Matinee Monday: Ginger Rogers

(1911-1995)

Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine Mc Math on July 16, 1911 in Independence Missouri. Her parents separated soon after her birth, and she and her mother Lela went to live with her grandparents. Ginger's father and mother fought for custody during which her Father kidnapped Ginger twice before her parents divorce was finalized. Ginger then stayed with her grandparents for two years while her Mom went to write scripts for Hollywood.When Ginger was nine years old, her mother Lela married John Logan Rogers. The two were very close. They lived in Fort Worth Texas and at the age of 14 Ginger entered into The Charleston Dance Contest and won it. Her prize was to be in Vaudeville plays. Between 1929-1930 she starred in two plays called "Top Speed" and "Girl Crazy". Ginger then moved on to do a few film shorts and began landing film roles at Paramount's East Coast Studios in Astoria.

In 1929 at the age of 17, Ginger married Jackson Culpepper. But having separated soon after the wedding due to Jackson's drinking problems, the two were divorced in 1931. Ginger then moved to Hollywood and starred in her first movie role "Young Man of Manhattan" in which one of her lines, "Cigarette me, big boy!", became a popular catchphrase nationwide.
After making a few movies, the beautiful blue eyed blonde starred in Depression Musicals for Warner Brothers called "42 ND Street" and "Gold Diggers of 1933". In Gold Diggers, She sang the popular song "Were in the Money".In 1933 Ginger starred in a supporting role alongside Fred Astaire in "Flying down to Rio". Even though the main characters were Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond, Fred and Ginger stole the spotlight. In 1934 she married her second husband Lew Ayres. Although Ginger thought Lew was a very charming man, in 1936 she left him because of his drinking problems like her first husband. Ginger was very sad and loved Lew a lot. It was very hard for her to divorce him.Fred and Ginger would share the spotlight on 9 more films including "Swing Time", "Shall we Dance", "Carefree" and "Top Hat" . They were a gorgeous couple on screen and their dancing was simply amazing. It was hard not to imagine they were a couple in real life because of the on screen chemistry yet they were just very good friends.
In the late 1930's Ginger was growing a bit tired of musicals and wanted to try out more dramatic roles. In 1940 Ginger dyed her hair brown and didn't tell anyone. When the movie "Primrose Path" came out audience's were shocked at her new look, but Ginger got a lot of positive recognition for this role and by this time was one of Hollywood's highest paid actress's.

Soon RKO sent Ginger a copy of a book called "Kitty Foyle". When reading through Ginger was not happy with some of the scenes and thought they were quite explicit. She thought it could never pass the censor board. The next day, David Hempstead who sent it to Ginger asked her how she liked the book. Ginger explained her opinion and David said they would rewrite the script more to her approval. After reading the new copy and liking it so much, Ginger wanted to get started as soon as possible. Ginger finished her movie "Lucky Partners" and went to film the movie that would give Ginger an Academy Award.".After winning the Oscar for Kitty Foyle, Ginger was at the highest peak of her career. In 1942 she starred in "The Major and the Minor" which she considered her favorite film. In the year 1943 Ginger married a man named Jack Briggs who served in WW II. In 1949 he and Ginger were divorced and not soon after that she was paired up again with Fred Astaire for their last movie together "The Barkley's of Broadway". In the 1950's Ginger's popularity started to decline a bit and was not getting many movie roles. In 1953 Ginger married Jacques Bergerac only to divorce four years later. In the late 1950's she started going back to live theatre.In 1961 Ginger married one final time to a man name William Marshall. By 1969 she divorced him too for his drinking problems. In 1965 Ginger made her last film "Harlow". She then decided to quit Hollywood because of the direction it was starting to take. In 1965 and 1969, Ginger made two successful Broadway Musical Hits called "Hello Dolly" and "Mame".In 1984 Ginger directed her first stage musical called "Babes in Arms" and starred in her last stage appearance "Charley's Aunt". Ginger then retired and in the late 1980's she started to work on her autobiography.

In 1991, Ginger released her book Ginger, My Story. In the same year she won two awards followed by more in 1995. On April 25, 1995, Ginger Rogers died of congestive heart failure. She was 83 years old.

