Me Two Twins in Hollywood

By Terrie Frankel and Jennie Frankel

Sharing their Hollywood memoirs with candor and humor, Jennie and Terrie prove once again they have their pens on the pulse of the Hollywood scene with their legendary twinography ME TWO TWINS in HOLLYWOOD!

The Twins collectively spent dozens of years in Hollywood performing comedy, writing, producing, agenting, managing and serving on the Board of Directors of industry organizations. In this all true tell all they share their personal experiences with famous and influential people, including: Garth Brooks, Dr. Phil, David Letterman, Joey Bishop, Barbra Streisand and others.

Jennie and Terrie also reveal intimate experiences with Hollywood insiders who took advantage of the hopes and dreams of young nubile women. These men in positions of power found it easy to cash in on the dreams of ingénues in search of stardom as well as those young innocents willing to do whatever it would take to close a deal and ascend the Hollywood corporate ladder.

From their first taste of Hollywood to the last dance on their Tinseltown Dance Card, the Twins' personal and sometimes shocking experiences are heartwarming, heartbreaking, surprisingly funny and oh yes, sizzling hot!

The twins have known the best and the worst of the people who grease, fuel and power the Hollywood Star-Making Machine. And yes, there was indeed an abuse of power in Hollywood that they witnessed and knew first hand in the '70s, '80s and '90s, during a freewheeling time when sexual attractions were openly expressed and often pursued––unlike today, where a mere flirtatious glance can be perceived to cross the line.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543971132

Book preview

Hollywood’s first Me Too Star

I’ve slept with producers. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t.

If you didn’t go along, there were 25 girls who would.

"They all had dreams. I dreamed the hardest."

Marilyn Monroe

Fist Printing August 2019

©MMV

Jennie Louise Frankel

Terrie Maxine Frankel

All rights reserved

ISBN 9781543971132

OUR HOLLYWOOD DANCE CARD

1  MR. PERSONAL MANAGER

Our First Taste of Tinseltown

by Jennie 

2  DAVID LETTERMAN/JOEY BISHOP       

The Tonight Show Tango

by Jennie 

3  GARTH BROOKS

Garth’s First Dance in Hollywood

by Jennie

4 DR. PHILLIP McGRAW

Dr. Phil’s West Coast Swing

by Jennie

5  MR. LEGAL EAGLE

Limbo in His Legal Briefs

by Jennie

6  MR. BIG SHOT

Hustle in a London Penthouse

by Jennie

7  ’60s SUPERSTAR

Dirty Dancing in La La Land

by Jennie 

8 MR. NAME DROPPER   

Dancing Solo

by Jennie

9 MR. FORTUNE 500

Likes to Switch Dance Partners

by Jennie

10 ENVIRONMENTALIST ACTOR

Sits This One Out

by Jennie

11  THE DATING GAME

"Cha-cha-cha in Acapulco"

by Terrie

12 MARVIN MITCHELSON

Marathon Mambo

by Terrie

13  BARBRA STREISAND

Perfection Polka

by Terrie

14  FINALE

Our Final Bow

by Terrie

INTRODUCTION

Once Upon a Dream, my twin sister Jennie and I packed our bags, kissed the Midwest goodbye and headed to Hollywood to make it big in show business. Like many young, beautiful women before us, we naively thought stardom and fame would be ours within the year. After all, we had performed with the USO and Red Cross, were Doublemint Twins and had won all of those Talented Teen Contests in Chicago!

With our azure-blue eyes, dark curly hair, long forever legs and of course talent, we knew Hollywood would greet us with open arms.

However, fate had a different plan for us. We ended up spending years dancing in the Hollywood Fame and Fortune Marathon. We danced slow, we danced fast, we danced hard, we tripped, we fell down, we pulled each other back up, we sweated, we sprained ankles, we healed, we changed partners, but we never stopped dancing. In time, Jennie and I became seasoned Hollywood insiders.

After performing together at The Comedy Store, Jennie went on to become a licensed California Talent Agent; a member of the Conference of Personal Managers; wrote theme songs for major network TV shows; and was signed as a music writer with a top Hollywood producer and personal manager. Jennie was accepted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences where she judged music for the Emmy Awards.

Meanwhile, I worked alongside the President of the Agency for the Performing Arts and two Directors at Walt Disney Studios. After years of producing and paying my Hollywood dues, I was eventually elected to two terms on the Board of Directors of the Producers Guild of America and helped create their Point Of View Magazine and Producers Guild of America Awards.

