Connections

This morning I began going through a mental exercise that, contrary to my original objective, led to me. Inspired by listening to the old-time radio Richard Diamond radio program, which starred Dick Powell, I began thinking about what a small world the entertainment industry actually is and, as an exercise, began trying to connect today’s actress Anne Hathaway to 19th century American show business.

Anne Hathaway got her big break in The Princess Diaries. In that movie she co-starred with Julie Andrews who was married to Blake Edwards who was not just her husband but also wrote and directed a number of her movies including 10, S.O.B., and Victor/Victoria.

Blake Edwards was a protege of Dick Powell’s. He wrote and directed many of the episodes of the Richard Diamond radio program that Powell starred in. Dick Powell is connected to Al Jolson in two ways. First, Powell’s co-star in 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, and several others of those Busby Berkeley 1930s musicals was Ruby Keeler, who was married to Al Jolson. Additionally, both Jolson and Powell were under contract to Warner Brothers and hired by Jack Warner.

In 1902 Al Jolson worked for Lew Dockstader in Primrose and Dockstader’s Minstrels. And George Primrose, Lew Dockstader’s partner, went right back to the beginnings of minstrelsy just after the Civil War. Consequently, Anne Hathaway’s connections go right back to mid-19th century American show business.

However, as I worked through all of this mentally it occurred to me that it connected to me, too, since, if you can believe his obituary (not a slam dunk), my grandfather worked for Lew Dockstader at just the time that Al Jolson did and must have known him. It was a big company but not that big.