BUDDY'S STORIES

Chicago - growing up

I was born and raised in Chicago. My father had done very well in the Iron & Steel business during WWII so we always had a view of Lake Michigan from our various apartments - living on or just off Lake Shore Drive - 3800 Lake Shore Drive after my brother Robert and I were born - 5000 Marine Drive (a Lake Shore Drive inlet) growing up from the age of 5 and finally 880 Lake Shore Drive, the Meis Van der Rohe/Bauhaus twin towers near Navy Pier. We had our own plane (a Cessna 195) with our own pilot, and a Chris Craft Cruiser with our own Captain at the helm.

At Senn High School, I liked music a lot and played clarinet in the high school band to get out of gym. I hated sweating as there was no time to take a shower between classes. So I was enlisted into the dance band, played tenor sax and clarinet. My tone was awful but because of piano lessons, I could read anything at sight. I was enamored with Bill Russo and Count Lou Levy, both of whom looked 10 years older than any of the students, especially Lou Levy as he had grey/white hair when he was 14! Bill Russo looked 30 in high school.

I was on an accelerated track program at Goudy Grammar school which forced me to skip two full years of grammar school and propel me into high school two years earlier than normal and college two years earlier than normal, and boy was I dumb. I had a really high IQ, but learnin them books and biology, physics... forget it.

So when I went to UCLA I looked 12 and had no social life except for the Whiting family who looked after me on some nights and my Uncle Jule Styne's family who looked after me the other nights.

I lived at the Beverly Hills Hotel my first semester at UCLA.

Mr. Courtright who owned the hotel at the time, felt I was too young to live in an apartment in Westwood alone and insisted I live there free-of-charge as his guest. #248 - overlooking the delivery area, that little room with a closet and a bathroom now rents for around $350.00 a day. I used to do my homework on the porch watching the stars come to parties. Every night occurrences - at 9PM Smitty, Head of Parking would look at his watch and nod to me upstairs, my signal to get to bed. Bob the bellboy and Ennis the general fact totem would also make sure I was not around the lobby after 9. They all watched over me. I was a good boy, didn't do anything wrong; I was too young anyway.

I was too young to date, so I threw myself into music. Never studied but did the orchestrations for the Swim Show, vocals for The Spring Sing, etc... until one of the kid's father put up the money for a session and I did the orchestration and conducted four rock and roll songs. One was a Lieber & Stoller song entitled I Need Your Lovin' (Bazoom) with The Cheers. I got Alan Livingston at Capitol to take it and it zoomed into the Top 40 within days and that was the end of college for me. I then went on to Bobby Short - Let There Be Love, Let Me Love You, Sunday in Savannah etc... and they ended up on Atlantic. So that was the exact beginning of my career.

I heard music in Chicago as we belonged to The Standard Club and they had bands play there. Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, etc... he was my biggest influence.Woody Herman's band - wow - what a sound! But I was never IN music there. I have never had a musical connection to the city other than as a kid.

The Encyclopedia of Jazz is such a fraud and has all the wrong info on me as evidenced by one of the phrases, I believe it says, "Buddy Bregman... Jule Styne's BROTHER!!! NEXT CASE!!!!! Every single fact in it is wrong! Leonard Feather got a call from me saying something like, "How dare you print all that wrong info! I'm not that old and my credits are all wrong and JULE STYNE IS MY MOTHER'S BROTHER!"

LENNON & MC CARTNEY and A YANK AT THE BBC

I produced and directed "An Evening With Ethel Merman" at the BBC, my very first show for The Beeb in London in one of the largest studios in Europe - and I baptized it - the very first show in that newly-constructed-automated incredible studio. And then did many of my many shows in that studio since I was doing all The Big Stuff, as one of the Execs said.

In January I arrived in London with wife Suzanne and daughter Tracey on Saturday and Monday was my first day under contract as a television producer/director for the BBC. My first working day in London.

I had flown there some weeks earlier to work out my deal with David Attenborough, one of the BBC heads at that time (Sir Richard’s bro) and a favourite of mine on his own TV Nature Show. Also an absolutely wonderful person. A true show biz guy with one difference – integrity; he had it oozing out of every pore. He had seen my Parisian Dance Film with Roland Petit/Zizi Jeanmaire/Yves St. Laurent costumes and talked to me about coming there under contract. A foreigner under contract! to the BBC? It took them 4 months to get me a permit - but they were opening a 2nd network and it was only that reason that got me in - I was so lucky!

I had always longed to see London, and even be a part of the great town, ever since I found out that my mother was born and raised there. I was always proud to say that I was half English. The other half -- Cleveland!

I got in one of those smashing Austin taxis and asked the driver to take me to the Television Centre in Wood Lane, the address listed on the note Tom Sloan, BBC Head of Light Entertainment (Comedy/Variety), had written to me in Munich saying that the job was now set so, `please get over here as soon as possible.'

The taxi driver explained that where I really meant to go was White City not Wood Lane. I started to say `no,' but remembered the famous dog track which was next door to the BBC Centre as Tom and Bill Cotton, Jr., ex-producer and currently deputy-director of Light Entertainment under Tom Sloan -- he was also the son of Billy Cotton, famous bandleader/performer which didn't hurt getting him the job in the first place -- had taken me to lunch there the day I arrived to discuss the possibility of my going under contract to The Corporation. Imagine, `A Yank at the BBC.' The Beeb - wow!

London had just hit! The Beatles had burst onto the scene, and we had the good fortune of meeting Paul at Alma Cogan's party (big-time singer at that time and died of cancer in her 30's) within weeks of arriving. Every day the girls were screaming outside my studio - #1 – which was next to #2 where they did Top of the Pops! I’m rehearsing with Ethel Merman in #1 and they’re recording TOTP in # 2 - and on their break while I was working with Ethel on the floor, Paul and John stood near me and Paul said, “What could be better than Ethel Merman singing Cole Porter?" (I Get A Kick Out Of You). John answered with “Nothing!” Paul said to me, “Man are you lucky to be working with her.” I nodded and smiled back at him.

There we all were, studios 1&2 taking the tea break – which would become very familiar for me later – but this was my first week! Sitting amongst The Beatles, The Stones, Gerry & The Pacemakers, etc… during the tea breaks and lunch and drinks in the BBC Club (one had to be invited) became pretty routine – except for the screaming girls outside the glass walls when they spotted one of their faves sipping a cuppa which they did within days after our arrival. Our daughter Tracey had been born in Munich the year before while I was directing a film for television and my wife Suzanne couldn't wait to get the hell out of Bavaria so that we would be able to raise our daughter in England.

The contract with The Beeb was for two years, so we were finally assured of something steady for the first time in our young marriage. The money was adequate for that time and the compensation per month, plus additional guaranteed monies for musical arranging would do very nicely. Having come out of the recording industry, arranging and conducting, the monies by comparison, were not as great -- but at least I would be doing something I had been wanting to do -- producing and directing television shows and films. I had 'been there, done that' with music - I loved music but I didn't like the drudgery of the actual writing of the notes. The end result, of course, I loved.

Our flat on Baker Street at 83 Berkeley Court was enormous and at one-hundred pounds a month, was a steal. Later when asked to buy it at 16,000 quid we thought it was too much. A few years later it sold for $1,000,000.00. Another very smart move on our part.

Jenny Baker was assigned as my secretary as well as a funny Irish bloke named James Moir – a jolly guy and really funny. They watched me try to work the Plan-7 phone and were in stitches – I guess because they couldn’t even work it!

