Beverly Adam's Blog, page 4
July 26, 2018
May 29, 2018
Come Take Me
This is a very good blog about one of the songs Columbo may have used either in his show in New York at the Paramount Brooklyn Theater or while he was touring with his own orchestra with Benny Goodman working as his front man. Both Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa on tv said that they had enjoyed working for Russ Columbo.
At first glance, this 1931 Dana Suesse composition seemed to have not much of a story to it as it appeared to be unconnected to any Broadway musical and wasn’t a big hit. It’s just another song from the team ofDana Suesse and Edward Heyman who a few years later would have a giant hit with “You Oughta Be in Pictures.” The big story behind this song pertains to the singer on the cover of the sheet music – a man whose family would pretend that he was still a live for ten years after he died!
Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo
His name is Russ Columbo. If you haven’t heard of him, it may be because his friend allegedly “accidentally” shot him and killed him in 1934 at the age of 26. At the time, Columbo was a successful singer and movie star AND was dating Carole Lombard!…
View original post 474 more words
May 28, 2018
The Memorial Day Ball, excerpt from She Rode The Rails by Beverly Adam
Chapter Seven: The Memorial Day Ball
The Veteran’s Hall had been gaily decorated with garlands of laurel and wildflowers strung across the walls. A large punch bowl, tea, cakes, and shortbreads were laid out for all to enjoy as refreshments. Hanging on two of the walls were the flags of the different regiments present. Charles’ uncles proudly showed him theirs. A few Confederate flags that had been captured during the war were displayed as trophies on the opposite side of the room.
The Commander-in-Chief of the G.A.R. post, General John A. Logan, also known as “Black Jack”, was the leader of this association. Ephraim told Charles that this same general was a compassionate man and had saved the town of Raleigh, North Carolina, from being burned down by invading Union troops during the war.
The General introduced himself as their host when they entered the hall. Charles’ veteran uncles gave the officer’s aide de camp their calling cards, informing him of what regiments they had served under and of the G.A.R. association they belonged to back home in Ohio.
“You’re most welcome here, gentlemen, ma’am. We are observing our second annual Memorial Day,” said the commander. He proceeded to give them a tour of the hall. Stopping underneath the regimental flags of their one-time enemies, the Confederates.
Mary Jane turned to the general, her fan nervously waving. “Excuse me, General, are the rebel flags which your men captured going to be returned to their regiments one day?” She stared at one which looked to be made of silk. It showed the scaring of many battles. It was burnt, frayed, and pocked with noticeable bullet holes from gunfire.
Charles was surprised by his mother’s question. He thought of all the people in the world his mother would most likely to show disdain for surely the scesh, the rebel separatists who had killed three of her brothers, would top the list. Why would she ever show any kindness to those rebel villains? But then, Charles remembered how important the flags were to the regiments and he understood why she had asked the general about their being returned.
Uncle Ephraim had taken time to carefully explain to them that soldiers would rally around their regiment’s flag in the middle of battle. The flags had been hand sewn by the mothers, sisters, sweethearts, and wives of the soldiers in the men’s hometowns to wish them well. The flag bearers held the symbol of honor proudly in the middle of battle, sometimes after the last breath had been taken from them.
The flags were vivid displays of the valor and courage of those who had stood behind them. Shot through by artillery fire, these rectangular pieces of cotton and silk were symbols of the men who had fought. They had faced death beside these flags as they battled against the enemy. Now they were no more than lifeless war souvenirs draped on a foreign wall far from home.
“One day, ma’am, when the hurt is not so bad, I hope they will all be peaceably returned. I know that is what I’d wish if they had captured one of ours,” said the general, looking up at the Confederate flag.
Charles noticed his uncles nodded their heads in solemn agreement and joined the general in a toast. “To the Union and the President, gentlemen.”
“To the United States!” they replied.
