Shockingly to most of us SoCal denizens, both the Fox and Bruin movie theatres in Westwood Village closed down, (for either “good” or, more optimistically, “now,”) last week!

Even though I had not been to either of those two iconic movie theatres in LA in years, (partly due to the pandemic,) my heart sank when I read that they were closing. It came out of the blue. They are (or were) two institutions that I naively thought would outlast all of us! They were no-brainers.

The Fox Westwood Village, the day before it closed. Photo by Karen Salkin, as is the one of both theatres at the top of this page.

As a major part of my initial year in this city, they’ve meant a lot to me to this day! Every time I saw a film in one of them in the past couple of decades, I marveled that, in these days of banal multiplexes, these two gorgeous structures were still going, perhaps not “strong,” but still standing. I often felt like a Norma Desmond-era movie star just entering them.

Being that they both opened in the 1930s, (the Fox Village Opened in 1931 followed by the Bruin in 1937,) I can only imagine how glamorous all the premieres were at these stunning movie houses. Even in modern times, there were many premieres at both, but it seemed mainly at the Village. Occasionally when I’d be driving through there for one reason or another, (usually to pick-up food from one of the many eateries in the area,) I’d see one taking place. I had even been to a couple of openings there myself.

And now, incredibly sadly, they both closed on July 25, just two days before my anniversary with LA! I celebrate that milestone most years with a drive down the coast a bit, as I did that very first day, then up through Westwood to 501 *Gayley Avenue where I first landed as a teen. So the end of this major era is extra poignant to me. * [Note: In a strange bit of irony, when I tried to go to that building to take my yearly picture in front of it last week, the same day that I took the pix of the movie theatres, Gayley Avenue was also closed!!! Temporarily, of course, for construction. But, as frustrating as it was to have my anniversary celebration attempt thwarted, the synchronicity of my most special street in Westwood being closed, as well as the theatres, made me chuckle.]

The Bruin, the day before it closed. Photo by Karen Salkin.

My first job here, (yes, I did have actual employment before the long journey of being a “media personality,” first with my TV show and now this e-zine,) was as the “hot dog girl” at Stan’s Corner Shop in Westwood, which was catty-corner to—you guessed it—the Fox and Bruin movie theaters. I was so fortunate to get to look at their beauty every day. They were so majestic; we didn’t have anything so grand in either my native Brooklyn or the more upscale Manhattan.

And, the best part of those days was that, as a young worker in Westwood Village, I quickly became friends with many others who were employed in that small area, especially on that one block. So I got to see every movie in these two places free! It really was the best of times.

As the years passed, the Fox and Bruin were still my favorite film venues. And then when I started seeing Mr. X, we occasionally enjoyed a five-movie day, and that often included one or two in those houses.

The front of the Bruin the day before it closed. Notice the picture of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine on the left. Photo by Karen Salkin.

As Screen Actors Guild screenings came into play for me, whenever there was a choice of venue, I chose these two. Just even waiting on line to get in still felt special to me, like I was home.

And walking into them made me feel positively regal! There are no other movie house experiences like those two in the rest of Los Angeles; I always felt like Margot Robbie’s character, Sharon Tate, must have in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, even though I wasn’t there to see myself in a motion picture, as she was. (But a girl can always hope!)

The last film I saw at either of them was 2019’s Knives Out before it even came out. It was a SAG screening, with free popcorn and soda, and all the stars speaking after. What a happy memory to close-out this long era on.

The cast of Knives Out speaking after a private industry screening of their film, sitting in front of the curtain at Westwood’s famous Village theatre. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I’ve read that the Village might possibly reopen in the future if rumors are true that it was bought by a group of show business bigwigs that includes Jason Reitman, Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, Bradley Cooper, J.J. Abrams and some others. They are purported to be planning to add a bar and restaurant, which makes sense since one entire side of that block, outside of one lone falafel shop that’s still hanging on, is now vacant! (What is happening to my beloved Westwood Village???)

I’m keeping hope alive that at least the gorgeous facade of the Fox Village, along with the retro one of the Bruin, will last in their next incarnations. I’m afraid that someone may just turn them into multiplexes, which I would not love, but that would at least be better than so many other alternatives.

Long live the Bruin and Fox theatres, however they can be saved! And a fond farewell to them if they cannot.

This is one tribute I never expected to write; it’s just too hard. That’s why it’s taken me so long to complete my little tribute to funnyman extraordinaire, Martin Mull, whose death last week was a very painful shock to both Mr. X and me, as well as to his fans around the world.

Martin Mull.

Although I had not seen Martin and his wonderful wife, Wendy, in a while, we had been close friends back in the day. I very much regret losing touch now—I always foolishly thought there would be more time.

We have so many memories together, but I’ll share just a few here. And I preface it all by telling you that he was as funny and quick-witted in person as he was in all his show business endeavors.

I had first seen Martin Mull when I was just a teen-age audience member watching him perform on the stage of a local venue, Brooklyn College. I was not familiar with him at the time, but a date took me. And when Martin had us audience members take out two coins to randomly hit on the arms of our seats, which simulated music to accompany his guitar-playing, I was a fan forever after. (I still can’t believe that I got to discuss that event with him decades later!)

Martin Mull when he first started performing.

Fast forward to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s glorious retirement party. I was sitting at a front table with my great friend Angie Dickinson, and strangers-to-me Robert Townsend, former Laker (and Klay Thompson’s father) Mychal Thompson, and Martin and Wendy Mull. It was already a fabulous enough evening, and then Wendy told me that…she and Martin loved my TV show! (My joke later was that Martin hit her under the table to tell her to not get started with me. But he swears that he did not.)