On that first day I was also tested by the ‘guide’ assigned to me, Nick Burrell-Davis – as affected and officious a veddy English Englishman as there ever has been. Sammy Davis was doing a show for the Beeb with Dennis Main Wilson producing - as Ray Galton (Steptoe/Sanford & Son) said to me , "Dennis is a legend in his own mind." He smoked so much his right hand was coloured Nicotine Bronze! I hadn't seen Sammy in a while as I had a new career after directing my off-Broadway musical - and then Roland Petit and Yves St. Laurent and lots of big shows I had directed and produced and getting an honorable mention prize in The Montreaux Festival. But since Sammy was on my resumé, he decided to test it.

I didn't want to see Sammy my first day on the new job with new people and in a new country but I could tell the guy needed validation. So we walked the long block to the Shepherd's Bush (converted) Cinema and I could hear the music as we walked into rehearsal of the Sammy Davis TV Special. I could see Sam on the drums. His back to me as we walked in via back stage. We walk through to the audience and Sam spots me from the back - starts screaming my name - flies off stage - everything stops - he dances around me stamping his feet - he loved doing that when he got excited - and his Posse including my faves Murphy Bennett and Big John came around and hugged me and made nice and old BBC Nick was floored with the verrry American Show-Bizzie greeting - and I was set after that outburst.

Dennis walks up to me, as we had met before when I directed the Kessler Twins in a special the BBC did in Villars, Switzerland at the Palace Hotel and he had done an abominable job - and he walks up to me with a cigarette glowing, talks right into my face and said "Dear Boy, so good to have you here - I told them all about you!"

Some things change and some things don't. I noticed in show-business in LA, NY, England, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland - countries I have worked in - there is not an iota of difference - it's all the hype, the B.S. and the la la - the same all over the world - with performers and creative people - we're like one large Frat House!

All of this had started in Munich! Eric Maschwitz (who wrote "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You") , screened some films in Munich, and I was the guy assigned to sit with him - the BBC Buyer - and make sure his whiskey glass was constantly full - the sales guy was in LA and this was important - so the VP asked if I would 'work the room' and I did. Told him I loved his songs and now he's 'retired' into a Civil Service Gig and how much I admired him and of course he didn't remember any of it in Montreaux when I bumped into him and thanked him for the 5 shows he had bought - all of them ones I produced and directed.

Actually my first sight of Eric in Montreaux was of he and his wife dancing on top of the very very long century-old bar - drunk to the hilt. I never saw him after that - but that image is burned into my brain - "He's a BBC Exec!?!"

My favourite cohort at The Beeb was producer Michael Mills - he befriended me and constantly called me 'Breggers' - "How is everything Breggers?" A brilliant man and taught Television production all over the world at times. He knew chapter and verse about BBC and its machinations - and had me laughing with how it operated; one glaring situation was a door near our offices on the 4th floor (where all us producers were housed) that was always closed. Michael said that the producer who officed there was so bad that instead of firing him they told him not to ever come back but they will continue to pay him for 'not showing up'! Nice work if you can get it.

Another great guy Terry Hughes was also there at the time - assisting Michael Hurll - and eventually ended up producing and directing Monty Python and finally coming here and ending up one of the biggest directors in American TV (Golden Girls, etc.).

Bing Crosby

The Crosby Boys were miserable at home and were 'caught' every which way, being totally disrespectful of any type of authority. They would call Bing 'The Bald-Headed Bastard', but he was only retaliating because of their disruptive and flagrant behavior; all-night drinking, being picked up by the cops, doing everything they could to get Bing's goat. Believe me, on purpose, retaliating against any type of authority.

There were times, about 80% of the time, Bing needed a shoulder to cry on. I feel lucky I was that shoulder for a while and relished every moment of it. He cared for the guys very much but finally had to give up, it was too much. I did too, but it was only Gary I had to give up. I don't know what I would have done if I were involved with all four of them - nightmare time.

But Phil, whom I also knew pretty well, was great. He was on the ball and totally lucid at all times. LOOK AT DENNIS' SONS. THEY BOTH HAVE RAP SHEETS and are so outrageous that one can only shake one's head. Their mother is Pat Crosby, a very sweet woman who, was in her day, prettier than Marilyn. Bing dated her then Dennis married her! Dennis was truly insanity time. And Gary, I could never get him to stop drinking; I didn't really know Lindsay that well.

But Gary was so out of control. He came up to SF to see Joel Grey (I did all the music for his act) and I performing at the (Big) Theatre there, and after the sold out show, he said we were too square for him and he went out on a toot ,ended up in a bar with some wild women and came back to The St. Francis banging on our door screaming. We let him in and he continued screaming, "I'm a f--, I'm a f--, I'm a f--!" And proceeded to open the window to jump out and commit suicide.

We did everything we could to pull him back, shoving him against the walls; he was a bull but I was much taller and Joel was very much shorter, but we did pretty well against a drunken maniac, and finally he started crying and told us that he found this chick and they were going to go at it, but when he got down to the nitty-gritty, he realized he had almost gone all the way with a man!

Joel and I started to scream with laughter and finally Gary did too. Whew! Seriously, he absolutely tried to commit suicide by jumping out of the hotel window. Multiply things like this x 365 days a year x 4 kids and you'll get an idea of what Bing went through.

Again, I have no axe to grind, I am just reporting the facts as I saw them and I HATE IT WHEN people write books about other people and use 2nd 3rd and 4th hand stories about them AS FACT!

Bing Crosby - well I was part of the family and when I asked if he would record with me, he said, "What do you want with an old bastard like me - you're young and too jazzy for me." Of course I talked him into it and it became Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings - re-issued recently with a 40-page booklet about us. Bing and I only did AT MOST, 2 takes on each song we recorded for that album. I love that album - the band did blow him out - especially as we had to record at 9AM as Bing said that's when his voice is still low. After noon it gets too high and he doesn't like the sound. Now Maynard Ferguson, Bud Shank and Harry 'Sweets' Edison at 9AM blowing their heads off to my charts was quite a sight to see!

Bing was not a jazz singer in the true sense of the word. Even Jack Kapp, who knew my parents and knew my bro and I at the ages of 7+9, said he wasn't a jazz singer. He was a crooner in the style of Russ Colombo and had a very mellifluous voice. Soothing. Romantic. He asked me, "Why do you want to record me - I can't sing jazz." I explained how much fun it would be for him to sing with the real jazzers behind him and my charts. He said okay and then structured the biggest contract in the history of Verve. 10% from the first $ - no recoupment for the company - parri passu. Not bad for doing me a favor.

Bing was a fun performer, like an everyman, they could relate because they probably said to themselves, "Well I can do that!" That was his charm.

Mr. Kapp took me and his daughter Myra to a recording when we were both little ones - Bing and Al Jolson - The Spaniard That Blighted My Life & Alexander's Ragtime Band. I knew Al Jolson at the time because he liked us boys when we vacationed in Palm Springs. I went up to him and said, "Hi - do you remember me?" He thought, and I said, "Racquet Club Palm Springs - Bob & Claire Bregman parents etc"... Oh yes, boys. He didn't remember. Then I said "How is Earl?" That was his wife, she was a nurse and nursed him into marriage. But she was soooooo sweet to us. I never did meet Bing at that time. I think Jack said, "This is my daughter Myra and her friend", Bing nodded, or didn't, I don't remember exactly, but that session was burned into my brain. It was Dixieland which I can't do, but it also really swung. I think a very nice smiling Nick Fatool was on drums, Perry Botkin (his son [Perry, Jr.] is a friend of mine) on guitar and banjo, Manny Klein on trumpet and I can't seem to recall anyone else. But they did about 3-4 takes on each and had such a ball. I knew I wanted to do something along those lines when I grew up. In fact, that session was as much an influence on me as my Uncle Jule.

