An open letter to Marcia & Mandy, Joyce, Mike & Chrissie And to the many who knew and loved Bill McInnes!


Bill was a rather rambunctious child full of energy and so inquisative that he could drive you crazy! Imagine my surprise when he turned out to be one of my favorite relatives. Our relationship bloomed in the last couple of years on Facebook and Gmail. I loved his enthusiasm about vintage cars, Florida and his family.  Both parents, Bill and Betty were high on my list of very favorite relatives. Loved them so much and grew to love Bill the same. One of the last emails that I received he suggested that I come back home to Tarentum where I had people who loved me.


  So Mike let’s talk about you, the natural successor to these good guys. I remember coming home one year and dropping by your house. You must have been around 9 or 10. You stood across from the room from me and just stared at me and stared!    I thought maybe you didn’t like me. I remembered that gaze and finally some time later, I figured it out….you were me. You reacted the same way that I would have if I saw a guy from Hollywood in my living room. In fact I did the same thing when Don Taylor (he was Elizabeth Taylor’s groom in Father of the Bride) who was from Freeport came back to visit and dropped by the library to see the librarian. He was with his wife, Phyllis Avery a blonde and beautiful young lady who went on to co-star with Ray Milland in his TV series. Somehow I found out about it and was hiding among the books staring at them!!!
   So Mike, as the heir apparent to Uncle Bill and Cousin Bill you are now my favorite relative because you are them and because you get me……we could spend many hours talking old movies, etc.
    I cannot be there on Tuesday to properly say goodbye to Bill but trust me my heart will be there. For he was definitely a jolly good fellow!
  RIP dear Bill, you will be missed.   You are already missed!
  Give my regards to the Prince & the Princess!

Just watched the tribute to Fenn on “Glee”.   I wanted to wait.  Started crying at the first word and didn’t stop until the very end.  What wonderful performances by each and every one, not a false moment from anyone.   True raw emotion and love for Corey & Fenn.   I loved him and certainly didn’t know him.  Part of the magic of TV, movies, etc., is that we can love and enjoy anyone or thing and do not have to make apologies for our feelings.  There was some controversy about Corey’s place in the Emmy award memorials.  They don’t get it, do they?   This was a reminder, a gentle tip…take care of yourselves,  do not waste your lives on drugs,  Enjoy the luxury of making it and encourage others to take care of themselves.  It can be a wonderful life!

I always liked Chandler Massey (Will Horton, DOOL) who didn’t?   Always seemed like a really sweet young man!  When his groundbreaking storyline with Freddie Smith, (Jackson Sonny Kiriakis) started to unfold, I didn’t think he could handle it.  The sound you hear is me eating my words!  He has done a magnificent job and has an emmy to prove it.  Chandler gracefully thanked his perfect counterpart  Smith and said he couldn’t have done it without him.  He is going to be sorely missed  An interesting thing Chandler speaks Chinese Mandarin and so do I!  I studied at the Army Language School in Monterey, CA  five days a week, 6 hours per day for 11 months.  So young Mr Massey, ni hau ma and the very best of luck!~

Brava Madame Harper

So sorry to see that Valerie Harper was voted off of DWTS but she really gave it all that she could.  But that’s Valerie Harper.  I have known her for over 40 years, she’s not my best friend but I will always love her.  I met when she was in the chorus in “Wildcat” with Lucille Ball at the Alvin and I was the usher in the mezzanine.  We would all go the Roxy Bowling Alley on Thursday night after the show and bowl all night and then go to breakfast in the AM. Since the Alvin was one of two theaters that employed male ushers and most of us were actors to be, we were included.  Cut and dissolve…the night that Valerie won her first Emmy for the Mary Tyler Moore Show,  Lucy presented the award to her and as they left the stage, I ran back and greeted them.  The star, the chorus girl and the usher reunited once again.  Cut and dissolve once again, Valarie’s husband at the time  Dick Schaal opened in a play at the Westwood Playhouse and the after party was at Hugh Hefner’s palatial home.  Zina Bethune was my date and once we arrived there,  Zina and I would each do our thing.  She would be pushing her ballet company and I would trying to get some gossip for Rona.   At the end of the pool there was this  big hill and people would go in there and didn’t come out.  Well inquiring minds want to know so I ambled over there and it was a huge Jacuzzi filled with the most beautiful women and handsome men, stark naked.  What’s a boy to do.  A butler came over and showed me the lockers where you could put your clothes and he gave me a towel to wrap around moi.  I saw Max Baer, (all of him) Jethro on The Beverly Hillbillies   I gingerly made my way into the water and sat down as the butler passed around glasses of champagne which certainly loosened me up.  The gentleman on my right passed around a joint and I took a few puffs. I must tell you it was all very innocent.  I noticed that people would go over to my left and disappear into the water and not come back.   Of course I grew curiouser and curiouser and took the plunge.  It was a tunnel, I turned on my back and began to push myself through.  It was a little scary what if I couldn’t get out!  but I pushed myself out where there was some light.  Turns out that came flying out poolside and jumped in the air bareass naked! .  Zina saw me and yelled, Hi Dick!   What are you doing?