When the party was over, I asked him if he would be a guest on my show. I rarely had guests on, but I knew immediately that Martin would be a super-fun one. And, luckily for me, he said yes!

So a few days later, Martin, Wendy, Mr. X, and I went out to dinner, and then shortly after that, Martin Mull guested on my show, which I still cannot believe all these years later. I will never forget that on the air, Martin told me that, by the end of each episode, I “pretty much have it all covered, in terms of the universe.” [Note: I’m sorry that I don’t have any pictures of us to share here, but I haven’t had time to look for that tape, nor for all the analog pix of us from back then.]

We all had an absolutely wonderful time that night—he and I doing the show, the studio audience who could not believe they got to see Martin in such an intimate atmosphere, and later everyone who watched the show, which was a massive LA audience in those days. I was so honored that he deigned to join me for it.

Martin Mull.

From there, we were friends for several years. The four of us went out to eat a few times, we had a game night at Mr. X and my house, I swam in their pool on occasion, and Martin and I worked together one more time. It was doing the commentary for the Marina Del Rey Christmas Boat Parade together. (I would love to have that audio now!)

One of my favorite times with the Mulls was when Mr. X was out of town shooting a movie during the Super Bowl. Martin loved sports as much as I do, so I went over to watch the game with them. I brought some snacks, but he and Wendy surprised me with an excellent professional meal. But there was just one for only me! I asked why they were not joining me, and it turned-out that they had already eaten some not-fancy home-cooked lunch, (which, of course, I would have loved.) I assumed that they had just not made enough for me to join them, but it turns-out that my considerate friends thought that, as a restaurant critic, I would enjoy fancier food, so Martin had gone out when I was on the way to their house, and picked-up a meal from a classy eatery for me!!! How incredibly kind and special, (and totally unnecessary, by the way,) was that??? But that’s just how Martin Mull was.

By the way, that football game got so intense at the end that Wendy couldn’t watch with us—she went outside near the end to avoid witnessing my deep disappointment if my team had lost! (Never fear, though—they won.) That remembrance still amuses me today.

The painting Martin Mull did for me for my birthday. (You can see his Happy Birrthday message to me on the bottom left.) We all had a good laugh about it being a painting of a naked girl who looked a lot like me, which, of course, Martin hadn’t known until Mr. X pointed it out.
Photo by Karen Salkin.

As more examples of the Mulls’ hospitality, I’ve slept at their house, and they even gave me their daughter’s blue-and-pink dollhouse when she outgrew it! (I, of course, still have it.)

I’m not sure how many people know this, but Martin Mull was an incredible artist. He received his Bachelor of Arts and his Masters at the prestigious art college, RISD (Rhode Island School of Design.) One of my prized possessions is a painting that he did for me for one of my birthdays.

Speaking of Rhode Island, by the way, we had both lived in Providence, although a decade apart, so it was fun to have that in common. And he had even lived in New Canaan, Connecticut as a teen, where I had visited for a week each summer when I was a toddler. So perhaps our paths had crossed there once upon a time.

I’m so grateful that our paths definitely crossed in the grown-up world. Having been friends with Martin Mull was one of the special moments in my life.

So now my heart goes out to Wendy and their daughter, Maggie. And also to all of his friends and fans, including Mr. X and me on both fronts.

R.I.P., Martin Mull.

The Hollywood Museum always throws the most fabulous fetes for the opening of each new exhibit. So when I realized that I hadn’t been able to make appearances at any of them in over a year, (as Mr. X always says, I’m “overbooked,”) I was happy to finally show-up there again the other night to help them celebrate their latest one, the eleventh annual Real to Reel: Portrayals and Perceptions of LGBTQ+s in Hollywood.

Part of the new exhibit, this one showcasing some of Bob Mackie’s designs. Photo by Sheri Determan, and courtesy of the Hollywood Museum, as is the one at the top of this page.

It was such a special evening. In addition to unveiling this latest exhibit, the Museum bestowed their inaugural Leslie Jordan Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously to…Leslie Jordan, of course. (More on that award ceremony in a minute.)

And everyone was dressed fabulously for the occasion, with sooo many different fashion looks. I thought that I was being clever to rock my rarely-worn multi-colored pants, as an ally of the community. I even searched my house for my long-lost rainbow peace-sign bracelet to go along with it. And then I noticed that just about half the assemblage was rainbow-attired! So at least I fit right in.

Now let me go in order of the festivities, which began in the…elevator. With a bar! For those of you who have never been to the Museum before, it features a gigantic elevator, with seats on one side, and a disco ball above!!!

Just a tiny fraction of the food! (I tried to take pix with none of the guests’ hands in them, but it was not to be. The food was so good that people kept grabbing alll night!) Photo by Karen Salkin.

So everyone was already in great spirits by the time we reached the floor where they were serving the appetizers. It was all delicious. Some of the treats were set-up on a table on the side of that bar, and included the most delicious hotdogs in blankets ever, along with little dishes containing cheese, crackers, salami, and grapes. No one really needed any more than that, but then they passed hors d’oeuvres, as well. They were very thoughtful to include a lot of vegetarian treats, such as tiny taco cups, mini pizza bites, and three-layered tea sandwiches.

It was all very plentiful. And it was definitely enough to fill everyone up for the rest of the night. So when they told us to go to one more floor of the museum, where the presentation would take place, I was shocked to see even more food! It was actually pretty amazing. On this buffet, there was shrimp cocktail, steak and mashed potatoes, meatballs, mini cups of mac & cheese, and Chinese chicken salad, in little take-out containers, of course.

