Read My Lips by Sally Kellerman

Author:Sally Kellerman [Kellerman, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781602862012
Publisher: Weinstein Publishing

IT WASN’T AS THOUGH I WAS SPENDING HOURS ON END WORKING the phones for George McGovern, but I did my best to spread the word. I did my share for different causes, but the bottom line was that I was a follower. McGovern was about getting out of Vietnam, cutting back on defense, and getting the Equal Rights Amendment ratified. I was on board with all that. I wanted McGovern to be president instead of Nixon. End of story.

I worked as an usher at a huge benefit concert held in his honor called, “Four for McGovern.” Warren Beatty was the driving force behind the event, which was held at the Los Angeles Forum. My friend Lou Adler was producing. No matter what the media says today about the growing ties between Hollywood and Washington, DC, that relationship is hardly new. Warren even convinced Barbra Streisand to perform, along with Carole King and James Taylor, all backed by Quincy Jones and his orchestra. It wasn’t just a single performer stepping out to support a candidate, Warren pointed out to the press, remembering Frank Sinatra’s concerts for Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Rather, it was the group effort and solidarity that he felt made an event like this different and more influential, giving it the power to unite a larger section of the population.

Someone called and asked me to usher for the benefit, and I said, “Sure.” Because I was going to be ushering, I pulled together what I thought would be appropriate usher attire: I showed up that night wearing a straight black skirt, a plain white blouse, and carrying a flashlight.

When I arrived at the Forum, it was positively swarming with media. I was shuffled into a room full of television cameras and reporters. I looked up: Standing across the room was Warren Beatty, never looking more handsome, and Julie Christie, never looking more beautiful. Both of them were dressed to the nines. Even Jack Nicholson was wearing a three-piece suit. And there I was, in a dowdy black wool skirt, wearing hardly any makeup.

Just my luck, one of the cameras turned on me, and a reporter thrust his mic into my face.

“Why is it, Miss Kellerman, that all of you people are rushing out to vote for someone with so little charisma?” he asked.

“This is not about charisma,” I huffed and puffed in response. “This is about content!”

Thank God they didn’t ask me anything about McGovern’s platform. I would have been in pretty deep water. Luckily, I got to play Miss Indignant.

Ushering along with me were Jack Nicholson, Julie Christie, Peggy Lipton, Michelle Phillips, James Earl Jones, Jacqueline Bisset, Mike Nichols, Shirley MacLaine, Goldie Hawn, Gene Hackman, Elliott Gould, Marlo Thomas, Burt Lancaster, Jon Voight, Raquel Welch, Michael Sarrazin, Britt Eklund, and more. (But I was the only one in proper attire.) Gregory Peck and Joni Mitchell were in the audience. Some tickets were $4 and $10, but Golden Circle tickets were going for $100. And those were 1972 dollars. Warren was right about the crowd—more than eighteen thousand people showed up.

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