Word: jessel
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...home in a few minutes"); consoled Neighbor Tippi Hedren on the horrendous reviews of her new movie, A Countess from Hong Kong; helped Pierre Salinger, a sometime political foe, plug both his employer (Continental Airlines) and his book (With Kennedy). Each guest-the first two shows included Comedian George Jessel, Actor Hans Conried and sundry starlets-walked off with an autographed copy of Maverick Mayor, a 256-page Yorty biography...
...Jessel figures that in the past 40 years he has raised about $100 million for good works: $60 million for Israel bonds, $5 million for the City of Hope medical center, and the rest for other assorted worthy causes...
Zionist Mason. Jessel's real specialty is funerals. Nobody in Hollywood gets buried properly unless Georgie is there to coax a few tears in remembrance. He has played 250 funerals so far, and the most cherished of his eulogies he has included in two of his anthologies. Who can ever forget what he said at Fanny Brice's bierside: "Now my hands fasten to my heart in lament for this all-too-soon exit from the scene. But the great Playwright of this ever-beginning, never-ending plot, the Master Director who so skillfully stages this tightly woven...
...dear departed who devoted themselves especially to Jewish causes, Jessel always has a few extra words of praise. Jack Benny recalls that Jessel's "nicest eulogy was for one of James Mason's cats. You wouldn't believe what that cat had done for Israel...
When he is not eulogizing or rhapsodizing or getting married or divorced (four times each), Jessel is working on a novel, The Empty Side of the Bed. Considering that he spends so much time at other people's funerals, it is hard for his friends to avoid the obvious question: When That Great Agent Up Yonder Books Jessel's Last Act, who will deliver the eulogy? As it happens, Jessel is toying with plans for a four-star performance featuring two Los Angeles rabbis, a Roman Catholic archbishop, and Francis Cardinal Spellman of New York. Then again, Jessel...