Welcome to the Muppet Central Forum!
Back to the Rock Season 2
Sesame Street Season 54
The Muppets Mayhem premieres
Bear arrives on Disney+
Sam and Friends Book
Convincing John
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2003
- Messages
- 1,243
- Reaction score
- 195
Yep! FINALLY!!! The Gilda Radner statue pictures are finally on the web!!!
It'll take just a few steps to get to 'em, but they are worth seeing!
First of all, go to this link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gildaradneronlineclub/messages/1?viscount=100
Now, look at the right of the screen. If you have a Yahoo email address, you can "Sign In" using it. If you don't, click on "Register". It's just like getting a free email account, and you can delete it right away with no problem!
Once you've either signed in or registered, the column on the left of the screen should have the word "Photos" in blue. Click on that.
Now, you should have a screen with different photos, including some folders and one photo with Gilda, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman. The photos for the statue are right after that. There's 11 of them, starting with the one called "Sketches". Click on a photo thumbnail to enlarge, and click on it again to make it even bigger!
Sorry for the roundabout route, but these pictures are definitely worth seeing! Except for one, Michael Radner has the originals to all of these photos right now. So you'll be seeing what he is seeing! I'll even give you a little synopsis for each one:
1. The preliminary sketches of the Gilda statue were created on Saturday, January 4, 2003. You'll see a sketch of the face on the left, with a sketch of the whole body on the right. My references for photos include "It's Always Something" (the book), the CD and movie of "Gilda Radner, Live From New York", "The Best of Gilda Radner" VHS and an issue of TV Guide (July 29, 1978) with a great story on Gilda (this same TV Guide was pictured in the "Gilda Radner's Greatest Moments" TV special). Also, if you look really close, the photo of Beaker and Gilda peeks out from "The Works". Even though these sketches ended up kind of raggedy since I used them so much, this is where the idea was born, and these sketches wound up going to Michael Radner. Regardless of the Sculpey and Dr. Pepper stains on them, the Gilda's Club wanted the sketches to go to Mr. Radner. So...he's got 'em!
2. Sign for the Gilda's Club Quad Cities, on 1234 East River Drive, Davenport, Iowa. It's right along the Mississippi River.
3. Gilda's hands and some ears (the ears were eventually not used). The wrists and "bones" for the hands were made out of tin foil. The clay I used (Sculpey) was shaped with a blue clay carving tool (seen in the first photo, just above the full-body sketch), an X-Acto knife, a pen cap (which are stuck in a lump of clay between the hands) and a toothpick (not shown). "The Woman in Red" is in the background as a reference, since Gilda appears in the film. Also on the left is a CD of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. To give me luck on the project, this was the first CD I listened to when I started the project. Their routine "2000 Year Old Man" is on this CD, which also played a part in one of Gilda's fondest memories. Gilda's song "Honey" (found on the Live From New York CD) refers to it. I couldn't find a link to play the whole song, but here are the lyrics (spoken intro and sung to a slow waltz):
Gilda- This one time, uh, I went home with this guy, but that was when we still all lived at our parents house, and uh, he wanted to play a record for me. He took me down to the basement, or the rec room, and he put on, uh, Mel Brooks, and Carl Reiner's "2000 Year Old Man", and we sat down on the couch and we were listening to the record, and laughing...and he kissed me. For a real long time. And then we listened to the record some more, and laughed some more, and then the two of us lay down on the couch together, and listened to the record some more. And laughed. And kissed. And I think it was probably one of the most romantic times of my life. And I'd uh, like to dedicate this song to him, and to that time.
(Music Starts)
Honey, touch me
With your clothes on.
Sweetie, Baby,
Longer than you do.
Honey, kiss me,
With your mouth closed,
Just like you love me,
And I love you.
Now whatever happened,
To Johnny Mathis?
Two moments when your lips
Met mine! (Ooo, Ooo, Ooo)
So in love were we two,
We didn't know what to do,
And chances, (Chances)
Were awfully good that
Love would be so fine.
And whatever happened,
To slow, slow dancin,
And imaginin', how heaven
Could be? (Ooo, Ooo, Ooo)
Fallin in love,
Was wonderful, wonderful,
And lovin, (lovin)
Baby, was a dream fantasy.
Honey, touch me,
With your clothes on,
Sweetie, Baby,
Longer than you do,
Honey, Kiss me,
With your mouth closed,
Just like you love me
and I love you.
