Hollywood Celebrates the life & fashions of Loretta Young
Every week my grandmother had to watch the Loretta Young TV show. Like thousands of women, she tuned in just to see what fashions the great movie star Loretta Young would wear. Each show opened with Loretta literally twirling through a doorway into the program wearing a different designer gown. Way before consumers had the chance to watch runway fashions on a livestream via the Internet, Loretta bought fashion directly into the mainstream with her TV show. Fashion and glamour were a big part of her life and her image. “Glamour is something you can’t bear to be without once you’re used to it,” said Loretta Young. She proved it by wearing designers like Christian Dior, Daniel Werle, William Travilla and Jean Louis.
Loretta on Oscar night
Loretta Young died in 2000, but her spirit and style have been bought back to life in a new exhibit at the Hollywood Museum which opened this week. I was privileged to attend the opening night gala for a “Loretta Young: 100 years of Glamour & Grace” celebrating the 100 year anniversary of Loretta’s birthday. The exhibit is on display until April 28th at the old Max Factor Building (now the Hollywood Museum) where Loretta once worked as the first Max Factor make-up model. Loretta’s friends, family and former co-stars (The Riflemen’s Johnny Crawford) were on hand to celebrate Loretta’s life and legacy. This exhibit is a must see for both fans of Hollywood and fashion lovers. On display are Loretta’s gowns, her handbags, her hats, even her sewing patterns and sewing machine. Loretta loved fashion so much, she even sewed some of her own clothes (including her caftans) and lent her name to a line of sewing patterns.
But this exhibit is much more than fashion. There are pieces of Loretta’s life, heartaches and passions on display as well as beautiful dresses. A steamy love letter she wrote to actor Spencer Tracy when she was in her early 20s is beautifully preserved and fully legible. In the words of fashion and film blogger Kimberly Truhler of GlamAmor, “it is hot!” Significantly, there are no love letters to Clark Gable, the father of Loretta’s daughter Judy Lewis, on display.
Loretta Young’s The Crusades Dress, plaid dress & Letter to Spencer Tracy (photos M. Hall)
The exhibit was a labor of love for Loretta’s daughter-in-law, Linda Lewis who worked tirelessly to collect Loretta memorabilia from private collections. She also worked with style consultant Karen Noske to refresh and sometimes recreate fashions Loretta wore. So how did all this come about? I interviewed Ms. Noske to get the back story on this exhibit.
Actor Johnny Crawford & Mike Reagan (son of Pres. Reagan) turned up to honor Loretta (photo : M.Hall)
Attendees at the opening party shared fond memories of Loretta Young and her positive spirit. Actor Johnny Crawford of The Rifleman, had worked with Loretta and appeared with her on the Loretta Young show. “I was intimidated by her, because she was such a professional, “says Mr. Crawford. “But I enjoyed working with her.” He pointed to her “Recipe for Life,” hand written on a card in a case at the exhibit, which prescribes ” Think Big, talk little, love much, laugh easily, give freely, pay cash and be kind.” Mr. Crawford, like many others at the event spoke, highly of Loretta’s generosity and her work ethic.
Loretta Young’s Recipe for Life, courtesy of Linda Lewis. Written for Johnny Crawford.
Since 2008, Mary Hall has been the author of 
3 Comments
Mary, I LOVE this article! You brought out some wonderful aspects to Loretta’s compelling story that you don’t find elsewhere, like her bringing glamour and high fashion to TV viewers. I could hear the enthusiasm in your voice as we spoke–it’s easy to fall under Loretta’s spell, isn’t it? If your readers want to learn a bit more about Loretta, have them visit my blog at http://www.MovieStarMakeover.com/blog/ –I’ll be talking about Loretta’s life and influence all month long! Thanks for taking the time to chat with me.. it was such fun! I can’t wait to travel to LA myself and see the whole wonderful exhibit!! Hugs to you from snowy Rochester, Kay
Dear Ms. Hall thank you so much for the wonderful article about Ms. Young. I was at the museum that night also and it made me so happy to see such a crowd. During the whole month of January I have been trying to use the publicity of her 100th birthday to correct the biggest unjust tragedy of Ms. Young’s career. She should be in the Television Hall of Fame. Here is a letter I wrote to the head of hall of fame committee Peter Roth of warner brothers TV. Please read my letters and anything you can do to help would mean so much. At the end of second letter there is a link to a poem I wrote for Ms. Young who told me it was the nicest thing a fan had ever written for her. Thank you . Dominic
Mr. Peter Roth
President, Warner Bros. Television Group
4000 Warner Blvd
Burbank, CA 91522
Dear Mr. Roth
I was heartbroken when they announced the Hall of Fame inductee’s. I was told that you are part of this committee. Please take a moment to read about the most unjust tragedy of the first Woman of Television not being in there. She should have been a inductee in the first five years after the hall was established by far. Please respect the history of Television and respect her legacy and her historical accomplishments to Television she deserves. I am sorry to say most of the inductee’s of the last ten years can’t even compare to her lifetime achievements and what she brought to Television and what she did for other women in your industry. When John H. Mitchell started the hall of fame it was for this reason:
John H. Mitchell sought to honor individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to television. In the words of the selection committee, the Hall of Fame is for “persons who have made outstanding contributions in the arts, sciences or management of television, based upon either cumulative contributions and achievements or a singular contribution or achievement.”
