Davis Mikaels Remembers Zelda

I met Zelda working as a waiter (oh yeah... and actor... lol) at one of Zelda's favorite Los Angeles eateries ORSO (the now defunct and closed ORSO). I'm a newbie to Zelda's life... I've only known her for about 3 1/2 years as a dear friend as opposed to most everyone else that's been touched by ZB's glorious soul for a much longer time... and I'm jealous about not meeting her a lot sooner. Zelda sat in my section one night... and it changed my life forever... I wound up neglecting all my other tables because Zelda and I couldn't stop chit chatting and laughing. I don't even remember what we talked about... because it didn't matter... we were like a gaggle of girls just catching up on things. I remember I was kneeling for so long speaking with her that when it was time for me to stand up... both my legs were asleep. I didn't care... I had been touched by Zelda... and I was hooked. We were friends... there was no doubt about it...we were instant friends. I attended her birthday that year at El Cid's on Sunset Blvd... she opened up a whole new side of LA for me that I was missing out on. She introduced me to so many amazing people that I still consider good friends... including my long time agent. The reason I loved Zelda so much is because of her amazing heart... her big, no her GIGANTIC HEART. She always cared about other people... and she really did care. Case in point... we all know Zelda had her own health issues... but that didn't matter... whenever we spoke she made sure to ask me about my sick mother... and not just asking to be polite... REALLY asking about her... and I'll never forget that. I miss her smile, I miss her laugh... and I miss her dirty jokes... I miss you Zelda... I'll never forget you... I aspire to have a heart half as big as yours... one day we'll get Dim Sum together again.

Dale Reynolds Remembers Zelda

I had known Zelda for about three years when she got the role in POLTERGEIST. Of course we were all thrilled for her good fortune and I awaited stories on the filming, personalities, etc. So to my surprise, one day, I get a panicked call from ZR so full of fear that I barely recognized her voice. "Dale," she said, "I'm going to shoot tomorrow and I can't memorize my speech; I'm going to fail." "Whoa," sayeth I, "let me come over right now and work on this with you." So I dropped everything, drove over and spent two hours working with her. The first hour was just undoing the damage Steven Spielberg had done to her by a lovely conversation he had after casting her. "I wanted a Little Person in this role because I think there are too many talented folk out there not being given a fair chance. And this role will make you the most famous Little Person in America and will make you a star and give you a chance at an Academy Award," etc. The kind of bullshit that interferes with an actors' process. It's the work that counts, not the rewards. So we cleared up that bit of nonsense and then worked on her monologue, which she had down perfectly. She was just hung up on that Hollywood crap that drives careers, but interferes with the work. The next day she rang me in the afternoon to say she'd done her whole speech in one take and that they asked her if she could do another "for coverage." When I finally saw POLTERGEIST, a film I love for reasons far removed from our darling Zelda, I cried when that scene came up. Zelda was a talent and a gem and I was so proud of our work together.

Jay Fruchtman Remembers Zelda

The black and white shots are from the LA opening of Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding back in October - November of 1989 ... the first day I met Zelda! I was in full make-up as an old man and as you can see, Zelda was so very dear and kind to my character...and of course, we had an immediate connection!! We spoke Italian together, had a little dance and spent a large portion of the event with each other.


Then we had a chance to actually "meet" at the opening night party and our wonderful friendship began! It was great to see her reaction when I came to say hello to her out of make-up and all dressed up! Needless to say, and no surprise to you--I'm sure!, Zelda was thrilled to find a fairly nice-looking youngish guy under all that make-up!! (That's me on the right..) What a wonderful flirt she always was and what a ball we had together from that day forward!!

During my time in LA--just under a year--we saw each other quite a bit. That year the Tony 'n' Tina company was asked to host the LA Weekly awards and what a night it was!! Because of our friendship, we were asked if we might consider doing a skit together and we did!! We did "our" version of a scene from A STAR IS BORN. Zelda was accepting a fake "special" award and I came out from the audience drunk a la Judy Garland and James Mason...

Until people caught on to what we were doing, it was kind of shocking to many and then of course, a riot to all!! Because of Zelda's size--the moment when I accidentally am supposed to slap her in the face--I actually swung and went right over her head!! The audience went wild with laughter!! What a great lady and sport she was!!!

We were friends for the next 20 years--how lucky for me!!!! I loved her.

I was lucky enough to be in LA for her 70th birthday celebration and her 75th....and we saw each other whenever she was in NY. Even when I spoke to her last while she was in hospital--she still managed to make me laugh...and we had a great giggle together...

Hal Rubinstein Remembers Aunt Zelda

The last time I saw my Aunt Zelda was at my sister’s funeral in Tennessee in September. The image of her in a wheelchair, David by her side, tossing a handful of dirt into Ellen’s grave is still with me. And it speaks to who Zelda was.

