MIKE JEKNAVORIAN National Interviews

STEPHEN MICHAEL SHEARER

From acting in the TV series Dallas, to interviewing silent screen stars, Stephen Michael Shearer’s career encapsulates a prodigous myriad of Hollywood genres.  But who would he like to have sitting on his lap in heaven?  

Where did you grow up?  I was born in Bloomington, Illinois.  For my first eight years, we lived on a small five-acre farm in Farmer City, Illinois.  We lived in St. Louis for three years, and then when I was 11, we moved to Rogers, Arkansas.  What do you miss about it there?  I miss the bucolic, small-town life.  As complicated as we thought the world was then, it was quite easy and safe by today’s standards.  Where do you live now?  I’ve lived in Woodbury, Minnesota, since 2008.  What do you like most about living there?  I like the political bubble, the religious freedom, and the educational climate.  And when the weather’s beautiful here, it’s beautiful.  But when it’s bad, it’s bad.  If you had to live somewhere else, where would it be, and why?  In New York, because that’s where I spent half of my adult life.  What’s your claim-to-fame?  In my younger years, I was an actor on the stage, in movies, and on national and local television.  I was also a live-ramp and photographer’s model.  But I suppose my one true claim-to-fame would be my three best-selling film biographies.  What’s the best TV show that you performed in, and why?  Of course the TV series Dallas—I was in it from 1981 to 1982—simply because that’s what most people seem to want to hear about.

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What TV actor was your favorite to work with, and why?  Patrick Duffy, because he’s a very kind and generous man.  What’s the best film that you performed in?  All my film work, what there is of it, has been my favorite.  What film actor was your favorite to work with?  I must say I enjoyed lengthy and multiple interviews with Paul Newman, Robert Stack, Gary Conway, Dirk Benedict and Anthony Franciosa.  What’s your favorite contemporary film?  One of the best films that I’ve seen in a very long time was Dunkirk.  Brilliant.  What’s your favorite TV series?  Peyton Place, without question.  What’s your favorite black and white film?  I never get tired of viewing Brief Encounter, but that’s truly a terribly unfair question for a film historian.  Who’s your favorite film actress?  Patricia Neal, of course.  What are your favorite plays, and why?  I love The Women because of its snappy wit, The Phantom of the Opera for its timeless romance and music, and The Lion in Winter for its brilliant script.  What’s your favorite theater in New York, and why?  The Lunt-Fontanne, because of the many plays I saw there.  I just love that theater.  Either living or dead, what Hollywood figure would you love to have lunch with, and why?  Lillian Roth, because I never got all the answers from her that I wanted.

Other than your own, what’s your favorite biography, and why?  I’ll Cry Tomorrow, simply because it was the cornerstone of what type of literature I began reading at the age of ten.  How would you like to be remembered?  As a decent and fair man, and as a complicated and talented man.  Will you ever retire?  Nope.  What’s the weirdest question that a fan has asked?  “Are you Jewish?”  What celebrity did you act like a “fan” around?  Dorothy Malone.  What’s your current state-of-mind?  I worry about the current worldliness and sense-of-entitlement of the youth.  And at the risk of sounding pious, there also seems to be no reliability on faith or the power and grace of God.  What were you doing before we spoke?  Answering more questions.  What’s your idea of perfect happiness?  The same as I envision what heaven will be like.  All my cats—both past and present—are on my lap, I’m in a big cushy chair, and I’m surrounded by my books and the greatest music of all time.  What’s your greatest fear?  To be misunderstood…  and forgotten.  Living or dead, who’s the greatest political figure in America, and why?  I believe one of the greatest political figures was John F. Kennedy.  He was a true statesman and a brilliant politician with an intelligent, articulate mind.

What’s the last thing that you looked at online?  My website.  What’s the best places that you’ve visited?  Martha’s Vineyard, London and Athens.  What’s something that you learned in life only when you got older?  That at some point you can start saying “no.”  What did you learn from your parents?  To do as they said, but not always as they did.  What performer do you admire?  Meryl Streep, personally, but not always professionally.  What’s your best characteristic?  That I’m honest.  How do you enjoy spending your time?  Reading, studying film and television, and researching at marvelous archives and libraries.  What celebrity do you have a crush on?  I don’t have any.  Who do you admire, and why?  I admire true Christian people who walk the walk and do not just talk the talk.  Humanitarians, who follow the words of Jesus Christ for the betterment of all mankind, but not the pious, religious moral-majority who favor the elite and wealthy.  If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be, and why?  I miss my parents from time-to-time.

