Oh My Dear Sweet God, Run and Hide -- Ethel Merman did Disco???

[jakeleyman]

Why exactly does Merman evoke all these responses from this crowd? What exactly causes a show business character to become a gay icon? Was she just very gay friendly and this together with an entertaining personality just appeals to this crowd? Would Cher be Merman's current-day counterpart? Just wondering.

[MrMiniver]

Why exactly does Merman evoke all these responses from this crowd? What exactly causes a show business character to become a gay icon? Was she just very gay friendly and this together with an entertaining personality just appeals to this crowd? Would Cher be Merman's current-day counterpart? Just wondering.

 

She was larger than life. There is no modern day equivalent. Like there isn't of Astaire or Grant or Gertrude Lawrence or any number of others you can name. Celebrities of all types just seem "smaller" today than they did when I was growing up.

[+ FreshFluff]

She was larger than life. There is no modern day equivalent. Like there isn't of Astaire or Grant or Gertrude Lawrence or any number of others you can name. Celebrities of all types just seem "smaller" today than they did when I was growing up.

 

Is the demise of the studio system is responsible for this?

[+ WilliamM]

She was larger than life. There is no modern day equivalent. Like there isn't of Astaire or Grant or Gertrude Lawrence or any number of others you can name. Celebrities of all types just seem "smaller" today than they did when I was growing up.

 

I know Merman never had singing or acting lessons because she talked about it in interviews frquently. She believed lessons would have made her like every other girl singers, the last thing she wanted. I believe the same is true of Lawrence, and to some degree, Grant. All of the people mentioned by MrMiniver started perfoming very early in life, even if just locally. Also, Merman, Lawrence and Astaire had the benefit of great songwriters who wrote songs specifially for their voices either for Broadway shows or films. There was some mystery about big stars as late as the 1950s; they seldom gave interviews on radio and television.

[Phil_musc]

From Philmusc "...get down on my knees, fiddle with my rosaries, bow my head with great respect and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect..."

 

Think it would be really 'correct' to credit Tom Lehrer who wrote these lyrics in his "Vatican Rag." Credit where credit is due?

 

N13

 

Drat! You found me out - of course it was Tom Lehrer! Keep me honest.

[+ friendofsheila]

There was some mystery about big stars as late as the 1950s; they seldom gave interviews on radio and television.

 

In the spirit of friendly debate, I would counter that I don't think radio or TV interviews for entertainment celebrities were terribly common in this period.

 

The only interview show I can name straight-up was Mary Margaret McBride. (If a daffy number like her could be a success for such a long time, she must not have had much competition.)

 

But I won't take this much further since I'd be de-railing the thread....