A group of musicians set up in the front of the hall. After the national anthem was played and the regimental colors displayed with the stars and stripes, the ball officially began. The Commander-in-Chief gave a short speech welcoming all the regiments present. Other speeches had been heard earlier in the day. A memorial service had already been held for their fallen comrades at the local cemetery and a large wreath laid upon the soldiers’ monument. Smaller bouquet of flowers and flags had already been placed on individual graves.
The somber contemplation of loss that had preceded the evenings’ ball was set aside, and the time for comradeship and making new friends had now arrived. The uncles took turns swinging their sister about on the dance floor. Hearty Midwestern shouts were heard from all the men whooping it up.
“That’s it, swing her about there,” one veteran instructed Charles as he danced past.
“Show us how it’s done- boy!” another yelled out.
“Couples front and back,” the dance leader shouted with his fiddle in one hand, thumping his thigh in time with the horsehair bow. “Do yourself a little do see do boys and grab your gal again…”
Polished boots stomped against the floorboards and finely dressed ladies smiled at their partners as they danced past. Those watching heartily clapped along, while bachelor veterans happily jigged together. No one was left out. It was an evening to enjoy and celebrate the fact that you were still on earth, well, and truly alive.
[image error]
John Sears, twin to James. Died 1865, Lexington Hospital from confrontation with the Morgan Raiders. He served in the 7th Ohio Calvary and the 85th Indiana Voluntary Infantry., Co. E. Burial: Soldier’s Circle #87, Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, OH.
[image error]
Clark Sears: Served with the 15th O.V.I.., Co. B. He died on November 25, 1863, in the Battle of Mission Ridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and buried there.
[image error]
Ephraim Sears: He served with the 80th O.V.I., Co. I, during the Civil War and later was a G.A.R. member and officer. He was one of five brothers who went to war, only two came back.
The author is presently updating and re-editing the book and is open to serious offers to have it published. (Please no POD publishers.)
April 18, 2017
Who considered portraying singer Russ Columbo in a biopic movie? Try George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Perry Como, for starters…
by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo).[image error]
Who wanted to portray Russ Columbo either in a movie or in a television musical? George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Tony Curtis, Perry Como for starters. Some of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars and singers considered taking on the challenge of portraying the well-liked, handsome singer, violin virtuoso, and gifted songwriter, who had been engaged to marry film actress Carole Lombard.
Russ Columbo left a big imprint on Hollywood upon his death in 1934, with his handsome good-looks, velvety smooth baritone voice, and wonderful romantic songs, which he had made famous on stage, radio, and in the movies. Upon his death, Russ Columbo left behind thousands of fans, including some emerging Latin singers/actors who considered him to be a role-model to follow.
The year World War II ended, Paramount Pictures considered casting Andy Rusell in a bio-picture about Russ Columbo. Andy Russell was born in Mexico as Andres Rabago. He received his stage name from orchestra leader Gus Arnheim, who had worked with Russ Columbo at the Cocoanut Grove. Arnheim was Andres Rabago’s legal guardian, as he was underage when he started working in the orchestra. The young Andres Rabago performed as a drummer and solo vocalist. Arnheim suggested Rabago change his name in order to draw a bigger audience and to avoid discrimination as a Latin. Arnheim told him, “I used to have a singer, a famous singer fella that took Bing Crosby’s place years ago. His name was Russell Columbo, one of the famous singers of the era. I’m gonna call you Russell–Andy Russell.” (Wikipedia) And so, Rabago’s name was changed to Andy Rusell. He, unfortunately, was not chosen.
[image error]
Andy Russell
Singer Perry Como had met Russ Columbo in Chicago at the Golden Pheasant Club in 1933, while Russ Columbo was performing there promoting songs for the motion pictures he was starring in. The experience of meeting his idol left a big impression on the young Perry Como and it was well-known that being a first-generation Italian-American himself, Como styled himself to be like Columbo.
Perry Como’s recording of Prisoner of Love, which Russ Columbo had co-written and made famous, went #1 on the Billboard Charts in 1946. Perry Como tried to take on the role of a Columbo in a bio-picture, but it did not come off.
