Recently, a friend sent me the information about the Bob
Hope’s home in Palm Springs that’s now for sale. It brought back memories of
attending the wedding of Bob Hope’s daughter Linda to a man who was a customer
of my husband Tony at the bank in Augusta, Nathaniel Lande.
Nathaniel Lande’s father was a prominent doctor in Augusta,
Dr. Greenblatt. (Nathaniel used his mother’s name.) Nathaniel was a writer who
lived in New York. He needed advice with financial matters and so his father
recommended Tony. He and Tony had a great
business friendship.
NOTE: Nathaniel has gone on to become very well-known in literary circles, as you can see here.
When Nathaniel and Linda Hope became engaged to be married in 1969,
we were invited to the wedding in Los Angeles.
We couldn’t even believe that we would go because we were a
young couple with young children [Dee was 7, Bruce was 10] and we had no extra money. Neither one of us
had ever been to California.
When we told my parents about it, they insisted that we go, and said they would
come to Augusta
and keep the children. My parents had lived in California during the early years
of their marriage, and wanted us to see that part of the country.
We wanted to go, but there were obstacles. We had to borrow
money from the bank for the trip. We had to decide if it was worth it. However,
we knew we’d never get an invitation like that again, so we finally accepted.
We went out on Thursday and stayed through, I think, the
following Monday, and came home on Tuesday.
The entire trip was novel to me, at that time, and I
remember a lot about it, even though it was more than 40 years ago.
As we walked out to get on the airplane, we looked up and
there were there other people from Augusta, all dressed up, getting on the
plane but sitting in first class. Tony grabbed my arm and said “Don’t go speak
to them! I don’t want them to know we’re on here!” I said “Why not?” and he
said “Because we’re sitting in the back of the plane and they’re sitting in the
front!”
So we dodged those people. They got off the plane first in Atlanta. We held back, at
Tony’s insistence, and then crept into the back tail of the big plane going to
California. These people were friends of the Greenblatts, Nathaniel’s family.
We didn’t really know them.
We got to California
and stayed at the Beverly Hilton. The rest of them stayed at the Beverly
Wilshire [we learned later]. The groom’s family stayed at the Beverly Hills
Hotel – where all the celebrities stay.
On Friday, we just went sightseeing and bummed around town.
Friday night, we were invited to a cocktail party at the
Beverly Hilton. When we got there, we found out that the people at the cocktail
party were all out of town guests – no family, no members of the wedding party.
Bob Hope and his wife were not there, nor the groom’s parents. What we found
out was that because we were out of town guests, they had a little cocktail
party, and then we were turned loose. [Out of town guests are usually
entertained at the rehearsal party. We were not. We just got the little
cocktail party.]
The food was nothing elaborate – cheese straws, peanuts,
drinks.
One of the guests at the little cocktail party slipped out
and down the hall and found out there was a big banquet room down the hall with
a huge party – a seated dinner with entertainment and fancy food – THAT was the
true rehearsal dinner. Not any of the Augusta people had been invited to that,
except the family.
It didn’t bother me at all, the snubbing, but it made the
other Augusta
people FURIOUS. We just laughed it off.
We had no great expectations about being chummy with Bob
Hope or any other celebrity.
After the little cocktail party, the other Augusta people
said “Come go with us, and we’ll go out to dinner.” So we went out to the
concierge desk and asked for a restaurant recommendation. He suggested a
restaurant called La Scala, and he made reservations, and called a limo.
So some of the Augusta folks - Dr. and Mrs. K and another
woman named Ms. Nichols -went with us and we all went to La Scala for dinner.
It was FABULOUS.
The place was overrun with movie stars. I had to keep going
to the bathroom because Tony wouldn’t let me go around and just stare at
people. I was also trying not to drink too much because I wanted to remember
everything clearly.
We were gawking at people, but the folks we were with were,
too. One of us had to stay at the table to keep the waiters from giving our
table away. It turned out to be a great evening, great fun.