I could write volumes about Bing and his sons and Kathryn. (I scored The Wild Party Film [aka Step Down To Terror] because it was about drugs and a jazz club with Buddy de Franco's group. I was on it from pre-production all the way to the day of dubbing the score - had to be on the set constantly to give the actors the beat even when we had turned the playback off).

Christine Foster (ex-nun at Immaculate Heart and Head of Drama for Columbia Studios [now top literary agent] when I was under contract there as a producer the 1st time) and I flew to SF to see Kathryn about the bio she wrote about her life with Bing.

We could never evoke interest in the project so we never got past the talking stage. Since I knew he and the family for years before, I could write 100 pages, but I don't have that kind of time. Anything specific I probably can do but my traffic was more with Gary and his group and not the others although they all married friends of mine. The same with Bing. I was more his 'lookout' where Gary was concerned until one day I asked him about recording with me.

Sammy Davis, Jr.

I was with Sammy for between 2-3 years, did five albums, his single act for The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, and was his 'beard' where Mai Britt was concerned. I have lots of pix of us together.I even did a play with him, Desperate Hours. I played the FBI guy. He did the play just to help me over any stage fright because I was given my own show on NBC and had no experience, except my own life experience of being kind of brash, which unfortunately didn't translate over the tube, nor on stage. Every night at his house for fun and games I was one of the few who actually went home afterwards.

I did five albums with Sammy, Porgy & Bess, Sammy Awards, Mr. Entertainment, four 10 minute showstoppers, the greatest ever done on Broadway: Soliloquy, Trouble, Where Is The Life That Late He Led? and Gesticulate! We were inseparable for about three years. I had charts on a couple of other albums, two of which I believe for me were the best I had done at that time. Time After Time and How Are Things in Glocca Morra? Being totally untrained musically when I had my biggest hits, I was still a neophyte and harmonically lame, but they were hits. As John Mc Donough of DownBeat said, "Don't Fight It!" I am so much better now and I don't do it, but my Anita O'Day Rules of the Road album is evidence of that as well as my new Big Band Swing Album on Varese Sarabande. Those two were my best work.

Eydie Gormé

I had the world's biggest crush on Eydie. It was awful, and I can't think of a better singer I have ever worked with from the standpoint of getting all the drama out of the lyrics with a voice to die for! When her son died suddenly, I went over there with all the other major people and she came out of her room crying and seemed to be happy I was there. Working with her - I did some tracks/or a track (Chicago) for an album, but did her act three years in a row for Vegas.

Gogi Grant

I met this manager guy Jack Morton at The Beverly Wilshire and he said he had a girl who worked at Woolworth's in Santa Monica who was a great singer and I should sign her. I did and we recorded four sides - one of them from our UCLA end of the year show, entitled The Wayward Wind. I only was going to use a guitar and the chorus, but I had about 35-40 people in the orchestra so, since I did the big sound on Suddenly There's A Valley I thought, "What the heck, orchestrate and you can always cut the orchestra out and put in the guitar alone with the singers." Well it was a monster hit, but when I heard the playback, the French Horn, which answered every phrase that she sang, wasn't heard. I had to bring Vince De Rosa back in to put in the answers and that's what made it a hit! I think a ballad singer is as important as any jazz singer. A ballad singer like Gogi brings to us the one thing we all want in life -- and that is romance.”

Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin

I owe Jerry Lewis a lot. Not only did I do his film score - his first solo turn - but I also arranged and conducted his gigantic hit album JERRY LEWIS JUST SINGS - sold over 4 million he told me backstage at Damn Yankees recently - and also I did all his music for his first solo appearance ever at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.

I got many jobs because of my success with Jerry. And his Christmas get-together on Amalfi Drive in The Palisades were legendary. Funnier than anything one could ever conceive! Jerry off-stage/off camera was the funniest man I have ever been around. Incredibly funny! Much more so in person than on screen where he was playing a character that was 50/50 - him/character - but having a production meeting in his office or just hanging out with him - I have never laughed that hard - but still put my nose to the grindstone and did good work.

When we got the gold record for selling $1,000,000 worth of albums from Decca - and after he came back from a photo-op receiving his award Jerry said to me that I deserve the plaque as much as he did. Two days later a messenger came knocking on my office door at Paramount Studios saying, "Package from Jerry Lewis!" I opened the door, took the package and was excited to hang the plaque on my wall. But was suddenly surprised and depressed when I opened the package to find an 8x10" black and white glossy photo of the original gold plaque!

But that's only one side of Jerry - who was very very very good to me in many other ways - having also received accolades for the film score I did for him and getting lots of film-scoring and recording work due to that film and the recording I did with him. And best of all he was lots of fun to work with. Also teaching me what a true auteur is all about. Which I have always strived to be as well. And I learned from the best of them!

I was in the room - in Jerry Lewis's office at Paramount Studios - when the two of them - Dean Martin and Jerry - broke-up for good. Jerry had just hired me to do the musical score for The Delicate Delinquent - and in the middle of our conversation - along with Don Maguire - writer/director of the film - who actually recommended me for the job - Dean burst into the office with his pal Mack Gray - in his police uniform (for the part in the film) - and ripped the Police Badge off of his shirt and threw it at Jerry saying, "I'm not playing second-fiddle to you anymore - you can take this badge and shove it up your a--! Dean then slammed the door and left the 3 of us sitting there staring in silence for a few moments - and then Jerry shook his head and in deep thought said, "What a schmuck, without me he's nothing!"

Carmen McRae

Great idea for an album - mine. Pay homage to the great ladies of Broadway. The arrangements I did were okay, nothing thrilling and working with her was the pits. She was angry every minute of every day, her nature. I hated working with her. But she's one of my favorite singers - go figure. I had her in for a part in a pilot I was producing at Disney, gave her the big greeting and she barely acknowledged me. I called her manager Jack Rael and told him, "How could she do this to me?" He said, "That's just Carmen." I didn't hire her.

Matt Monro

George Martin produced the album and asked if I could do some of the charts. As I was under contract to the BBC as a producer/director, I couldn't work anywhere else even if it was only for music, but because of his association with The Beatles they let me. I met Matt for 10 minutes, ran over the songs, went away and came back a few days later to conduct my charts - and it was GREAT! Second Time Around is one of my favorite arrangements ever. Also Charade, some of my best string work.

Anita O'Day

I worked with her on Verve, not much contact. She was on stuff then I guess - asked me to play more in the cracks when we rehearsed Honeysuckle Rose. I went away and told my mom, and she said, "Oh, honey you know those jazz people are all strange." Yeah, I guess so. This is before Alan Eichler. I must say Alan did Yeoman-like work for her and brought her back from the dead. A miracle man believe me, I saw it with my own eyes. The reunion album on Pablo was Alan's idea and I came up with the concept of Rules of the Road and have her only do stuff she has hardly ever done before. It's absolutely my best vocal work, but, and this has nothing to do with Alan, her 'attention span' was not what it should have been, but she's been through a lot and that she got through the rehearsals and the live recording and the drop-ins later, were a bit much for her. Especially at her age and what she had endured throughout her life. But I played it in my car recently and loved every second of it. I'm very proud of it and have to thank Alan for putting it together.

