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.

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Goodbye, De Cotter.

Ed Cotter's wife, De, passed away this past weekend in Torrance, CA. They were/are both heavily involved as director/producer at the Westchester Playhouse, near the airport in Los Angeles. Ed directed me in two separate productions of Blood Brothers (he won an Emmy for Editing while working on Happy Days). De was one of the sweetest ladies I know - really...always had a smile on her face. And she was a great theater producer.

Her memorial was a wonderful celebration of her life and I reconnected with a number of my Blood Brother actors/friends. As a matter of fact, two of the actors are interested in performing in "Pass the Salt, Please." and we're looking at a venue in Hollywood for a future production. Funny how the passing of a loved one brings people together. Why do we wait until such a moment to rekindle friendships and loves?

Let's see, I connected with a playwright acquaintance who now lives in Birmingham, England - Jaz Davison. She now has in her possession several of my plays she plans to read; I found out one of the BB cast members moved to Hawaii - Rob Duvall; another cast member is opening his own theater in the Valley - August, and finally, a director/actor from the Westchester Playhouse suffered a similar eye injury as me (Gail) and we talked and held each other and assured each other that everything will be OK.

That's it. Isn't that enough? Thank you, De. You will be missed.

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