DOROTHY Lamour was just one of many American stars who played the Glasgow Empire in the venue’s heyday.
The theatre attracted everyone from Bob Hope, Laurel and Hardy, and Sophie Tucker to Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and Abbott and Costello.
Lamour, whose films included the ‘Road to ..’ series of comedies alongside Hope and Bing Crosby, appeared at the Empire in 1950. Her popularity was such that a substantial crowd of cheerring fans was on hand to greet her arrival on the evening of Sunday, May 28.
Crush barriers were erected at Central Station as she stepped off the London train.
“Acknowledging the cheers with a wave of her hand”, reported the Glasgow Herald, “Miss Lamour crossed over to the barrier and exchanged greetings with some of her admirers as she was escorted from the train to the station hotel by a police inspector.
“Near the hotel entrance a section of the crowd surged forward and the actress just managed to get into the hotel before the way was blocked.
“Later, Miss Lamour appeared for a few seconds on the hotel balcony overlooking the station. Her appearance was the signal for renewed cheering”
“I met Dorothy Lamour twice in my life”, Herald journalist Tom McGee recounted in September 1996, upon news of Lamour’s passing.
“The first time was at Glasgow Central Station on a rainy Sunday evening as she stepped from the London train onto the soot-stained platform.
“There was a crowd of about 2000 waiting to greet her. Once on the platform, the rain didn’t seem to matter anymore. It was as if the station had suddenly sprouted palm trees and its own sunshine. Hollywood’s Queen of the Sarong had that inbuilt magic - star quality”.
McGee, the author of a biography of Betty Grable, added that Lamour had fond memories of her Empire show.
``I had been warned that the audience could be tough, but I found them very receptive”, she told him. “The only problem I had was with a heckler one evening who kept shouting: `What’s under your sarong, Dottie?’
“Eventually I stopped the orchestra and replied: `I’ll tell you the secret about my sarong if you tell me the secret of the kilt!’ I had no more problems with him”.
During her time in Glasgow Lamour paid a courtesy visit to the City Chambers (above), where she was received by the Lord Provost, Victor Warren, and signed the visitors’ book. She was accompanied by her husband, William Ross Howard, and her accompanist. She later attended the annual gala at the Singer plant in Clydebank.
“She was one of the grandest ladies on screen, in life”, Bob Hope said when he learned of her death. “She was a lady of quality, beauty and class, which always made me look good. She was my No. 1 leading lady.″
Read more: Herald Diary
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