More gossip
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Charity show
The charity show hosted by Ken Dodd on 28th February was very good, reports Grand Sheik Gary Slade. He says, "There were magicians and illusionists from all over the UK. Claire and Mrs Hardy enjoyed meeting Ken Dodd and the other guests. The event raised approximately £5,500 on the night for Alder Hey Imagine Appeal, for the children's hospital in Liverpool." 
Italian Honolulu Baby Ross Owen found something interesting on YouTube at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YI00ima9wIA. It is described as the ending from the Italian RAI TV show Two Heads Without Any Brain (1985). Giorgio Ariani, Enzo Garinei (the Laurel and Hardy official Italian voices) and the kids from the chorus of M Di Mario sing Honolulu Baby in a new recording session and with Italian lyrics by Piero Montanari. The clip was shot at SBP Studios in Rome in brilliant, Hawaiian colours, which did not properly matched the anthological TV show, done with Laurel and Hardy's original black and white sequences. So the clip was cut from subsequent airings. Ariani and Garinei had the feeling that this ending was probably a mistake and they proposed to shoot it in black and white or with stock footage from the original Laurel and Hardy films. It was decided to put this ending on YouTube in black and white "aged" film. Ross also found the opening titles from the Italian TV version of Way Out West at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p1-nIvNVanM.  Wedding bells Longtime Son Andy McColl will be wedding Cathy on 24th May. They have settled in Brighton. We give them hearty congratulations and wish them much happiness. Swiggin' in Wiggin  In view of the fact that this year's UK Convention is being held in Wigan, it was prophetic (but a coincidence) that the CMRA magazine had this cover on its winter 2007/08 edition. Glenis Grand Sheik Graham McKenna tells us that his wife Glenis attends a day centre twice a week and he says, "Its name is, guess what? Laurel Bank." Best in Manningtree Paul Harding and his Men o' War Tent have been deliberating what films to show at their meeting on Saturday, 26th April at the Manifest Theatre in Manningtree, Essex. Paul says, "We've discussed the programme and are likely to settle on the films that are overwhelmingly considered as 'the best of the best' of the Laurel and Hardy canon." Birthday choice The March meeting of the Brats Tent coincided with one of the youngest member's seventh birthday and, given the choice of having a party or attending the Brats Tent meeting, John Jnr opted rather wisely for both! When he was recently asked when he was born he answered, "I don't know. I was too young to remember!" Maltin book  A few years ago I bought The Laurel & Hardy Book by Leonard Maltin. I bought it (by post) from a bookseller in the USA. What was staggering is that it cost me only $3. I couldn't believe it, especially as it is apparently one of the hardest Laurel and Hardy books to obtain. Mark Russell |
 Jean Parker Posted on the Laurel and Hardy Forum was this delightful photo of Jean Parker, whom we know from The Flying Deuces and Zenobia. Laurel and
Hardy play Tom McGrath's play Laurel and
Hardy will be at the Stephen Joseph
Theatre in Scarborough between 28th April
and 10th May. Ticket prices range between
£9 and £17, with all tickets
£9 for the Thursday matinee. A family
ticket (two adults and two children) for
the Saturday matinee is £25. Contact
the theatre on 01723 370541. |
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