an obituary from the new york times. here is a snippet:
"As a young girl she was taken around the capitals of Europe by her mother, Hortense Conn, whose ambition was to establish her daughter in a “brilliant” marriage, preferably to a prince. There were piano lessons, voice lessons and a grounding in the dramatic arts. When a royal husband did not materialize, Miss Carlisle recalled, her mother would tell her, “You’re not the prettiest girl I ever saw, and you’re not the best singer I ever heard, and you’re certainly not the best actress I ever hoped to see, but if we put them all together, we’ll find the husband we’re looking for on the stage.” She found that husband in the celebrated dramatist Moss Hart. They were married in 1946. In the years before he died, in 1961, they were at the center of New York’s glittering theatrical life."
why am i blogging this? first of all, this life appears to have been a good and a full one (she was 96). next, her husband wrote two of my favourite plays - 'the man who came to dinner', and 'you can't take it with you' (with george s kaufman). also, she knew the marx brothers and the gershwin brothers and cole porter and irving berlin and she sang their songs. finally, my mother said that my father loved watching her on television. may her memory be for a blessing.
ps just got back from my writing workshop. i mentioned that kitty carlisle was dead, & j got really upset because she had a date to see her in nyc next week. s then recalled a couple of memories. he said that kitty was over to visit and he was making conversation and said to her that she must have made quite a lot of money from her recent show and she said that she had. he asked if she was going to do something nice with it and she said, yes, spend it as fast as i can!
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