[Photographs By Jeff Dunas, Mike Daley, and Peter C. Bosari]
TWO GUYS FROM BROOKLYN
Rona Barratt called it "party of the year." Two guys from
Brooklyn who hadn't seen each other for twenty-four years, were reunited.
Nicky Blair, born Nicolo Macario, veteran actor of some three hundred
films recently turned restauranteur, and Bob Guccione, itinerant actor,
partner, and cartoonist-turned-publisher, celebrated their reunion, their
respective business anniversaries (two years for Nicky, eight years for
Bob), and their memories of an old neighborhood in Brooklyn,....long, long
ago.
It was like Academy Award night with Mama Macario's meatballs, a
Hollywood block dance compressed into the newest and most romantic bistro
on Sunset Strip.... an otherwise elegant, wood-paneled, softly lit night
spot reconstructed on the landmark of the old La Rue's. By way of
celebrating the coming of age of Nicky Blair's restaurant and the
Penthouse Magazine, Nicky sent invitations to "intimate friends only."
Seven hundred and fifty people showed up. Dean Martin, one of Nicky's
backers, muscled his way through the glut of guests in the foyer, took one
look at the crowd at the bar and ran. Cary Grant lost his nerve before he
even reached the cloakroom. He called later, "Sorry, Nicky, I don't
have the guts I used to....Happy Anniversary to you and Bob." Max
Factor, Carroll O'Connor, and Bob Newhart arrived late but got a table.
Everyone in Hollywood was there because everyone in Hollywood knows Nicky
socially, or has worked with him in films or eats regularly at his
restaurant.
During the Great Hollywood Depression, Nicky, himself an unemployed
actor, reached back into the memories of that canny Sicillian ghetto in
Brooklyn. Remembering the 'pasta mystique,' with its noble ability to feed
large Italian families on little money, he systematically brought home,
fathered, and fed many of the most famous names in the industry. Today
they still eat at Nicky Blair's. The pasta is just as good as it ever was,
but the setting and the atmosphere are a little more sumptuous.
Guest pics: Marty Allen and Angel Tompkins, Jack Carter, Ruth Buzzi,
Larry Harvey, MGM president Ted Ashley, Mr. and Mrs. Bob Quigley, George
Peppard, Irving Wallace, Barbara Segal, Dave Kramer, Merrill Heather,
Telly Savalis, Belle Greenberg, Jan Murray, Joe Hamilton and wife Carol
Burnett, Rebecca Smith, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, James Farentino,
Michele Lee, Stuart Whitman, Sally Struthers, Vicky Williams, Bob and
Peter Graves, Mike Connors.
Anything worth doing...is worth doing well. Whether you're flying a kite,
riding a bike, playing golf, tennis or a pinball machine, the idea is to
do it right...make it an art... be a track WINNER at whatever you do, And,
of course, if you're playing at a casino or betting at the track, winning
means money, too! Winning is Gambling Times 'theme song'..And this month,
superstar Marty Allen demonstrates the knack of playing...and winning...in
style. In fact, model Lois Silver (left on cover) and singer-actress
Brenda Griffin (right) found Marty's style so charming, they kept on
playing a few more games and our photographer kept on shooting.
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