My Father's Service

As many of you know my father passed away on April 2, 2011, his service was today and it was beautiful.

He went out of this life, loved by many, respected by all, and missed forever.  He was an amazing man who had the ability to make anyone feel at ease and at home in a short amount of time.  He excepted the best from his crew, and always gave the best of himself to any project he tackled.

Thank you for all the wonderful thoughts and wishes.  Please keep the stories coming as I will still be posting to my dad's blog.

Rest in Peace Dad.

Ahh... lunch at Sizzler Steak house

     So, Sizzler Steak House was always a fun place to go to have lunch, lots of choices steak, chicken, fish, and the best cheese toast ever.  You walk in, looked at the menu which was a large board made of wood, each entree had its own piece of wood that was stuck to a bigger board so the entrees and specials could be changed up.  The prices of the entrees were done with stick on numbers which with a special tender touch could be peeled off and moved around. (I'm not saying that anyone would ever do this, but if they did, they know who they are.....LOL) Needless this say, you get up to the front to pay, the register says 10.99 and you say no that entree is 6.99, they'd come out and see, sure enough it was, ahh you just got to love naughty boys, huh????   They did finally change the board so the numbers couldn't be changed, but it was funny while it lasted.

Lunch memories.

    There was a restaurant on Melrose Blvd called Manya's (spelling may be wrong, come on Maslow do you remember?), it had the best Hot Dogs ever.  It was a husband and wife operation, and had kosher hot dogs, and amazing fries, and was always crazy busy.  Melrose Blvd was at it's height of cool, lots of shops and restaurants to choose from but we always seemed to drift towards Manya's. 

    There was a pay phone in the corner (yes this was before cell phones), Kevin O'Connell would call his order in from the pay phone since they always took the phone orders first. LOL... Kevin used to eat mustard on his french fries, they had squeeze bottles and he would put a line of mustard on each fry. (funny the things we remember)

     Then, the guys got really smart, the first guy up to order would pull the cord on the phone at the order counter and the last guy would plug it back in, LOL, no phone orders got in the way of ordering lunch anymore.....

     I have such great memories from my summers spent with Dad at work, we always get giggling when we talk about them.....Next lunch story...Sizzler Steak House...it's a good one.  Till tomorrow, Good night.

New Stories....Please!!!!!!

     Ok, anyone that reads this please write a story about Billy,  it doesn't matter if it's work or personal, something funny, or something that means something to you....I need to keep him busy regaling him with your stories.  Thanks everyone!!!!!!!

Does that little red light mean we are recording?

     I remember in Goldwyn Dubbing Room C, being a little girl and camping out under the ping pong table. Now, I am guessing Dad planted this in my head but everytime that red light would come on under the screen I would hold my breath and not move, thinking that what ever noise I would make would end up on screen. Way to trick your daughter Dad! Guess it kept me quiet though. LOL

Where are my stories?

  I need stories people.  I need to keep Billy entertained!!!!! Give me your best stories.

The Orange Honda

    Now all of you Samuel Goldwyn gang, who can forget Dad's bright orange honda?     How many times did that car get put into the lobby of Dubbing room D.....or lifted onto a sidewalk at lunch. I loved that car, who wouldn't love that car now, a honda motorcycle engine, yeah baby, great on gas! OK it was a gross color but really at $4 a gallon who cares.

Our lives have been at bit crazy these past few days....

     Sorry I haven't written sooner but we have had a few doctors to deal with and a sick Billy to take care of....

     So, now the fun stuff, the stories, these stories may be from our family life, or the many studio adventures, it will depend on what my mind digs up, each day but there are plenty.

     For those of you from the Producer Sound Services days, you may or not remember this....
The machine shop used to be in a hallway by the dubbing stage, it was my father's first mixing job, their was a gentleman that worked their that used to have a pet mongoose. I used to beg Daddy to let me pet that darn mongoose and he'd take me over to the machine shop, I can still smell the grease, and that darn mongoose who always jump in its cage and scare me to death. Of course years later, I found out it was all rigged and it was just a big piece of fur, ahhh ignorance is such bliss! (Note...had to correct this story, Mom corrected me on which studio it was at because she remembers pushing me out of the way to get away from the mongoose, giggle)

     Summers where always fun at Goldwyn, lots of the staff had their childern there and we got to play together, it was an amazing playground, plenty of places to explore and we were always safe because it was gated.
     So many of the people in my father's career came from those days, like; Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker, Kevin O'Connell, Don Rogers, Don Hall, Bob Litt, Elliott Tyson, and many more. He was so lucky, over his years at Goldwyn to work with the best of the best in film, and for a good portion of it I was watching from a chair on what ever stage he was working.

     When Dad started on Stage C, the mixing board have a smooth metal finish and the guys used grease pencils to mark all the notes and track assignments. There was a piece at the end of the board that was just a big piece of blank metal, oh what a great coloring board it was, grease pencil wipes off so if I didn't like what I drew, no problem, just wipe and start over. Those were some very fun days, me with my Dad, watching him mix cartoons or Quinn Martin TV, yeah, it was a cool childhood.

     Going to go visit Dad, but I've got lots more, so keep checking back, and please post some stories as well, bye for now...Lisa

A New Day, A new test for Dad

      I did not enclude this on the first entry, but I encourage your comments, and fondest stories about him.  Please write in and pass the word around for friends and co-workers to reply. I want to be able to pass these stories onto Dad, and make him laugh.
     So, the weeks just keep getting longer, and and just more tests for Dad.  Mom and I love him so much, we are so frustrated to see such a strong, proud man so confused and frustrated. No, one can tell us what has happened to him, but he has an MRI today, so maybe now we'll get some answers. He works very hard at his rehabilitation, but the progress is slow. We refuse to give up hope on him and we look forward to getting him home.

Day 1, trying to figure it all out.

    Hi, My name is Lisa. My father is Bill Varney and there is no one I admire more.  He is a truly amazing man, but he's not well. His health has declined in the past year, and my mother and I have had a very bumpy ride these last 6 months, we are not sure where the next turn in the road will lead us, so I wanted to start this blog to vent, but more importantly to share stories about our lives together and his amazing life and career. 
    I turned 45 yesterday (It was a great day) but reality came screaming back at me this morning when I got the call that my father might not get better from this last round of hospital stays.  He has been in the hospital twice in the last 6 months and is currently in rehab at Mercy Medical in Daphne, Alabama.
    In 2003 he had open heart surgery, and in September of that year we moved to Fairhope, Alabama from Glendale, California.  He had a major car accident on Christmas Eve 2008, and was put in the hospital for Congestive Heart Failure in October of 2010. Unfortunately his health has declined from there, and now we see, what and if, anything can be done to get him stronger and able to walk on his own. Bill Varney is an extremely proud man who always tackled challenges with gusto, and seemed to arrive at the top with people loving and admiring him.  He was truly respected in the motion picture business and managed to change the face of sound in the movies we hear on the theater screen.
     I'll close tonight with "I love you Dad, we will start our ride down memory lane tomorrow. Sweet dreams." And good night to you all.