Jennie and I together wrote movies, produced Dr. Phil’s first TV pilot and were members of The Recording Academy––best known for the Grammys. We co-authored Tales From the Casting Couch and a New York Times and Los Angeles Times best seller You’ll Never Make Love in This Town Again. I was also a ghostwriter on another best-selling Dove Book that stopped the first criminal trial of O.J. Simpson.

We have known the best and the worst of the people who grease, fuel and power the Hollywood star-making machine.  And yes, there was indeed an abuse of power in Hollywood that We Two witnessed and knew first-hand in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Keep in mind, those were freewheeling decades, when sexual attractions were openly expressed and often pursued––unlike today, where a mere flirtatious glance can be perceived as crossing the line.

During our years in Hollywood, in order to survive, we had to learn to keep secrets. Secrets are the lifeblood of Hollywood. The time has come to tell our secrets, share the life lessons we learned and expose some of the Hollywood dance steps we mastered along the way.

We thought long and hard about the stories to include in this exposé of our many years on the Hollywood Dance Floor. Helping Garth Brooks with his early career was a joy. Co-creating and marketing Dr. Phil’s pilot was a challenge. And my glimpse into Barbra Streisand’s perfect and rarefied universe was fascinating!

Some of our more intimate experiences were salacious, and since they involve Hollywood luminaries who may be recognized even today, we have chosen to give them code names such as: Mr. Personal Manager, Mr. Legal Eagle, Mr. Big Shot, ’60s Superstar, Mr. Name Dropper, Mr. Fortune 500 and Environmentalist Actor.

Please know that every story in this book is 100% true.

Finally, after living decades in Hollywood with its ups and downs, my twin sister and I were lucky to have had more to smile about than to regret. I hope you will find our book to be entertaining, insightful––and at times humorous!

So, kick back, grab a martini, turn on a fan, and enjoy our all-true tell-all of the sizzling hot Hollywood twin variety.

    Terrie

Jennie (left) & Terrie (right)

Jennie (left) & Terrie (right)

CHAPTER 1

MR. PERSONAL MANAGER

Our First Taste of Tinseltown

by Jennie

Chicago to Hollywood

With stars in our eyes and dreams of being discovered in Hollywood, Terrie and I loaded up our Ford Pinto and headed west on Historic Route 66. We lived on peanut butter sandwiches and every now and then treated ourselves to McDonald’s cheeseburgers or Dairy Queen malts. We sang all of the appropriate songs - from Hooray For Hollywood to There’s No Business Like Show Business to California Here We Come! We were young. We were naïve. And looking back on it now, we were clueless.

We had no idea about what it would take to survive in Hollywood, the life lessons that lay ahead, and the un-caged anacondas that awaited our arrival.

Our dream was to become comedians like two entertainers who had hit it big in Hollywood. We believed we had a lot in common with this team. They played musical instruments––we did too. They were funny––we thought we had a good sense of comedic timing. They had their own television show––this was our dream.

Upon arriving in Hollywood, we looked up the personal manager who was instrumental in making the careers of these two famous performers. This manager was quite well-known in certain circles. He represented a handful of very famous headliners. So, we decided this was the person we had to track down. We’ll call him Mr. M, for Manager.

We made a cold call to Mr. M’s office and surprisingly he answered! After asking our ages and what we looked like, to our delight Mr. M agreed to meet with us.

When we arrived at Mr. M’s office on Santa Monica Boulevard, we were asked to perform a comedy routine right there between his couch and a desk, which we gladly did. Terrie took out her guitar and we began to sing a funny original song. With one hand under his chin, Mr. M listened intently until he was suddenly interrupted by a phone call. He signaled for us to continue performing. As we sang and played, he kept talking on the phone.

We sang another original song, complete with sibling rivalry patter, while Mr. M talked to his client in a loud and animated voice using hand gestures the entire time we performed. Did Mr. M listen to us at all? From the occasional glance in our direction we noticed that this man of importance seemed to be more interested in our long, shapely legs than our comedy lines. Mr. M finished his call as we completed our routine.

You two should go over to The Comedy Store and try out. That’s where you have to perform in order to be seen. Tell Mitzi Shore, she’s the owner of The Comedy Store, that Mr. M sent you.

Then, Mr. M paused and looked both of us up and down.

"I’m,