But the best part to me was the many desserts! Also of course. There was lemon cake, peach cobbler, little chocolate and nut bites, and my absolute fave—tiny strawberry shortcakes with whipped cream. If I had known those lovelies were going to be there, I wouldn’t have eaten anything else all night. I could have inhaled that entire display.

Bruce Vilanch at the podium. Photo by Karen Salkin.

After about an hour of eating and schmoozing, the actual presentation began. There were many speeches, (most likely too many, judging by how some *rudesters in the crowd just kept on loudly partying during them.) *[Note: The organizers could have used Arnold Schwarzenegger there to quiet them. He once invited me to an event he was hosting at his gym in Venice, and when some people were still talking as he was giving his speech, he scolded, literally, in his intimidating, accented way, “You’re being very rude. And I don’t appreciate it!” The crowd shut right up.]

The late, great Leslie Jordan.

And then it was time to give the Lifetime Achievement Award to Leslie Jordan, posthumously. (This was the first of its kind, so it’s now named after him for posterity.) For those of you who aren’t familiar with Leslie, he was an adorable, funny actor, who became famous for posting comic videos during the pandemic. Just when he was finally a full-time regular on a TV series, he died on the way to work this past fall, to everyone’s shock. (He technically had crashed his car, but that was because of a medical issue that he was having at the time. What a loss.)

First up with the tributes was Founder and President of the Hollywood Museum, Donelle Dadigan, who read a few messages from people who could not be there. I was glad to hear one from my old pal Jamie Farr, of M*A*S*H fame. (Way back in the day, he and his wife Joy, and Mr. X and I, did Tattletales together. Mr. X and I are the all-time Champs of that show, having won for our audience members all five days, and whenever Jamie and I have bumped into each other since then, he’s still amazed that Mr. X and my crazy answers about each other were correct! So I would have loved to see him again. Hopefully, at the Museum’s next fete.)

Donelle also read a note from Leslie’s sister, saying that her brother had told her that he wanted to be remembered “only as kind.” I love that! But he was very funny, as well, which the rest of the speakers told us about.

Bruce Vilanch and…

…Donna Kelce!

The most hilarious, of course, was writer and actor, (and another of my old pals,) Bruce Vilanch. He made us laugh from the get-go, by stating, “Let me clear something up for you football fans—I am not Travis Kelce’s mother.”  I laughed the loudest at that one. I cannot tell how many people wrote to me when Donna Kelce became famous, (for supporting her NFL-playing sons at their games,) and jokingly asked me if that was Bruce Vilanch!!! The duo even rock the same eyeglasses from time-to-time!

Bruce told many warm and personal stories about Leslie, having worked together and been friends for many years. He used a great word to describe the funny actor—“ebullient.” Perfect!

And then another of Leslie’s longtime friends, writer and producer Del Shores, accepted the inaugural Leslie Jordan Lifetime Achievement Award on Leslie’s behalf. It was all very bittersweet, but with tons of laughs.

Karen Salkin and John Tucker. Photo by Karen Salkin.

The most special moment of the night for me, though, was spotting, and then meeting, actor John Tucker. I saw him years ago in one of my favorite local productions ever, the wonderful hip-hop musical Ride Or Die in the Hollywood Fringe festival. Mr. X and I have been quoting his best line, “You’re getting on my last nerve,” ever since. (It wasn’t the line so much as John’s spot-on delivery that we parrot.) I’m thrilled I got to meet him and tell him how much we loved him and the entire show. I thank the Hollywood Museum for bringing us together.

Now you can have your own special moment there. It’s not just this particular exhibit, (which will be there for the rest of this Pride Month and beyond,) that’s interesting—the entire place is fascinating. It’s a must not just for out-of-towners, but for all of us denizens, as well.

Real to Reel: Portrayals and Perceptions of LGBTQ+s in Hollywood 

The Hollywood Museum  1660 Highland Ave.  Hollywood
323-464-7776  www.TheHollywoodMuseum.com

But it feels like just yesterday.

I remember everything about that day exactly.

A perfect pic of Queen Elizabeth’s happiness.

I knew that the Queen had not been feeling well, and that concern woke me up very early that day to check a news site to see if she was feeling better. My heart sank when the headline was that her family was rushing to Balmoral.

I was worried for her all day, but I had to be at a pre-Emmys luncheon, so I couldn’t stay home and ruminate on the situation.

I hoped all morning that she would rally, as she always had; we rarely heard of Her Majesty having even a sniffle in her whole very long life! And she had been fully-dressed, (adorably, I must say,) just two days prior, when she greeted her new Prime Minister, so I kept trying to push my unease down.

But the second my phone rang at the event, I said, “Uh-oh,” out loud, just as I had eleven years earlier when my Brooklyn house phone had rung as I was leaving to go back to the hospital that my mother had just been taken to that morning. In both cases, I knew their lives here on earth were over. What a horrible feeling. (But I do picture those two fabulous ladies giggling up in heaven, with my precious little mo keeping the cute Queen amused. And they’re both reunited with their long-time husbands.)

A wonderful picture of Queen Elizabeth. I wish somebody would look at me that way!

So here it is, the year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death, and I feel compelled to join in the tributes to that great world leader with my own tiny one.

People all over should take inspiration from her, on many levels, both big and small. For example, in my own little life, during my almost two weeks now at home in pajamas, (because I stay in on purpose to watch every second of the US Open,) I’ve often thought of how the Queen got all perfectly-attired every day of her life. She even still wore heels! At ninety-six years of age! That all always boggles my mind.

I cannot express my feelings about Elizabeth better than I did a year ago, the day after she passed, so here’s the link to that brief article, in case you’re interested: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/breaking-news-the-queen-has-died.

The message I wrote in the Book of Condolences for the Royal Family last year.

