Double exposure, take two – by Roddy McDowall (1989)

 

Double exposure, take two – by Roddy McDowall (1989)

  • Double exposure, take two
  • Compiled and photographed by Roddy McDowall – 1989
  • William Morrow and Company Inc. New York
  • “A gallery of the Celebrated with commentary by the Equally Celebrated”
Lillian Gish by Roddy McDowall – 1989 (book)

Lillian Gish by Lily Tomlin

On the night Nine to Five opened in New York, it was December and freezing and very windy. I had sent a car to take Lillian to the theatre and then to the party at Luchow’s later. After the movie, the street outside was jammed with fans (mostly Lillian’s) and cars; they rushed Jane and Dolly and me out the door and threw us into a Limo which was sitting there waiting – Lillian’s limo! I thought, “Oh, no, where’s Lillian?” Outside the window, I saw this tiny, graceful figure fighting her way up the street, holding onto her hat, the wind whipping around her skirts. Lillian! I watched her wave down someone approaching in an old Pontiac Firebird; she climbed in and peeled out. I thought, “She’ll never speak to me again.” All the way to Luchow’s, I was beside myself. When I walked into the restaurant, the first person I saw was – Lillian! She’d beaten me to the party and was rushing toward me with her arms outstretched; she threw them around me and said, “Oh, Lily, this movie is going to be such a big hit. Tell me you have a percentage and, please, tell me it’s not net.”

Lillian Gish by Roddy McDowall – 1989 (book page)
Lillian Gish, Robert Altman and Lily Tomlin – 1976

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