Michael Meets Gene Kelly

Submitted by Lynda L.

The story I chose is from Gloria Hunniford's radio show in August of '95. It is a detailed account of Michael's first meeting with Gene Kelly. I really enjoy it because it brings out that wonderfully human side of Michael. It makes him seem more a shy, sweet guy than your stereotypical "big star."

Michael: Then I suddenly get a call from somebody named Roger Edens who was the executive producer of Dolly and had seen Black Comedy and had recomended me to Gene Kelly. And so they said, "Would you come out and meet Gene Kelly" . . . and I said "Wwwwww, *chuckle*, wwwwwww, yoyoyoyoyyou, you mean, you mean, the Gene Kelly that is the Gene Kelly that I know from the movies, you know." So they said, "Yes, yes, yes, c'mon, will you," *stuttering* So I said, "Wwww, Wwww, www, yes, yes, I'll be there, I'll be there." And I had just finished How I won the War, a film with John Lennon, and, uh, Richard Lester directed. So, it was at the San Franscico Film Festival. So, I went out with Dick Lester and, and, they said, "Well, while you're there Gene Kelly's gonna fly up and meet you." So, we arrived at, I don't know, some unearthly hour in the morning. I thought flights always arrived in the afternoon, but we arived at something like six o'clock in the morning. They said, Gene Kelly . . . Oh, I checked in, and the woman said, "Oh, you have a message, Mr.Crawford." I said, "Thank-you." Um, and I looked at the message while she was filling my forms in, and it said, "Gene Kelly called. Will call, will see you at ten." So, I broke out into a sweat and there was a line behind me as well. So, I handed the note back to her. I said, "I, I don't have my glasses. Could you read it to me, please." *Laughs*

Gloria: Brilliant!

Michael: *Assuming a nasal American female accent* So she read out loud, "Ah, Mr. Crawford, Gene Kelly called and will be here at ten o'clock to see you." I said, "Oh, hahaha, oh!" And I looked 'round and I smiled at the crowd behind me and they were all looking to see who was going to meet Gene Kelly.

Gloria: And you got another beautiful suite in the hotel?

Michael: Yes, yes. *Laughing* They all thought it was Juliet Prows at the front of the line, there, in a fur coat and a hat (reference to a previous story, prompts laughter). So, so, um, I go up to the room and then I call down and I say, *nearly cracking with laughter* "Do I have any messages, please?" And he said,

*missing section telling about how he took numerous showers and changed his clothes over and over, before hearing the doorbell and answering it, half-naked.*

Michael: . . . and he didn't say a word. He just looked and I'm standing there going "Oh, Mr. Ke- *intense stuttering*" And I bend down and I'm pulling my trousers up. So he thinks I just come out the bathroom or something. And I, and he's no desire to shake hands with me whatsoever. So I said I'll rub his jean against mine (he's laughing so hard now that I can't tell what he's saying, that's why the previous statement makes no sense). So, I'm saying, "I've just been, ah, I've been in the shower." Ah, three times I felt, while waiting. I said, "Well *stuttering* I'm only just here, an, an, an and I just got off the plane. I said, "The jet lag." . . . So, he still hasn't said a word. And he just looks at me as though he's waiting to make an entrance in a movie. And then he puts himself, and then he walks in. And, and, you know how somebody watches someone sideways in case they're going to pounce on them. He kept looking at me like that. *laughs* And he said, *assuming deep male American accent for all GK parts* "Alright," he said, "sit down, kid." So, I said, "Yes, yes." So, I said, "I'm sitting" *giggles* So, it's as though he can't see I'm sitting and I'm telling him. So, he says, "Now, listen, what I'm looking for," he said, "can you dance?" I said, "Well, no, I, I, I've only just got off the plane." I said, "I've done a little in the bath." I said *laughs* "Well, ah, like ya' know, singing." And he didn't laugh at that. So I said, oh, um, he said, he said, "Try this." And he got up on the floor and did a couple of steps on the carpet. And I said, "Aww, I couldn't do it." He said, "You can't hear it. You can't hear it, can you?" I said, "No, no, no, I can't hear it. I can't hear that. 'Cause," I said, "it's on the carpet." He said, "Try this." So he cleared the coffee table and got up on the table and did this dance on the table. And I said, "Oh," I said, *clapping* "that's . . ." I didn't know whether to clap or what or say can I help you down. So, so, he said, "Get up here." So, I'm now standing in the middle of the Fairmont hotel in this vast suite on a coffee table with Gene Kelly. I can't believe it. In a pair of striped pants and a check jacket. I look like an idiot. And he says to me, "Try that." So, I move my feet, I just jumped up in the air, move my arms and my legs all at the same time. And he said, "That's good!" He said, "You got a sense of rhythm." I said, "Oh, good. Oh, good," I said. I said, "I know my heart's going," I said, "very loudly." He said, "Now listen, kid, what we're looking for," he said, "is an attractive idiot for this role. Now, my wife, she thinks you're attractive and I think you're an idiot." *laughs* So he said, "I think you could be just right." *cracks up* So I came back to England and I did a test and sent it back.

Gloria: And did you have your trousers on, then, when you met Barbra Streisand?

Michael: *laughs* But I had to learn to dance. I had to learn to dance from the beginning and send that over to him and gosh we worked hard for that.

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