Seemed so sad, (Seemed so sad)
Hurt so bad, (Hurt so bad)
Don't be cruel.
I'm a fool. (Such a fool)
Only you,
Mr. Blue...
Can't you see? (Cant you see?)
Must I be? (Must I be?)
Baby, Baby...(Baby....)
(Musical Interlude)
(Ah, ah, la, la, ooh)
Now whatever happened
to Johnny Mathis?
Gee, wasn't his Vibrato great? (Really Great)
So much love have we two,
With so little left to do,
Too much,
Too little,
Too late. (Touch me)
Too much,
Too little, (With my clothes on)
Too late. (Kiss me)
Too much,
Too little, (With your mouth closed)
Too late.
(Honey, touch me)
Touch me with my clothes on...
(Ooooo)
(Applause and music)
4. Please, everybody, as you view this next photo, please imitate Roseanne Roseannadanna by scrunching up your face in disgust and saying "This face makes me sick!" Or, imitate Kermit reacting to the frog leg stroganoff in the El Sleazo Cafe "Eeeshh!" You may also impersonate Steve Martin's "Oh, NOOOOO!" (like I did when I first saw it) This is the "feminine Jay Leno" face that was totally ruined in the oven
5. This is where the story "Okay, Rinse" (posted earlier) took place. I used welding glue, nail hole filler and some stuff called "Gorilla Glue" to glue the shoulders to the hands. I had to make new shoulders so that the arms would be in the right positions. The original mannequin hands were also useless, so I had to make new hands, too. There's about a whole tube's worth of nail hole filler on Gilda's neck! The attached face is the one on the statue today. This is the same face I made that weekend when I had all that Mt. Dew...yyeeccchh!
6. The deep freezer on my parents' back porch. I worked on Gilda here on rainy days during the summer. See the handmade shoulder? To make sure the glue dried right, I had to use some broken rocks and bricks that Dad gave me to prop up the arms and shoulders (which were quite heavy). The Dremmel from "Okay, Rinse" is in the gray case, while a little saw (with the black handle) was used to file down the shoulder. See the plastic bags underneath the rocks and Gilda's shoulders? Those kept the glue from running down onto the freezer...preventing Gilda from sticking to the freezer lid! And yes, for you die-hard Muppet fans, I placed a single teensy, weensy drop
of glue on Gilda's forehead...I really did!
7. At last, we see a close-up of the face, which is quite light in this photo, due to the camera flash. The hair, which might look black on your monitor, is really a Hershey bar brown. This photo was taken just before Gilda's press-on fingernails were applied. If you look close, you can even see Gilda's false eyelashes!
8. Another close-up photo of Gilda. Here she is, in her handmade blouse with her right tap shoe (a real one!) in her hand.
9. Gilda on her big day, ready and waiting in the van to go to her new home in Davenport. She took up nearly the entire back of the van, and we had to fold the seats down. While Mom and Dad drove the van, I sat on the folded down seat (just to the right of Gilda's legs), hunched over, and held Gilda by one shoulder and her waist during the long drive to Davenport, making sure she wouldn't get damaged from the highway bumps. Even with the padding from some blankets and pillows, she still moved around a little unless I held her shoulder.
10. Here stands Gilda in her new home in the Gilda's Club Quad Cities clubhouse, waiting to be auctioned off in November. The statue officially became part of the Gilda's Club Quad Cities on Wednesday, August 6, 2003, 9:00 AM. This picture would have turned out great, but my stupid thumb got in the way! Michael Radner didn't get a copy of this photo because "Mr. Bimbo"
wanted to be in it!
11. Another shot of Gilda in her new home. And that concludes my pictures...for now. I have tons more pics of construction, if anybody's interested. Please, if you have any questions about the statue, construction, or anything else about this project, just ask! I'd be MORE than happy to answer questions about it!!!
If you have trouble getting to this site, let me know...please! I want YOU to be able to see these photos! And I've been given permission to tell as many people as I want about it...so, here it is!!! And it's okay for you to tell people about the statue, too! (Hops in van with megaphones on the top and driving down the street, imitating Elwood Blues) "Gilda Radner statue to be auctioned off in early November on Ebay. All proceeds go to help the Gilda's Club Quad Cities. Hey you! Gilda Radner statue to be auctioned off...tell your friends! You on the bicycle..."
