Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A Salute to Maggie the Cat (and Friends)

By Baxter

We cats have mixed feelings about the passing of Elizabeth Taylor. Her admirable work on behalf of AIDS victims is, for us, nearly wiped out by her bizarre personal life, her (mostly scenery-chewing) performances in a bunch of not-great movies, and her dubious gift to the Commonwealth of Virginia of a Republican U.S. Senator.

But we feel we do have to pay tribute to Maggie the Cat. With Taylor's death, the wonderful actors who brought "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof" to pulsating life are nearly all gone now. (And have two more gorgeous people ever spent an entire movie not sleeping together?)

To Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson and Dame Judith Anderson, we cats PURR. And to Madeleine Sherwood, a Montreal native and the only remaining cast member, we cats say, just stay on that hot tin roof... 'long as you can.

P.S. Of course we cats must also mention that after co-starring in 1950's "Father of the Bride," Elizabeth Taylor and Spencer Tracy thereafter addressed each other in private life by their affectionate onscreen nicknames: "Pops" and "Kitten."

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