Jane Powell

A lovely lady. I did her cabaret acts for about three years for Vegas etc... then I did an album with her on Verve. Again Norman Granz called from Sweden and said if I went into the studio with her I should pack up - Jane Powell!? I always ignored authority when I knew something was good. It was a nice album and has sold continually throughout the years. She was always wonderful to me and I only remember her with great fondness.

Joe Williams

I did lots of tracks with the Basie Band. Two of the tracks Joe and I did together in our album entitled The Greatest were dubbed by The Smithsonian as two of the all-time greatest jazz vocal tracks in history - Come Rain or Come Shine (one of my worst charts) and I Can't Believe That I'm In Love With You, (one of my better ones at the time). I directed Joe on a TV Special I produced in Toronto, Pure Gold, sold all over the world. I loved him, and Bill Basie, The Count - who turned to my ex-wife Suzanne backstage at The Apollo after our show together and said, "You know, Mrs.Bregman, I think your husband was born with a little of it in him!" The greatest compliment from anyone I have ever worked with.

Annie Ross

We recorded the jazz version of GYPSY for Pacific Jazz . Annie is a gem, a double gem, a triple gem. I loved her as a kid and the same goes now. What a pro and a wonderful lady. I knew her well when visiting LA as a kid. Annabelle Logan (Ella Logan's niece), so gorgeous with long blonde hair, and the sweetest look on her face, well I was hooked at 12. Totally hooked on her and talked about her all the time when I was back in Chicago. She was so sweet to me and friendly and I was hoping our paths would cross and they sure did.

She had a strep throat when we were to record and she put her voice in later in NY. And Judy Balaban Kanter (Princess Grace's Maid of Honor) sang the songs from the booth into my head phones so I would at least have a semblance of what it was going to sound like. Jule Styne (my uncle - my Mother's brother) wrote the music to Gypsy and wrote very sweet notes about Annie and myself. It is a wonderful album, and what a band. Wow! Frank Rosolino's trombone solos should be singled out as some of the greatest of all time, especially on Some People. The same goes for Pete Candoli and Stan Getz! Mel Lewis on drums - Jim Hall on guitar - Russ Freeman on piano - I mean come on! Annie sang the s--- out of Let Me Entertain You and Roses! Oh, man...

One of the best things about the album is that Stephen Sondheim wrote a special lyric for All I Need Is a Girl (Boy) for Annie over the phone. I asked him and he said "Do you have a pencil?" "Yes." "Okay, here it is…" And reeled it off ... "Got my five yards of Crepe de Chien on now all I need is a strong arm to lean on!" Wowwweee!!!

Les Brown and other influences on my musical career

Les was a friend of my parents. We all met when we wintered in Palm Springs - mid-term break in Chicago through Easter holiday then back to Chi Town. I would say that Skip Martin and Frank Comstock were in essence, and of course I didn't know this at the time, my arranging teachers. I used to listen to their charts and was mesmerized by this incredible sound. Neal Hefti and Ralph Burns as well with Woody's 3rd herd - wow - that sound. Whew! And then Neal's chart's with Basie! Double Whew! And I can't leave out Pete Rugolo with Kenton, and then becoming a good friend.

Although I never had any formal music lessons, I actually did it by listening to the great arrangers. And finally figuring it out. My brother reminded me of us as kids at The Standard Club in Chicago where our parents belonged and we signed and signed and signed for everything. One night they had Stan Kenton with June Christy (she looked 15, and as I remember, had an unattractive, not very well-fitting gown with sort of a semi-gossamer sailorish-collar. Not very fashionable but she looked so sweet and young she could have been in my class at school. We stood in front as they were in the dining room and the sax section was right on the floor and we were standing right by Vido Musso, with the biggest tenor sound I have ever heard. We never moved until our folks demanded we leave.

Les Brown, like Dick Haymes and Van Johnson, took a liking to Bobby and I. We were always with adults. Our folks took us everywhere with them. Les invited us to dates he played around Chicago; Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee, 2 kids standing in awe of him on a dance floor for over 18s and we just stood there. He didn't even know I was interested in music. I didn't either of course because I was totally self-taught, and then when all of a sudden out-of-the-blue with "I Need Your Lovin", "Wayward Wind" and "Cole Porter Songbook", I became a recognized entity in the biz. He was never the same. "Oh, Hi, Buddy, how are you? How's mom and dad?" Boom! End of conversation. But always always always a sweet man and I have the fondest of memories of him. Even though he never ever discussed my musical situation.

Doris Day

Doris Day as well . We saw her as kids at The Panther Room in the Sherman Hotel in Chi with Les, we were his guests. It was on mom's and our birthdays, all in the first week of July (2-9-10; I'm the 9th) we were stunned by her beauty, and eventually became the most wonderful woman whom I (and my brother) have had the pleasure of knowing. And by accident worked with. But mostly knowing. She was totally grounded and, I hate this word, so 'regular' at her height. And that terrible Marty Melcher, whom I really liked as well (he was very funny; I played tennis with him so many times) took this lovely woman for everything she had... so disgusting.

Doris when married to Marty, was very friendly to my brother Bobby and I. She was like the aunt one always loved.She always wore long shorts like the basketball players do now. Marty was very funny. Little did I know that he was bilking her along with Jerry Rosenthal, my parents lawyer friend from Chicago and also our Verve lawyer. Unbelievable.

I did the orchestrations in the film "Pajama Game, splitting the chores with Nelson Riddle. They kept me on to do the underscoring as well. I did all the big Fosse numbers, Once a Year Day - 8 minutes long - Hernando's Hideaway, the whole 10 minute sequence, 7 1/2 Cents - the whole Union vs. Management sequence +++ - Doris was the star, but since she knew me as a kid when she bumped into me on the set she said, "Oh, Buddy, honey what are you doing here?" "The orchestrations." "You do music?" "Yes." "I didn't know that." You can never grow up with some people.

But she was the nicest woman I have ever known in this biz. She even invited me to her house on Crescent Drive for dinner. She asked if I minded having Betty Hutton at the dinner party. I took a deep breath, smiled through my clenched teeth and said, "Fine." I won't go into the Betty Hutton story other than when I was musical director on "The Eddie Fisher Show", and she was Alan Livingston's wife (head of NBC after Capitol Records), she would only do the show if she could use her own musical contingent. I won't go into the rest and I would have to use foul language re what I said about her and to her.

There I find myself at Doris's house, her dinner guest and then who plops next to me but a woman in a gorgeous navy-blue silk dress with large white-polka-dots all over, most of it covering my lap. "Hi, honey, remember me?" I nodded. "I'm sorry about being such a bitch but...." "I smiled." And we had a great time, but I was with Doris the whole time as she was the one I knew best between the 20 people there other than Ronnie Cowan (her best friend and Warren Cowan's wife of Rogers & Cowan PR), and I felt safe as Doris was so nice to me and liked both my brother and I because as she used to say, "We were such nice, polite boys."

I guess she didn't know I had this mad crush on her, but I knew Marty pretty well also and we were close to him and the Rosenthals who were also there. If I had an inkling of what they were doing, I would have told her.

Oh yes, Gordon & Sheila MacRae were there as well and they were like my surrogate aunt and uncle. It was Sheila who pushed me into a May-December situation that became a nightmare - which I won't go into now - but I loved Sheila. She was so out there and totally ran Gordon's life and career, which didn't fare too well. We all met with our parents at The Pump Room in Chicago (where my parents were married) when I was there for a summer holiday and Sheila and Gordon knew that my mother was Jule Styne's sister so it was an instant friendship. I was in school at UCLA and I saw them at Jule's house a lot after that, and Sheila, the bombastic one, would continually push me into this situation which became a lot like drowning.

