‘Desperately Seeking Susan’ Turns 40

With the exceptions of Blondie and tennis, I don't think there's been a topic I've blogged about more these past (almost) 20 years than "Desperately Seeking Susan," which (horrifyingly) was released 40 years ago today.

 

Whether it was skipping my senior prom to see it (again) with my friend Yuki; compiling the official soundtrack (that never was); the time the guy who played the bellhop who delivered room-service spilled the beans about his run-in with Madonna years later; finally meeting director Susan Seidelman at a screening; its 30th anniversary; the death of Mark Blum (aka Gary Glass) from Covid (did you know the hunk from "Making Mr. Right" also succumbed to the disease?); seeing at BAM for my partner's birthday; my friend's fanboying on Aidan Quinn, where he told Dez that like me, the film was the final factor in having to move to NYC; or re-enacting the scenes in Battery Park on my first visit to the city in 1985 (as well as a stop at Love Saves the Day), there isn't a subject I enjoy more than my favorite film of the era. 

And though my ability to fangirl has diminished over the years -- Seidelman released a memoir chock-full of "DSS" details last year that I still haven't gotten to ... because I can't get past the first half of Chris Stein's (I forgot how to read during Covid) -- my love for this new wave masterpiece remains as strong as ever. 

Keep the faith. xo

Jeanne Wolf on the scene ...

March 29, 1985: The Gray Lady also liked the film, naming it one of the 10 best of the year!

UPDATE:

I assumed these new photos of Madonna in the disputed pyramid jacket -- "she owes me a coat" -- were fake, but apparently they're real!

Good Going, Stranger

Just now seeing this incredible photo of Madonna in front of Manic Panic -- the first punk boutique in the U.S. -- on St. Marks Place in the East Village, while filming "Desperately Seeking Susan" in 1984. Photo by Andy Schwartz.

Read an interview with Tish and Snooky -- onetime Blondie (and the Bonzai Babies) backup singers and Manic Panic proprietors -- HERE.

Mark Blum, Gary Glass in 'Desperately Seeking Susan,' Dies at 69 Due to COVID-19 Complications

Ouch, this one hurts. Was very saddened to read that gifted stage actor Mark Blum, whose performance as straight-laced Gary Glass opposite Rosanna Arquette and Madonna in "Desperately Seeking Susan" anchored the classic New Wave film, has died at 69. 

Director Susan Seidelman remembers her leading man

The New York theater company Playwrights Horizons first announced the news, and SAG-AFTRA executive vice president Rebecca Damon confirmed that the veteran actor died from complications of COVID-19. Representatives for Blum additionally confirmed the news to TheWrap. 

The old (brilliant) Roseanne, champion of the oppressed -- aka before she went nuts because a black man became president.

In addition to his standout performance in "Susan" -- "No, muchachas! No!" -- he delivered memorable guests spots on "Law and Order" and "Roseanne" (read dialogue above). 

"I didn't say I wanted to buy one. Got any pot?"

The Wrap reports that Blum was a fixture of the New York theater community, having won an Obie Award for his performance in the Playwrights Horizons production of a play from Albert Innaurato, “Gus and Al.” He’s also appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers,” Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” and more. 

Roberta Glass remembers her estranged hubby on Twitter.

NYP reports that playwright Christopher Shinn also took to Twitter to salute Blum’s life and kindness. 

“In 2011 Mark Blum starred in my play Picked @vineyardtheatre, in a tricky role -- a narcissistic filmmaker whose more human instincts collide with the desire to protect himself from emotional risk,” Shinn wrote. “Mark’s performance took huge risks. He was magnificent. And the kindest man. RIP.” 

Blum leaves behind his wife and fellow actor, Janet Zarish, also 69, whose credits include guest appearances on “Law & Order,” “Seinfeld” and “Blue Bloods.” Such a big loss. 

UPDATE: 

Remains of the Day (07/05)

CNN: Christian group attended a pride parade to apologize for how they've treated the LGBTQ community

DListed: Despite her voice, Scarlett Johansson is getting shit for playing a trans man

CNN: Justin Trudeau about groping claim from 18 years ago: "I don't remember any negative interactions"

Page Six: Tank-top-clad Mario Lopez had a rough Fourth of July

Gr8er Days: The beautiful, gifted comic actress Katherine Helmond turns 89

Towleraod: MLS player Collin Martin gets standing ovation in first on-field appearance since coming out as gay

Journal Star: Aaron Schock wisely asks Supreme Court to review his case -- the Gov. Bob McDonnell precedent makes the pretty boy's conviction very hard to uphold

UnPresidented: GOP Rep. Jordan says teen-sex scandal is a deep-state plot concocted by Rosenstein

The Film Experience: RIP to two titans of European cinema

The Gay Almanac: Remembering French poet, writer, artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau, who was born on this day in 1889

The Randy Report: John Cena says "diversity, not division, is what makes America great"

Gay Star News: Kevin Spacey is facing three new sexual-assault allegations in London

People: The hunky triplets seen in "Desperately Seeking Susan" are now the subject of a fascinating documentary detailing how they were separated at birth as part of a twisted adoption experiment

Boy Culture: And speaking of which, director Susan Seidelman insists Madonna was acting in the '80s cult classic.