I do have a few more random thoughts, which I actually jotted down in the days right after her death, that still stand today:

~ She was adorable, and reminded me of my own little mo.

~ And, just like my feelings for my mother, and even for Clarence, my beloved little dog, I loved the Queen more as she got very old.

One of my favorite pictures of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.

~ I was actually surprised that she lived almost a year and half without her precious Prince Philip. They were always sooooo in love. The picture of her sitting all alone at his funeral, due to the pandemic, is still one of the most heartbreaking images I have ever seen. I feel her immense pain all over again just thinking of that photo.

~ But I surmise that she willed herself to live longer because she felt she had more to accomplish. Which she did, of course.

~ I’m always sick that those creeps, Harry and his repulsive scheming wife, made the last years of his supposedly beloved grandmother’s life hell. They have no shame.

As I’ve been looking over pictures and tidbits from her ninety-six years this morning, my overriding thought is—what a life!

My final thought of the day is that I feel Queen Elizabeth would be proud of how her son, now King Charles, is handling the modern monarchy. May his reign be a long and healthy one, as well.

How has it been two decades since the horror that is known simply as “9/11” happened? Does it seem like that long ago to you? It does not to me, while at the same time feeling like it was a lifetime ago.

With so many newer abominations occurring in the world right now, it seems at times that the memory of 9/11 has gotten a tad lost in the shuffle. But remembering it and honoring it tomorrow may just give us a road map of how to get through everything that the world is experiencing right now.

What New York looked like twenty years ago.

This is a thought I had a few weeks after 9/11/2001, when the smoke, both literal and figurative, began to clear a tiny bit. To lessen the pain in my brain, even a little, I had to think of a possible positive that could come out of this extreme devastation. This is what I came up with, which I’m still consoling myself with twenty years later: If this tragedy somehow brought together two people whose paths would never have crossed otherwise, and they had a child who grows up to cure cancer, which would save billions of people worldwide for the rest of mankind, then perhaps that would make the evil that was perpetuated on this country an iota less painful for everyone.

Outside of that sentiment, I can just about guarantee that every single New Yorker has a personal story of that day, which we will never forget. (I’ve been an Angeleno for more than half my life, but having grown-up in Brooklyn, and continuing to be semi-bi-coastal until 2014, my heart still always lies half there.) Here are a quartet of my remembrances:

~ Sadly, so many of us know someone who lost his or her life either in 9/11 itself or indirectly because of it. I didn’t know anyone personally, but my friend, actress Debralee Scott, lost her fiancé JD Levi, who was a Port Authority policeman, that day. I had met Debralee shortly after she stopped acting, and she asked if she could manage my career here in LA. We would have made a great team. But just a few months after that, in the beginning of 2001, she paid a visit to the city with another one of her clients, and bumped into her former boyfriend, JD. They re-fell in love and she gave up everything here and moved to New York to be with him. She moved into his Brooklyn home, and even though I missed having her here, I was thrilled for them both.

Debralee Scott.

He was not supposed to be working on 9/11, but decided to go in anyway, to get overtime for a little trip they had planned for that week-end. And you can figure out the rest.  After that, several of us begged Debralee to come back to LA so we could take care of her, but she wanted to stay in Brooklyn with her fiancé’s mother. I still got to see her every time I went to New York to visit my own little mother, which was often. One time in particular has always stuck out to me. We were shopping in Manhattan when I started drooling over a pair of crazy colorful sneakers in a window. She declared them “whimsical,” and insisted on buying them for both of us, even though I didn’t think they were quite her style. She called me a few days later and said she had returned hers. When I asked her why, she deadpanned, “I realized I don’t have whimsey.”

The last time I was supposed to see Debralee was in March 2005, when she was due to come to an afternoon tea I was throwing at my mother’s house there. It’s a long private story, but she basically said she wasn’t up to being around strangers, but wanted to come over the night before to help me set-up. I’ve eternally regretted that I declined her kind offer, but I didn’t want her to tax herself on my behalf. And then I never saw her again; she moved to Florida to live with her sister shortly afterwards, and then she passed away pretty quickly from what I firmly believe was a broken heart. Even though she did not die in actual 9/11, I am convinced that the aftermath was definitely the cause of her death. Such a shame.

~ On top of all the devastating losses of life, there are so many other horrific and disturbing ways 9/11 ruined lives. My one personal example of that is that my good friend, John, had a beautiful high-end luggage boutique in the area where the first plane came down.  Right before 9/11, he had been forced to move locations to a few blocks away after about twenty years, and had gone through the expense of moving, overhauling the space, doing new advertising, etc. And then, because that entire area was decimated in the tragedy, he had to shut down. He lost everything, and, after having loved living in New York for most of his life, he had no choice but to move away. And keep moving.  He’s never recovered, both financially and emotionally; with sooooo many businesses applying for a piece of the 9/11 money, he received hardly anything. His whole tale is so tragic.

My friend’s store was a few buildings down from what is now the 9/11 Tribute Museum on Greenwich Street in Tribeca.

~ I know that many others in that geographical area had similar losses. A month and a half after the Twin Towers were taken down, I visited that neighborhood on my next trip to New York, and I was overwhelmed by the gruesome smell that still permeated the area. It’s stayed with me since then, and on my very many subsequent trips to the Big Apple, (which have numbered over three dozen,) I’ve never been able to go down there ever again. I don’t know how people who lived or worked in that area have fared right after or since, but I’m sure that my friend’s business is not the only one that was terminated that day.

No caption needed.