Ginger lived a long and wonderful life and I have her movies to enjoy and watch. My favorite movies would have to be Shall we Dance, Carefree, Vivacious Lady with James Stewart, It had to be you with Cornel Wilde, Having Wonderful Time with Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Monkey Business with Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe. A couple of years back I introduced my then 12 year old daughter to Fred and Ginger. She has been a fan ever since and her room is full of Ginger and other classic movie stars. She even owns an autographed copy of Ginger's book which I think is her favorite item. I am very happy I was able to share this with my daughter and she is in love with Classic Hollywood as much as I am. Ginger's spirit will live on forever and I'm sure her and Fred are dancing in heaven as we speak.




FACT: Ginger Rogers and Lucille Ball were distant cousins.

FACT: Ginger Rogers enjoyed playing tennis and actually was very good.

FACT: Ginger Rogers was rated #14 on AFI's 100 years, 100 stars.

FACT: A famous quote of the Fred and Ginger duo was "Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in high heels".

SOME GINGER ROGERS QUOTES

"My mother told me I was dancing before I was born. She could feel my toes tapping wildly inside her for months"

"Part of the joy of dancing is conversation. Trouble is, some men can't talk and dance at the same time"

"The only way to enjoy anything in this life is to earn it first"

"When two people love each other, they don't look at each other, they look in the same direction"

Te Iu Besc Grandma, I miss you.

Te Iu Besc. Romanian for I love you. This is for a woman I admired, looked up to and loved to the fullest. This was my Grandma. A beautiful and feisty Romanian lady who despite having so many struggles and heartache in her life, she never gave up. Never stopped loving her family or giving everything she had to us all. It's on this Friday that I think of her, remember her and all that she meant to me. She is never far from my thoughts and remains in my heart always.

Dear Grandma, I miss you so much. I think of you all of the time. It's been 5 years since you left me and it still feels like yesterday. At times I pick up the phone to call you, but then I remember. I would love to hold your hand and tell you how much I love you again. See those beautiful blue eyes staring back at me while you tell me, I love you too honey. You were the best Grandma in the world. You were like a Mother to me. You took care of me every day and gave me lot's of love and kisses. You always taught me that I have to be a good person and I have to believe in and love Jesus. You showed me that I need to be compassionate and love and take care of my family. You showed me how to be a wonderful Mom. You gave me everything I needed in order to grow up feeling loved, wanted to the fullest extent. I remember living with you and being so happy. I remember you always making sure I had candy and sweets to eat no matter what. You always thought about me all of the time and just wanted me to be happy. I remember when you packed my lunch how huge they would be and how much more special my lunches were then all the other kids. I remember you always cooking for me. You made the best scrambled eggs and toast. You loved to cook and you did it so well. I don't think I will ever find somebody who will ever cook as good as you did. I loved your stuffed bell pepper, your split pea soup, your breaded egg plant and chicken. I loved your apple pies. You made everything from scratch. You didn't need a recipe at all. You just had that special touch. I remember you always making sure I was fed and cleaned up and that I had everything I needed.

We would sing & dance all the time to The Andrews Sisters You were always there for me when Mom was not and even when she was. I will never forget all of our camping trips we use to take since I was a baby. It was so much fun being up there in the mountains, all of those trips I will remember forever. I will remember our walks together, and our fishing trips. I will remember laughing at the loudness of your snoring every night. What I wouldn't do to hear that once again.

I remember all of my sleep overs and having to sleep next to Grandma in her bed. We use to laugh and I use to do your hair. It was so much fun. I will always remember going to visit you at work and driving with you in your car. All of those fun times we shared together. All of the holidays, your extra money on birthdays and Christmas. Special gifts big and small. I thank you for all of those special times, too many to say or count. You always took care of me, and I thank you for making my childhood so happy and letting me know truly how much I was loved. It meant so much to me.

As I was growing up your love for me never changed in any way. You were always there for me and just wanted to see me happy. You would always tell me (and you were the only one) just how special I really was. You always told me I was so beautiful and I was your little girl. You always told me never to let anybody tell me different. You let me know that I should never be mistreated by anybody and that I should only be loved and feel happy. I know at times I didn't take your advice, but I know you were always wanting the best for me every time. Your Granddaughter was always priority number one.

