Today's post could easily go sad, but my goal is to keep it bright, funny, and enjoyable...just like the person it honors.
I lost a very good friend this week. Walter Brown McCord was a very special person. We first met 21 years ago when he was costuming Guys And Dolls for Theatre Tuscaloosa. A friendship was struck up immediately, and we were extremely close from that day on. The past 21 years have been richer for my having known him.
It is almost impossible to describe WB. He spoke with an inimitable (well, extremely imitable, actually) cadence and vocal inflection that was somewhere between British aristocracy and low-country Carolinian by way of New York. He was one of the most educated and sophisticated people I ever knew, yet could enjoy a ribald joke or silly humor with enthusiasm. Physically, he was somewhat of a scruffy John Gielgud with longer hair. His laugh was somewhere between a growl and a cough, no doubt a result of the cigarette that was seldom out of his reach. I sincerely thank God for all the laughs we shared.
WB was easily irritated in a comedic manner. He was affectionate and extremely kind, but his compliments were as often followed by "you little shit" or "sumnabitch" as not.
There are thousands of celebrity-filled stories surrounding his years in New York. I have no doubt that many of these stories were...shall we say...embellished a bit, but who cares? Each and every one was a gem, and some of my happiest memories involve sitting up well past midnight listening to his tales as WB slaved and cursed over a sewing machine, far behind schedule on whatever show he was costuming. He always promised that nobody would go onstage naked, however, and to my knowledge nobody ever did.
We had not seen each other as frequently over the past few years, as his health declined and he approached 80. We did, however, talk on the phone at least once every couple of weeks. (God, how I wish I could call him one more time...) I will always be grateful that when we hung up the phone, we always said "love you" and "love you too." Those were literally the last words we ever exchanged, and I can't think of a more appropriate adieu.
I will, no doubt, write more about WB in posts to come. His story is far too rich to be told in a single sitting. I am sad, I mourn his passing, but I also celebrate his life, which is exactly what he would have wanted me to do. Sumnabitch.
No News From The Motherland or YouTube today. This post is all about Walter Brown McCord.
FLT3
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2 comments:
I stumbled across your blog googling WB after I heard of his passing. I know how close you and WB were and how much he cherished your friendship. He was one of a kind and I always remember him in the many ways you described him in your blog. I will always have fond memories of him directing at Canebrake. Rest in peace Walter Brown.
Kelley Freeman Mullins
I met WBMc around 1981(?) when I auditioned for and snagged the role of "Charles" in "Blythe Spirit" for the Canebrake Players. He also directed me in "Private Lives" [we were on a Noel Coward kick back then] "Born Yesterday" and "A Christmas Carol." Some people are "terminally unique" and that is often a detriment... WB was "vociferously unique" and it was, well... HIM. I learned quickly that it was MUCH better to have him yell at me than growl ...which he did so well!
I still remember the story he told of when he worked at Pam-Pam's(?) in New York and poured ice cream over a certain celebrity's [whose initials are "B.S."] head because she was being such a DIVA [read: bee-atch]. The manager asked her to leave.
When WB was right, he was RIGHT!!
The only time I've seem him genuinely moved was when Judy Thead [our Billie Dawn in "Born Yesterday"] enlisted my help with a tribute song to WB set to the tune of "We'd Like To Thank You Herbert Hoover" ["...you made us what we are today!"]. We sang it to him at the close of our dress rehearsal for the show and he very nearly wept. But that's how much we adored him, y'know.
Thanks for your wonderful post/tribute to Walter Brown. I did not know he had passed away and, after having lived in Florida for 15 years, I recently moved to Tuscaloosa and have been wondering about him.
John E. Baker, III
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