"Hare…….Two Fectas Down and One to Go"

            I haven’t  been very  careful  in the way I make professional decisions, but it doesn’t seem to have mattered. This is not to say that I haven’t had to tweak the fates from time to time. Usually, when I was in trouble, a door would open,  then when it closed, another door  would open. And, if that other door didn’t open, I would knock the door down. The third leg of the Trifecta took some door bashing. 

      Last week I described the Trifecta confronting me.:

(1)        Breaking loose from NBC’s clutches when they moved into the Cleveland market to take over WKYC

(2)       Landing  a job with ABC in Detroit.

(3)        Luring Carol, away from her fun gig at the “ Flipper”  Studio in Miami.  

Serving as her Producer dad’s Administrative Aide, Carol was helping coordinate with Frank Sinatra’s official entourage when he arrived to make “Tony Rome.”

She also helped coordinate the “Thunderball” Second Unit production in The Bahamas where they filmed all the underwater sequences in the James Bond Film.  

            She had agreed to leave all that, and marry me, but only if I was unencumbered, which I wasn’t…. yet.  

Last week I told you that Specs Howard and I had broken loose from the implied contract that NBC had hanging over our heads.

. When NBC switched with Westinghouse in Cleveland, I was legally free to go, but the NBC suits told me that Specs and I were theirs, no matter what. A little thing like there was no  transfer clause in our Westinghouse contract boiler plate was, to them, a mere nuisance

A quick huddle with Specs resulted in “Yes, we want to go to Detroit,  but, what can we do?” Insulating him from possible conspiracy, I didn’t tip my hand on my plan to put a quick end to this stand-off. I called him right away when I landed in San Diego.

The next morning, I was hosting the morning show at KCBQ, and Specs began doing the Cleveland morning show alone till our Detroit contract kicked in. We kept  a tight tether with each other during this period.

I wasn’t a complete whacko. I was sheltered by my imposing mentor, Lee Bartell. He and his brother, David, another powerful attorney, erected a force field around me.

 NBC foolishly sent Lee a letter accusing him of harboring a miscreant, me, and that Bartell/ McFadden Corp was in grave danger. Lee read the letter to me, smiled, and TO’d me to his brother, David.

I had already  shown David Bartell my Westinghouse contract sans a transfer clause. He  wrote NBC a reply stating, “I have read your letter with interest and will consider any documentation you may have in support of your claim”  Next case!

I did mornings at KCBQ for a couple of months until a few a few days shy of starting in Detroit, then left with a profuse and life long thanks to Lee.  

NBC  “released” Specs who moved his family to Detroit.

Trumpeting our arrival, scheduled for January 30^th of  ‘67, ABC papered Detroit with billboards. Large placards dominated the bus lines. They bought two page ads in the Free Press, and center folds in the regional Life Magazine with heroicized portraits of Specs and me, proclaiming our imminent arrival. $100,000  was spent on promotion  in the month before our start. 

I flew to Miami to pick up Carol and our witness, her mother, Tay. Simple! We would go to Juarez., marry in a Mexican ceremony, and fly to Detroit.

Tay was a shrewd, and funny six foot red head, a living clone of “Auntie Mame.”   

Surreal that Frank Sinatra, my one time friend from KLAC days was also in Miami making “Tony Rome” during the day, in addition to “moonlighting” at the Fountainbleu.

We went to the Fountainbleu as his last minute guests creating a disruption by a waiter who perilously hauled a new front table over everyone’s heads.

Unexpectedly, a gorgeous young family friend of Tay and Carol burst through the bunched up tables, and sat amid nervous apologies for being late. Tay had arranged to get her a bit part in “Tony Rome.” A cigarette girl with a line or two.

Tay noticed that Frank directed his first two songs to our young companion. She whispered to Carol, “Damn it! I refuse to be Frank’s pimp.”

The night was magic. He sang a song to Carol and wished her and me, ”only  the best” in our future life together. He dedicated  “Embraceable You” to her.  

Earlier that day, “Chap” (my future father-in-law) Frank, the crew and actors gathered around Carol, for a farewell group embrace.

After Carol’s send-off, he asked me to join him at the edge of the set, for some catch-up between takes.

He was either going to vent or explode, telling me between heated breaths that his wife, Mia Farrow was taking a long production break during the making of  “A Dandy in Aspic” in London, and that she wasn’t going to join him in Miami.

At this very moment, he took a call from her. I started to leave, but he motioned me to stay. In biting words, he told her, “I will have a charter plane waiting for you at Gatling tomorrow morning at 10. Be on it.” He disconnected with finality. I learned later that she didn’t come. He divorced her not long after that.

 Only Frank could do this. He seamlessly performed in a gut wrenching scene, while talking to me during the breaks, and blowing off his wife. The movie scene called for him to pummel a guy with a staccato barrage of punches. I think he put a little extra into that scene

The tabloids later wrote that he quit Mia because he had arrogantly insisted on her disrupting her work in London to be with him, not mentioning that she was on a production break..

About the darling family friend whom Tay had fixed him up with: Frank gave her an expensive watch and a white Caddie convertible as a parting gift.                                   

We arrived in Juarez around noon the next day, and checked into a hotel. Carol stayed that night with Tay. We wanted to do it right. Carol and I would marry, then fly to Detroit in time for the much heralded premiere show.           

                     It was The Martin and Howard Show minus 8 days

In Mexico, the procedure for marrying  consisted of applying for the certificate on day 1, then waiting 3 days,  and appearing before a magistrate who performed the ceremony in Spanish. Luckily I speak Spanish, and got to the head of the line, Carol’s dazzling smile helped tip the scales for priority handling. Mexicans like blondes

Tay tearfully stood by as the legal witness. After the ceremony, we gathered in the bar at the hotel, where she bought a hundred dollar bottle of champagne, toasted us, then abruptly exclaimed, “My God! I am on your honeymoon with you.” She then insisted on leaving, and taking the cab alone to the airport.

Carol and I rose early the next morning and boarded a jet to the States. We would fly to Dallas, connecting to Detroit.

Standing in line ready to board the Detroit plane, an announcement came over the P.A. that our plane would be delayed due to a blizzard in the Midwest.  

  It was The Martin and Howard Show minus 4.

         Still plenty of time to make it … or was there?

Five hours later, we boarded, took off, and were soon in the icy grip of a storm that  pounced on us like some transmutant monster glacier. .

The pilot’s voice came over the P.A. announcing that  Detroit was snowed under, and we were going to have to land in Kansas. City  Then, minutes later, he changed his flight plan. Now, it was Chicago. Kansas City was snowed under.

I felt Carol’s hand slip into mine. 

          Stay tuned for one of my greatest life experiences ever……Twilight Zone stuff. 

                   Next week, hopelessly snowbound  in Valparaiso, Indiana 

                At The Martin and Howard Show minus 8 hours.