[image error]
Perry Como
[image error]
1950’s Heartthrob Johnny Desmond (born: Giovanni Alfredo De Simone), the singer who had made a “White Suit Coat and a Pink Carnation” popular, had also recorded one of Columbo’s biggest hits, “Guilty”, on his record label. Johnny Desmond, it was reported, had planned to make a musical out of The Russ Columbo Story and wanted to perform it on Broadway first, and then turn it into a movie with a Hollywood production company. His plans fell apart when he disputed with NBC who claimed the rights and were planning a TV series based on Russ Columbo’s life. Desmond, as late as 1975, still planned to do a musical motion picture about Columbo. He was interviewed by The Chicago Tribune at the Playboy Club’s living room and told the reporter, “I think the movie is going to be done. I had always planned to play Columbo, but now I think I should play his brother Fury. (He meant Fiore, Russ Columbo’s older brother). I’d like to do the voice over for Columbo (singing).” He never did. Desmond passed away in 1985, not having achieved his goal to portray Russ Columbo’s life.
Don Cornell had a smooth baritone voice like Russ’s and was born into a large Italian-American family in Bronx, NY, as Luigi Valaro. Cornell changed his name during World War II, Americanizing it. He made himself more acceptable to audiences in order not be booed off the stage due to anti- Mussollini sentiment when they said his name, an event which had previously occurred during one of his performances. He had several Billboard Charted hits that went to the top of the charts in the 1950’s and also was rumored to have been considered for The Russ Columbo Story.
[image error]
Singer and actor Tony Martin, the husband of famous actress Cyd Charisse, had his own television show during the 1950’s and a long musical film career to back his ambitions. One of them was to portray Russ Columbo in a biopic movie musical. Martin went so far as to approach one of Russ Columbo’s sisters about the possibility of obtaining the rights to Columbo’s life story, but once again the production of another Russ Columbo Story fell through.
[image error]
In the 1950’s, finding the perfect singer/actor to portray Russ Columbo was a bit like a casting call of the singers Hall of Fame. This included young teen-idol, the dreamboat Alan Dale. He had made a hit of the songs “Oh, Marie”, “Gentle and Sweet” (#10 Billboard) and “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”. The teen was considered to be extremely talented and went by the moniker Prince of The Baritones. When he was still underage, he had his own TV show with Dumont and CBS P[image error]ictures (1948). Alan Dale recorded the hit song “Heart of My Heart” with fellow Russ Columbo wannabes Don Cornell and Johnny Desmond. The song was on the Billboard Chart at #10 in 1953. Alan Dale was well qualified to portray Columbo. He too came from an Italian-American family (bn: Alando Sigismondi) and was born in New York. His father had been a theater comedian and Alan Dale started performing onstage when he was nine years old. It was reported in a couple of sources that in 1955 he was approached by film producers who intended on making a motion picture of Russ Columbo’s life. It seemed like the singer was a “sure in” for the role, but for an unknown reason (most likely the copyrights) the motion picture was never made.
Movie actor Tony Curtis had also set his sights in the 1950’s on making a musical about Russ Columbo for NBC, which was to be aired for one hour on tv. The planned production went as far as rehearsals, but for various reasons, including a dispute with Johnny Desmond about the rights, the show fell apart and was not aired.
[image error]
Tony Curtis
Comic Sid Caesar was a gifted linguist and musician. He performed on his own tv show with Benny Goodman, the big band orchestra leader, and drummer Gene Krupa, both of whom had worked for Russ Columbo when they were first starting out in the business. Contrary to what many biographers wrote, both Goodman and Krupa claimed on television that they had “enjoyed” working for Russ Columbo.
[image error]
Imogene Coca wearing a locket and comic Sid Caesar dressed and looking like Russ Columbo.
