Rudee Behavior?
Mark, a KUOW listener, writes…
“I vividly remember it reported in the Seattle Times that Rudy Vallee wanted to have his street renamed in his name, but was turned down by his neighbors and the city council. Thank God! He really was a jerk. He visited Seattle once and dined at Ivar’s Acres of Clams restaurant and a guest at another table choked… Rudy got up and administered the Heimlich maneuver thereby saving his life, except it was nothing more than a publicity stunt. I remember all this very well even at 75. Your contestant was mistaken.”
Mark is correct that what was renamed was a driveway (essentially a private road), not a city street. But we didn’t say it was a city street. Arnie said, “You know what the name of his street was in Beverly Hills, right? I mean, this is true. He made it — changed it to Rue de Vallee. True.”
Hello! I was renting the house- literally – right next to RV’s ‘estate’.,,,, on Pyramid Place in the Hollywood Hills between 1985-86. RV used to drive by periodically in an old green station wagon and would announce his visit by blowing an air horn attached to the roof of the car as he drove by. I never actually saw him until one day I was sitting on the front steps when a short elderly man with almost a hunchback walked by. The man never looked up but stared straight ahead and muttered over/over again..”that F@#$’ing Elenore….”. I learned later that Elenore was his wife.
RV’s dog used to consistently do his ‘business’ leaving a calling card everyday. My roommate – who was responsible for keeping the lawn beautiful for the owner got tired of picking up the mess. He took out an air rifle and used it to scare the sh@# out of RV’s dog. RV thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard and invited my roommate to dinner as the GOH. I learned later from my roommate that his wife was about half his age and drank way too much during the meal. The house had an incredibly long driveway and has since been demolished. In front of the house was a platform that would rotate (intended to simulate a record turntable as per RV) and turn a car around 180 degrees to then drive back down the driveway. There was also a tennis court on the roof. Interestingly, Arsenio Hall purchased the property after RV passed away in 1986. Lots of information on the web re: RV