Brinkley Remains Grateful For Help From His First Love
This past Wednesday night, with Sam Donaldson on ABC’s “PrimeTime Live,” David Brinkley ruminated on his long and distinguished broadcasting career, mentioning (as he had in his just-published “David Brinkley: A Memoir”) Virginia Mansell, the “splendid young woman” who, he confesses, was his first love.
The recent Emerson College speech major had helped to rid him of his North Carolina accent early in his radio career and, in the process, to create the distinctive Brinkley pattern of speech.
He never saw her again after their separation because of World War II. But he notes in his memoir that she married, had children and died some years ago and that he has “never forgotten her for a day” - and, in the book, he asks her children to drop him a line sometime (“I would be grateful,” he writes, “and in return would send a few notes and snapshots”).
This past Friday, Brinkley got a phone call from Daithi Borges, one of Mansell’s four daughters, who lives in North Berwick, Maine. She told him she and her three sisters had all watched the broadcast with great interest, since their mother had talked of him so often over the years.
Brinkley, who promptly placed calls to the others (in Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts), plans to meet with the four as soon as it can be arranged to talk about their influential mother, exchange memories - and, most likely, some snapshots.
Hemingway evicted from ‘CPW’
CBS has confirmed that Mariel Hemingway, who plays Stephanie Wells, the innocent from Seattle who comes to New York to run Communique magazine for the lecherous Allen Rush (Ron Liebman), will be written out of “Central Park West” after the 13th episode.
With all the feints and shuffles for the sweeps months and holiday schedules, that probably means a January farewell for Mariel. Her spokeswoman says Hemingway exercised her option to leave after being told her role was going to be reduced considerably.
That reduction is part of creatorexecutive producer Darren Star’s fine-tuning of the disappointing series, which has stumbled to a 6.6/11 in six outings.
Among his fixes: The new publisher of Communique will be a “Ted Turner-like” chap who is “a lifelong rival” of Rush.
Best Unsigned Band contest
The deadline is Dec. 31 for Musician magazine’s 1996 Best Unsigned Band Competition, the industry’s strongest such contest.
Acts in all musical genres can submit two-song cassettes for the competition, whose final-round judges include Steve Winwood, Juliana Hatfield and Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard. Among the prizes is a spot on a sampler CD that will be distributed to more than 500 record label reps.
Call 1-800-282-7096 for information. It just might be a ticket to the big time. Past finalists include Edie Brickell, Love Tractor and Rusted Root.
Fox orders more ‘Space’
Ten episodes have been added to the Fox TV hit “Space: Above & Beyond” bringing the first season total to 22.
“‘Space’ has exceeded our expectations both creatively and in demographic ratings performance,” said Fox Entertainment Network President John Matoian.
The premiere of “Space” on Sept. 24 garnered a 9.5 rating/15 share and gave Fox its best performance for a regular series in the Sunday 7-8 p.m. slot. The sci-fi series focuses on a squadron of first-year Marine Corps fighter pilots who are caught in an intergalactic war.
New sets for ‘Another World’
You’ll have to wait until Nov. 17 to see them, but NBC Wednesday is unveiling three state-of-the-art permanent sets for “Another World” at the soap’s Brooklyn studio.
All located in the fictional town of Bay City, they include a hospital where ambulances can drive up to the emergency room doors, a two-story police station, and Carlino’s Restaurant.
In addition, two locations in Bay City - Center Street and Eighth Avenue - will be part of the new sets.