Caesar did a comic sketch titled: “Housewarming” for his television show. Housewarming Sid Caesar Show (click here to view show) Imogene Coca wears a fur wrap similar in style to the one Carole Lombard wore to Clifton Webb’s housewarming party (lighter in color). Her date, according to movie actor Clifton Webb in his biography, was Russ Columbo. Caesar is dressed in clothing identical to what Russ Columbo wore in the wedding scene from Broadway Thru a Keyhole, speaks in the same range of voice and could pass for Columbo’s double. The sketch is also loaded with well-known Carole Lombard-isms connected to her life. Caesar was trying to show in a comedic manner that there were ways to go around the copyrights issues plaguing productions in the 1950’s wanting to portray Russ Columbo’s life. And as you can see from the photo above (Wikipedia), the comic often dressed and looked like Columbo on his show. By the way, yes, I think he was making a bid for the role, but as he had his own show, Caesar successfully went ahead and honored Russ Columbo and his romance with Carole Lombard in his own unique manner. Bravo!
Skip ahead a couple of decades…
Tom Cruise and Michelle Pfeiffer were in the 1990’s at the top of their movie careers. Michelle Pfeiffer’s ethereal beauty and comedic timing were being compared in the newspaper and movie reviews to that of Carole Lombard’s. Michelle Pfeiffer and Tom Cruise both won Golden Globe Awards for their outstanding performances as actors in film at the same time. There begins a rumor that they should be paired together as a movie couple up on the screen. Michelle Pfeiffer as Carole Lombard, and Tom Cruise as her singing love interest (Russ Columbo). It would have made a great motion picture. A biopic, however, does not develop and the idea is dropped.
[image error]
Actors Michelle Pfeiffer and Tom Cruise display their awards at the 47th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jan. 21, 1990. Pfeiffer won Best Performance in “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” and Cruise won for his performance in “Born on the Fourth of July.” (AP Photo/Doug Pizac)
" data-medium-file="https://ranwit7.files.wordpress.com/2..." data-large-file="https://ranwit7.files.wordpress.com/2..." class=" size-medium wp-image-2850 alignleft" src="https://ranwit7.files.wordpress.com/2..." alt="Golden Globe Awards Pfeiffer Cruise 1990" width="300" height="231" srcset="https://ranwit7.files.wordpress.com/2... 300w, https://ranwit7.files.wordpress.com/2... 600w, https://ranwit7.files.wordpress.com/2... 150w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Michelle Pfeiffer and Tom Cruise
[image error]
George Clooney, the famously handsome actor/director who owns a villa in Italy, had also considered making a movie about Russ Columbo based on the book Crooner Mystique by Dennis Penna.
[image error]
Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby
George Clooney’s favorite aunt was the well-known singer Rosemary Clooney. She had once lived in the same house Russ Columbo had rented on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills at the time of his death. The house had been built by actor Monte Blue in the 1920’s and had been lived-in by the song composer George Gershwin. Rosemary Clooney lived there with husband Jose Ferrer, raising her children. It was said Bing Crosby came one day to visit Rosemary and to discuss the radio show. Crosby, wrongly thinking that Russ had died in the house, refused to step into the den. He shouldn’t have worried. Russ Columbo had been shot and killed by his friend Lansing Brown in Brown’s parents’ home, not there.
Rosemary Clooney’s children, a bit frightened by the idea of a ghost haunting the house, used to call out as they went downstairs at night. “Hello Russ, we’re coming down!” Sadly, despite protests not to, the house was torn down in 2005. The other house, the Outpost Drive house, which Russ Columbo owned and lived-in with his parents, still remains in existence today.
The only singer to complete a project and sing with the title: The Russ Columbo Story, was singer Paul Bruno, who released an album in 1960, where according to Billboard Chart Magazine, Bruno “warbled tunes associated with Russ Columbo,” and the album cover featured several pictures of Russ Columbo. For more information about Russ Columbo read my free blog: So how famous was Russ Columbo?
