Biggest Little City

Q& A with Harry Spencer Vby Zach Spencer

Harry Spencer Hello again readers, my name is Zach Spencer and this is a continuation of my interview with my dad Harry.

Z. When we finished up last month you were telling me about the “hijack” of the Russian Press Corps during the 1960 Winter Olympics. Any other Olympic news?

H. Yes, since I made it a practice of going up to Squaw Valley each day I would usually take celebrities such as Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Barbara Rush, Sammy Davis and Mickey Rooney as well as a couple of hotel staff. While the celebs were watching the Games, I would visit Walter Cronkite who was covering the event for the first time the Olympics had ever been telecast.

Z. Did you ever see much of the Olympic Games yourself?

H. Only on one occasion. That was when Mapes and I watched the hockey match between the USA and Russia.

Z. What was the result?

H. The USA won and it was a big upset because most of our guys were young amateurs playing a bunch of older professional Russkies. After the match I guided Mapes to the rear entrance to the Russian dressing room which had been revealed to me by one Gordon Butterfield, and an Olympic publicity guy. Once inside we were at first not welcome, but when Mapes began handing out small binoculars to members of the team the mood changed. Z. Any other celebs you can think of?

H. Well, one of them would have to be Art Linkletter, who was big on TV at that time.

Z. What did Linkletter have to do with the Olympics?

H. When Walt Disney was put in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies and the nightly entertainment for the athletes, he immediately chose Linkletter as his right hand man. Consequently, Art came up numerous times prior to the Games and always stayed at the Mapes. I had the pleasure of showing him around Reno and visiting with him about show business. I stayed in touch with him for some 25 years after 1960.

Z. You keep saying 1960 was Reno’s greatest year. What happened after the Olympics?

H. I didn’t think we could top the Olympics, but several months later I got a call after midnight from the manager of the Mapes. He asked me to come down to the hotel immediately. I asked, “Couldn’t it wait until morning?” He said, “No, it’s too important!” When I got to the hotel, he was waiting for me in the lobby in his overcoat. I asked him where we were going and he replied, “Over to the Holiday Hotel.” When I asked what was over there he answered a couple of guys with their luggage. I asked, “Couldn’t you send a bellboy?” He answered, “You’ll find out why.”

When we arrived at the Holiday we met two individuals. By name they were Doc Ericsson and Tommy Shaw. We helped them pick up their bags and return to the Mapes. After we checked them in, we went to the Coach Room for a couple of drinks and I found out they were advance men for a motion picture to be shot in northern Nevada that summer. The flick was to be called, “The Misfits” starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter. The director was to be John Huston and the writer of the screen play was Arthur Miller, who happened to be Monroe’s husband at the

Art Linkletter

The US team won the men’s ice hockey competition. Here we see some of the team members celebrating their success on the final buzzer.

Mapes Hotel time. In addition to the stars, there would be some ninety crew members all of whom would be staying at the Mapes.

Z. Wow! That was your second successful “hijack” then.

H. Yes and it was also the longest running publicity story that Reno ever received. Not only did the Hollywood Press come up, but also the International Press, mainly from Europe. Z. How did you get all those people up to the lake?

H. I got several limos for the stars and three buses for the crew. When we arrived at the Lodge, Wingy had several Klieg lights and the names of the stars on his outside marquee. In addition there were three or four hundred people waiting to see the stars.

Z. How did you handle that?

H. I had the buses empty out at the front entrance and had the limos go to the back entrance and the stars go through the kitchen to the showroom.

Z. What was more important, working with the stars or taking care of the Press? Z. What did you do with the crew?

H. The Press, because it was my job to get them to mention the Mapes Hotel as often as possible.

Z. Did you watch any of the filming? H. Wingy told me to keep the crew on the porch adjacent to the show room until his good customers were seated.

Z. Did that work?

H. Only one day and that was for the scene at Wallach’s house.

Z. Any special events during the time the company was in Reno?

H. The most important one that occurred was when I got a phone call from Wingy Grober, the manager of the Cal Neva lodge at Lake Tahoe. He said that Frank Sinatra, who was appearing at the Lodge, wanted to invite the principals of the movie to his Saturday night dinner show as his guests. I told Wingy I would contact the stars and get back to him. I checked with everyone, got their ok and saved Gable for last because he was the easiest to deal with. When I informed him of Frank’s request he said he would only go if the Frank Sinatra became the majority stakeentire crew could be holder in the Cal Neva Lodge in 1960. invited.

Z. How did that go over?

H. Not too well with Wingy when I informed him Gable would only come if the crew of 90+ could also be invited. After exploding over the phone, Wingy said I’ll have to check with Frank and get back to you. About an hour later he called and said Frank okayed it. H. It worked well until somebody jimmied the French door to the showroom and the crew took all of the best seats. Wingy was not too happy. (To be continued)