Topic Bernadette and the Gorillas from the General Chit-Chat forum.
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| Author | Topic: Bernadette and the Gorillas |
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 Jean
Registered User
Registered:
6/7/2003 | posted: 8/5/2004 at 8:41:45 AM ET
From the New York Times, June 8, 1984:
"If there was such a thing as a 1984 kewpie doll, it would have to be Bernadette Peters. Miss Peters has a tepee of frizzed hair, a rosebud mouth, porcelain skin and a figure that even fashionably crinkled clothes can't make flat.
Miss Peters acknowledges the resemblance, sometimes, but it is a matter of satisfaction to her that she is no longer doing what she describes as ''kewpie-doll work.''
''It's not a matter of appearance, but ability,'' she said firmly, perched on a sofa in the midtown aerie she is occupying during her appearance in ''Sunday in the Park With George.'' ''I feel very whole about myself, and I think it's up to me in my work to let people know that here is a person and a woman who has a mind and depth.''
Miss Peters, who has been back in New York since early in the year, has spent part of her time writing an article about growing up in Queens for a book being compiled about the borough. She has also visited the Bronx Zoo because, she said, she is an animal person and visits zoos in whatever city she finds herself.
''I love the gorillas,'' she said. ''They are so humanlike, and as you get to know them you realize how wise they are.'' Her favorite at the Bronx Zoo is a four-year-old gorilla named Julia. ''I know her parents,'' she said. ''She's the child of two gorillas I knew at the Los Angeles Zoo.'' "
|  Rose
Registered User
Registered:
9/28/2003
From:
NY
Fav. BP Song: No One Is Alone and Some People
Fav. BP Show: Gypsy
Fav. BP Character: Rose/The Witch
Fav. BP CD: Gypsy
| posted: 8/5/2004 at 9:48:04 AM ET
Thanks Jean that was really cute.
"Oh no, you won't. No, not a chance. No arguements, shut up and dance."
|  moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 8/5/2004 at 10:27:18 AM ET
I'm sure I or someone else here has mentioned this before but here it is again.
When Bernadette left Sunday in the Park With George to do Song and Dance, the cast gave her a present of a baby "monkey" at the Bronx Zoo being named after her. I think I remember the article saying monkey and not gorilla but you never know. I thought that was an extremely thoughtful gift. You know she probably appreciated it much more than jewelry or something. I know I would.
Also, the more I think about it, I think I too have "met" Julia. I know its a common name but that just sounds so familiar, Julia, The Gorilla. If I am not mistaken I believe she is now the mother of several kids and still residing at The Bronx Zoo. The last time I went there to see the gorillas, she was the "experienced" mother who chucked her newest baby on her back (who was 9 months old and just the cutest thing in the world). The new mother in the group was very protective, held her baby close, never put her down and usually was off by herself. Julia let her kids run all around and just kept an eye on them from a far. 
Thanks for the article Jean.
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 8/5/2004 at 10:39:20 AM ET
Love that article! Thank you, Jean.
Moljul, I remember hearing that story about the monkey too. I'm pretty sure it was a Proboscis monkey from Borneo.
And I wonder if that book about Queens was ever published.
| jmslsu01
Registered User
Registered:
6/9/2003
From:
northern VA | posted: 8/5/2004 at 11:54:00 AM ET
I'll run a search through WorldCat and see if I can come up with anything.
Jenn
| Jean
Registered User
Registered:
6/7/2003 | posted: 8/5/2004 at 11:56:10 AM ET
New York Times, 2/27/85:
"There's No Business Like Monkey Business
BYLINE: By Susan Heller Anderson and David W. Dunlap
BODY:
There were no flowers, or sentimental souvenirs when Bernadette Peters left the cast of ''Sunday in the Park With George'' - on Sunday, of course.
Instead, her colleagues endowed a monkey in her name at the Bronx Zoo.
Miss Peters cried.
In the show, as in the Georges Seurat painting ''La Grand Jatte,'' the character that Miss Peters plays is shown holding a monkey on a leash. In real life, Miss Peters is a Bronx Zoo regular and animal lover who is often seen in Shubert Alley before curtain time feeding carrots to the horses of mounted police officers.