When my daughter Arianna was born you loved her just as much. You took care of her and gave her the things you gave me when I was her age. I thank you for that. I thank you for loving my daughter just the same as you loved me. I am so happy that she got to know you. She loved you so much and I know that you will continue to be there for her also. I do regret that you never got to meet my wonderful boys. Oh how you would have loved these little guys. They are so special. Jacob carried on our blue eyed trait. He's so sweet and sensitive. Going to be tall and handsome when he grows up. Jayden is a character. He would have made you laugh so hard. He's so sweet and has the prettiest brown eyes with long eyelashes. Just gorgeous. You would have been so proud. Raising them has been a struggle at times, but you instilled in me the traits and values of what a Mother should be. And that makes my job so much more fulfilling and easier.

I miss so much our talks we use to have on the telephone every night. It didn't matter what time it was, I would call you and we would talk about anything and everything. You were so funny sometimes you made me laugh. You were so tough and just had an awesome spirit about you. You were just so strong willed and no matter what came along you fought back. You and me could talk about things that no body else could. You told me I could understand you like no one else and I am glad I could do that for you.

As the years went by I loved you more and more every day as I know you did me. Even if I didn't see you as much at times I know you knew that I still loved you just as much. You would let me know that and I'm so glad that you did. There were so many scary close calls that I came to loosing you. You always pulled through and I just assumed this time that you would too. But I am so very thankful that I had you in my life for as long as I did. I thank God that he gave you to me as my only Grandma. I couldn't have asked for a better pick. Thank you God for that. Thank you for this Grandma.

I love the Romanian I have in me, I love the heart and soul I have. I am part of you and you will always and forever be a part of me. I often try to focus that you are in a better place and no longer hurting. Because God knows you had your share of it in your life. I keep trying to think you have a new body, new legs like you always wanted. You can breathe again and eat again, walk, talk, laugh, dance. I keeping trying to believe that you are with your daughter Annette and with the love of your life Frank. I believe you are with your tata and mama (grandma & grandpa in Romanian) that you loved so much like I love you. You are finally with your sister that you loved so dearly, the woman I got my blue eyes from. I believe you are with all of your loved ones and you are finally at peace like you have always wanted to be.

I hope you still continue to guide me in the right direction and show me those little signs that you are still with me. Even if it is a small one and not so obvious, I believe that you are my guardian angel. I know I have many, but you are my number one angel in the sky. I love you Grandma. Always and Forever.
Dulcea mea bunicuta, te voi iubii intotdeauna. Imi va fi dor de tine si ma voi gandi la tine mereu. La revedere bunica, nu te voi uita niciodata. Cu dragoste, fetita ta.

A Horrible Virus

No, Cabana isn't sick (she's just sleepy because I accidentally woke her up by taking this photo), and no one in our family has the dreaded H1N1. It's my poor computer that has the VIRUS!! Grrrrr....What a waste of someone's knowledge and time to develop such mean-spirited beastly machinations to inflict upon the general populace.

My computer was infected about a week ago, and at first, all it did was put little x-rated icons all over my desktop. I would drag these little pictures of people's nether-regions into the trash, only to have them replaced with a new batch an hour or two later. But now, the virus has infiltrated all my executable files, meaning that none of my programs work anymore. I can't use Photoshop, Word, or even my email program. Thankfully, the internet still works, but at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Next week, I will be forced to reformat my hard drive and reinstall all my drivers and programs. Not a fun way to spend the day! So, I will have to wait until next week to catch up on everyone's blogs. This also explains my lack of activity on Cabana's blog.

Overall, Cabana has been doing well--and she's 13 months old today (but still hasn't gone into heat). She's officially on food protocol, which means that she gets tons of treats while we're on our walks (which we take out of her 4 cups of food per day so she won't get chubby, not that that's much of a concern at this point).

About halfway through our walk today, I noticed that Cabana was taking the kibble from my fingers SO gently. I thought, wow, that's so sweet how she's being so careful. Although Cabana is fairly good about taking the kibble nicely, she can get over-zealous when she's excited about something or someone (i.e. canine someones). But today, she just seemed extra, EXTRA careful.

Then, just as our walk was ending, I happened to look down at my hand and was shocked to see that my thumbnail was covered in blood! After a week of having my thumb and forefinger shoveling hundreds of pieces of kibble into Cabana's mouth, I guess the cuticle on my thumb had gotten a bit sore, and on our walk today, had split open.

Ha! No wonder Cabana was being so careful taking the kibble! She didn't want it seasoned with my blood! Gaahhh.