[image error]
March 13, 2017
How Russ Columbo became The Valentino of The Radio
by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Russ Columbo and Carole Lombard)
Russ Columbo’s connection to Rudolph Valentino was a genuine one. He worked when he was a young man for Pola Negri (Valentino’s last lover). He was a recognized violin virtuoso who played both classical, as well as contemporary music. This ability brought him to the attention of silent movie star Pola Negri, who was looking for a violinist.
[image error]
Russ Columbo.
Russ Columbo was performing one evening in the ballroom where the Mayfair Ball was held at the Biltmore Hotel when Pola Negri walked in and saw him. The resemblance between her lover Valentino and Russ Columbo was striking. She hired him on the spot, asking him to report to her set the following day to play background mood music. This was the era of silent film and live music was played during filming to help set the mood for the actors.
Russ Columbo was a young eighteen years old and had been looking for a way to work in motion pictures. He worked for Pola Negri playing violin music and occasionally she found him work as an extra, performing as an unnamed actor. For two years Columbo worked for Negri and played his violin. During this time she was involved with Rudolph Valentino with whom she performed in motion pictures.
[image error]
Rudolph Valentino and Pola Negri
In August 1926 news was brought to the movie set that Rudolph Valentino had died in New York from complications due to an appendicitis surgery. Valentino was only 31 years old. Columbo was in the middle of performing Dvorak’s Humoresque while a love scene was in the process of being filmed. A messenger whispered to Columbo, “Valentino has collapsed into a coma and died.”
Stunned by the news, he suddenly ceased playing.
[image error]
Rudolph Valentino and Pola Negri
Noticing that he had stopped and now wore a bereaved expression on his face, Negri asked, “What is the matter with you? Why did you stop playing right in the middle of a scene?”
“Rudolph Valentino is dead,” he responded.
[image error]
Pola Negri at Valentino’s funeral
The movie star fainted, and Columbo later vouched for the fact that it was not an act, but from genuine shock. For days Negri was inconsolable over the loss of her lover.
Russ Columbo went forward with his career and worked with the Gus Arnheim Orchestra playing the violin and singing. It was at The Cocoanut Grove that he was discovered during a performance by the songwriter Con Conrad who became his manager and brought him to New York City where he found stardom on the radio and stage. He won the hearts of thousands of young girls and listeners who heard his velvety baritone voice on the radio. The songs he composed such as, You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love, Prisoner of Love, and Too Beautiful For Words, became billboard charted hits.
Years later Russ Columbo returned to Hollywood, after breaking up with his manager. Universal Pictures considered having him star in a biopic about Rudolph Valentino, but it did not come to fruition.
[image error]
Rudolph Valentino in The Son of The Sheik.
[image error]
Russ Columbo
February 12, 2017
Dressing Carole Lombard, her clothing designers and my book.
by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Russ Columbo and Carole Lombard). Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo by Beverly Adam
Dressing Carole Lombard for my book Two Lovers is one of the enjoyable tasks I had as an author. Carole was a stunningly beautiful movie star in the 1930’s and one of the most photographed women in Hollywood, having posed for photographers over 42,000 times by 1938.
[image error]
Travis Banton with Carole Lombard
[image error]
Gown by Travis Banton
Travis Banton was the head costume designer at Paramount Pictures, the studio where Carole was under contract during the 1930’s. Carole paid him as well to create street clothes for her, mostly pencil skirts with matching tailored jackets. She had to look polished on and off the set.
A young emerging star, Carole Lombard was twenty-five years old in 1933, and had been gradually working her way up the entertainment ladder and that required looking glamorous. Travis Banton liked her and had a very friendly working relationship with Carole Lombard. He once was having such a good time chatting with her during a fitting that he arrived almost an hour late to a dinner party that he was supposed to be hosting.
