May, 1974. Junior/Senior prom. I was the junior and she was the senior. She had her first drink that night. What a good girl she was.R.I.P. March 2010. Dead from complications of diabetes.
I remember she was insulin dependent back then; never planned to wed, as having children was deemed too risky.
Barnetta was a gifted actress who taught at Herbert Berghof in New York for many years. More recently, she ran a summer stock theater near Rochester. She had been declining for several years, becoming more agitated with her developing dementia. I had no contact with her through this period as the thought of it was almost too much to bear.
She had a devoted companion, David, who was with her until the end, along with her three siblings, who were also at her bedside. Her funeral is Saturday in Nashville, and I'll be there, along with many others flying in to honor her as the great star she was.
P.S. She made that dress! That's the way it was done back in the day!
Addendum:
Some pictures taken at 87th Street during a visit Kent made to New York in April 1984. This is how I will always remember her---and she would be happy with these pictures too.
Barnetta and her love, John Avril.
John, Barnetta, Kent, Michael Fields, Rolf Scholander [?] and John Dunn
Me and Barnetta
Kent, Barnetta and I
Rolf, Michael and Zoe Walker, who replaced Nell Carter in Ain't Misbehavin' within her first six months in New York.
2 comments:
Ms. Walker was my dance teacher in elementary and junior high school. She was AWESOME!!! Do you know where she is now? I haven't seen her in 18 years.
I too have been searching for Zoe for years now. We were very close back when we were both performing in NYC. I have never been able to find her. This is the closest I've come to it. Have you any more info? The last I knew she was still in NYC. Did she relocate? I have.
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