A Valentine's Day postscript: My friend Ed Cotter passed away.

Ed Cotter directed me in two different productions of the musical, Blood Brothers here in California. Interestingly, the word is that Ed mentioned to someone recently that the loss of his wife, De, in 2007 had been weighing heavily on his heart. They had been married for over 60 years, I think, and inseparable. He told this person he wanted to be with his wife on Valentine's Day.

His heart gave way - on Valentine's Day this past weekend.

Ed was a supporter of mine. He was my friend. He mostly directed and produced - but he did act. He was a film editor on Happy Days for years, garnering an Emmy for his work. When accepting his award, he said that he did very little "editing" on the episode he won for because Henry Winkler made is so easy for him (Ed) NOT to edit. There were a number of productions I had chances to work with Ed on other than Blood Brothers - Oleanna, The Lion in Winter, The Beauty Queen of Leenane. The timing was always off.

The character trait of Ed's I admired most was his passion. As you know from the title of this blog, PASSION's vital to my existence. When we were doing Blood Brothers and a critic ripped on the show (not the performance - the show itself), Ed went into a tyrannical rage. I followed suit. "How can you not love this show?", he'd scream, the tone in his voice made me shake - with delight. Oddly enough, when I did Blood Brothers at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, Ron Clark and Jody Hovland echoed the same sentiments as Ed. Their demeanor was a tad more subdued (but still passionate!).

"Fuck anyone who hates that show! Fuck them!" That's what Ed and I would say. He's with De now. I'm happy for him. And I'm sad for my loss. It's what he wanted.

To quote the Narrator/Conductor/Me in Blood Brothers, "Exactly, lad. Exactly!"

POSTSCRIPT: Had a very nice talk yesterday with Marion Ross from Happy Days. I called her to tell her of Ed's death. I met her through Ed while performing in Blood Brothers. Wonderful lady. Spoke very highly of Ed. She was quick to remind me that Ed was the only person associated with Happy Days to win an Emmy.