~ But let’s end my personal tales on a positive one. On September 11th, 2001, I was still blissfully asleep here in Los Angeles when the first plane hit, but Mr. X woke me up to let me know what was going on. The second he told me that it was the World Trade Center that was involved, my heart stopped because one of my lifelong best friends, Carol Rampino, worked there. I immediately jumped up to call her, but he told me that no one could get through to New York. The gravity of the situation began to dawn on me as I kept dialing, and I began to panic, as I imagine that everyone with a loved one in that area did. Finally, by some miracle, I got through to her office voicemail, and this is the message I heard: “You have reached Carol Rampino. I’ll be out of the office on September 11. If you need assistance, please call…” I almost passed-out from relief. That woman has still barely missed a day of work in her life, but, by some miracle, (which I do believe in,) she had an early morning doctor appointment. She later told me that she had been upset that they hadn’t given her one on an earlier date, but that annoyance turned into all of our gratitude; the scheduler literally saved her life!

On that note, I suggest that we use the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to remember to cherish every day. As world events continue to remind us, life is not a given. Let us never forget.

When I was deciding what the topic of today’s column should be, I considered several different options.

First of all, tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, which I have rarely celebrated here in INAM. There’s never much new to say about the occasion, so, shamefully, I usually neglect to honor it. But this year, with so much political angst, I figured this is the appropriate time. So, even though the day is not getting its own full column from me, please spare a thought for our veterans tomorrow, and every day, actually. And also please keep in mind that Veteran’s Day is far from being just about sales and deals!

Secondly, I want to pay tribute to Alex Trebek. I really do feel awful that the Jeopardy host lost his cancer battle on Sunday, after putting up such a valiant fight, and working until the bitter end. (He worked until the end of October, and those episodes will air until Christmas. That’s pretty amazing.) Even though many viewers seem to erroneously think that all the knowledge imparted by the show is actually from the mind of Mr. Trebek, rather the writers, I did admire his mainly flawless reading of the answers, especially his keen pronunciations. He’s already missed. And my heart goes out to his family, who shared him with the public for so long.

Photo by Karen Salkin, (from TV.)

Alex’s departure from this level of life would give me the future of Jeopardy as yet another subject possibility today. I think Ken Jennings is the frontrunner to take over in the new year.  He’s the obvious choice, and was recently hired by the show for a non-specific job, which was a tad suspicious from the get-go. I’d be happy to have someone who really knows all the answers to be the host, but it’s hard to listen to Ken’s lisp. So, Ken—please start trying to get rid of it right this second! [Note: My father was a Speech Chairman and gave private speech lessons; I saw him help remedy many a lisp. So it can be done with just a small amount of work. If you have one, start pronouncing “snake” correctly right now, as a start.] (And please remember that you read the Ken Jennings idea here first.)

Finishing-up that topic, it appears that both George Stephanopoulos and Ben Mankiewicz are vying for the job, but the easiest transition for everyone concerned, especially the viewers, would Ken. (Just please remember that you read the Ken Jennings idea here first.)

Both of my main susupects in Episode 3 of The Undoing.

Penultimately, this week-end also brought us Episode 3 of The Undoing, my obsession with which I revealed in Friday’s column, (which you can read here: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/televisionkarens-thoughts-the-undoing.) So many more clues were revealed on Sunday night. But it would take me another two thousand words to sum it all up for you!

So all those topics will have to wait until a later date because the one that won-out for the space today is—drumroll, please—the victory of Joe Biden! And for all Americans, actually. (Of course that’s my main focus for this week!)

The best thing I’ve seen all year–seventy-seven-year-old Joe Biden jogging out to the podium to give his President-Elect speech! Photo by Karen Salkin.

Our four-year-long national nightmare is finally over! I don’t remember ever seeing soooo many people be excited and relieved at the same time ever before in my entire life. They were literally dancing in the streets. I suspect that more than one person felt that waking-up on Saturday morning and seeing the great news that Joe Biden is our next President felt like witnessing The Wizard of Oz change from black-and-white to color!!!

To those of you who may not love, love, love Joe Biden, it’s okay. He doesn’t have to be your fave. But he is very intelligent, fair, and caring, and will lead us well. And more than anything, his win is getting us out of the demonic clutches of Orange Hitler, and that’s beyond an excellent thing.

And pathetic Orange Hitler showing us his creepy tiny thumbs to prove how delusional he is about the election.

Joe’s going to have a hard job on his hands, now that Trump has made it okay for all the racists in the country to come out of the woodwork. Not only that, Hitler Junior killed thousands of Americans by not heeding the warnings of the previous administration about a possible global pandemic; he even made his people throw-out the actual book advising what to do in that case! And he made morons think it’s okay to mock the disabled. The list of his egregious transgressions goes on and on.

So, this past week-end, it became official—Joe Biden is our next President, and we can begin healing on January 21, 2021.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is, of course, the Number One story of the week!

I’m so sad that the world lost such a beautiful and worthwhile man recently. I’ve met tons of people in sports, but Tom Collins was one in a million.

Tom Collins with Kristi Yamaguchi.

Tom, a former figure skater himself, created and produced the ice skating show, Champions On Ice, which was around for almost forty years! He meant so much to the skating world.  Without Tommy, so many athletes, who had spent years, and a financial fortune, training in the sport since they were kids, would have never made money. And would have had nowhere to perform!

I met him very many years ago through our mutual great friend, and fellow skating aficionado, Angie Dickinson.  Not only did she love his show, but she had always told me what a nice guy he was.  And, boy, was she ever correct about that!  I quickly became friends with his sons, Michael, Marty, and Munch, so the dad came along with the deal. Tom was always a fatherly figure not just to the skaters, but to me, as well.  So many of my male pals’ dads, especially ones in any branch of show biz, were either lecherous towards me, or tried to get in on my friendship with their son.  But Tom never behaved like either of those—he was just perfect.