Variety: Ed Schultz, former MSNBC host, is dead at 64

The New York Times: Marital status is noted at Wimbledon, but only for women

Outsports: Trans athlete leaves Tucker Carlson speechless, sets Fox News record

OMG Blog: Adorable bear chills in family's hot tub drinking a margarita

‪From @foster_furbabies: "Peek-a-boo with AshBaby" #twitterweek #catsofinstagram ‬

A post shared by Cats of Instagram (@cats_of_instagram) on Jul 2, 2018 at 8:12pm PDT

Hot Cat of the Day: I'm in love ...

Song of the Day: 'You Haunt Me' by the Lounge Lizards

It must have been love lust, but it's over now

Well here's one for you Downtown '80s New York fans. When I posted yesterday's Song of the Day on Twitter I was surprised to get a reply from none other than John Lurie, whose account I did not even know existed. I've been a fan of him and his band, the Lounge Lizards, since buying their eponymous debut back in the early '80s and seeing him in "Stranger Than Paradise," the indie darling of the 1984 Cannes Film Festival he helped make happen with director Jim Jarmusch. (I had the poster for it and "Desperately Seeking Susan," in which he had a rear-window cameo, on the back of my bedroom door in high school back in Mesa, Ariz.) 

His peculiar and somewhat terse reply to my tweet seemed sort of amusing -- "I've just been dissed by John Lurie!" -- until I did a cursory search of what he'd been up to in recent decades only to find he'd been "in hiding" (around the world!) from his best friend cum stalker, named John Perry, who took exception to being portrayed as a stalker in a 2010 piece by Tad Friend in the New Yorker by going on a hunger strike -- outside Lurie's apartment. I guess my own experience could have been stranger, still ...

Follow me HERE.

Teenage dream

Desperately Seeking Susan Seidelman

The acclaimed director -- who also helmed the pilot of "Sex and the City" -- discusses her two love letters to '80s New York, "Smithereens" and "Desperately Seeking Susan," HERE.

'She Owes Me a Vote'

I've made no secret about my enduring love of "Desperately Seeking Susan." Now director Susan Seidelman wants all of its fans to do her a favor. Laverne Cox explains HERE.

From Susan's Facebook page.

'It Used to Belong to Jimi Hendrix'

Bid on the pyramid jacket Roberta bought after Madonna hawked it for boots at Love Saves the Day as well as the infamous Nefertiti earrings that nearly got everyone killed in "Desperately Seeking Susan" HERE.

Is St. Mark's Place America's Coolest Street?

The Telegraph posed the question today, about what was once America's coolest street when Madonna went thrift shopping in "Desperately Seeking Susan" and the Replacements and Rank and File gave it shout-outs in songs back in the 1980s.  

Nowadays, it's a shell of what it used to be, the biggest negative being that there is a fully functional Chipotle smack dab in the middle and the last remaining record store -- Sounds -- joins Joe's CDs, 13 CDs, Venus Records, Mondo Kim's, Smash, Norman's and Rockit Scientist Records in the retail graveyard. On the plus side, Gem Spa is still serving egg creams, Blondie recently gave it a nod in "Good Boys" and an episode of "Broad City" was shot there last season. Read HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Justify My Love' by Madonna

Feeling nostalgic for Madonna's heyday after seeing "Desperately Seeking Susan" on the big screen again last night, when BAM featured it as part of its Interesting Women, Interesting Lives series. That film -- which helped shape my life -- is as delightful today as it was when it came out in 30 years ago, and played at the AMC Fiesta Village where I worked. (I must have seen it there about 25 times.) 

We got so excited after that we took a stroll past the site of the former Bleecker Street Cinema where Dez worked and Woody Allen's character sees a movie with his niece in "Crimes and Misdemeanors," which is now -- you guessed it -- a Dunae Reade. 

  

  

WAYNE'S WORLD SKETCH 1990 featuring Madonna by kervez

'Desperately Seeking Susan' Turns 30

Wow, dying here! Carrie Rickey has compiled a fascinating oral history of (KIT212 fave) "Desperately Seeking Susan" -- which turns THIRTY this week -- that includes just about everyone involved. Matthew Rettenmund gets the last word, natch!

Funniest part:

Reid Rosefelt (unit publicist): The eight-week shoot was finished before Thanksgiving in 1984. There was almost no postproduction time. Orion wanted a March opening because people there thought Madonna’s career might be over by the time it came out.

Read HERE.