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September 11, 2025

Page 1

September 11, 2025

Volume 55 - No. 37

Adventures in Show Business!

Bette Davis

By Dawna Kaufmann Somewhere in the late 80’s I was brought in at the last moment to produce a television epic. It was a phenomenal variety show, sponsored by a major hair and beauty products line, with awards for hair and make-up excellence in movies and TV. The location was the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and, on show night, each of the 3,000 seats was filled with showbiz glitterati wearing Oscars-worthy garb.

Debbie Reynolds was the host, there was a full orchestra, with dancers, singers, puppets, film/TV clips, and a constellation of stars doing walk-ons and making presentations. There was a storyline that featured Debbie doing many characters in different costumes and looks---and she nailed every accent as required. Her routine was borrowed from her nightclub act and consisted of impersonations of Vivian Leigh, Anna Magnani, Brigitte Bardot, and Zsa

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Zsa Gabor, with Miss Hungary 1936 (Gabor) coming onstage to tease Miss Burbank 1948 (Reynolds). Debbie’s skill and effervescence were nothing short of breath-taking. The storyline had Debbie inspiring a talented young child actress, whose name I have forgotten. They did a sketch and some songs together, with the girl woven throughout the show, including its planned ending. The staff and crew were the ones who usually did the hair and beauty

company’s international industrials, or promotional productions, but in the few days of rehearsal leading up to the big night, the bosses decided they had something so enormous, it should be treated as a real TV extravaganza and sold to a network. That’s when I got the call to take over. I brought in my own director and crew and we had two days to get things up and running. Immediately I was struck by the magnificence of the set---but when I pointed out to the bosses that no network would

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September 11, 2025 by The Paper - Issuu