David Winters Was "Cool" in WEST SIDE STORY

I wish he was with us today to comment on the current WEST SIDE STORY remake news from Disney executives. This week, we lost a multi-talented veteran of Broadway and film. We baby boomers may not have known his name when we watched his performance over and over again in the Oscar winner for Best Picture of 1961, but we knew his face and we were dazzled by his dancing. David Winters was one of The Jets in the film adaptation of WEST SIDE STORY. He was the one called A-Rab. You see him here in the short-sleeved scarlet shirt.

The dancer/actor and choreographer died this week at age 80.

From my Marquette University days when a bunch of other guys on my dorm floor and I gathered in the TV room to see WEST SIDE STORY on CBS, to the recent years when I'd see it at revival theaters in New York City, David Winters' solo bit when A-Rab "chills out" in the "Cool" number always gets a laugh of appreciation from the crowd. We totally dig that moment after he's told "Cool it, A-Rab. Cool it! Cool it!"

David Winters had a long, accomplished career.  He was in the original Broadway cast of GYPSY starring Ethel Merman and the original Broadway cast of WEST SIDE STORY. After making the film version, he choreographed for film musicals. He did the choreography for VIVA LAS VEGAS starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. He added TV director and producer to his credits while continuing to contribute to films. He did more work with Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret plus work with Bob Hope, Raquel Welch, Nancy Sinatra, Tom Jones, Lucille Ball, Paul Newman and Barbra Streisand for her 1976 version of A STAR IS BORN.

David Winters wrote his autobiography. His book is entitled TOUGH GUYS DO DANCE.

Mike DiStasio is a Boston area radio talent who goes by the handle "The Hollywood Kid." He does celebrity interviews that, although they do not get national attention, are some of the warmest and most engaging celebrity interviews I've heard. He interviewed David Winters last year and it was a most winning, most informative interview. Mike brought up the planned Steven Spielberg remake of WEST SIDE STORY. Winters, a true gent, revealed he'd read the first draft of the new script for WEST SIDE STORY. He gently admitted "It wasn't very good."

Months later, news came out the Rita Moreno apparently shared his opinion. She read the screenplay by acclaimed Broadway playwright Tony Kushner, the man who wrote the AIDS drama, ANGELS IN AMERICA, and the screenplay to Spielberg's LINCOLN. Rita "fixed" the script and rewrote some lines with more authentic Latino flavor. She won her Oscar for her brilliance in the 1961 original and she has a guest role in the Spielberg remake. Go to Twitter and find The Hollywood Kid -- @ MikeDiStasio. He's reposted his David Winters interview.

As for the current news from Disney regarding the remake, here goes.  The Disney corporate masters are attached to Spielberg's WEST SIDE STORY remake. Reportedly, Disney execs are concerned about possible cigarette smoking onscreen in the movie. Apparently, Disney executives feel that cigarette-smoking would not be appropriate for young rival New York City gang members who engage in lethal knife fights.

That's right. The Jets and The Sharks should not pick up the same bad habit that Walt Disney had.

As the late, great Anna Russell used to say:  "I'm not making this up, you know."