But they were friends of Doris's as well, as they did a lot of films together that my uncle Jule and Sammy Cahn wrote, hence the Doris-Buddy situation. It came via The Cowans, the Stynes and the MacRaes.

I can say as I write this that I was in Doris's presence probably over a period of years about 30-35 times. Times where she would be having her iced tea and I would join she and Ronnie (they were very close gal pals) and Ronnie kept us in stitches, and if she said anything off-color (1000 times) Doris very sweetly would say, "Ronnie!"

A woman I will never forget, and strangely enough, I'm probably the only one who knows her personally and not much about her recordings, strange, huh? But I was with Ella, Carmen and Anita and Doris and I never recorded together. She was in a category I was not interested in other than as a lovely lady who is the quintessential Wonder(ful) Woman!

Composer Franz Waxman

Franz gave me my first film scoring job, orchestrating his score for "Crime in the Streets", along with Sandy Courage who did the more dramatic stuff, (believe me, at that time I knew less than zero), but I did all the so-called hip stuff; rock and roll source music, the jazzier underscore stuff and finally, the big 5-minute finalé where Cassavettes was going to kill the guy in the alley and James Whitmore was deciding what to do. The clock ticking was intergrated into theat particular cue.

Because of the source music, I got to work on the set a lot. Mark Rydell and I became friendly. Mark was fantastic in the film and John was chilling. That scene with his mother in their walk up apt. was frightening.

So I went to his house on top of Laurel Canyon. He led me to the piano. I looked at blank music pages. All Mr. Waxman gave me was two bars; the Eddie Heywood bass line to "Begin The Beguine" and I said, "When will I get the rest of the sketch?" And he said, "You won't, you're a jazzer, you write it!"

I actually got no musical sketches at all and composed and orchestrated probably 20-30% of the score and Sandy did at least 70% or more. But I wanted to learn from the master and the master wasn't in the mood. But he did sit down to play, and then he said, "You sit - you play." So I played the two bars and he looked at me like I should play more and show him the musical path I was going to take. I didn't know how to do that.

But that cue was a very very long monster and it was at the end of the film, what an ork. John Williams on piano, Maynard on lead, 65 pieces. It was fantastic. Don Siegel directing. Did I ever learn a lot from that man. We then officed next to each other in London at Twickenham Studios. He was a brilliantly talented man. Met at lunch in the commissary every day.

Franz Waxman did a wonderful thing every year. He would take one film score and donate all the money to the UCLA Music School, where I took some classes during my two years there, and his contractor happened to be the same contractor for Johnny Green at MGM who was a member of The Beverly Hills Tennis Club. My parents had gifted me with a membership while I was going to UCLA and Johnn Green actually hired me to do the orchestrations for Tony Martin at The Hollywood Bowl with the LA Phil. Al Sendrey did half and I did half. It was an Evening of Vincent Youmans music. I also met Billy Wilder at the BHTC and used to worship at his feet to hear unbelievable stories. All he did was play cards, but talked a blue streak. And his fab wife Audrey who sang with Tommy Dorsey.

It was strictly a money thing. If I would do the orchestrations for Tony (who knew me as a child because my uncle Jule was his accompanist in the old days and he dated my mom) for practcally nothing, I would get the job. I told him I would pay him. I mean, I was a student at UCLA and got this gig!?

Then came the awful rehearsal in the sun. Johnny Green sweating, conducting, and there is his contractor smiling at me as the band struck up "Hallelujah", my chart. Boy, was I nervous and it sounded pretty good. I had em all playing, no rests, sawing away, doubling instruments so that every score page was filled. Didn't know that musicians had to breathe to play.

All of a sudden Johnny Green screeches the orchestra to a halt. He turns to me and starts yelling. Bobby and Al Sendry looked at me with compassion as they must have known what he was like to work with. To me he was an older guy who played tennis, whom I could beat, but was my idol as head of music at MGM.

"What the hell is this, Bregman?!" I walk over, he's got a red grease pencil in his hand and is poking/hitting it at the French Horns area of the score. Red dots are accumulating all over the notes/page. "Why the hell are the French Horns doubling the damn Saxophones? Answer me!" "I don't know, I thought it was a good idea." "It's awful, awful, awful." And he proceeds with his fist wrapped around the red grease pencil to 'knife' the area where the horn were doubling the saxes and kept turning the pages and murdering every bar until finally he couldn't find any more doubling. Oh my God, every orchestration I did he found some BAD BARS. "Gentlemen and ladies in the string section would you please take your pencils out and tacet bars 31-60" etc...etc... etc...

Afterwards the contractor tried to salve my wounds and said he had a job that required more than orchestrating, would I be interested ---- it was Franz Waxman. So something worked out.

And re Henry Hathaway. I did Van Johnson's Cabaret Act. Kay Thompson recommended me and Henry was best friends with Van. When we rehearsed at my place, Henry would come along because he loved the giant tree on my front lawn on La Peer Drive in Beverly Hills.

So much for Franz and Henry.

Yves St. Laurent

Van Johnson

One of the first film jobs as a composer/arranger was with Van Johnson - KELLY & ME at Universal.Studios - about a song & dance man and his Dog "Kelly". I remember Henry "Hank" Mancini giving me musical "tips" on what to do for the underscore as well as the "song & dance" routines that Nick Castle did for him - Straw Hat and all - real Vaudeville where I learned to musically Play 'im off stage! Vaudeville Style even though I had never seen a Vaudeville performance like Sammy Davis did with his Father and Uncle - Sammy used to say to me, "Ride me off stage, man"; and I did and was always able to "milk the audience" for a performer Vaudeville style and I wasn't even born during Vaudeville.

So I really loved Van Johnson - as he loved my mother - "Claire, your son charges me too much money." "Claire your son is a genius"! And this year - the 100th Anniversary of the City of Las Vegas and there I am in shorts and wearing Espadrilles rehearsing the Sands Hotel Orchestra for his opening - and was he ever a hit - fantastic - and it set the stage for me to do Sammy's show, Bobby Short's Show, Bobby Van's Show, Jerry Lewis's first SOLO Show - all at The Sands Hotel - my new home away from home. And began my life-long relationship with Frank's group "Da Boyz"! I was their new teenage playmate and they hired me to do all the "line numbers - Dancers music" during the era when The Rat Pack played there and I was their underage musical arranger-conductor- composer etc... where I learned to stage and direct and produce live shows - and did many - even up to this day!

But Van was a fave of mine; wonderful to the core who loved my mother as did Sammy and Eydie Gorme' and Diahann Carroll and Bobby Short for sure also!

I finally became a Producer and Director and did a gigantic foreign variety Spectacular show shot all over Europe!!! What a hit it was! And I decided to lower Van from "The Gods" but the "by hand" - with 2 stage-hands trying to lower him in a "level" position but it was always crooked - like side-saddle - and Van on about Take #9 yelled out and said to my pregnant wife actress Suzanne Lloyd - "Suzanne please tell The Director that this is the last time I do this insanity - Take it or Leave it"!!!

It worked and he was the Hit of The Vegas Strip. And the rehearsals for 8+ weeks were fabulous - especially that I got to be close friends with Marlene Dietrich - who wore US Army fatigues from the Army Surplus Store every day with Brown Lace-up Army Boots!!!

MGM made Van a star and working with Gene Kelly honed his talent in "Pal Joey" by Rodgers & Hart on stage didn't hurt.