A progam from Champions On Ice.

Not only was he nice to me, but to everyone he met. When I saw the show in Providence, Rhode Island one year, I brought my three little kid buddies with me. Backstage, Tom saw them eyeing the VIP room where food had been set-up. And he immediately told them to go in there and take whatever they wanted! I promise you, no one else would have ever done that! (Or ever has!) They’re millennial now, but still remember Tom’s kindness to them.

That grace extended to others in his business, as well. I never heard him say a bad word about his rival show, Stars On Ice.  I disparaged them to him on occasion, but Tom never went along with my criticisms of it. He just shrugged and laughed whenever I commented a bit negatively about that other show. I so admired that about him.

Tom Collins with members of his skating “family.” (L-R) Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tom, Michelle Kwan, Peggy Fleming, Nancy Kerrigan, Katarina Witt. It’s so approrpiate that Tom is the one with the light around him!

For many years, I had the privilege to be backstage at the Champions On Ice shows here in Los Angeles and also in New York and Rhode Island. And in all that time, I never once heard Tom raise his voice. To anyone! Let me tell you–that show was a major enterprise, and Tom presided over it all—setting it up, dealing with each new venue’s personnel, the skaters, coaches, parents, crew, media, and guests. There was so much potential for stress and people messing-up. Yet, Tom Collins kept his cool at all times. What a guy!

Tommy himself performed with Holiday On Ice when he was younger. It is so commendable that he gave back to the sport for the rest of his life. No wonder he was so beloved by every single person he touched.

R.I.P., Tom Collins.

This tribute has taken me a long while to write because there’s so much to say about the lovely Valerie Harper.

You can just see the joy on Valerie Harper’s face when she appeared on Dancing With The Stars!

I’m devastated that this world lost such an exquisite soul. Valerie Harper was one of the most charming, upbeat, supportive, and gracious people I’ve ever known. I honestly had never seen her without a smile on her beautiful face. She was always happy for others, which is rarely the case with show business people. My head has been spinning since I heard the very sad news of her passing a week and a half ago.

I actually wrote a Living Tribute to Valerie six and a half years ago, when the world first learned that she had lung cancer. So when I realized that she had lived for that many years after her devastating lung cancer diagnosis, I actually felt a bit better that we had all had her company for that much extra time. And she had fun a good part of those years, including showing us her dance talent on Dancing With The Stars, which she told me that, as a former dancer, she really enjoyed.

I’m blessed to have known such a truly beloved person. So please indulge me while I share some of my personal stories about Valerie.

Valerie Harper with her Rhoda co-star, Ray Buktenica. Photo by William A. Kidston.

I actually first met Valerie Harper when I was just a young girl out here from Brooklyn, and my close personal friend, Ray Buktenica, was starring on Rhoda with her. He introduced us quickly after a taping one night, and even though that’s all she knew of me, Valerie was always friendly whenever we’d run into each other after that.

Then years later, when I had been doing my TV show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue, for about eighteen months, I bumped into her backstage at a concert in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. I noticed that I was going down the back stairs right behind Valerie, so I summoned all my courage to say hi, and remind her that we had met years before, and that she knew my boyfriend.   So, I said, “Excuse me, Valerie. I’m [Mr. X’s real name]’s girlfriend.” Before I could finish my greeting, she stopped in her tracks, let out a small scream, and said, “You are not [Mr. X]’s girlfriend—I love your show! So he’s your boyfriend!” I could not believe it. Her kind comments made me feel that I had arrived in the business! I was so honored that the Valerie Harper knew who I was on my own!

Ray Buktenica, Valerie Harper, and Karen Salkin.

And from that moment on, we’ve always known each other. Many other show biz “fans” of my show have forgotten me over the years; once my temporary status as the ‘”it” girl was over, so was their knowledge of me. But not Valerie. She was even nicer than her character Rhoda was!

And then, a few years after that, when Mr. X and I were at an opening night at the Ahmanson Theatre, the person behind us tapped me on the shoulder, and said, “Hi, you two!”  It was Valerie, rocking new bangs. When I told her how much I loved them, and said that they made her look even younger, she told me that she cut them thinking of me, and that she now understood why I’ve worn them myself for so many years. That was an “OMG” moment for me, for sure.

Valerie Harper and Karen Salkin. Photo by William A. Kidston.

And here’s an example of just how nice Valerie Harper was to absolutely everyone! Several years ago, I was hired to do celebrity interviews at an event for the NFL. Valerie was one of those celebs, and since we had already known each other for a long time at that point, talking to her on camera was a breeze. But there was a crazy girl there, who had seen my show and was trying to be me, so she somehow got into the event with her own crew, and was trying to do what I was already doing! It was obvious to everyone that she was nutty, but when she stuck a microphone in Valerie’s face, and pretty much forced her to do basically the same interview she had just done with me, Valerie very amiably obliged. But when they were done, Valerie sought me out to tell me that she could tell that the girl was a tad strange, but that she just couldn’t say no. All of it was so Valerie—being uber-pleasant to even someone she thought little of, and then also explaining the situation to me when she positively did not need to do that. It was all so typical of her ever-present thoughtfulness, all the way around.

The last photo I took of Valerie Harper, enjoying a loving moment with Ray Buktenica. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Another time that I bumped into Valerie was an extra-special surprise for me. I was in New York, finishing-up the extremely sad task of cleaning-out my recently-deceased little mother’s house all by myself.  On Mother’s Day, no less. My kind friend, Lauren, had picked me up and taken me to the city to join her family for what was a sad occasion for me. I was standing in front of her apartment building, when all of a sudden I saw Valerie Harper and her wonderful husband, Tony Cacciotti, walking down the street right towards me!  We hadn’t seen each other in a few years, so to have a mini-reunion on that particular day was a Mother’s Day miracle! They were in town to educate the public about women’s cancers, and they told me they love New York so much that they were thinking of moving there.