All the other Augusta
folks knew who Tony was, and they were looking at him as being the leader. Of
course, they were all customers of his. He had natural leadership qualities and
tended to “take over” in situations.
The next day was the wedding, Saturday.
We arranged for a limo to drive us around LA for a bit
before the wedding. He picked us up at 3:00 in the afternoon, and he showed us
around town.
At 6:00 we arrived at St. Charles Catholic Church. When we
got close, crowds were lining the sidewalks to see the stars arrive.
I was sitting next to the window. As we rolled down the
street very slowly, I would look out and give the royal wave, like I was the
Queen of England. All of us in the car were laughing. Tony kept saying “Don’t
let them see your face! They’ll know we aren’t famous!”
When we got to the church, people who had arrived in yellow
cabs had to get out and walk a block or so to the church. Limos were ushered
right to the door. That was the smartest move we made, hiring the limo. We were
treated like royalty.
When we got to the steps of the church, at the top was Rabbi
Goldberg, from Augusta, and members of the Secret Service. No person was
allowed inside the door without showing their invitation, and the Augusta crowd being
identified by Rabbi Goldberg. Of course, he knew all of us. Everyone in Augusta adored him. He
was very popular. He waved us in. [The Secret Service was there for the Vice
President, Spiro Agnew, and his wife.]
The church was not very big. The Augusta contingent took up a pew.
We got there 30 minutes early to get a good seat but the
church was almost full.
The groom was Jewish and of course Bob Hope’s family are all
Catholic. So the wedding was performed by a priest and Rabbi Goldberg. I couldn’t
really see well enough to follow the ceremony.
People – particularly celebrities - were standing on the
seats looking at everyone coming in. We would never have STOOD on a pew, in any
church. We’d see folks like Doris Day standing up on the pew, saying “Look
who’s here!” It was, to us, bizarre.
Then the whispers started. “Big Crosby’s
not here. He’s not coming!” He came in at the last minute, wearing golf clothes.
Everyone else was dressed formally.
After the ceremony, somebody said “Your limo is here.” They
knew who we were.
We got back in the limo and went to the Hope’s house for the
reception.
The house was a fairly modest home, considering who lived
there. It wasn’t the mansion you might’ve expected. There was no big reception
line. Bob and Delores were standing in the living room and as you walked in,
you said hello and chatted a moment. They were very nice, but we didn’t get
into a big conversation.
One of the women I was with said “Let’s go in the dining
room!” The presents were displayed all over the dining room, with the names on
cards, just like a regular wedding.
We were then ushered through to the back of the house, out
into the back yard, which had a huge swimming pool under a tent as big as a
circus tent. The pool was covered with a wooden dance floor, and at one end
there was a stage with an orchestra and a microphone.
There were food tables all the way around the tent. In the
center of the tent were tables and chairs. The food was just standard dinner
food. I remember a lot of shrimp. That was all I ate.
When we got to the door and saw the layout, Tony said “Do
not have but ONE drink. After that, just drink Gingerale. You want to remember
everything.” (I think he was talking more to himself there than me, because I
wasn’t much of a drinker..)
He walked around to the left and I walked to the right. We
met in the middle at the back. We never got a table and sat down. We stood the
whole time.
We drifted around and looked at everyone.
I was about 35. I had on a beautiful white suit dress of
white lace over turquoise taffeta. I had seen it at Goldberg’s and loved it and
bought it, and had no place to wear it. So I felt like I looked pretty good.
At some point in there I was standing by myself. Someone
tugged my elbow and said “Hello there.” It was Phyllis Diller. I said “I’m Elva
Thompson. I’m from Augusta Georgia.”
She said, “Just keep talking. Tell me what you do.” She was
just amused, listening to me talk. She didn’t care what I said. She wasn’t rude
about it though, she was very sweet.
