THE FORTUNE CHRONICLES PART THREE b.

New York Page Three

by Joe Bonelli (Copyright 2000 by Joseph H. Bonelli)

After Fortune settled in, Sal left New York and staged two more productions of Fortune-- one in San Francisco (where he cast a person who was to figure prominently in his life for the all-to-short remainder of it, Courtney Burr in the role of "Smitty") and one in Honolulu (in which Robert Redding took the role of "Queenie"-- and from whence he would come to replace Michael Greer in the N.Y. production).   Sal spent most of the New York run in other locales, stopping in occasionally.  I'll tell some stories about the run. During the  Thanksgiving season, we  were to congregate for Turkey, at the home in Brooklyn Heights, of Jesse Will Deane, who was the understudy for Queenie.   Jesse was from Starkville, Mississippi, and had changed his name, for obvious professional reasons, from "James Deane".  The "Will" was for his good friend, the character actor (later to be Grandpa Walton on tv), Will Geer.  Jesse and his mother who was visiting, planned dinner for a group of us, including Sal.

I spent the earlier part of the day at the movies.  I went to an art theatre on the West Side to see the double bill of East of Eden and Rebel.  I had never seen either on the big screen. Eden was first--- God, what a performance from Dean, et.al.  Then came Rebel.  What an experience to sit there and watch the person you had come to know..  And in such a trully brilliant and timeless performance!! The film finished and I left in a haze.  I took the subway all the way to Brooklyn without really speaking to a sole.  

At Jesse's I knocked on the door and Sal Mineo opened it.  I gasped and said: "You won't believe what I feel at this moment!! The strangest deja-vu ever!!".  When I told him where I'd been he reminded me that he had still not seen the film since it had come out.  We all decided that we would go and see it together on our next off-day, Monday.   One thing led to another and the only one who got there was Jesse Will Deane.  Sal didn't make it.   I still do NOT know if Sal EVER saw Rebel Without a Cause again.