Wow -- this year we found out the diamond dog of "Hissing of Summer Lawns" is
Jose Feliciano, and now we learn that Ronee Blakely inspired "Shades of
Scarlet Conquering."
Nearly 20 years ago, I met Ronee Blakely at a wrap party at the modest Venice
Beach home of a then unknown film director names Wes Craven. For about one
million dollars he had made a new and experimental horror film and Ronee was
one of the "stars" he could grab to fit that budget. She played the mother
of a teenager and was fine in the film, but the stories about her behavior on
the set were the typical recountings of a needy, temperamental actress/diva
who thinks she is far more important and unique than she really is.
Reportedly, she wasn't too happy about playing the mother of a teenager as
she thought she was too young, but it was her first offer in a long time. It
was something of a big drop from the heights of starring in Nashville.
To this day I still laugh when I think about her, entering my circle of
friends and coming down hard on us because we were all gay. "I mean, look at
you! You're the handsomest men at this party -- at all the parties -- and
none of you are interested in me!" We laughed, and I did my best to, well,
straighten her out, explaining that none of us had made the choice to be gay,
and she shouldn't take it personally. It got somewhat heated between the
two of us, one of those moments in which you realize the attention of the
whole party has shifted to some conflict. To patch it up, Ronee explained
that she had nothing against gay people, and her own brother was gay, but it
was frustrating to be around us all the same and we should reconsider our
decision (some people just don't get it). I told her how great she was in
Nashville, and she licked that up like melting ice cream.
Later, there was dancing. People formed a circle and entered it to dance
with a battery operated wand with those hairy, fiber optic things on it that
light up in different colors. I remember when Ronee entered the circle, she
suggestively ran the wand over her boobs and her hips, shaking it low and
skanky to the ground. She spent much more time in the circle than anyone
else, hamming it up. To her credit, she also did the best dance.
Months later, the film came out. It was "A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET" and went
on to become one of the most successful horror movies of all time. I don't
believe she's had much of a career since then.
- Clark
NP: garbage trucks
