On Virginia O'Brien

I am so glad to be back after being hit with a foot ailment that did a whammy on my mobility for a spell. 

I know very few may appreciate this post but I'm writing it anyway. It's about the 1940s singer/comedy actress Virginia O'Brien and the late singer/recording star, Phoebe Snow.

 

I grew up in South Central Los Angeles. Our family lived in the curfew area during the Watts Riots of 1965. Here's a short feature on our community two years after the uprising.

This uprising lasted for about a week in 1965. After 1965, there were programs and activities to help the community heal from that event. One such event was the Watts Christmas Parade. This fun parade went down Central Avenue. We lived on East 124th Street and Central Avenue, so we could just walk a few seconds to Central Avenue from our cul-de-sac block to have a great view of the parade. O was not yet a teen-ager but I was already a serious classic film fan. I knew the names of old movies and their stars. Mom, my sister and I were on Central Avenue enjoying the parade. Another convertible with a celebrity sitting atop it was approaching. I saw that the celebrity was Virginia O'Brien, known for getting laughs by singing specially-written songs that she performed with a deadpan delivery. When her car passed right in front of us, I shouted "Mom! It's Virginia O'Brien!" Other bystanders were applauding and cheering. The singer heard me, looked and me and she must have wondered "How does this kid know who I am?" I'm waving enthusiastically, she gave me a broad, beaming smile while waving back and passed a hand over her face to give me her famed deadpan expression. 

I was in Heaven on Central Avenue.

Many years later, I'm working on TV in New York City and living in a studio apartment in the Chelsea section of the city. I was still a Virginia O'Brien fan. Singer Phoebe Snow a good buddy of mine. We'd hang on the phone and laugh or go out, grab a bite and laugh. Back in the 90s, when people still used answering machines, I put a clip of a Virginia O'Brien tune on my machine as part of my outgoing message on January 2nd and kept it on for a few days afterwards. Phoebe had called to leave me a message but had to call right back because she was howling with laughter after hearing my music clip. Phoebe said that I had to tell her who that singer was and I had to tell her the name of the song. Phoebe would call back the next day and the day after, not to leave me a message, but -- as she told me -- to hear Virginia O'Brien again and laugh.

Here's the song that was on my answering machine on a New Year's Day. O'Brien sang it in an MGM musical comedy called PANAMA HATTIE.

 

Virginia O'Brien was born on this day in history.