A LOVELY WAY TO SPEND AN EVENING - THE MUSIC OF JIMMY McHUGH

Starring Bobby Darin, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Vic Damone and Buddy Bregman Conducting the LA Philharmonic Orchestra:

A GREAT NIGHT IN MY YOUNG LIFE!

It was a great night and that's it. I have stills from the evening around the piano rehearsing it the week before. Anna, Vic, Jimmy and me, and also on stage with Bobby, Vic, Anna Maria and I.

Steve Blauner was Bobby's Manager, but much more than that; His producer, guidance counselor, creative consultant, agent, everything! Right after I wrote this he and I spoke and it was wonderful. We both liked each other very much and it was confirmed by the conversation and he validated everything you're about to read. He probably could write his own letter about it since I haven't spoken to him in years. It was great and I have fond memories of him. Every agent/manager should be like Steve Blauner was.

I spent six months writing all the notes in between all my other paying jobs, and finally hearing it at afternoon rehearsal, and then the evening performance. It was a great feeling to walk out on stage in front of the biggest band I had ever led and having over 14,000 people applaud me.

It was called, "A Lovely Way to Spend An Evening" - The Music of Jimmy McHugh. Bobby sang "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night" and "Let's Get Lost", (I think I used the 55 person string section behind him Colla Voce throughout) "Can't Get Out of This Mood", (as I remember fantastic and we really swung together) he and Anna sang a duet together and it was absolutely great. Lots of ad libs that got screams. I THINK IT WAS (???) Exactly Like You - Vic did "When My Sugar Walks Down The Street", I remember this one over everything else. It was a major Showstopper! Then the three of them did a number together and got a standing ovation.

I did two instrumentals at the beginning of Act I (10' long) and two instrumentals at the beginning of Act 2 (another 10' long). When I walked out to conduct "Digga Doo", my 1st party piece at the beginning after I took my bow to acknowledge the audience applause, I TOTALLY FORGOT that I was to do "The Star Spangled Banner". WE NEVER REHEARSED IT so I thought when I raised my baton and the ork got their instruments at the ready it was for "Digga Doo". Oiy! I gave the down beat in 4/4 - SSB is in 3/4, of course they knew what they were doing even if I didn't. I got the message quickly loud and clear and I remember thinking, "Oh, My Lord, this song is in 3 - a waltz - I never knew that!" Talk about being a neophyte! I told you I was self-taught.

The orchestra was The Symphony - 85 pieces, like 5 bass players, 6 percussion etc.. plus a 20 piece Jazz Band in the middle. It was a thrilling sound and strangely enough, at night it sounded so much better than the afternoon rehearsal with the sun beating down on me. The night air really made it sound great. I'm sure the tape survives, and as an historic musical event, it is something special.

My daughter Tracey Elizabeth Bregman Recht is my finest production, but of course, I can only take 50% of the credit for her. My ex-wife Suzanne Lloyd gets kudos for the other 50% of Tracey Elizabeth Bregman. It's funny, Suzanne played in one of the most interesting "Twilight Zone" episodes, and when I made the offer to...

Mary J. Blige

Who will possibly play Billie Holiday in my new film, after we rehearsed at the Beverly Hills Hotel, she invited me to dinner at Crustaceans in Beverly Hills, so we went. I called Tracey on my cell phone from the car and said, "jump over there for five minutes to meet Mary. She's a fan of yours from Y&R and B&B". So Tracey, who is the busiest person I know, had just about five minutes and joined us. Mary enjoyed meeting her and looked into Tracey's face and said, "Oh My Lord, she's got The Cat Woman's eyes"! and I thought and then said, "You mean Suzanne, Tracey's mom, my ex, when she played Maya The Cat Woman on a very well known "Twilight Zone", and Mary kept repeating it . Tracey turned to me and said, "Well, that's the first time you or I have ever been upstaged by mom!"

Madeline Kahn

I really miss Madeline. I saw the Harvey Korman-Madeline scene the other night when I landed on 'Blazing Saddles' on TV and she was a brilliant genius, and so interesting. I was more a go-between on that show than a producer (my job was to keep her happy and it was difficult at best, but I knew her through Kevin Kline from before [20th Century] so she liked me and was thrilled when she asked me to write a new musical theme for the opening which I did (no one on the show was that familiar with my musical prowess but she was). My main job was to keep the girl who played her sister's hair light and not red."Buddy, you tell that b--- that her hair is getting redder by the day and if it keeps on I want you to fire her a--! This is in the makeup room, so I walk over the the young lady and mentioned that I NOTICED THAT HER HAIR was getting redder etc... and she looked at me like, "Okay I got it, Madame is on her broom again!" Later on the same episode I walked by the guy who played her husband as we were about to tape a famous High School scene about Johnny Mathis playing the school dance and I turned to J---y and said, "Wow finally some incredible chemistry between the two of you." And he throws his cigarette down, stomps it out and gets into my face and says, "I want to tear her f---ing face off!" Okay, next case!

Nell Carter

I produced "Ain't Misbehavin'" on NBC and won The Image Award for it. Nell did not win in her category and when I went up to accept and made a speech about how wonderful it was to work with her, she was sneering at me she was so angry at losing. But she is Tracey's major fan and would always ask me "What's happening with Lauren, what is she gonna do?" I explained that I do not know nor does Tracey (who plays Lauren). I've never seen a 5-person cast with as much hate as that one! I am looking at my award now as I type this and am very proud of it. I used to keep it in my office at Columbia Pictures Television, the company I produced it for when I was under contract to them, and if you don't know what it looks like, it's absolutely gorgeous (an understatement). It's pewter, heavier than a block of concrete and it depicts a black man on his knees holding a globe of the world up high. Well, the writer/producers of "Married With Children" were lodged in the next office to me. They got into my office during lunch one day and pasted a circular paper hoop on the wall behind the award/statue, turned the statue around so that the "ball"/globe was just under hoop and it looked like the 'man on his knees' was shooting a free throw!

Dinah Shore

Dinah was another of the illustrious members of our Beverly Hill tennis Club. I used to play mixed doubles with her a lot. Bea Korschak (wife of well-known infamous attorney Sidney Korschak, a friend of my parents in Chicago) and myself vs. Dinah and Dale Eisenhuth (an A Tennis Player and Baritone Sax player in NBC orchestra who worked with her). And in one particular match I blocked a serve Dale hit at me so hard I just swung at it wildly - met it - and it went straight for Dinah's mid-section and I thought it might go through her, but luckily for me she put her racquet up and ducked sideways. I was so shaken by that I could hardly play afterwards! Luckily she wasn't hurt, although after playing with her so much prior to that, we never did again.

She had hired me to do a recording with her on RCA. I forget what the tracks were. This was before that and she never hired me again.

BUT I had my own show on NBC at the time and it preceded her Chevy Show on Sunday nights; BUDDY BREGMAN'S MUSIC SHOP - NBC, a clone of Dick Clark starring me - Ha! - and nowhere near as good. In fact, bad. BUT great guests.

I was on "The Eddie Fisher Show" as Musical Director/arranger/conductor at the time and they had seen me on camera with the midget and voíla gave me the show - 13 shows. I was not good, but it had great guests on it; Richie Valens, Sam Cook were on the first show, Sam Butera, George Burns, Jerry Lewis, etc... my opening line "Hiya Kids", became a 'catch phrase' throughout the halls of NBC Burbank and haunted me for years, especially since Jerry did an impression of me coming down the steps of the audience saying, "Hiya Kids!"