Where would you go in a time machine, and why?  I would love to be in Hollywood under contract with Paramount in 1929.  To me, that was the most exciting time.  What would your last meal be?  Just lemonade.  What do you worry about?  Very little.  I worry about illness to me and my loved ones.  If you were a musical instrument, what would you be, and why?  A cello, because it’s sensual.  Are you more like a sheep or a wolf?  I’m a lamb.  Who depends on you?  My two cats, Maxwell and Madeleine.  Who are you closest with?  Myself.  What would your autobiography be called?  There are actually three—Little Boy Blue (1951-1969), Storming Heaven (1970-1982), and All My Sin Remembered.  The last one will be published posthumously.  What music do you listen to when you’re upset?  Motown, baby.  And, of course, Dusty Springfield.  What’s on your bucket list?  To win an Academy Award, and to write dozens more film biographies.  What’s your greatest regret in life?  I have no regrets. What’s something that you never told anyone else?  That I’m really a terribly shy man.  Where can we see you?  I’m all over YouTube, you can see me in Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, on American Masters on May 18th, and I’ll have another book out by 2020.

 

 

MIKE JEKNAVORIAN Local Restaurants

THE LOBBY BAR AT THE HOTEL COLONNADE

SHADE-O-METER RATING

3 OUTTA 5 WERKS: “NO SHADE, BUT SHE DIDN’T TURN IT OUT”

What’s the Hotel Colonnade?  It’s a vintage gilded-age hotel – circa 1926 – that’s located on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables.  What’s The Lobby Bar?  It’s the one, and only, bar in the hotel.  However, she ain’t in “the lobby” but on the second floor.

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An architectural history of Coral Gables, Florida, which is profusely illustrated in color and black and white.

How was the maître d’?  There was no maître d’ for the bar.  What was the décor like?  The lobby bar marries modern architecture with a vintage design—predominately, with Art Deco.  Ditto for the décor in the rest of the hotel.  However, the design in the rotunda was the exception; it was neoclassical.

What was the seating like?  We got there at about 5:30 p.m., on a Saturday, and the bar was crowded with wedding patrons.  However, there were more than enough seats for everyone.  What was the atmosphere like?  Moderately upscale and chill.  What was the crowd like?  It was composed mostly of wedding patrons, but peppered with a few regular hotel patrons and guests.

How was the cruising?  Zero, point, zero.  When is happy hour?  It’s from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., on Friday.  What libations were ordered?  A sidecar, which was $11, and Mountain View chardonnay, which was $9.

Were they served timely?  There were no servers; you could only order at the bar.  How were they?  The wine was fine.  According to the hotel’s website, the bar serves handcrafted cocktails.  Considering this, I’ve certainly had sidecars that were stronger and more complex.

What was on the menu?  The hotel only servers breakfast – in the Aragon Café – to 11:30 a.m.  For room service, or anything beyond 11:30 a.m., guest and patrons can order from a restaurant that’s next door, and the hotel delivers it to you for free.  We didn’t order any food.  However, there’s a little Argentinian market/café around the corner, called Graziano’s, that has fabulous empanadas.

How was the service?  The bartender was friendly enough, with a breezy sort-of air about him.  What stands out about the place?  Obviously, the history and the décor.  If it wasn’t for that, it really wouldn’t be worth it.

What could be improved?  Now, here’s where we start with some complaining.  Wedding patrons had essentially co-opted the EN-TIRE hotel.  They proliferated in the lobby, the game room, the bar, as well as the main staircase that leads up to the bar.  Not only were they all over the place, but as it got closer to the time that the wedding was about to begin, one was muscled – by hotel personnel who didn’t speak English, to add insult to injury – away from the staircase and the staircase railing (conceivable, to preserve the integrity of the wedding pictures).  Um, methinks that any non-wedding guest and patron should have full access to the hotel, particularly, when considering that the rooms are $300 and up.  The nerve.

What was surprising?  The locale of the hotel.  It’s sandwiched in between contemporary building.  Vintage photographs in the lobby show that it was originally free-standing.  They should have left it that way.

The Lobby Bar at the Hotel Colonnade is located at 180 Aragon Ave., in Coral Gables, Florida.  The bar is open from Monday through Friday, from 4:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday, from noon to 1:00 a.m.  It’s closed on Sunday.