Italian designer Elsa Schiaperelli had arrived in California in the 1920’s. The daring designer was a noted rival of Coco Chanel
[image error]
Elsa Schiaparelli
and her surrealistic elements transformed Hollywood style, with her cloche hats, broad double breasted jackets and artistic notes of whimsy. Paramount took note and copied her style.
[image error]
Carole wearing Juliet cap. Drawing by Charles Sheldon.
Irene Maud Lentz was a twice nominated costume designer who freelanced at several studios in Hollywood, working at one point for Paramount in the 1930’s
[image error]
Irene Maud Lentz
and early 1940’s. She designed clothes for Carole Lombard for the films Mr and Mrs Smith and To Be Or Not To Be. Irene Lentz was known to have originated the dressmaker suit and her clothing was popular at Bullocks. The actor Gary Cooper was reported to have been Irene’s lover and many believe she committed suicide when he died.
Carole Lombard wore on a date with her own lover, Russ Columbo, one of Irene Lentz’s designs.
[image error]
Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo
[image error]
January 30, 2017
“We would have married,” said Carole Lombard about her romance with Russ Columbo.
by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo).
“We would have married,” said Carole Lombard during her interview with magazine writer Sonia Lee for Movie Screen Magazine in 1934. Russ Columbo had been killed and Lombard revealed that she had been planning to marry the famous singer whose movie and radio career she had been guiding.
Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo were young, the same age (twenty-five years old), and very much in love. She helped run his career and was guiding him to film stardom. If any couple could be called soulmates they were. They were known to have premonitions about each other before they actually occurred.
[image error]
Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo
January 15, 2017
Carole Lombard’s and Russ Columbo’s Death Connection
[image error]
Hollywood Magazine
by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo)
Carole Lombard’s unexpected death, as in life, was connected in the press to Russ Columbo’s.
“To account for her son’s prolonged absence, Mrs. Columbo was told he was in London, making movie pictures with Carole. In the course of her romance with Russ, Carole naturally had grown close to Mrs. Columbo. Thus, to keep the heartbreaking news from her, Carole wrote weekly letters full of gay chit-chat and news of their activities, which were supposedly postmarked London and read to the blind mother.” Hollywood Magazine.
[image error]Both Russ Columbo and Carole Lombard died young. It is a sad twist of fate that they both had premonitions that they would do so. Yesterday, January 14th, was Russ’s birthday.
When she sang the National Anthem on January 15th she must have thought of him. If Russ were alive how proud he would have been of her standing there singing her heart out, leading the audience. He had been the one, after all, who gave her voice lessons early on in their romance. And she in turn had encouraged him to consider a career singing opera.
Carole Lombard knew she would die young. When she told her friend Alice Marble, the tennis-pro replied, “Did the fortune-tellers tell you that?”
“Yes, they did, but it’s more than that. It’s a feeling I have,” Lombard said. Original source: Courting Danger by Alice Marble.
Russ Columbo had had a premonition that he too would die young. When he did his family decided he would be placed in the vault opposite his brother Fiore’s, at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California. When Carole Lombard made her last will and testament, the first instruction she wrote down was her desire to be interred in a modest crypt at the same cemetery which is not in Hollywood, dressed wearing her favorite white gown.
The flowers that were laid on her burial casket were identical to the ones she had laid on Russ Columbo’s and the large heart shaped wreath display she had sent to the funeral she had arranged signed with his pet name for her, Angel.
Bing Crosby and Carole Lombard’s brother, Fred Peters, were pallbearers at Russ Columbo’s funeral.
The last song Russ Columbo ever sang and recorded was Two Lovers by Allie Wrubel and Mort Dixon:[image error]
I see two lovers on the moonlit sand,
Standing face to face,
And as he takes her little trembling hand,
They slowly embrace.
I see two lovers in a world apart,
Heart to heart, what bliss!
And in my loneliness, I see them start
One heavenly kiss.
.
January 13, 2017
Russ Columbo, Happy Birthday from Your Angel, Carole Lombard
by Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo)
“Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo were the gayest of gay and continued to dance the rumba long after everyone had gone home…” Silver Screen Magazine reported on the charming couple’s partying in 1934.
