Marlon Brando probably won`t be inviting Rita Gam over soon. The two had starred together in the `50s Broadway production of ”A Flag Is Born.” But now Gam writes: ”I would watch Marlon from the wings, in awe of his strange explosive dynamism. But I watched his youthful beauty and talent
. . . disintegrate into, well, lard. His latter-day performances in films are as thick and uninspired as his physique. All his once-interesting mannerisms finally exploded into full-fledged dementia in `Apocalypse Now.` ” Needless to say, Brando is not included in her book ”Actors: A Celebration-Profiles/
Conversations/Memoirs” (St. Martin`s).
The competition was fierce in the bimbo category this year, but Forum magazine finally proclaimed: ”Step aside, Tammy, Donna, Jessica and all the rest of the gals who made 1987 the Year of the Bimbo. You were thoroughly outclassed.” The crown goes to Brigitte Nielsen, a gal who is said to have a ”cleverly disguised brain and breasts bigger than God can make them.”
If you want the lowdown on everyone from Martha Washington to Nancy Reagan, take a look at ”All the Presidents` Ladies” (Viking), by Peter Hay. Here`s Jackie Kennedy replying to her husband`s question, ”What are we going to do about pollution in our major cities?”: ”Get the Air Force to spray them with Chanel No. 5.” Here`s Helen Taft explaining why she went to all her husband`s Cabinet meetings, ”I only go along to make sure he stays awake.”
And here`s Eleanor Roosevelt, having just lost her husband, responding to Harry Truman`s solicitous query, ”Is there anything we can do for you, Mrs. Roosevelt?”: ”No, Mr. President. Is there anything we can do for you? You`re the one in trouble now.”
