Number 21 of 52 Compelling Communicators: Lauren Bacall
May 27, 2013
I always wanted a husky voice like Lauren Bacall. For those of you unfamiliar with this legendary
screen star, check out this clip of her famous whistle line to Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not":
screen star, check out this clip of her famous whistle line to Humphrey Bogart in "To Have and Have Not":
That
movie was made in 1944. Ms. Bacall was
20 at the time.
I had the opportunity to meet this iconic figure in 1995. Unique Lives and Experiences, the lecture series where famous people share their personal path, had just launched in Vancouver. The group was having some start up challenges and hired me at the last minute to help put their media relations back on track. They had scheduled a news conference with their big name star, Ms. Bacall and it was a bit of a mess. The room they had booked was crappy and small. The tiny platform stage was rocky, squeaky and unbalanced. When I went to test the microphone I almost toppled over. You had to stand with your feet on either side of the panels to avoid disaster. Awful situation and no time to fix it.
I had the opportunity to meet this iconic figure in 1995. Unique Lives and Experiences, the lecture series where famous people share their personal path, had just launched in Vancouver. The group was having some start up challenges and hired me at the last minute to help put their media relations back on track. They had scheduled a news conference with their big name star, Ms. Bacall and it was a bit of a mess. The room they had booked was crappy and small. The tiny platform stage was rocky, squeaky and unbalanced. When I went to test the microphone I almost toppled over. You had to stand with your feet on either side of the panels to avoid disaster. Awful situation and no time to fix it.
Media
were crammed in so tight they were sitting on the floor. There was no space set aside for the TV crews
and I don’t even remember if there was a feed box. A feed box allows the reporters to plug in
their recorder devices versus open mikes on a podium that pick up surrounding
noise. A highly unprofessional setting.
I probably would have refused such a gig to protect my own reputation had it
not been an opportunity to meet Lauren Bacall.
This
woman personifies cool. I
have watched most of her movies, read her autobiographies and admired her
politics. She was a staunch opponent of
McCarthyism.
After
checking the room and settling down the grumpy media, I went to brief the great
woman. There were so many media in that tiny room, I would have to bring her in
a side door. As I recall, there were even sports media in attendance. Definitely
not their beat but even media get star struck.
There she
sat in the holding area looking every bit the grand dame you would expect. My
heart was racing. I was embarrassed by the state of the room but had to forewarn
her so she did not fall off the stage or stumble over the pack of cranky
journalists. As I explained the
situation, she just smiled and listened intently. When I finished, she calmly
said it would be just fine and we walked slowly to the side entrance. Classy and elegant every step of the way.
As I went
up to announce her arrival I could see the look of awe on the faces before me.
She had the news crews eating out of her hand and utterly charmed in a
nanosecond.
She
looked at each reporter directly when they asked their question and made them
feel like the only person in the room.
She took her time to think about her answers and I expect there was not
a new question after her many years in the business. At
this point she would have been 71 years old. She laughed easily and often with that sultry deep voice.
 |
| Bobby Curtola |
Now, I
suppose it is not so hard to be compelling when you are a legend but I have
worked with other famous people and not seen this type of reaction. Often those
name celebrities are not much fun to be around behind the scenes. Don’t even get me started on Bobby Curtola.
Lauren
Bacall, you blew me away.
Posts
1 comments
Great post Della!
ReplyDeleteYou had me captivated the whole time - I couldn't wait to get to the next paragraph. What a great story. Thanks for sharing it. You should add yourself into the mix of Compelling Communicators!
And I think I know which place you are talking about with the old fishing gear and buffalo. Too funny.
Paul