But I’m glad they did not because that gave me more opportunities to run into them again in LA, which I happily did.

The four of us, (Valerie, Tony, Mr. X, and I,) spent a wonderful evening together a couple of years ago. I could tell that she wasn’t feeling great, but the smile never left her face all night. She told me that Tony is the best caregiver ever. You could just see the love between the pair of them. I’m so grateful that she had someone so wonderful to take care of her for these past six years, and always, actually.

I’m also thankful that I got to spend even that little bit of time in life with Valerie. I’m richer for it, as is every person she’s ever touched.

RIP, Valerie.

The world lost a beautiful spirit last week. My friend Laurel Wiley let her friends on social media know that her always-problematic health was not looking good the week before, and that she’d be looking over us if she left this earth. That does help with the extreme grief a bit; it was very thoughtful of her to to give us that notice. But it still doesn’t seem real.

Laurel Wiley.

I have several good memories of Laurel to share with you. Most importantly, she was kind. Even in her failing health, she was always on the look-out for guitars to send to children with cancer. And she was always asking her Facebook pals to help others, never herself. Just two days before her passing, she was looking for people to adopt some dogs, and as late as the night before, she started a fundraiser for a friend who was also having health issues.

Speaking of that platform, Laurel was very popular—so many of her Facebook friends had personal pix with her; her circle was not comprised of faceless followers. Laurel was genuinely cared about.

And, of course as even strangers can see, she was one of my absolute prettiest pals. She always looked good, with just a modicum of cosmetics. The smile that was on her face more often than not made her even more attractive.

I met Laurel fifteen years ago this month, through my good friend, Lou, who was her boyfriend back then. I had actually been a tad apprehensive about meeting her, because I rarely had luck with any of my guy friends’ girlfriends; inevitably, even though there was absolutely no reason for this, the girls made their men stop palling around with me. But Laurel got right in there with me from the get-go, and she and I became friends ourselves. That girl did not have a jealous or suspicious bone in her body!

(Clockwise from top) Lou, Laurel Wiley, and Karen Salkin. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I always laugh when I think of this one adventure that she and I had: Laurel, an aesthetician and cosmetologist herself, and I were on the way up to a ranch high in the hills of Malibu, for an event that involved us receiving beauty services, such as facials and manicures. As she drove us up that steep, winding, terrifying road, we started to get really nervous. Laurel said, “I have an idea. Why don’t we just pull over and I’ll give you a facial myself? I have all my equipment in the trunk. And you can give me a manicure!” We could not stop laughing, as we did, actually, ponder that choice. Of course, we still went on to the event and had a great time. And we giggled all the way back down to Pacific Coast Highway when it was over. And, truth be told, Laurel would have probably given me a better facial then the one I had there!

She always had that same sense of humor, which probably helped her get through all of her lifelong health issues. Laurel had left Los Angeles for New England a while back, so I didn’t see her much for several years, but then she returned here for a visit in late 2014. When we went out one night, she told me this story: She and Lou, (now her good friend,) had visited a big costume shop a few days prior, and while there, he had misplaced his car key. They looked for it for about an hour and a half, to no avail. And after having to hassle a lot to get his car towed, etc., they noticed the keys in a selfie they had taken in the now-closed shop! I was horrified at the tale, knowing that if it had happened to me and someone, we would have been at each other’s throats about it. But Laurel was not only laughing during the entire telling of the saga, she said they were also in stitches while living it!!! I asked how she could not be upset over that incident, and she said it was just fun and funny! What a great outlook she had.

Laurel Wiley assisting Handsome Jack at the Millennium Magic show. Photo by Karen Salkin.

On that same trip out here, Laurel, Lou, and I went to see a show that I had not told her the topic of. On the way there, she told me that she had just chosen a new career path—she wanted to be a magician’s assistant! I asked her how she was planning to go about that, and she had no idea. When we got there, she finally found-out that it was a magic show! She could not contain her excitement! So the second they asked for a volunteer, her hand shot up and she ran on stage. And she was actually really good at being a magician’s assistant! I’m sure it didn’t hurt that’s she was a tall, thin, sexy redhead! (But she gave up that career choice pretty quickly—I don’t think there are tons of magicians where she was living in Kennebunk, Maine.)

And now I have a feeling that she’s bringing all those great attitudes to the afterlife. Laurel had just updated her Facebook profile picture to a peaceful ocean scene the morning that she left this level of life, like she knew it was about to happen, and wanted us to have something serene to see when we went to her page to leave messages. Yet another kindness on her part.

Laurel Wiley.

I’ll leave you with this video of Laurel singing an incredibly haunting song. She recorded it way before she knew what was coming, but it really does sound like she’s singing it to us from the other side. I listened to it that night that she became a full-time angel, and several times since. It comforts me a bit, so I hope it will do the same for the many who loved her: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yls9i-tjuLw.

RIP, Laurel Wiley.

Back On Broadway. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Today marks the end of a warm and wonderful era. Back on Broadway, the restaurant that has meant the most to me (and to so many others) over the years is closing for good. I’m incredibly sad about it.

Here’s why this is happening right now: With his right-on-the-beach eatery, Back on the Beach, being everyone’s go-to venue for delicious casual fare in that perfect indoor-outdoor setting, restaurateur extraordinaire, Fred Deni, has made the difficult decision to shutter his other popular in-town Santa Monica breakfast-and-lunch spot, Back on Broadway.