Zelda was the youngest of three siblings. The health issues she faced throughout her life would not have led one to conclude that she would be the last of the three to go. But she did come from tough stock. Her family were great storytellers. I remember my father telling tales at the dinner table. Of the family back in the shtetls of Poland. Of their parents’ different but difficult journeys to this country and to an industrial steel town. Of their life as a family in the east end of Pittsburgh . Though the specifics have faded, the sense of it, the richness of the storytelling remains with me. It doesn’t surprise me that Zelda had the strength to seek out her future by leaving her hometown of Pittsburgh. To do that at a time when
people of shorter stature faced more difficulties than today. To travel extensively before settling in LA. And that storytelling became part of her journey.

It is evident that Zelda was keenly aware of a central truth in life. That truth is the longing within all of us for connection and love. And she obviously felt that to such an extent that she reached far beyond family and the smaller circle of friends many of us have. She collected a universe of people she cared for. I was fortunate to make two of her birthday parties that spoke richly of the results of this life of reaching out. People came from great distances to celebrate with her.

I will remember Zelda. Her continued invitations to come out, visit, even stay in California. Her calls on birthdays and in between just to see how things were. Her coming to the weddings of two of my sister’s children.

-Hal

Danny Feld Remembers Zelda

I met Zelda in Brentwood in the summer many, many years ago. My father, an actor, Fritz Feld and my mother an actress, Virginia Christine, both for 10 years created an annual outdoor variety show with music, singers, actors and entertainers in Crestwood Hills. It was there that I met Zelda one night being her gregarious self.

We immediately befriended each other and for many years prior to David enjoyed occasional dinners out on the town, mostly in Silverlake. We had just plain fun, chatting and enjoying life. Zelda was all about enjoying life, an example to all of us. Thanks Zelda.

As life is so complex living in LA and traffic divides even the best of souls, weidn't get to see each other as much as I would have liked in the last years, but we always stayed in touch and shared birthday wishes over the phone. And, of course there were Zelda's delightful birthday parties where we always had fun.

In life, we are all touched by wonderful human beings. They leave their mark on us, in our hearts they leave a piece of themselves. They mold us and rub off on us, and we copy them when we like them. And as things go, Zelda was one of those special people who left her imprint in our hearts and soul. Oh, how lucky we were to have known Zelda, simply one of a kind.

Thanks Zelda, you will be sorely missed.

Old Sins Cast Long Shadows

In a previous post, Mark Perry wrote about a role that he'd written for Zelda in The Ghost Whisperer. The air date for this episode, which was filmed after Zelda's last heart attack and was played by another actress as a result, is Friday, March 12, at 8PM on CBS.

Bonnie Paull Remembers her Sister, Zelda

REMEMBERING MY SISTER

Zelda and I were sisters-in-law for 26 years but sisters of the heart for 50. Even after her brother and I divorced, Zelda and I remained fast friends. Our birthdays were in the same year but she had a 3 month’s jump on me. She loved to call around her birthday and give me a weather report on the year ahead for both of us.

We were 19 when we first met at her home in Pittsburgh, PA and she was the maid of honor at my wedding in 1953 in Minneapolis, MN. Once her brother and I were re-located in San Francisco where he was doing his medical internship, Zelda came to visit, and, although she returned home for a while, she definitely left her heart in the City by the Bay.

It wasn’t long before she re-located, found a charming little apartment in North Beach, became a gourmet cook and began cultivating her rich garden of friendships which continued to flourish for all her years. As far as I know, she never left anyone behind. I was amazed at one of her birthday soirees in LA where there were people there from all over the world and from all the decades of her adult life, still adoring and adored, still in communication with her.

During her years in the Bay Area, she worked as a med tech while her love of the theatre began to grow. I remember seeing her in one of her first productions directed by her dear friend Ray Tatar and performed at Merritt College where I was teaching. I may have history a bit garbled, but I recall that someone suggested she do voice overs because of her special vocal sound; she did this and before we knew it, she was in LA, launched in a new career in “the industry.”

I told Zelda many times how much I admired her—her courage, her guts, her total unwillingness to regard her size as a handicap. Her Mother Dincha, whom she adored, had a lot to do with this. As Zelda was growing up, Dincha always infused in her the attitude that she needn’t take a bad seat to anyone and that she could do in life whatever she set her mind to do. And so it was. Look at her career. Look at her relationship with dear David as examples of this winning attitude.

And I admired with awe Zelda’s great, great gift of friendship. Once her friend, always her friend. She forgot no one; Her cast of characters traveled with her around the world, and a very large cast it was, indeed.

Zelda was a great storyteller, very funny, very entertaining. One memorable tale was of two Jewish ladies who went on a Safari in Africa; While Sophie’s back was turned, a gorilla abducted her friend Sadie and carried her off into the Bush. When the friends were reunited weeks later in the hospital, Sophie looked at Sadie with horror. She was bandaged from head to foot. She tried to commiserate with her but all Sadie could mutter from under her swathed face was, “He doesn’t call; he doesn’t write.”

Although Zelda won’t be writing, which she rarely did anyway, or calling any more, which she did often, I know she is with us and her friendship and love are forever.

With abiding love to Zelda, her family members and her many friends.