European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 16 the stars and stripes wednesday april 23,1986 Stacy Keach smooth Riding on the comeback Trail by Mark Schwed United press International w Elcome Back to new York said the Doorman As he thrust a piece of paper at the Star and asked for an the Star strolled toward Rockefeller Center for a picture session at the ice skating rink Heads snapped and jerked. Is that Stacy Keach some would say. Others knew. That was Stacy Keach Keach Arm in Arm with Lauren Hutton who turned her share of Heads too Drew a big crowd. Kodak clicked and arms extended for handshakes. Welcome Back they said. Good to see for Keach the comeback Trail from two years of heavy cocaine abuse which led to six months in a London prison was Long and rough. But there were friends who made it easier. Folks like Frank Sinatra who called him a hero Gregory Peck Al Pacino Roger Moore and Burl Reynolds who wrote him letters and talked of his courage. Of course a Man who is arrested for attempting to smuggle 1.3 ounces of cocaine into London s Heathrow Airport should not be lauded As a hero. But it is the Way Keach handled himself that commands respect. He went to London expecting to pay a heavy Fine. And go Home. That s what his lawyers told him would happen. Instead British authorities gave him nine months in prison perhaps to make an example of the popular american private Eye the character he played on Mickey Spillane s Mike Hammer series on lbs. The show was put on extended hiatus and everyone waited. Six months after entering prison Keach left a free Man. He paid a heavy Price. While Keach was wasting away in prison one Man put his Money and Job on the line to make sure that the actor would have something to return to. The result is the return of Mickey Spillane s Mike Hammer a two hour movie starring Keach Hutton and others. If All goes Well the series will return in the fall. Much of the credit for the return of Hammer goes to Jay Bernstein. Some Call him Hollywood s last superstar maker. In 1974, he took a Little known actress named Farrah Fawcett and put her on a show called Charlie s Angels. That worked out Fine. He also transformed a third Lead actress named Suzanne Somers into a household word on three s company. And he did the same for Kristy Mcnichol. Bernstein also serves As executive producer for the Hammer series and when Keach went to jail Bernstein went to work. First when variety reported that the series had been cancelled Bernstein took $2,000 of his own Money and took out ads in both los Angeles Trade magazines to say it was t so. Then when lbs was wavering about the future of the Hammer series Bernstein hit the Trail at a Cost of $60,000, visiting 15 major cities to drum up fan support. He went to Chicago Houston Detroit new York Washington Baltimore Oklahoma City Philadelphia to name a few asking everyone he met to write Harvey Shephard senior vice president programs at lbs. I figured i m going to take this to the american Public. In America you Only make someone pay for a mistake once not twice. You give someone a second Chance. They wrote so Many letters to Harvey Shephard that his mail was screwed up for months. Finally he said of we re going to give you a second Chance. We re going to give you a two hour Pilot but just Stop those Columbia pictures which produces the Hammer series also helped out. When lbs decided to use Hammer reruns to keep the series fresh in the Public s mind Columbia pumped in $1 million for promotion much More than the Ordinary rerun Public relations budget. And Bernstein took his Case to los Angeles where he went to a hip Hollywood restaurant known As a Star hangout and had the waiters Wear buttons which said i love Stacy when Keach was released Bernstein issued new buttons that said Hammer is Back. And when it was decided to do the return of Hammer show stars like Dabney Coleman Dionne Warwick and Mickey Rooney donated their time to appear in the show. It was a show of Faith in Keach and the Hammer series. A photo actor Keach upon his release from a British prison. I was t going to let go of a Quality show like Mike Hammer and i was t going to let go of Stacy Keach Bernstein said. I have great respect for Stacy Keach. I Admire a Man who s the president of his High school who goes to Yale who studies at the Royal Academy in London who won All these awards for acting so the Guy made a mistake. Let s Don t kill him for it. He certainly paid More than anybody we know. He certainly Learned his and he certainly had some friends. For Keach there was one very Happy Day that stands out in his mind. The memorable moment was putting the Trench coat and hat Back on Keach said. That was pretty Xavier Cugat life after Charo by Susan Linnee associated press if there is such a thing As reincarnation then Xavier Cugat plans to return As Brigitt Bardot s s because the one time French sex Symbol loves animals and treats them Well Cugat said especially dogs. The 86-year-old band Leader who has suffered four heart attacks and a severe stroke thinks often of death for which he says he is waiting like for the last curtain with a but his musings on mortality have not clouded his passion for life. Cugat also thinks about getting married for the sixth time painting his next picture and convincing his ailing Friend surrealist Painter Salvador Dali that life can be Beautiful after 80. Since returning to Spain eight years ago Cugat has tried several times to see his fellow catalonian who is ill and in seclusion in Figueras North of Barcelona. However Dali s staff won t let him near the artist. I want to go to him and Tell him come on Dali you can do it look at me " said Cugat who used to visit cellist Pablo Casals another famous catalonian in puerto Rico. We would argue All the time about politics. He refused to return to Spain while Gen. Francisco Franco was alive. But i told him. An artist is for the whole world " Cugat walked through his rambling apartment one recent Day leading visitors Down memory Lane past his paintings of mexican children and signed photographs of him with six american presidents. He stopped at a color photo of Spain s King Juan up photo going Strong at 86. Carlos and Queen Sofia. It was former president Richard Nixon who first introduced me to him in Washington in 1972 when Juan Carlos was still Prince he said. Nixon said this is our Google Juan Carlos replied in Spanish no he is our Cugat was born Jan. 1, 1900, in Gerona Spain. His family left for Cuba when he was five to escape political persecution because of his father s Republican and anarchist sentiments. With his violin under his Arm and not a Penny in my pocket Cugat went to the United states when he was 12, and became a . Citizen three years later. He made Only Short visits to Spain Over the next several decades and did t return to live until eight years ago when he started to feel homesick in his old age. Cugat was not. Very successful As a concert violinist and made his Way to Hollywood where he worked As a caricaturist of movie stars for the los Angeles times. One Day Rudolf Valentino told him he had to dance the tango in a silent film and asked Cugat to put together a band to accompany him. That was the beginning of Cugat and his gigolos who a decade later were playing at the Waldorf Astoria in new York. Cugusi As he spelled it and cookie As he became known played the violin and directed the band with his Bow. I Learned very Early that everyone in the United states specialized in something Cugat said in his combination of Spanish and English. So i decided to specialize in tropical music we called it the Rumba Aberta then. Today they Call it Salsa but it s All basically the same after his stint at the Waldorf he primarily played in Las vegas with abbe Lane and later Charo. He handed the orchestra Over to Tito Puente in 1970 when he stopped performing. During his Hollywood Days Cugat appeared in movies including Neptune s daughter school for sirens and weekend at the Waldorf. Cugat and a Barcelona production company have made a video about his career featuring singers Charles Aznavour Julio Iglesias and Paul Anka the mexican actor Cantina Las Esther Williams and two of Cugat s former wives. He Speaks with great fondness of the five women he married and divorced Rita Montaner Carmen Castillo Lorraine Allen abbe Lane and Charo. If i had it to do All Over i would marry the same ones. We always divorced for our careers he said. You cannot play the violin in Philadelphia when your wife is in Rome making a movie with Marcello though Cugat loves children he never had any. If i had i would t have been Able to travel and i Don t believe in those people who have children just to be taken in photos with them on birthdays and Christmas he said. But he has dogs scotch terriers a powder Blue parakeet who sings in catalan and a Gold 1958 Rolls Royce with Nevada License plates. He s been living with 30-year-old Yvonne Martinez for 11 years. But Yvonne says nothing doing no marriage we re Fine As we Are
