visiting Harry and Millie:



But as the most prominent Jewish cemetery in LA, Hillside is also the final resting place of many Jewish celebrities, so I trekked about to visit some of them as well. The most visible resident is Al Jolson:


Yes, that entire rotunda and the cascading waterfall is his grave. Al Jolson? Really? It’s kinda ridiculous. I’ve been to the tombs of Presidents and Kings that weren’t nearly as elaborate as this:


Under the rotunda is a mosaic of Moses that says, ”THE MAN RAISED UP HIGH” and ”THE SWEET SINGER OF ISRAEL”:


But wait...there’s more! At the top is a statue and his sarcophagus:



Even more than everything else about this ridiculously elaborate tomb, the sarcophagus did not sit well with me. I know I’m not the most observant Jew, but above ground burial is absolutely forbidden in Judaism—Jews must be buried in the soil so their body can return to the earth and their soul can be at peace. So I found it very disconcerting that at least half of this Jewish cemetery featured above ground internments. Like that of stooge Moe Howard:


“Uncle Miltie” Berle:


And Southern Jew Dinah Shore:


On the other hand, Shelley Winters opted for the more traditional burial:


Jack Benny had a pretty big tomb:


Some people left pennies on his grave. I’d like to believe that this is because of his running gag that he was so cheap rather than some kind of anti-Semitic slur:


Raspy Night Court bailiff Selma Diamond:


Animator of many (including Bugs Bunny and the Pink Panther) Friz Freleng:


Composer of “Popeye the Sailor Man”, Sammy Lerner:


Comedic actor, popular actress, and real-life couple Tom Poston and Suzanne Pleshette (well, Pleshette-Gallager-Poston):



Here’s where you may start to notice that many of the more traditional underground burials seem to have what looks like a little round hatch with a screw top. I never figured out exactly what this is. It kinda looks like a gas tank. Maybe it’s an air-hole, “just in case”? Or maybe it’s a little door so the ghosts can more easily go in and out at night? Well, in any event...here’s old tyme entertainer Eddie Cantor:


Renowned Hollywood makeup artist Max Factor:


America’s “Toastmaster General” George Jessel:


Television king Aaron Spelling:


Dick Shawn, who played Lorenzo Saint-Dubois (“My friends call me LSD”) and Adolph Hitler in the The Producers:


Game Show entrepreneur Mark Goodson (as a marketer, I appreciate his consistent branding—even in death):


And in the “Who knew they were Jewish?!” department...Michael Landon (well I knew he was Jewish, but maybe you didn’t):



...Lorne Greene (whose real name was Chaim! Chaim Green! Doesn’t exactly gel well with his Cartwright persona...):


...Sorrell ”Boss Hogg” Booke:


...and, yes, it’s true, Nell Carter:


Finally, Hillside has one thing in common with New Montefiore Cemetery in Long Island (where some of my other family members reside)—subterranean bathrooms:


I find this almost as disturbing as the above ground burials. I don’t think any guest accommodations at a cemetery should be underground. Do I really need to pee at eye-level with the residents?

Ciao!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Hooray for Hollywood, Part 1: Hollywood and Celebrity Homes


Okay, so there’s hasn’t been much blogging. That’s because there’s hasn’t been much that was blog-worthy, and it was a particularly busy summer. But now it is fall and time for my annual autumnal journey—and this year’s destination was New Zealand, accompanied by that wyniswoman deluxe, Karen Landes.


Why New Zealand? Why not?! Although its become more popular since The Lord of The Rings was filmed here it’s always been on my “top 10” list. It’s a small country but jam-packed with amazing and varied sights. I think a good example of this is the fact that, one night, I was going through my photos from the day and found these two photos one right after the other:


For a second I thought I must be missing a bunch of pictures but then I realized that was not the case at all: indeed I was hiking on a glacier and then on a beach only an hour later. What a crazy, beautiful place. I’ve had no time to blog on the run but now that I’m sitting in Christchurch Airport awaiting the first of my 3 flights home I’ll get started. Our first stop was Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city.


It’s a nice city. Although it is officially the “world’s largest Polynesian city” it doesn’t feel particularly exotic...it is however beautifully situated on top of 48 dormant volcanoes:


We visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum, which is, well, both a war memorial and a museum. It seemed like a good way to learn about the country we were about to explore. It’s a beautiful neoclassical building on an old volcano overlooking the city:



The coolest parts inside were the Maori crafts. The Maori are the native people of New Zealand, Polynesians who seem to have first discovered New Zealand around the year 950 and only started to come in large numbers in the 1300s (one reason New Zealand is so wild is because it’s only been inhabited for about 1000 years). The displays included these entire whare (houses):




You could go inside the biggest one to appreciate the intricate work:





The sticking-out of the tongue is a traditional Maori stance of challenge, as we saw in a demonstration thereafter:



The top floor of the museum is the war memorial:



Here’s Karen enjoying her lunch on the steps. For a skinny lady she sure does enjoy her food:


The Sky Tower is the most prominent building in Auckland and the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere:


Needless to say you can’t help but go to the top, and it does offer some impressive views:



Scary:



Karen dealing with High Anxiety:



The prominent volcano in the distance of the 4th photo back is Rangitoto, an island in the harbor. We took a ferry there the next day and climbed to the top over fields of lava:









Auckland is known as “The City of Sails” because it has more boats per citizen than any other:



Famous green-lipped mussels:


Next up…the Maori culture and geothermal wonderland of Rotorua!! BUT BEFORE WE GO…A FEW PARTING SHOTS!



Yes, they have Kiwis:


Proof that it’s spring on this side of the planet:


Karen and I shopped for food like our parents were away for the weekend:


So far from home, and yet so close:


Karen shows her pais as we pay homage to our peeps:


Class photos from a Maori school. Clearly the second year was a bad one:


This one speaks for itself:


Ditto:


Does Oklahoma City have a large boat registration department?!:


Finally, while I’m not usually a fan when airlines try to make their safety videos entertaining, Air New Zealand’s is actually pretty funny. It stars actual employees and members of the All Blacks, the country’s national rugby team (which in turn is their national sport):


Next stop, Rotorua!