Live. Anyone hitting this blog right now (11:15pm gmt) should go to our
website: www.rickscafe.ma look for the live webcasting link: Live in
Casablanca and you'll see the action at Rick's Cafe as we celebrate Lennie
Bluett's 91st birthday. Lennie, whose mother Mae was Humphrey Bogart's cook,
had the chance to try out for the part of Sam when they were casting Casablanca.
Even though Lennie was 20 years old (and 6ft6inches tall) Bogart insisted he be
given a chance. Unfortunately, even with powder in his hair he was too young and
too tall. Since Rick's opened in March of 2004 Lennie has been part of our
family. I first heard him play at the Hyatt in Casablanca, and promised to
bring him back to open Rick's. After many false starts, Lennie came shortly
after our opening on March 1, 2004 to inaugurate our first St. PatRICK'S Day on
March 17. He's now on his fourth visit to Rick's, arriving on December 28 with
all of our New Year's Eve supplies. Having Lennie with us for this month has
been a delight as always, but especially poignant as he's entered his 10th
decade, still so "with it", full of life, a friend to all, a real entertainer
with a zest for life and full of anecdotes from the days of "Old Hollywood."
We've heard about his extra role in "Gone With the Wind" and some stories from
the days he played at the Sheraton in Copenhagen. When he dressed as Santa
Claus and greeted children with "good Yule" in a Scandinavian accent...which
freaked them out! A friend from those days recounted driving Lennie through the
streets of Copenhagen in his Santa outfit on the way to Mattye Peter's house. I
later learned from Lennie that the Peters Sisters, three rather corpulent black
women were the rage of Scandinavia and even had a 2 year contract at the Folies
Bergere in Paris. There they were dressed in gauze angel outfits and lowered,
with piano wire, down to the stage for their act. It's rare in life when one
meets someone who has given so much, lived so much, shared so much and is still
as open and friendly and alive as Lennie. We had Ambassador Sam and Sylvia
Kaplan here tonight and Consul General Elizabeth and Von Millard to honor Lennie
tonight. He sang some of his signature pieces, but mostly it was his time to be
with friends and enjoy the passing of another year. There was not one person
tonight that did not say they prayed they would be even near to the form Lennie
is today as he turns 91. To Life! |