He explains, “The time has come to pull in my focus, and closing Back on Broadway is the best way.” Heartbroken as I am about that situation, I know he’s right. Between running his beach cafe, and multiple catering jobs each week, he just doesn’t have the time to split between restaurants anymore. And I know Fred to give each project his complete attention, so closing one of his restaurants will allow him to better do that.

In addition to the daytime meals, BoB was also known as a fabulous party venue, including hosting fetes for Smokey Robinson, Warren Beatty, and, of course, moi! I threw just about every one of my parties there during the years of my show, Karen’s Restaurant Revue. Their spinach cannelloni is still the talk of anyone who’s ever been fortunate enough to attend one of my soirees there! (But those vegetarian delights can still be whipped-up for you, along with their other signature dishes, because the location will now serve exclusively as the kitchen for Back On Broadway Catering.)

This place actually holds sooooo many personal memories for me! Here are just a few of the most public ones:

The interior of Back On Broadway.

In the early days of my TV show, I got a call from Fred Deni, who was a stranger to me at that time. During our conversation, he told me the history of Back On Broadway–right on the heels of closing another cafe, he had stumbled onto BoB, which was kismet. I just assumed that he was calling to ask me to review his place (as everyone did in those days.) He was so nice that of course I said yes! He called back a few minutes later to say that he was so embarrassed; he wasn’t looking for a review–he just wanted to know when my next show would be on! (I didn’t have a regular time slot for a couple years.) We laughed, and I said I was still going to go there for dinner.

And then Mr. X and I had an argument that evening, so I called Fred to say I couldn’t make it after all. He sounded so disappointed that I grabbed one of my good friends, and in we went. And that’s when I first learned of his cleverness and grace—not only was there a bottle of champagne chilling at my table, but there was also a film canister with a Karen’s Restaurant Revue label around the sides, (where the name of a film would be,) and it was filled with…chocolate chip cookies! Much to what is now his eternal chagrin, Fred was stuck for me with me for life from that moment on. (And the food was delicious, too, of course!)

After that, I practically lived at Back On Broadway. When People magazine called to do a story on me, and I didn’t want them to take pictures of me at my messy apartment, I insisted we go to Back On Broadway to do the photographs for my story there. Whenever I was featured in a newspaper or magazine article after that, I always referred the writers to Fred for quotes. And for every special foodie segment I ever did on any TV show, I suggested that we film it there.

The third party room at Back On Broadway. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Whenever Mr. X and I had a bad fight, (which we fiery-tempered east coasters did quite often back then,) I’d run right over to BoB to pick-up a Chicken Kiev dinner for him, to bribe him into making-up. (And yes—it did work every time! So Fred gets either the credit or blame for us still being together this long!)

Here’s my favorite story about this eatery that’s always been near and dear to my heart: The first time I was on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson surprised me by asking if I had a suggestion of a place for him to have dinner. I was shocked, because the show’s talent coordinator had told me to not talk about specific restaurants. But Johnny asked, so I told him all about Back On Broadway. When I went there for dinner the next night, there was a line around the block! I heard Fred ask the woman at the table next to me how she knew about his place, and she answered, “Johnny Carson told us!” (But actually, ma’am, Johnny hadn’t told you about the place; I told you about it, while chatting with Johnny.)

But no matter how it happened, it was my honor to play even a tiny part in putting Back On Broadway deservedly on the map. [Note: As a sidebar, I became friends with Fred Deni and his family. When I was at an anniversary party for his parents in Lambertville, New Jersey, his father took me around to all the relatives, and asked each one, “Did you see Karen on The Tonight Show?” If they answered that they had not, he gave them a quick reprimanding, “Then you’re stupid!” I still love that story.]

Photo by Karen Salkin.

In that same time period, I got asked to open for the Temptations and the Four Tops at a theater in Beverly Hills. I had never done stand-up, but, from watching my show, the talent booker thought that I could do it. (He was incorrect, by the way.) When I told Fred that I was a little nervous about doing stand-up for the first time at such a big famous venue, he had a brilliant idea—why not do it first at Back On Broadway?! Even though it was not an entertainment venue at all, I knew that Fred would work his magic to get it done.

So he had a friend build a little stage in one of the party rooms, another one of his friends volunteered to make programs from the guy’s precious Playbill collection, and I did an evening of stand-up comedy there! When I arrived that night, carrying my performance wardrobe on hangers and in bags, we all of a sudden realized that I had no place to change, since of course there were no dressing rooms in a restaurant. But a lightbulb went on over Fred’s head once again, and he turned his empty, not-yet-in-use walk-in refrigerator into my dressing room! And it was perfect.

Just a few of Fred Deni’s awards over the years. Photo by Karen Salkin.

And let’s not forget about all the Thanksgiving meals that Back On Broadway has served to the homeless and seniors over the decades! That level of philanthropy is rare. I was lucky enough to be the seating hostess for several years, but because we all have so much love for Fred and his husband and co-owner, Jim Christel, the roster of volunteers got so huge that some of us have had to hang back. But Fred and Jim’s kindness has gone on. And on. And on.

But no worries for the multitude of fans of Fred and Jim–those two aren’t going anywhere! Those who crave Back on Broadway’s delicious fare, (along with the extreme hospitality of Fred and Jim,) don’t have far to go to still enjoy that very same food and reception. Just head on over to their other Santa Monica cafe, Back on the Beach, for the creative breakfast dishes, penne vodka, and, of course, the famous Fred’s salad. And in the summer, it stays open for all three meals, so you can even enjoy the sunset right on the beach! (For more information, go to www.backonthebeachcafe.com.)

Back on the Beach.

I wish the fondest of farewells to Back On Broadway. And thank you for all the great memories!