OCR Text |
Show The evil stage mom is a ghost of the past By RUTH THOMPSON The classic image of a stage mother is negative in the extreme. But is this domineering domineer-ing exploiter of her offspring a myth or a reality? The answer is yes and no; there are, or rather, were some horrors the classic case being that of the mother of Gypsy Rose Lee and June Havoc. As played by Ethel Merman's vitality, that mom's pushiness and greed took on a certain merry charm. But living through it, as June Havoc has indicated in her memoirs, was so awful that as a kiddie vaudeville star she once heard herself say, "I wish I could die for the vacation." No, in real life "Gypsy" was not fun. But today, the story of young performers pushed against their wills into the spotlight have faded to zero. Could it be that television exposure has done a good deed to the moppets and youth of today? Does it give them an opportunity to test their desire to perform, even at an early age, as well as their talent? We asked the question a year ago of the very attractive attrac-tive mother of 10-year-old Danielle Brisbois. Her view is that perhaps, in addition to basic talent, television exposure expo-sure including being interviewed inter-viewed by talk show hosts -honestly shows whether or not the child likes being in the spotlight. Of their own family situation, situa-tion, Mrs. Brisbois says the motivation came from Danielle Dan-ielle (who even as a little girl had a big singing voice, and a . gift for mimicry), who would try to gather relatives and ) other children Into audiences i so atMAould entertain them f "It was she who wanted to t i perform. And her father and I, feeling she had a God-given gift, decided that if it was what she wanted, she should have her chance." Danielle herself took over the rest of the story, telling with enthusiasm how well she was received at six-years-old on Broadway as the littlest orphan in "Annie." Yes, Danielle would have liked to star as "Annie" in the movie version. But by the time the search was on for the movie Danielle had already become an established favorite favor-ite on television, on "Archie Bunker's Place." As an aside, Danielle pointed point-ed out that she has as many friends from her old school in Brooklyn, still, as she has when she and her mother hole up for part of each year in their pied-a-terre in Hollywood Holly-wood when the series is in production. Pals their own age, inside and outside show business, is what a young friend tells us has been the custom all along for the talented young McNi-chols McNi-chols Kristy and Jimmy, who have been well employed, and who have given some fine performances throughout their childhoods and now into their teen years. Not that they have had much chance to work together: togeth-er: Fourteen years ago they were cast as brother and sister sis-ter in an episode of "Family Affair." And not until two months ago, when they co-starred co-starred in the very dramatic expose of cult influence in "Blinded by Light," did a producer pro-ducer again cast them as siblings. |