The shows are only valuable because of the guests on it, but I'm sure destroyed. Too bad for collectors because there are some gem spots on them... the moments I'm not in.

One show I did the whole show with my band (musicians I had recorded with, I never played in a band - only hired hands for recordings). The band was, and I look up at the picture on my wall as I write this: Mel Lewis on Drums, Monte Budwig on Bass, Jim Hall on guitar (me on piano ugh!) although Russ Freeman played on the recording of the album we were previewing - Swingin' Standards on World Pacific Jazz) - Al Porcino, Conti Candoli, Stu Williamson, Ray Triscari - Trumpets; Frank Rosolino, George Roberts, Joe Howard, Lloyd Ulyate on Trombones; Bob Cooper, Richie Kamuca, Bill Holman, Bill Perkins on Saxes.

This album should be reissued as all of my others are, but so far nothing.

SOME COUNT BASIE AND NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL REMINISCENCES

Every time I bumped into Benny Powell Basie's trombone player and a young guy like me at the time, he would say, "You know, I expect you to pop up anywhere we are at any time doing something I would never think you would be doing." The next time I saw him was in Munich when Basie played a dance at the American Officers Club at Mc Graw Caserne. That place was pretty weirdin itself. Barefoot American soldiers wives from Alabama trying to talk to a German Putz Frau (cleaning lady) who was trying to clean their digs.Unreal. A quarter to see a movie. My friend Bonnie booked the whole of Europe all the bands, etc... and got Sue and I in to see all the movies we ever wanted to for a quarter apiece, Illegally of course. That's how I knew what jazz people were going to play.

Not too fabulous, chills as I type this, Clara Ward Singers. I never heard singing like that. Every moment was a thrill - nothing naff - all hip and brilliant - Monk was a trip, but I couldn't use his stuff on the NBC portion. It was done in Newport in conjunction with America's Cup Race and he wasn't commercial - NBC paid for it - gave it to me free - I ended up editing it on 55th St. at Pathe and I got so busy I never ever saw a frame of it after that.

I was directing an off-Broadway musical at the time and the next thing I know is that after months and months and months of editing with non-musical guys - when I got the producing/directing gig in Paris with Roland Petit Ballet and Yves St. Laurent I was gonzo. I still don't know what happened to it.

I had four cameras and was screaming half the time at the guys because they couldn't hear through the intercoms as it was so loud. I even had a hand-held Éclair they outfitted me with. All I did was shoot ALL THE CLOSE-UPS like I knew when Johnny Hodges was going to stand up and solo, so I hit him with an ECU and that's all I did for 3 days. Mr. ECU and glad-handing all the performers, half of whom I already knew, and half of whom looked at me like I was dirt, especially Monk, but when Oscar told him who I was in music, he at least was civil to me and nodded when I said some things, like "Play it towards us when you can!" Of course he didn't.

VEGAS AND THE HI-LO'S

I got the Hi-Lo's one of their first jobs at The Sahara Hotel. They really needed it and when I met them in LA they had done an album but needed a job to keep mind and body alive and I was the one that got it to them. A show which I had arranged not conducted at The Sahara in Las Vegas needed singers and here was a pre-packaged group and I was so knocked out with Gene's charts for vocal group. I never wrote for voices, only instruments and so they got the job and I even got them extra money because they backed The Anna Maria Alberghetti Show and The Ray Bolger Show. Both played The Sahara back-to-back and I did all of Ray's music and all of Anna's music and all the music for The Sahara production numbers as well for George Moro of Moro-Landis fame who choreographed all the numbers.

In fact, Clark of the Hi-Lo's met his wife through me as she was a dancer in the line.

Gene and I got along swimmingly and became good acquaintances, close friends no, because I lived here in LA not Vegas, but we all hung out in LV together and it was about the time that Anna wasn't 15 anymore and we started getting close socially.

One of the main reasons that Gene was a bit more of a recluse than Clark, Clark and I were out there, we were always on, but Gene and Bob and ??? were quite quiet. Gene had a physical problem and it was obviously what kept him more to himself than the others. I guess he had polio or something as a kid and it was quite noticeable, but everyone, including the band, respected his work and I was totally envious of his talent with voices. Something I can do now, but no way near what he did/does.

After that we lost touch and I never recorded with them. They worked with a man named Frank Comstock who did arrangements for Les Brown's band along with Skip Martin, two men I really admired. Because I didn't know anything about music and they had been with bands all their lives and I hadn't, and knew all about music and the way instruments were fingered or whatever, and all I did was listen to records and funnel the stuff through my little brain and it would come out like a Rugolo-Comstock-Riddle-May-Martin chart via my own instinctive musical thoughts.

Jerry Fielding who conducted the Sahara Orchestra for awhile hated me and used to stare at me with venom every time I came up there to do music for the show. George Moro liked me personally and my music was always ready on time!!! Hint hint hint to Jerry Fielding. That's how I got the job in the first place. Then Jerry said something like, "It isn't right you having hit records cause you don't know anything about being with a band or nothing about musicality!" Words to that effect. I told him he was an a-- ---- and we had the silent truce after that... laced with a lot of hate!

But finally Gene Puerling was one of the nicest guys I ever worked with. A real sweetheart.

My first TV Job

The first job I ever had in TV, I did Mindy Carson's arrangements on The Ford Star Revue - International Theatre on Columbus Circle NBC NY! Buzz Kulik director, David Susskind Producer for NBC and J Walter Thompson. It only had the most fabulous comedy guys ever on the show: David Burns, Louie Nye Carl Reiner and Bob Fosse and Mary Ann Niles on it as performers! I wrote arrangements for them as well, I hoped Bob didn't remember that they weren't up to snuff when I worked with him on "Pajama Game".

June Taylor's (June Taylor Dancers) sister Marilyn (Mrs. Jackie Gleason) was a dancer on the show and I really took to her - unfortunately Gleason was next door to us - we rehearsed at Nola Studios and his place was either at Ed Sullivan Theatre or The Hudson where Steve Allen was - I kind of forget exactly (of course unfortunately you guys won't) - but I would go there to see Audrey Meadows who was a friend of my mother's and I would see June Taylor with my new pal Marilyn (her sister) and soon it was clear that JG had his eye cocked her way.

Writers were Norman Lear, Ed Simmons, Danny & Doc Simon and Harvey ? - and Harry Crane also threw in a zinger or two every once in a while.

Carl Hoff conductor of the NBC Show would correct my scores before they went to the copyist as I had no clue what bass notes to write. I thought a 3rd in the bass at the end of a song was good... he didn't!

Pretty good learnin' for a nubile! Especially the comedy.

Mindy Carson was a sweetheart and she actually complimented me a few times, which I couldn't believe. She couldn't miss me as I held cue cards during the show since I wasn't able to conduct the orchestra as yet and I always needed to be busy!

Royal Shakespeare Company

I saw John Neville do "Alfie" in The West End and he was brilliant.

I saw Diana Rigg do "Jumpers" and sat next to Eileen Atkins on opening night and also saw her "Olivia in 12th Night" at the RSC in Stratford and it was so brilliant (she was married to a BBC director who officed near me, Philip Saville, who did some real nice work at The Beeb). John Barton directed it with Ian Holm as Malvolio and David Warner as Augercheek, it was around the time Trevor Nunn invited me to work with the company which I finally did do.

