150223 February 23, 2015

        Memphis, TN - The weather continues to be a main topic of most discussions, newspapers, and Facebook posts. We have been fighting the ice here in Memphis this last week, and the temperatures have been well below average. I hope all of you are keeping warm.

Lesley Gore and Louis Jourdan

by John Drummond 

LHS '65

        Lesley Gore was born the same year as LHS graduates Class of 1964. She died last Monday, February 16, of lung cancer in Manhattan, at New York University Langone Medical Center.

        Born in Brooklyn and raised in New Jersey, she was discovered as a teenager by Quincy Jones and signed to Mercury Records. She graduated, after achieving fame as a singer, from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in English/American literature.

        Lesley Gore burst upon the pop music scene at age 16 in 1963 with her epic song of teenage angst, "It's My Party (And I'll Cry If I Want To)". Other hits included "Judy's Turn to Cry", "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows" and the feminist anthem "You Don't Own Me", which was a great slow dance (better term for us LHS students at the time: hug-and-sway) tune.

        Trivia factoids: she played Catwoman's (Julie Newmar) sidekick in the 1965-66 cult TV series "Batman." With her brother Michael she co-wrote the Academy Award-nominated "Out Here On My Own" from the film "Fame."

        For us guys who had a thing for Lesley Gore in the 1960s, she came out to the public while hosting several episodes of the PBS series, "In The Life", which dealt with gay and Lesbian issues. Her partner of the last 33 years was Lois Sasson. Reminds me of many LHS girls who swooned at the love songs of Johnny Mathis; we found out much later that he was really crooning to guys. Still and all, wonderful hug-and-sway dance music.

        Louis Jourdan also passed away this week at age 93, at his home in Beverly Hills. A dashingly handsome Frenchman, he played the leading role in "Gigi", "Three Coins in the Fountain", and "Can-Can", among others. On the silver screen he romanced Joan Fontaine, Jennifer Jones, Grace Kelly, Doris Day and Shirley MacLaine in films during the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s. His film career peaked in 1957 with the Alan Jay Lerner-Frederick Loewe musical "Gigi" which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The young Parisian girl his hero was seeking as a mistress was played by Leslie Caron (who may have won for Best Actress; my memory is not THAT good). A major supporting, singing role was played by Maurice Chevalier. None of the male actors were nominated for Oscars. When the role was first pitched to him, Jourdan protested that he could not sing, and was therefore not right for the part. As proven in the film, he would never make a living as a vocalist, but Lerner and Loewe's magic ensured that no one would notice.