Jerry having some fun and recording on an Edison cylinder with Celeste Holm..I am trying to direct the recording session...not too well.. This is the Jerry Hines I will always remember....
Franco Corelli's grave in Italy He died on October 29th 2003.
Jerry Hines was a dear friend to me He taught me so much and had some simple wisdom in life. He was very religious and I tried to steer away from that at times. I found an interesting trick to pull with him...If he started on religion I would ask what was it like when he was 25? He would answer "I broke a lot of hearts back then, and if I got any one of them in trouble I would of married them!" He used to sing the nasty songs of his youth and they were fun.....I learned to understand Jerry, and he was very good to me. When I did programs and spoke he would make sure he was in the audience to cheer me on...... There were so many stories he told that i will have to write an artical just listing a few of them...He was a great friend and I miss him.
There are few words that I can use to say how lucky I have been in life. I have had the opportunity to know some of the greatest and nicest people who have walked this earth.
When I set up the museum I work in. I set up a recording program...with Jerry Hines's help. Recording people on original Edison recording equipment on wax cylinders...
Here is a partial list President Gerald Ford, Senator Bob Dole, Gov.'s Brendan Byrne, Thom Kean, Celeste Holm, Tony Randall, Buzz Aldrin, Isaac Stern, Jerome Hines, Peter Jennings, Robert Merrill, Walter Cronkite, Yogi Berra, Franco Corelli, Mickey Rooney, June Lockhart, Mayor Edward Koch, Eddie Bracken, Joe Franklin, Eva Franci, Larry Hagman, and a number of others.... I had conversations with Anna Moffo to record her but that is all too impossible now.
I have had the rare talent of being at the right place at the right time. The last time I saw the Corelli's was just that sort of chance...and it took place in New York City.
As fortune would have it I was with Eva Franchi, the widow of Sergio Franchi... at the 2001 Licia Albanese-Puccini program at Lincoln Center...We watched a bit of it....Tony Randall came on, Robert Merrill, Franco Corelli, Licia many times...Soon after this and Eva turned to me and said "let's go backstage"...
So we went back stage and soon we ran into Tony Randall and we exchanged words and he started walking with Eva and me...Soon we ran into Robert Merrill and we said hello and started talking...Then I saw the Corelli's and they came over and we embraced and started talking...
Back stage we had our own little crowd and I was introduced to some really nice people such as Barbara Cook...How sweet she is. But soon all of our talking became so loud they had to stop our party as we were having too good a time! What Fun!!!
It was all at Alice Tully Hall....I left there and sadly never saw the Corelli's again.....I spoke to them once on the phone but within 2 years not only he but Jerry Hines were dead.
In the later years Jerry became more and more fragile...His wife passed away in 2000 and he never quite got over that. He wrote a history of her life and said as soon as I am done with this I am ready to go.....He finished it in late 2002 on Feb 4, 2003 I held his hand as he slowly died......
Funny how that all happened Jerry in his last years walked with a cane...On the day he died I was dreaming of Jerry....He drove up in his car and hopped out and I recall as clear as day what I said to him "Jerry where is your cane?" He said to me " I just wanted to say hello one more time" He looked so wonderful and alive........and then the phone rang...... it woke me from this lovely dream that seemed so real......It was Kathy Handley, a mutual friend of Jerry and I. She said you better go to the hospital Jerry is dying...So I ran to NYC...And made it just in time to spend a few minutes with my friend. I have always thought that he came by and said good bye to me....I really do.
To Jerry Hines I want to say to you my friend that you were my mentor and dear friend..who never gave up on me. Because of you I became a success.....
To Franco Corelli I want to thank you for the friendship and the fun you shared with me....I hope you are singing with Tetrazzini up there
Love you both ........... Jack
Thank you for sharing these charming, charming stories. You really bring him to life again when you tell them, and show us knew glimpses into what he was like. The things you write genuinely and completely move my heart.
ReplyDeleteThank for sharing all the stories of these two wonderful and talented men. Yes, I am sure they are both still singing in Heaven as they should be.
ReplyDeleteA very moving and wonderful tribute to two great artists who both remain unsurpassed . Thank you.
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