A quick Harper memory…several years ago, I was invited to see her as Tallulah Bankhead in “Looped” a new play at the Pasadena Playhouse.  Now I love her but as Tallulah????  She was magnicent, proving once again that versatility is her middle name!. Plus she also did a one woman show as Golda Meier!

 Her appearance on DWTS was awe inspiring and has given new hope for thousands of people!   Brava Madame Harper!

TINSELTOWN BOUTIQUE BUBBLES WITH SOAP OPERA MEMORABILIA

Associated Press
November 5, 1990

If Marilyn Monroe were still alive, she'd be watching DAYS OF OUR LIVES At least that's the contention of the owner of a Hollywood soap opera memorabilia shop.

Dick McInnes, proprietor of the "Bubble Boutique," stocks soap essentials, including paperbacks on the lives of daytime TV personalities, autographed photos, star pins, and a life- size cutout of Monroe wearing a DAYS OF OUR LIVES button.

"I want this place to be sort of a hangout," said McInnes, who opened the boutique on Hollywood Boulevard nine months ago and serves coffee next to a television tuned in to one of six hourlong soaps.

Most boutique items, which include T-shirts, posters and coffee cups with soap opera logos, range from $10 to $20.

Fans can also find soap opera trading cards, which list the actor's height, hair and eye color and such personal information as SANTA BARBARA star Robin Mattson's allergy to bee stings.

Not all of the items in the Bubble Boutique have a price tag.

For instance, an old photo of the GENERAL HOSPITAL cast featuring star-crossed lovers Luke and Laura won't ever be on sale, McInnes said.

"My eventual dream is to make a soap opera museum," he said.

McInnes said he's also working on a memorial bulletin board for Patch, the recently murdered DAYS OF OUR LIVES character, portrayed by Stephen Nichols. The board will feature several photos and say R.I.P.

Soap opera stars are known to make occasional visits to the store to give autographs, he said.  Mcdonald Carey was one of the first to sign his autobiography.

BETTY JANE BOUCHAT McINNES

When I was a tender lad, I worshipped my Uncle Bill.  Who didn’t???  Football player at THS, brown hair, brown eyes, so good looking and loaded with charm.  And what a wonderful guy!  He was a Prince and when he met his Princess, Betty Jane Bouchat, it was like a fairytale come true. She was beautiful and so sweet.   They moved into an apartment  near First Ward School and we were all welcome there.   Then they bought a terrific home in Natrona Heights and were still welcome there. Uncle Bill passed away in 1981 and whenever I came home to Penna., I would go up and visit with her.   We had a wonderful time talking about the good old days.  As I left one time, she pressed $20.00 in my hand and when I protested, she said “No, I want you to have this”.  I felt just like that little boy again.  Betty passed at age 87 last week and she has been treated royally by her loving children, Marcia and Bill Jr. and grandchildren Mandy, Michael & Christine….she deserved it…after all she was a Princess….

I love you Aunt Betty…..always have and  always will.

 

First of all kudos to GH, SoapNet for their extraordinary coverage of the 50^th Anniversary of GH.  Unfortunately I didn’t get the 1^st ten or so and didn’t know they were repeating the whole thing, the Liz Taylor stuff ( was doing extra work on that day and was praying I might be in one of the scenes) but seeing all those wonderful actors and actresses was a trip, hate calling ladies actors…they ain’t!  Jackie Zeman was particularly radiant, Stuart Damon was unbelievably handsome, Denise Alexander, one of the most talented women in the business, Loanne Bishop so sweet and pretty, Philip Tanzini so young and funny, Anna Lee & David Lewis, Gail Brown & Peter Hansen outstanding performers doing outstanding work  Norma Connelly & Rachel Ames, superb actresses always,   Shel Kepler, a bit dizzy but always entertaining, John Stamos already showing his  star potential ….let’s face it they were the best!!  John Beradino and Emily McLaughlin proving that real friendship between a man and a woman could be just as entertaining as romance and watching the Luke and Laura…easily the most romantic, fun and adventuresome duo in soap history….I was just as taken as I was when it was happening and by the way they still have it…..