Stephen Rutledge

Portland

Contributing Writer at World of Wonder Productions

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Articles

#QueerQuote: “”I Loathe Narcissism, but I Approve of Vanity.” – Diana Vreeland - The WOW Report

Sep 28, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

Diana Vreeland (1903 – ) was never actually a rich woman, she was never a really beautiful woman, and yet she created beauty and she created wealth. She discovered fashion at an early age. Yet, she didn’t start in the business until she was in her 30s, and then it was sort of an accident. Vreeland was dancing at a Manhattan nightclub where she was noticed by Carmel Snow, editor of Harper’s Bazaar. Snow loved Vreeland and her style and offered her a job the very next day.
#BornThisDay: Gifted Human, Vincent Youmans

Sep 26, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

September 27, 1898– Vincent YoumansMy much-in-demand self-created playlist, Rutledge’s Happiness Mix, has proved positively popular in my circle of friends. The Husband and I listened to it on a car trip and sang along for 180 miles. It contains June Christy‘s version of I Want To Be Happy, which is totally swingin’. This got me thinking about the life of Vincent Youmans, who was born 125 years ago today, just one day after his pal George Gershwin.
#RIP: Actor, David McCallum

Sep 25, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

“It’s a Handicap Isn’t It? Being So Obviously American?” – David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin. Scottish actor and musician David McCallum has left the building, gone just a week after celebrating his 90th birthday. Little 10-year-old Stephen Rutledge was glued to the television set on Thursday nights in 1964. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was his new favorite show.
#BornThisDay: Queer Mar-a-Lago Resident, Herbert May

Sep 24, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

September 25, 1891 – Herbert May Herbert May was a vice president at Westinghouse, a socialite, and fanatic fox hunter, who liked to entertain at his 28-room mansion in Pittsburgh. When his wife died of pneumonia in 1937, he was left with four kids to raise. He had quite a successful career, making his money in railroads and banking, and he became an important patron of the arts, especially the Pittsburgh Civic Opera, where he enthusiastically pursued his interest in ballet.
#OnThisDay75: A Gay Marine Saves the President’s Life

Sep 21, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

September 22, 1975 -This is the sad story of Oliver “Billy” Sipple: It was a beautiful, warm day in San Francisco. He didn’t ask for fame, didn’t even want it. Sipple just happened to be standing right next to someone named Sara Jane Moore, a wannabe assassin, as she raised a gun and aimed it at President Gerald R. Ford outside the St. Francis Hotel. Sipple, a former Marine and Vietnam vet, saw the gun out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed Moore’s arm as she fired, saving the President’s life.
#QueerQuote: “Do You Remember the 21st Night of September?” – Earth, Wind & Fire - The WOW Report

Sep 21, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

Septemberis one of the biggest commercial and critical successes for the famed R&B group Earth, Wind & Fire. It was written by Al McKay, Maurice White, and Allee Willis. Lead vocalist Philip Bailey considers it the group’s best record. Oddly enough, the song was released in November as an added track for their album, The Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Volume 1 (1978).
Remembering Cass Elliot; She Died From a Big Heart

Sep 18, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

On a late summer night in 1974, Cass Elliot finished one of her stunning sold-out concerts of her two-week gig at the London Palladium, when she was found dead in Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place in the Mayfair neighborhood of London. The flat belonged to singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson. Four years later, The Who‘s drummer Keith Moon died in the same room. Elliot and Moon were both 32 years old when they left this world.
Did Greta Garbo Really Want to be Left Alone?

Sep 17, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

Greta Lovisa Gustafson:“Being a movie star means being looked at from every possible direction. You are never left at peace, you’re just fair game.”Greta Garbo was born on this day, September 18, in 1905, but she knew how to make an exit. After just 20 years in films and a life as one of the world’s biggest movie stars of all time, she walked away from acting and public life when she was only 36 years old.
#BornThisDay: Star With a Scream, Fay Wray

Sep 14, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

September 15, 1907 – Fay Wray:“I was known as the queen of the Bs. If only I’d been a little more selective.”I had a work-study job in college archiving Fay Wray’s papers; working with her, and listening to her stories, we became quite friendly. In late spring 1974, after experiencing a monumental rejection that at the time seemed that I might never recover, Wray, still beautiful in her late 60s, invited me to her apartment in the Hollywood Hills for tea.
Remembering “LOVE” Artist, Robert Indiana

Sep 13, 2023 | worldofwonder.net | Stephen Rutledge

”I was out to some but not to others. I certainly didn’t flaunt that aspect of my life. There were a few gay artists I knew socially, Warhol, and Rauschenberg, for instance, who was a neighbor near Coenties Slip in Lower Manhattan, where my first New York studio was located. But we were not friends. I explored the gay scene in New York a bit, but I never really felt a part of it. I didn’t like the club scene much either.