By Ronald Constantino
CO-STAR WARS – Highspeed jots down more costar wars, culled from “Hollywood Babble On,” by Boze Hadleigh.
RYAN O’NEAL – “Why would I refuse to work with Barbra (Streisand) a second time? The pay is good, and she likes to surround herself with good-looking blondes.”
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON – “Working with Barbra is pretty stressful. It’s like sitting down to a picnic in the middle of a freeway.”
GEORGE JESSEL – “Judy Garland and her fellow Gumm sisters opened for me in (vaudeville) in Chicago in 1931. She was Frances Gumm then. I took a look at her, and she resembled a piglet, with her little turned-up nose. Then I took a listen, and she sang like a jewel. I took an interest in the act. I suggested a new name, something cheerful and festive, like the Garland Sisters. That way, their name couldn’t be misspelled like in Chicago, where they were billed as the Glum Sisters.”
JAMES MASON – “(Louis B.) Mayer treated Judy abominably. She was the last lowest-paid star in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’
Only Toto was paid less.”
DEBRA WINGER – “Richard Gere? Absolutely no comment! It takes a long time to recover from ‘An officer and a Gentleman.’ I’m embarrassed about it. I’m physically wounded from it.”
RICHARD BURTON – “Richard Harris makes me look sober!”
VITTORIO DE SICA – “I never forget Sophia Loren of the early days, in Italy. But as she has grown into more of a lady, she is less of comedienne. Che peccato (What a pity).”
TONY CURTIS – “Everybody in town had Yvonne de Carlo!”
YVONNE DE CARLO – “Everybody in Hollywood has had Tony Curtis!”
LAURENCE OLIVIER – “Jennifer Jones was the Meryl Streep of her day. She transformed herself from film to film, varying her type and appearance. She was well-respected but not overly popular. Hollywood prefers a performer to stay the same. Being recognizable, regardless of what one’s doing or who one’s playing, is the key to movie popularity.
Audiences have matured since that time, and now somebody like Meryl is hailed for her diversity. Again, though, she is not a major box-office (star) – unless she’s in a soppy love story with Robert Redford. Meryl Streep is, to me, today’s Jennifer Jones.”
