Foghorn April 4 - Robert Bentley

He also presented an equally impressive resume, studded with items like: a graduate of Crown College (UCSC) with a degree in history and later a master's degree in education from the College of Notre Dame, a 1975 recipient of the National Teachers Medal and 39-year member of the Screen Actors Guild, producer and director of 27 major musical productions, author, consultant, bicentennial courier to the Lord Mayor of London, and correspondent with Queen Elizabeth II. But almost at once he turned the spotlight on Rotary, saying "I admire you and what you do for the community and the country."

 

The theme of his talk was miracles, and he set the tone by saying that he believes miracles happen every day. What do you need to create miracles? You need faith, he said, describing faith as when you have a yearning and you know it will happen and it is there. He told a story of parents of twin 7-year-old boys, one of whom was a pessimist and the other an optimist. As birthday presents, the parents gave the pessimist a gold watch and the optimist a pile of pony dung. The pessimist painted his watch gold while the optimist declared he knew that he must have a pony, somewhere. You've got to have optimism, Bentley said.

 

He spoke of Kensington, where Queen Victoria had been raised, of his mother Gwen, who was born in Yorkshire, England and emigrated with her parents to Canada at 14. Then the family moved to Burlingame. In the early 1960s, Bentley said, movie theaters were big deals, and he had worked as an usher at the Fox Theater in Burlingame, a popular destination for movie-goers. He mentioned that he had been a teacher for 25 years, and much of his success in that work came out of his experiences as an usher. Even that part of his life was sprinkled with stories: he recalled the gentleman who would come into the theater, seat himself, and then fall asleep. In time Robert learned that that man had seen action in Guadalcanal, and the only time he could get rest was in those naps in the theater.

 

He spoke almost casually of some of the famous people he had encountered. Such as Patty Hearst, Bing Crosby and his family, or Crosby's butler Alan Fisher, who had previously been butler to the Queen Mother and whom Bentley characterized in his book as "a true friend."

 

He spoke of being a guest at the home of Bing Crosby and spending time with Crosby's family, and of being invited to be Crosby's guests at the London Palladium, when Crosby did his world tour beginning in 1977. He almost didn't get in when an overly officious ticket agent refused to sell him the tickets --- until Alan stepped in and said he'd see what he could do. Word mist have spread, since when Bentley got to the ticket booth he found himself inspected by several of the locals, and there were two tickets in an important-looking envelope waiting for him. The next night, when went to the show, the theater was filled with black tie and tails -- because Princess Margaret was in attendance. When Crosby took the stage, he saw Bentley, and amid the standing ovation which followed his show, playfully shook a finger at him.

 

Bentley's interaction with Bing Crosby and family included sometimes keeping an eye on their children at the request of butler Alan Fisher, with whom he interacted during Fisher's 18-year tenure with Bing Crosby. During that time Bentley was working as a teacher, eventually winning the National Teachers Medal. At another point when Bentley and his mother were in London and phoned Fisher to invite him to have dinner with them, their conversation was momentarily interrupted by someone on Fisher's side of the phone -- another of those chance interactions that made his talk fascinating. As he related in his book, "I, Bobby Bentley, ordinary U.S. citizen,  -- Robert Bentley had just spoken on the phone to Alan Fisher, (Steward of the Household for Prince Charles and Princess Diana) and we were interrupted by HRH himself!"

 

Among other special moments that Bentley described in his talk was Bentley overhearing Prince Charles asking Alan Fisher how long he had known Bentley and his mother, to which Fisher replied, eighteen years ... which led to an invitation by Prince Charles, whom Bentley described as very gracious, to visit Kensington Palace. He and his mother were driven there by a cabby who grew more nervous as they approached the palace and passed several forbidding-looking signs. They were none too easy themselves; as Bentley put it in his book: "Mother and I exchanged glances that confirmed we were both contemplating serving time in the Tower of London." He told of how they were surrounded by several inquisitive policemen who, as soon as the cab driver pointed to Bentley who said they were there to see Alan Fisher, saluted and waved them in.

 

Time passed, and Bentley told the story of how, when his mother wanted to see the nursery where Prince William had been as a baby, Alan took them up through an elevator with a  door hidden in a bookcase, to a room decorated with butterflies and Beatrix Potter characters. Hiding the elevator door in a bookcase wasn't a James Bond idea, Bentley explained; it was done that way only because the elevator door was ugly.

 

He also spoke of Paul Robson, who overcame blacklisting to become a successful actor.

 

In his book, Bentley notes that he and his mother were only the second American couple to visit Prince Charles and Princess Diana's London residence (the first being Ronald and Nancy Reagan.) He also added a postscript thanking "H.R.H. Prince Charles for his gracious generosity in allowing my mother and myself the privilege of visiting at that time his private London residence."