At her goodbye party Monday night at Barbetta, at 321 West 46th Street, she received a frame. On one side was a picture of a quizzical-looking monkey holding a flower, on the other a certificate with her name:
''In recognition of her devotion to the monkeys of the Bronx Zoo Bernadette Peters is welcomed as an annual patron of the New York Zoological Society. In her honor, the name of Bernadette will be bestowed on the baby proboscis monkey born at the Bronz Zoo on October 9, 1984.'' "
{Lexis-Nexis--see, Jenn you taught me well!}
she looks like this
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 8/5/2004 at 12:11:13 PM ET
How cool. Thanks again.
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 8/5/2004 at 12:44:02 PM ET
Thanks Jean. I think that is the article tha I read many moons ago. 
I wonder if "Bernadette" is still alive? Do monkeys live that long? She would be 20 years old this October. I know gorillas live for quite a while but I'm not sure about monkeys.
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 8/5/2004 at 1:07:36 PM ET
The different sources I checked all gave slightly diiferent average life spans, but the range seems to be 10 to 20 years, with most lasting 13 to 15. 20 years would be at the upper limit, so I would guess that particular monkey is no longer with us. Could have descendants though.
Ya see all the stuff you can learn at the Bernadette Peters website.
| eitak
Registered User
Registered:
5/12/2004
From:
Maryland | posted: 8/5/2004 at 1:10:27 PM ET
That's really sweet. But as Karen has said, I don't think "Bernadette" is still with us. If the average life of a monkey is 10-20 years, then the average for a monkey in captivity will be a bit lower than that.
| moljul
Registered User
Registered:
4/2/2001
From:
New York
Fav. BP CD: I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Fav. BP Song: Dublin Lady
| posted: 8/5/2004 at 1:24:16 PM ET
Isn't it the other way around? Wouldn't their life span be longer in captivity (or at least have a better chance of getting to the far end of the range) than a monkey in the wild dealing with predators and droughts?
Though I agree that Bernadette, The Monkey is more than likely no longer with us.
| futuremamarose87
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2004 | posted: 8/5/2004 at 5:11:48 PM ET
This is such a funny post. That is soooo adorable, and such a great gift!
Anyone know about that article that Bernadette wrote in Queens?
"It was like being high when you reach those high notes."
~Bernadette Peters
| eitak
Registered User
Registered:
5/12/2004
From:
Maryland | posted: 8/5/2004 at 10:08:51 PM ET
Moljul - You would think that, but it's not necessarily true. It's very hard to replicate the conditions of an animal's natural habitat. A lot of the times you see this in diet. Some animals do better than others in a zoo setting, of course. Monkeys probably adapt much easier than say a dolphin or whale would. And individually, some animals can handle the stress of zoo life better than others.
Anyways - Anyone know if that book was ever published or who wrote it?
| jmslsu01
Registered User
Registered:
6/9/2003
From:
northern VA | posted: 8/5/2004 at 10:50:50 PM ET
I searched WorldCat (a worldwide catalog of public and academic libraries) and Bowker's Books in Print (another electronic database which also allows out-of-print searching). Nothing came up that resembled a book about growing up in Queens,although I did find some interesting entries (will post in a different post). Contributors are listed the majority of the time on their WorldCat records for their books-and to a lesser extent in Bowkers. I also searched Queens Public Library since it would definitely collect something like that-nothing there either,and I browsed through the available topics on Queens. I also browsed Amazon-nothing there either.
I wouldn't feel comfortable saying that the book never made it to print,since WorldCat depends on catalogers' input,and there could be something missing. But since I checked four places-and since QPL would have something like this...I don't know. It could be very well out of print,but that doesn't affect QPL. I've run out of ideas where to look,since I don't have a title,editor,name of publisher,etc. Just a contributor's name.
If you really want to know,I guess you could write to her,her publicist,or send an email when the website is up. Include the article excerpt if you do. Sorry I couldn't be of more help! I'll do a subject search tomorrow-I don't have access to WorldCat right now.
Jenn
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 8/5/2004 at 11:15:17 PM ET
Gee, Jenn. Couldn't you be a little more thorough? You're so lazy and haphazard. Well, at least you apologized. 
| eitak
Registered User
Registered:
5/12/2004
From:
Maryland | posted: 8/6/2004 at 1:32:56 AM ET
Man. I was just going to look on Amazon. Thanks for the info, Jenn.
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