Convincing Josh
It'll take just a few steps to get to 'em, but they are worth seeing!First of all, go to this link:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gildaradneronlineclub/messages/1?viscount=100
Now, look at the right of the screen. If you have a Yahoo email address, you can "Sign In" using it. If you don't, click on "Register". It's just like getting a free email account, and you can delete it right away with no problem!
Once you've either signed in or registered, the column on the left of the screen should have the word "Photos" in blue. Click on that.
Now, you should have a screen with different photos, including some folders and one photo with Gilda, Jane Curtin, and Laraine Newman. The photos for the statue are right after that. There's 11 of them, starting with the one called "Sketches". Click on a photo thumbnail to enlarge, and click on it again to make it even bigger!
Sorry for the roundabout route, but these pictures are definitely worth seeing! Except for one, Michael Radner has the originals to all of these photos right now. So you'll be seeing what he is seeing! I'll even give you a little synopsis for each one:
1. The preliminary sketches of the Gilda statue were created on Saturday, January 4, 2003. You'll see a sketch of the face on the left, with a sketch of the whole body on the right. My references for photos include "It's Always Something" (the book), the CD and movie of "Gilda Radner, Live From New York", "The Best of Gilda Radner" VHS and an issue of TV Guide (July 29, 1978) with a great story on Gilda (this same TV Guide was pictured in the "Gilda Radner's Greatest Moments" TV special). Also, if you look really close, the photo of Beaker and Gilda peeks out from "The Works". Even though these sketches ended up kind of raggedy since I used them so much, this is where the idea was born, and these sketches wound up going to Michael Radner. Regardless of the Sculpey and Dr. Pepper stains on them, the Gilda's Club wanted the sketches to go to Mr. Radner. So...he's got 'em!
2. Sign for the Gilda's Club Quad Cities, on 1234 East River Drive, Davenport, Iowa. It's right along the Mississippi River.
3. Gilda's hands and some ears (the ears were eventually not used). The wrists and "bones" for the hands were made out of tin foil. The clay I used (Sculpey) was shaped with a blue clay carving tool (seen in the first photo, just above the full-body sketch), an X-Acto knife, a pen cap (which are stuck in a lump of clay between the hands) and a toothpick (not shown). "The Woman in Red" is in the background as a reference, since Gilda appears in the film. Also on the left is a CD of Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks. To give me luck on the project, this was the first CD I listened to when I started the project. Their routine "2000 Year Old Man" is on this CD, which also played a part in one of Gilda's fondest memories. Gilda's song "Honey" (found on the Live From New York CD) refers to it. I couldn't find a link to play the whole song, but here are the lyrics (spoken intro and sung to a slow waltz):
Gilda- This one time, uh, I went home with this guy, but that was when we still all lived at our parents house, and uh, he wanted to play a record for me. He took me down to the basement, or the rec room, and he put on, uh, Mel Brooks, and Carl Reiner's "2000 Year Old Man", and we sat down on the couch and we were listening to the record, and laughing...and he kissed me. For a real long time. And then we listened to the record some more, and laughed some more, and then the two of us lay down on the couch together, and listened to the record some more. And laughed. And kissed. And I think it was probably one of the most romantic times of my life. And I'd uh, like to dedicate this song to him, and to that time.
(Music Starts)
Honey, touch me
With your clothes on.
Sweetie, Baby,
Longer than you do.
Honey, kiss me,
With your mouth closed,
Just like you love me,
And I love you.
Now whatever happened,
To Johnny Mathis?
Two moments when your lips
Met mine! (Ooo, Ooo, Ooo)
So in love were we two,
We didn't know what to do,
And chances, (Chances)
Were awfully good that
Love would be so fine.
And whatever happened,
To slow, slow dancin,
And imaginin', how heaven
Could be? (Ooo, Ooo, Ooo)
Fallin in love,
Was wonderful, wonderful,
And lovin, (lovin)
Baby, was a dream fantasy.
Honey, touch me,
With your clothes on,
Sweetie, Baby,
Longer than you do,
Honey, Kiss me,
With your mouth closed,
Just like you love me
and I love you.
Seemed so sad, (Seemed so sad)
Hurt so bad, (Hurt so bad)
Don't be cruel.
