Elvis and Dino

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Dean Martin had always been one of Elvis’s favorite singers - one of the few singers he’d ever cite as a personal influence on his own style. (In 1957) Dean was doing a show at a Hollywood Club called the Moulin Rouge (…). We saw a great Dino performance, and after the show Elvis asked me if I wanted to meet Dean. Cliff and Gene stayed at our table, while Elvis and I headed backstage. Dean and Elvis had met before when Elvis was in L.A., and Dean seemed very happy to see him again. They made some showbiz-style small talk, and then, right in front of Dean, Elvis turned to me and said, “You know, GK, Dean Martin gave me the best advice I ever got from anybody in Hollywood.” Dean kind of laughed, but Elvis was very serious, and he continued.

“Dean told me, ‘You and I are singers, not actors, and if we try to act we’re gonna be dead in the water. It’s gonna come off phony.’ Dean said that what I had to do was be as natural as possible in front of the camera and not try to do any real acting until I really learned how to act. Man, that got me through two movies.” Dean laughed again and I think he actually blushed a little. But it also seemed to me that he really appreciated the heartfelt gratitude Elvis was expressing.

-- George Klein

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Thursday

A little rain pleasantly falls. They were not forecasting rain until the overnight hours, but I thought it looked too heavily overcast this morning and that it might come sooner. However, it promises to be one of those intermittent drizzly drips and drabs affairs - pleasantly atmospheric, but not very helpful in our summer drought.

Pop

A happy surprise. When Pop returned from his rounds this afternoon, he asked for his duffle bag, planning on spending the next two or three days at Kay’s. They are having a big picnic.

The Natural World

Small panda eating in the snow V by Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr.

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