Comment-a-Rooties & Memories

Subj: Memories of Rootie
Date: 2/24/00 11:22:54 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Robert Allan Curtis
To: vidres@aol.com

It was the summer of 1954. My dad was a featured big band singer performing at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC. I was 7 years old.

I was a California kid and Rootie didn't reach that far. But spending the summer in Manhattan, I got hooked on Rootie. My dad was connected and I was invited to be part of Rootie's on camera gang. Unfortunately, there was also a Democratic convention going on and the episode was pre-empted.

The wonderful memory I still retain is that the cast put the "live" show on anyway. Just for the few of us kids who were a captive audience. I think I remember receiving a package of Bon Bons just for being there.

Years later, as a producer of a local daytime TV show in Los Angeles, the studio lost power to the lighting grid. Remembering Rootie and the "show must go on" mentality, I had the crew push the set out the back door into the parking lot. Using natural light, with the Hollywood sign in the background, we went on the air. It turned out to be one of our most watched shows.

Now, I'm 53 years old and still smile when I think of Rootie and Gala Poochie.

Thanks, Rootie, for the memories.

Robert Allan Curtis
Malibu California

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