LOUIS BOTTO'S TRUNK: Some Unusual Who's Whos | Playbill

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Special Features LOUIS BOTTO'S TRUNK: Some Unusual Who's Whos This is Louis Botto rummaging in his theatrical trunk again and finding curious bios that have appeared in "Who's Who In The Cast" in PLAYBILL through the years. When Marlon Brando made his Broadway debut in 1944 in I Remember Mama at the Music Box Theatre, his bio read: "Born in Calcutta, India, where his father was engaged in geological research, he came to this country when he was 6 years old." All of this was baloney, of course.

This is Louis Botto rummaging in his theatrical trunk again and finding curious bios that have appeared in "Who's Who In The Cast" in PLAYBILL through the years. When Marlon Brando made his Broadway debut in 1944 in I Remember Mama at the Music Box Theatre, his bio read: "Born in Calcutta, India, where his father was engaged in geological research, he came to this country when he was 6 years old." All of this was baloney, of course.

Not to be outdone by Brando, Barbra Streisand wrote this when she made her debut in I Can Get It For You Wholesale at the Shubert Theatre: "Barbra Streisand is 19, was born in Madagascar, reared in Rangoon and educated at Erasmus High School in Brooklyn."

But Mike Nichols and Elaine May topped everyone by their bios for their 1960 hit, An Evening With Nichols and May. They wrote that they met at the University of Chicago for five minutes and hated each other so much that they didn't see each other for two years. "During this time, Nichols lived entirely on mustard and cold cereal. Elaine May lived in a Chicago basement and lived successfully on $12.00 a week by keeping a goat."

My trunk just snapped shut on that one. Ta ta for now.

-- By Louis Botto

 
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