The great Lauren Bacall turns 89 years young today.
We feel a connection to her because our first apartment—a sublet where we lived just a few months—was just down the block from The Dakota, where Ms. Bacall has long resided. We were thrilled at the mere proximity to her, so we sent her a postcard on which she was pictured in her youthful, smoky prime, and she was kind enough to send it back—autographed, as we’d requested.
A few months later, we waited in line to spend money we didn’t have on a discount ticket via the Times Square TKTS booth to see her on Broadway in Woman of the Year. Truth be told, we don’t recall that much about the show, but we vividly recall Ms. Bacall passing by us as we waited by the Palace Theatre‘s stage door (actually, we seem to recall the actors departed via the front door), so close we could have reached out and touched her (we resisted).
Bacall’s plenty swell in her own right, of course, but newbie to New York that we were, we couldn’t quite believe we were standing so close to the widow of our beloved Humphrey Bogart.
We’re awfully glad she’s still going strong, and we hope she has a stupendous birthday. We encourage all Cladrite Radio readers to whistle “Happy Birthday” in her honor. You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together and blow.