Please read my letter I sent out to Ms. Jane Fonda, Ms. Betty White, Ms. Carol Burnett, Ms. Mary Tyler Moore, Ms. Lily Tomlin, Mr. Bruce Rosenblum, Mr. Fred Silverman, Ms. Nina Tassler:
Please bare with me because I don’t know how to explain what I want to say unless it is very lengthy. I would hope by what I read about you that you would understand what I have to say and historical importance it has in the entertainment industry and the history of Television. I have no power and no authority to change this injustice. To me who it’s important to, it’s a tragedy of a unfairness and bias situation. I can only appeal to the people who have the power to change this tragedy and ask that they would try to help on what is the right thing to do and the truth of what history presented. I know this is not a big thing in a World with so many problems. It’s a legacy issue that only people like yourself would understand. I was heart broken the other day when they announced the inductee’s to the Television Hall of Fame. Because they still don’t include probably the most important woman in Television history. Ms. Loretta Young who blazed a path for other women as both an actress and a producer, who succeeded with her own prime-time show in a format that was not a situation comedy, and who was able to transfer success in film to success in television. Few film stars have made this transition. She was nominated for a Emmy every year her show was on from 1954-1961 eight straight times. She won the Emmy in 1955,57,59. She made two TV movies and again nominated for both of those and won for Christmas Eve. She was voted how many times best female on television back then. I was hoping with all the publicity she was receiving for her 100th birthday and my letters to the board and your peers that they would finally give her the recognition. TCM for her Birthday made her star of the month. The Hollywood Museum has the whole second floor exhibit for her. Palm Springs historical society also has a exhibit and had a ceremony on her walk of fame. MeTV last Sunday did a six hour broadcast of her show with interviews for her 100th Birthday. After she died in the year 2000 I stopped trying to write to the Hall about her and why she should be there and of course like everything else her star started fading with the years gone by. When I saw how packed the museum was at the opening gala and all the things that were going on I thought this is my last chance to let them know again how wrong and unjust that she is not in the hall of fame. I wrote to Lily Tomlin who is on the board for performers to three different address’s. I wrote to Board Chairman Bruce Rosenblum. Here is the letter I was sending to you and also sent to Betty White, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore and Jane Fonda. (Below). Please help me out for what belongs to her and her legacy. History can’t change it but ambiguous people can turn the other way. The new Hollywood doesn’t honor the legends. They honor each other. I thought maybe it was because they don’t want to honor someone already passed on. But last year they honored William Farley and Vivian Vance. Both of them before the first woman of Television. Just because the baby boomers still see them on I love Lucy reruns today so they understand and relate to them as actors. You can check out her face book page to see what’s been going on. Please read my letter and show the old fans that history is important. People that made it important and deserve the credit for what they accomplished. Not forgotten after this month goes away. Your my last hope. Please read on. I know I have taken to much of your time already. It’s a small cause but it deserves to have importance and not let the people with the power over look the truth because they have no sense but what’s present and who there friends are. Thank you so much. Dominic
Dear Ms. Fonda
I can just imagine what kind of letters come to famous people. As the writer of this letter you wonder are you just wasting your time. Is some Secretary reading this and throwing it away saying Ms. Fonda doesn’t have time for this nonsense. But you still write it because you know in your heart there was a complete injustice done and the person you are writing to would know that it’s true. How do you write to a famous person about another famous person and hope they would see the truth and would unselfishly make an honest attempt to let whoever know this is a unfair tragedy and put themselves out there for a rightful cause. Who would put what’s right first instead of there good name or ruffling other peoples feathers for another person’s legacy. But what they never talk about is the first real woman of Television. When they think back to the 1950′s decade they all think Lucille Ball was the leading lady in Television but we both know that is not true. As the first woman dealing in a man’s world at the time she set the stage for all to come after her. For some reason Lucy gets that credit even in the show I watched today. This Woman is the true pioneer and made a pathway for other women into Television. This is a total unfair tragedy. This icon should be in the Television Hall of Fame. Back then she was voted best female actress on Television how many years in a row. Her show top of the ratings for years. On the cover of TV guide so many times. I need to appeal to you on the importance on why somebody so famous needs to be recognized for there historical achievements. Knowing how she was she wouldn’t have given this a second thought. But it gives history and all the TV fans a chance to know the real truth. The trailblazer for all women she was as we watched two women hosting the Golden Globe awards.
