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Desi on "Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters"


Neil

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So nice to see them working together, especially as they were such great friends.

 

 

When I was young, my father took me to Del Mar Racetrack. Desi and Jimmy were sitting in the special section of the upper bleachers. I couldn't hardly see them since they were so far up into the stands. It was exciting to know that Ricky Ricardo was there. :desi1:

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When I was young, my father took me to Del Mar Racetrack. Desi and Jimmy were sitting in the special section of the upper bleachers. I could hardly see them since they were so far up into the stands. It was exciting to know that Ricky Ricardo was there. :desi1:

But i'm sure you could tell from the size of the nose on one of them that it was Durante up there.

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  • 5 years later...

I uploaded this a couple of years ago (5 1/2 to be exact) but thought it might be worth another look.

This was from the one-season variety series misfire "Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters", scheduled in 1969 by ABC for Fridays at 10, perhaps too late an hour for the demographic who would have appreciated it more.  Though the idea may have been to bridge the "generation gap", a term used often during those times, in reality the sparkling clean 20-something Lennon Sisters were strictly for the Lawrence Welk set. 

Jimmy was 76 or 77 at the time and was obviously showing his age, admirably (and amusingly) fumbling his way through cue-carded banter.   (He would have a major stroke in 1972 but lived until 1980).  Jimmy was probably the most loved person in show business circles, he and Jack Benny. 

One of the few times in later years that Desi appeared with darkened hair.  It's amazing what a difference a little hair color makes. 

 

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I was running a birthday salute to Jimmy on my Instagram and used a bit of this. Damn Desi still had the moves and hate to say it but him and that blonde could dance. Hope that was all they did.

 

I ran across a bio on Jimmy 2 months ago and jotted down these 2 Lucy Desi mentions.

 

 

“I once costarred with Jimmy in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. I was riding a horse named Bessie. Suddenly my pants which were skintight started to rip-you know just where. When I came to a stop, Jimmy could tell how embarrassed I was. I whispered what had happened. He listened and gave me a great idea. He said that I should tell the audience that if I got off the horse, they’d have a free show because of my busted britches. That’s exactly what I said. It got the biggest laugh of the night. Then bless hi heart, he held out a large beach towel for me. I’ll never know where he got it. All I know is that he saved me have a real ‘catostroke!”- Lucy

 

 

 

“I think part of the reason I’d visit him so often was because he made me realize what really counted in life-being yourself. He was always natural-never putting on airs. I’m probably saying this badly, but what I mean is that Jimmy was always himself. And he made everybody want to act the same way.” - Desi

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