Kathryn Grayson

I think I'll be spending the evening watching Showboat and Kiss Me Kate. Kathryn Grayson last week joined Howard Keel on the other side. I'm sure it will be a happy reunion and that heaven will be a better place for it.

I was very fond of Kathryn Grayson. She was the actress who played Magnolia Hawks in Showboat and Lilli Vanessi in Kiss Me Kate, both times with Howard Keel. Not only was she beautiful, but I liked her. I also liked Howard Keel. Now, if there ever was a movie star I wish I could resemble, it would be the tall and handsome baritone Howard Keel. And if I were he, I would be ecstatic to have had the opportunity to hold Kathryn Grayson in my arms. That's the kind of person she was. There may have been more glamourous stars than Kathryn Grayson, but I could, and have, watched her play the demure Magnolia time and time again without ever tiring of her performance. I especially think of the scene where she tells her father, Joey Brown, that the cad Howard Keel had ran off and left her. Many more times have I watched her play the shrew in Kiss Me Kate even though she wasn't quite convincing as a snarling wild cat when she sang I Hate Men. By the way, if her name hadn't been in the credits I might never have known that both Kate and Magnolia were played by the same actress.

Of course I was never lucky enough to have met this lovely lady but somehow I feel just a little lonelier now that she's gone.