I'm a fool. (Such a fool)
Only you,
Mr. Blue...
Can't you see? (Cant you see?)
Must I be? (Must I be?)
Baby, Baby...(Baby....)
(Musical Interlude)
(Ah, ah, la, la, ooh)
Now whatever happened
to Johnny Mathis?
Gee, wasn't his Vibrato great? (Really Great)
So much love have we two,
With so little left to do,
Too much,
Too little,
Too late. (Touch me)
Too much,
Too little, (With my clothes on)
Too late. (Kiss me)
Too much,
Too little, (With your mouth closed)
Too late.
(Honey, touch me)
Touch me with my clothes on...
(Ooooo)
(Applause and music)
4. Please, everybody, as you view this next photo, please imitate Roseanne Roseannadanna by scrunching up your face in disgust and saying "This face makes me sick!" Or, imitate Kermit reacting to the frog leg stroganoff in the El Sleazo Cafe "Eeeshh!" You may also impersonate Steve Martin's "Oh, NOOOOO!" (like I did when I first saw it) This is the "feminine Jay Leno" face that was totally ruined in the oven
5. This is where the story "Okay, Rinse" (posted earlier) took place. I used welding glue, nail hole filler and some stuff called "Gorilla Glue" to glue the shoulders to the hands. I had to make new shoulders so that the arms would be in the right positions. The original mannequin hands were also useless, so I had to make new hands, too. There's about a whole tube's worth of nail hole filler on Gilda's neck! The attached face is the one on the statue today. This is the same face I made that weekend when I had all that Mt. Dew...yyeeccchh!
6. The deep freezer on my parents' back porch. I worked on Gilda here on rainy days during the summer. See the handmade shoulder? To make sure the glue dried right, I had to use some broken rocks and bricks that Dad gave me to prop up the arms and shoulders (which were quite heavy). The Dremmel from "Okay, Rinse" is in the gray case, while a little saw (with the black handle) was used to file down the shoulder. See the plastic bags underneath the rocks and Gilda's shoulders? Those kept the glue from running down onto the freezer...preventing Gilda from sticking to the freezer lid! And yes, for you die-hard Muppet fans, I placed a single teensy, weensy drop
of glue on Gilda's forehead...I really did! 7. At last, we see a close-up of the face, which is quite light in this photo, due to the camera flash. The hair, which might look black on your monitor, is really a Hershey bar brown. This photo was taken just before Gilda's press-on fingernails were applied. If you look close, you can even see Gilda's false eyelashes!
8. Another close-up photo of Gilda. Here she is, in her handmade blouse with her right tap shoe (a real one!) in her hand.
9. Gilda on her big day, ready and waiting in the van to go to her new home in Davenport. She took up nearly the entire back of the van, and we had to fold the seats down. While Mom and Dad drove the van, I sat on the folded down seat (just to the right of Gilda's legs), hunched over, and held Gilda by one shoulder and her waist during the long drive to Davenport, making sure she wouldn't get damaged from the highway bumps. Even with the padding from some blankets and pillows, she still moved around a little unless I held her shoulder.
10. Here stands Gilda in her new home in the Gilda's Club Quad Cities clubhouse, waiting to be auctioned off in November. The statue officially became part of the Gilda's Club Quad Cities on Wednesday, August 6, 2003, 9:00 AM. This picture would have turned out great, but my stupid thumb got in the way! Michael Radner didn't get a copy of this photo because "Mr. Bimbo"
wanted to be in it!11. Another shot of Gilda in her new home. And that concludes my pictures...for now. I have tons more pics of construction, if anybody's interested. Please, if you have any questions about the statue, construction, or anything else about this project, just ask! I'd be MORE than happy to answer questions about it!!!
If you have trouble getting to this site, let me know...please! I want YOU to be able to see these photos! And I've been given permission to tell as many people as I want about it...so, here it is!!! And it's okay for you to tell people about the statue, too! (Hops in van with megaphones on the top and driving down the street, imitating Elwood Blues) "Gilda Radner statue to be auctioned off in early November on Ebay. All proceeds go to help the Gilda's Club Quad Cities. Hey you! Gilda Radner statue to be auctioned off...tell your friends! You on the bicycle..."
Convincing Josh
So, even though leaving her there was really tough, just thinking about how she would brighten up someone's day (impersonating Yoda) "brings warm feelings to my heart."
