from Mr. John P. McCann, of Freakazoid fame, that ran on Pearl Harbor Day.
I am two days late—and more than a dollar short—but let’s not get into that right now, okay?
(Everything that Mrs. Murphy didn’t experience in that war, Mr. McCann heard about from his mother, who lived through the Blitz in London, and saw first-hand in North Africa and myriad other places as a British army nurse aboard various ships—and from his elderly British actor friend Hal, a staunch gay Republican who as I recall was in our Navy; he was the only one aboard the ship who was happy when FDR died. Though if more people realized how many years FDR had extended the depression, they all might have had a moment of silence, out of respect for the office of the U.S. Presidency, and then partied all night.)
JP? Sejanus? Can you fact-check me here, and/or throw in more details?
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Your comments are accurate as far as I can tell excepting Mr. Hal as the glitterati of Mansfield Place referred to him was from Reading California he only appeared English because of the Mid-Atlantic accent he affected most his life. Actually WWII was probably way down on the list of important events in his life, more important were his adventures amongst the European smart set, contemporaneous and after. He worked with two rampaging homosexuals Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammoir who had founded the prestigious Gate Theatre in Dublin. He paled around with Vivien Leigh, (who always wanted to play canasta even though she was a splendid bridge player) and shot some episodes of Captain Gallant. He was also in Commandos Strike at Dawn, the Enemy Below (look for a German sonar officer with big ears) and Twelve Gentlemen at West Point. I have looked in vain for his credit in the IMDB, but why would anyone lie about being in Captain Gallant.
A tip: If you ever want to stop a conversation cold at a cocktail party inhabited by self-impressed theatre folk, (And what other kind are there?) just mention you’ll reprising your role as Blossom in the Dublin Gate Theatre’s production of the Hasty Heart next season. There are stupider credits in theater but none that so many people will pretend to be impressed by.
Hal was perhaps in the Merchant Marine, there are pictures of him in a uniform. I doubt he was in the armed guard since he never expressed any familiarity with Naval Artillery to me. He did the Murmansk run so he was in the real war. He claimed to have danced a jig at the announcement of FDR’s death although I think he resented FDR more for his aristocratic aires based on what Hal thought was a slender pedigree than any political differences. He thought the world of Elanor, she was silly, ugly and gangly but he thought she was fun old gal.
Hal and Mrs Murphy may have met once as I recall, its a pity they were mostly immobile by the time J and I strolled along because they were both partial to high powered intoxicants which we provided them. Mrs Murphy called them Manhattans while I called them tumblers of whiskey enhanced with sweet vermouth, they kept her sedated and comfortable any time we had business to conduct poolside.
Hal is indeed responsible for me registering Republican. He pointed out the lines for voting booths were shorter for Republicans at the polling places, I’ve never had the occasion to vote for a Democrat since.