The first big name was eager to enter the world of TV, even as early as 1950. She told her agency that when the film she was currently making was over, she wanted to go into television. She was informed that her idea wasn’t ready for primetime and had to endure TWO YEARS of conferences as men talked over her chances for success. Early in 1953, finally convinced these experts she was more than capable of doing the anthology she’d pitched as her concept for the show: she’d be playing a different character every week (an actor’s dream come true!), introducing the stories from her TV “living room” and tagging each story with an appropriate quotation from her voluminous book of treasured quotes. In order to do this, she had to have the courage to register herself with EVERY major motion picture studio as “unavailable” and turn down every movie offered her—she had to believe in her project THAT much! But she had vowed to bring to the television landscape a different kind of show, she promised herself that she’d be “acting in stories that prove the goodness of all kinds of people, in all kinds of places.” Her goal: “Offer solutions, don’t pose problems.” Her yardstick for each script: “At least one person must learn one thing in the half hour.” Critics called it “Sunday night soap opera” and a “sentimental half-hour” but she just laughed all the way to the bank. Audiences tuned in for her weekly twirling entrance and stayed for the warm, well-acted, high-minded human drama. She was a savvy businesswoman and she had her finger on the pulse of many families who wanted an alternative to the heavy doses of crime drama and Westerns that filled the early airwaves.
I was called by Norman Lear in 1999 about a letter I wrote saying the same thing. He said he loved watching her but didn’t know her. But nothing was done about it. I gave up trying to get her recognized after her funeral in the year 2000. The reason I am writing this is because she has a lot of publicity right now. So since her funeral I decided to give it one more try and to appeal to you for your help. So please read to what I have to say. This month of January 6, 2013 was Ms. Loretta Young’s 100 Birthday. Turner Classic Movies is celebrating it by making her star of the month. Also the Hollywood Museum opened the Loretta Young exhibit. Which has the whole second floor tribute to her life. The opening gala was packed wall to wall people and was amazing event. Palm Springs had a ceremony on her walk of fame star, also has an exhibit at the historical society and had prayer dedication at Desert Hospital chapel which was renamed the Loretta Young Louis Chapel. ( She used to visit the aids patients almost everyday there.) The history of Ms. Loretta Young is extraordinary. It was amazing that in the year 2000 she was the only actress that had been in the silent era the golden age of Hollywood and the golden age of Television. She was the first Actress to win an Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe award.
Loretta Young is probably most important to television’s history as a woman who blazed a path for other women as both an actress and a producer, who succeeded with her own prime-time show in a format that was not a situation comedy, and who was able to transfer success in film to success in television. Few film stars have made this transition.
In 1988, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award. for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped expand the role of women in the entertainment industry
She is completely ignored by the Television Academy Hall of Fame and they forget how popular she was with her show and her gowns and winning her Emmys. Being the first movie actress to take that gamble and turn to Television. It was ground breaking what Ms. Young had done in Television and it’s just ignored. Well please help if you can. Let the right people know. Many might not have been around when Television started and can’t understand but Sid Caesar is in the hall. The comedians they remember I guess. The new people in Hollywood I am sorry to say don’t have a clue. I keep watching all these 80′s icon’s going into the Hall of Fame. Loretta Young was television in the 50′s decade. Probably after this month her star will be fading again. I wrote Ms. Young a poem about her life and she told me it was the best thing a fan had ever written to her. When I found out she was ill I wrote her own special prayer. They our both published on Loretta Young’s unofficial website and Karolyn Grime’s website. Karolyn played the little girl Zuzu in It’s a Wonderful Life and little Debbie in the Bishop’s Wife. If you need any other information I can get it for you to contact her family. Please do what you can. Thank you so much for reading this and God Bless you.
Sincerely
Dominic Campisi
CCampisi@aol.com
http://compmast.tripod.com/young/loretta.html
http://www.zuzu.net/essays/loretta_dominic.html
I really enjoyed reading this article. So much glamour captured by Hollywood in those days. Nice to know Loretta was honored in this exhibit. Thanks for sharing.