[image error]
Looking back at their romance, I can write they were truly two people who were destined to meet and fall in love. And oh how they enjoyed each other’s company and that of others!
[image error]
Russ Columbo had once hosted at the height of his radio and theater career in the early 1930’s a party at the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York city, hosting over 200 reporters to celebrate his success at the local Paramount Brooklyn Theater. His musical variety shows were sold-out, five shows a day. He set a record that would not be broken for a quarter of a century at the theater.
[image error]
The gifted singer and songwriter Russ Columbo grew-up in show business and performed as a child as a violin prodigy. He was born into a large Italian American family on January 14, 1908, in Camden, New Jersey and had taken the radio airwaves by storm as The Valentino of The Radio, making all the young girls’ hearts flutter with his velvety voice and handsome profile.
And then one fateful night at the Cocoanut Grove his eyes met hers and they started an unforgettable romance. She told reporters, “His love for me was the kind that seldom comes to any woman.” In another interview she said, “I have married, divorced, and loved again.” This was in 1934. Carole Lombard showed her love both in action and words, and sometimes by the gifts she gave him. They were noted in newspapers and by the inventory of his estate.
What kind of gifts would you give a male Hollywood star on his birthday? We know that Carole Lombard gave Russ an Alaskan malamute puppy.
[image error]
She, according to the accounting of Russ Columbo’s estate, gave him a silver platinum cigarette case with his initials set in small diamonds. It may have looked something like this (see below).
[image error]
The silver cigarette case Carole Lombard gave Russ Columbo probably looked something like this, but with his initials on top set in small diamonds.
[image error]
Russ Columbo wearing a trinity ring on his wedding finger. Carole Lombard often wore the matching signet ring. It was featured with the magazine article where she stated she had “loved” him.
[image error]Listed among the other items she was known to gift Russ was a Cartier watch inscribed from her to him. Carole Lombard also gave him a ring with an inset solitaire diamond.
[image error]
1933 Cartier watch.
Happy Birthday Russ!
Love, your Angel,
Carole Lombard
January 8, 2017
Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo. Meet some of their friends.
By Beverly Adam (author of Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo).
“Carole was crazy about him,” Bing Crosby said during a televised interview on the Joe Franklin Show, and he was not referring to Clark Gable. He was talking about the greatest love in Carole Lombard’s life, Russ Columbo, with whom Bing had been both friend and rival during the early 1930s.
Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo were both twenty-five years old and very much in love in 1933. Their studios, however, were not happy. They wanted the couple to be seen as single. And if Carole was to be in love, Paramount wanted it to be with George Raft, her co-star in Bolero, not the handsome crooner. A lot of money and publicity had been invested to make that impression.
Carole Lombard and Russ, notice what finger the ring is on?
Advertisement for Bolero
Sally Blane, sister of Loretta Young, had met Russ Columbo four years before, during a break when he was performing at The Cocoanut Grove. She, Columbo, and the photographer Lansing Brown,
Lansing Brown
were close friends. The threesome were often seen about Hollywood at different parties and at Columbo’s performances. How did they react to Carole Lombard becoming Russ Columbo’s girlfriend? Were they happy about Lombard becoming the “most important person in the world” to the talented singer?
.
Sally Blane
Dixie Lee with her husband Bing Crosby and their newborn, Gary
In September of 1933, the publicity department was working overtime putting out the rumor that Russ Columbo was afraid to meet Bing Crosby on the set of We’re Not Dressing, while his girlfriend, Carole Lombard, was performing on Catalina Island.
Russ Columbo and Bing Crosby had once been friends and had worked together with the Gus Arnheim Orchestra. The congenial Columbo “had always hated the idea” of being rivals with Bing Crosby. Carole Lombard played a part in their reconciliation. You can read about all of them in Two Lovers: the love story of Carole Lombard and Russ Columbo.