He liked my theatrical adaption of my Civil War BBC TV Show which I started to rehearse in Stardford until one of Trevor's lackeys 'got into my hair' . Terry Hands who shall be nameless and said, "Oh why don't you just leave it to us and I'll guide them through it." That was the straw that almost broke his jaw. The star of my play (John Kane who also starred as Puck in Peter Brook's famous "Midsummer Night's Dream", the one with the stilts) said I was committing professional suicide if I did anything to Msr. Hands and also I held back because I was living up there with Terry and his girlfriend Susan Fleetwood, Mick's sister who was playing Rosalind in "As You Like It" on stage and playing with Terry off stage.

I asked her how she ever got entangled with such a supercilious lout and she had no answer other than the fact that he directed "As You Like It" and she was the star! To his credit, and I hate writing this, he did direct "Nicolas Nickelby" and I did think he did a very good job.

I finally did the show in NY at The Actors Studio as a special run. It was a musical of sorts entitled "Jump Jim Crow" and was a slight pro success of sorts. It was all based around a Minstrel Show and the scenes eminated out of the Minstrel Songs (plus songs of the times done in a very hip gospely way) and tambourines substituted for rifles at times. I must have gotten that idea from somewhere. Oh, I know, Spike Lee!

Donald Sutherland

Don deigned to work with me on my American Civil War Show that I produced and directed at the BBC. I was thrilled that he accepted the role of the 'bad-ass' Southerner - Southern Soldier - but he gave him a sense of humour that wasn't written in the character - and didn't he ever make my life easier - he had the character all figured out and was brilliant in the show.

The Thanksgiving Day (famous real) scene was a total trip.He got laughs with it but when one of the Union Soldiers said something that ticked him off he got real stroppy and gave him 'what for' verbally, Don then capped off this reality-based famous scene when the 2 sides called a truce for Thanksgiving Day and two squads met by a river side by doing the famous Goober Peas number eating the peas with his bayonet. Yes - his bayonet.

Now I'd like to take credit for that bit of business but it was totally his idea - and didn't I learn a lot from Don - he is a real trouper and a fabulous actor - I saw him down at The Taper in his latest play and afterwards Marie and I went back to see him and he was wonderful to me.

We had a mutual actor friend who died of a heart attack not long after the show. He was also in it and I saw Don with Neil Mc Callum a few times in between. Once in London and once again here in LA, but that was years ago. I smile every time I see him in a film because he is so funny and has a fabulous sense of humor and Suzanne (my ex), knew him as well, as all three of us, Sue, Tracey and myself lived in London at that time.

A gem is Donald Sutherland and I treasure the fact that I had the good fortune of working with him.

Peter Ustinov

I was quite sad to read of the recent passing of Peter Ustinov at his home town in Switzerland just outside of Geneva.. As a young man, I was quite friendly with him. We were a formidable doubles tennis team - we only played against Kirk Douglas and various partners - usually pros or near-pro agents who represented Kirk at the time - Super-Agent Mort Viner comes to mind (he also handled Dean Martin).

I have had funny times in my life - with Jerry Lewis and Milton Berle and Don Rickles - but never funnier than with Peter Ustinov. Every single point played - depending on who was involved and which way it went - Peter had something amusing to say about it. It was so cutting - right to the bone - even when it was self-deprecating - Peter slamming Peter's own prowess or even his non-prowess. He was a total riot. And also in his many many films he was always a riot.

He won the Academy Award for his performance in Topkapi; also brilliantly funny in this one. And he also won the Academy Award for his incredible performance in Spartacus - where he got a 5-minute laugh in a scene where upper class women were at a slave market and one of them turned and said to him, "Isn't buying slaves exciting?" And Peter, looking her straight in the eye said,"I tingle!" He convulsed the whole audience. It was a five-minute laugh. Yes a five-minute laugh, followed by applause!

Spartacus is where Peter and Kirk obviously bonded. Kirk and 2nd wife Anne loved being around comedians - Berle, Rickles, etc… they are a great couple and I have spent many wonderful times with them early on in my career. Just to say that Peter Ustinov and Kirk Douglas were friends of mine makes me happy - as it is hard to find two more brilliantly talented men.

It is even harder to know that Peter has passed on and Kirk, due to a stroke, is not the Kirk I knew - but we have him alive still and on screen in dozens of great performances.

But the best performance Peter Ustinov ever did was on Kirk Douglas's Tennis Court because there was no script - only his brilliance. That's what I remember best about Peter Ustinov.

André Previn

I had the good fortune of being invited to travel with André and Mia and the LSO on their annual trip through Germany - from Hamburg to all points South - playing concerts in every city a couple of hours apart. I ended my own stay in Bonn (as I had stuff to do back in London) where they did a bunch of concerts in the area - the main one at the Beethoven Halle - it was, to use the vernacular, 'a total trip!' I've never had so much fun.

From Hamburg on down they used 3 busses - for some reason I hung out with the percussion section for most of the trip (Mia was not that friendly although just the two of us shared watching the rehearsals in each town) - they were so much fun the percussion section and could they 'put it away!' We even stayed in touch after the trip. During rehearsals - just the two of us watching - Mia would sit in the extreme left section of the orchestra seats and I would sit in the extreme right section. During a particularly beautiful Tallis piece André was conducting - it was really moving so I moved all the way over to her (trying to be friendly) to say how beautiful the music was and how wonderfully André conducted it. She nodded to me - and I was left standing there with egg - so with no invite to sit near her, I walked all the way back to 'my area' and that's the way it was for the rest of the trip.

But André was great to me and we had some really fun moments - especially when there was a 'drunken' moment in the hotel in Bonn and a couple of the guys broke a chandelier (or similar insanity - I seem to remember the chandelier) - it's still hazy but they woke André up at 3 in the morning and he was really pissed about it. The LSO had to fork over for the damage as I remember.

The first leg was from Heathrow to Hamburg by plane and then the rest by Mercedes busses. And when we went for our bags at Baggage Claim, André turned to me and said one of my most favorite unforgettable lines. We were pulling our bags off the carousel and he said, "It's just like being in Woody's band!"

One very fun thing we used to do during all of our early days was André, Pete Rugolo and myself plus some other of the usual suspects like Al Sendry and Sandy Courage would go to this bar on Pico because one of the guys discovered a piano player (really bad) who played one song that 'killed' everyone - Tea For Two - in the end - the last 8 bars - in the 4th bar of the last 8 - on the first notes he would repeat the last notes from the bar before (you'd had to be there) and it was hilarious. We screamed, and kept plying this 'old salt' with $5 bills to "Please play our favorite song." I'm sorry but I'm laughing as I type this. And he never got it - and whenever we came in - and it certainly was spasmodic - he would remember us and beam as he knew we were good for at least 15-25$!

This was during André's days with Peggy King.

I saw André a few years ago at The Hollywood Bowl and we had a nice chat afterwards - I've always admired him - especially his vast talent as a performer - his playing classical or jazz is so awesome - his musical prowess is so awesome - he has the knowledge I wish I had - I even tried to get something going with Dore when I was at Verve - I loved her lyrics - and loved Inside Daisy Clover - every time it's on TV I have to see it. You're Gonna Hear From Me is one of my all-time favorites.

Ronald Reagan

President Reagan and I were judges at the UCLA Spring-Sing at The Hollywood Bowl - and beforehand he (The Governor at the time) and Nancy and my date, Rita Moreno, had dinner together at The Beachcomber Restaurant in Hollywood and we had a great time together. He was so funny and so interesting that I "had a hand in the Spring Sing" as I did the vocal arrangements for one of the Fraternities. Rita gave me a lesson in the "use of chop-sticks" that night.

Buddy remembers Anita, Ethel, Judy and Rosemary

Copyright © Buddy Bregman. All rights reserved.