She put her arm around me and said “I’ve got people you have
to meet.” I don’t know how many people she introduced me to. She said “Just
talk.” She would look at them and say “You’ve got to hear her talk.”
Everyone was very nice.
So I spent a lot of time talking. Of course, the minute I
knew what was going on, my accent got a lot thicker. I wasn’t doing it
deliberately. It was just nerves.
Tony came and got me and said “I gotta show you something
funny.” So we walked over and saw Anthony Quinn sitting at a little table with
his head down on the table. I think he had been dirnking…
At one point, we saw Mr. and Mrs. Agnew standing by
themselves. We went over and stood for a while chatting with them. We liked
them a lot. They were very nice, very down to earth. We just chatted about
generalities, kids, things like that.
Then Danny Thomas got onstage and got hold of the microphone
and said “I can’t find my wife. Tell my wife we’ve got to go home.” Everyone
was laughing.
It got to the point where it was just like being in a dream.
I can’t even remember all the folks.
I wandered around but couldn’t find a bathroom. I finally found somebody that looked like a bridesmaid and asked her. She directed me to a guesthouse outside. There was a row of garages and each one had a room above it that was a guestroom. So I used that bathroom.
I wandered around but couldn’t find a bathroom. I finally found somebody that looked like a bridesmaid and asked her. She directed me to a guesthouse outside. There was a row of garages and each one had a room above it that was a guestroom. So I used that bathroom.
It wasn’t too late, not past 9 or 10, when we left. The
other Augusta folks got us and we went to the door and our limo was right
there. When we got into the limo, we said “If you want to stop we’ll get you
some dinner.” He said “Oh no, the Hopes had a nice buffet dinner for the
drivers.”
We went out to dinner one night, maybe Sunday night, and we
saw the actress Ann Sothern. It was a very nice seafood restaurant. After we
placed our orders I kind of looked around. We were seated at a banquette. The
one next to us was empty, then I saw Ann Sothern, with three other people, at
the second table over.
I hissed at Tony, “Don’t look now. Don’t say anything. I’m
going to tell you something but just keep looking at me.” I leaned in.
“Sitting right over there is Ann Sothern.”
Tony was annoyed.
“It is NOT. Ann Sothern’s dead.” He looked over there.
“That’s not her. She’s DEAD.” He was loud.
"No! She's sitting right over there!"
"Elva, she's DEAD!" he said, even louder.
"No! She's sitting right over there!"
"Elva, she's DEAD!" he said, even louder.
I just put my head in my hands. I was so embarrassed. I have
a hangup about celebrities – I don’t believe in bothering them. People bothered
my dad all the time when I was a kid because he was a famous baseball player
and it used to upset me.
I finally looked over there and Ann and her party were dying laughing. They were looking at ME. I mouthed “I am so sorry.”
Then they laughed and said “Don’t worry about it.” They were so nice.
[Above, Ann Sothern]
The rest of the time we were in California, we saw the sights. Sunday, we spent the day at Disneyland. We kept saying it wasn’t much fun because the kids weren’t with us.
The rest of the time we were in California, we saw the sights. Sunday, we spent the day at Disneyland. We kept saying it wasn’t much fun because the kids weren’t with us.
Monday, we went sightseeing again.
Either Monday or Tuesday, we toured one of the studios. We
saw the sets for some TV shows, like the Gilligan’s Island
set. We saw Graumann’s Chinese Theatre, Sunset Boulevard.
The day we took the studio tour, there was a little train
with a guide. It went all over this huge property. The guide was David Hartman,
when he was a very young man. He later hosted Good Morning America. There were
not but 6 or 8 of us on the tour. Tony chatted with him a lot. He sat and told
great stories. Very personable. Very attractive. We liked him a lot.
He liked to hear us talk, too.
Every time I met people they would ask question after
question. I finally realized, they didn’t care what I said, they just wanted to hear my accent. I could’ve told
them anything.
It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip and I’ve never forgotten
it.
Dee calls this my "glam shot"