Bea Lillie Love Thread

Posted: 1/14/08 at 8:13pm

two damn diddy diddle dipper nipkins!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/14/08 at 8:51pm

There are fairies at the bottom of my garden!

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/14/08 at 9:16pm

How could anyone not love her?

[nmartin]

Posted: 1/14/08 at 9:40pm

Oh, pook!

[D2]

Posted: 1/14/08 at 11:01pm

shoo sho, shoo sho.

Oh, you two are dreary...

Posted: 1/14/08 at 11:26pm

I won't try to check out the story since it's nio doubt an urban legend, but an old actor once told me that during the run of Peter Pan, When Tinkerbell got sick, Peter would ask the audience if they believed in fairies, as that was the only thing that could save poor Tink. When there was a celebrity in the audience, Peter would call out to them: "Senator Longworth, Do YOU believe in Fairies?" "Surely YOU believe in Fairies, Babe Ruth!" Things like that. When Bea Lillie first attended, Peter called out to her from the stage "Beatrice Lillie! Do YOU believe in Fairies?" She yelled back "Believe in Fairies? Dear, I know hundreds of them!"

[nmartin]

Posted: 1/14/08 at 11:35pm

Joe, I've also heard that story too but attributed to Hermione Gingold.

Posted: 1/15/08 at 11:24am

Oooh, I like Hermione Gingold better.

[cturtle]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 11:08pm

"all alone in the world?"

[fflagg]

Posted: 1/15/08 at 11:09pm

"Hyacinth!"

Posted: 1/16/08 at 6:32am

"what a camp!
such a camp!
i'm a Campfire girrrrrrrrrl!"

[D2]

Posted: 1/16/08 at 6:37am

There are several versions of this story, but the one I've heard most often is that Lillie was on tour in Chicago and had gone to get her hair done. Mrs. Armour, of the meat packing family, was miffed that "a mere actress" had been taken ahead of her and said so, quite loudly. Lillie kept her cool, but when she was ready she said, quite loudly as well: "You can tell that butcher's wife that Lady Peel has finished."

[joan8]

Posted: 1/18/08 at 2:10pm

I was a big fan of Bea Lillie when she appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. I remember her singing - ". . . the biggest aspridellia(sp.?) tree in the world. . ." but can't remember any of the words.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/18/08 at 2:33pm

Love her!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_ut__J-_1mY

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 1/18/08 at 4:20pm

"For the next scene, I want the audience to imagine far too much..."

I was really pissed at "TheatreWeek" magazine for not even having an article about her when she died.

I have a theatre book with a picture of her from the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1957" where she's playing a Geisha who gets some bad news and she has look on her face that always make me crack up.