Eileen Bowman on playing Snow White at the Oscars.

TV In 1989, the Oscars telecast opened with a fifteen minute dance number featuring Rob Lowe as a singing Prince Charming opposite young Eileen Bowman is Snow White.  It was a disaster, and so much so it nearly ended both of their careers and led to an open letter of complaint being written by the likes of Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Julie Andrews and Billy Wilder. Bowman talks to The Hollywood Reporter about being inside what looks now to be a televisual marvel:
"I've never spoken publicly at length about this. I basically fell off the turnip truck from San Diego and landed in L.A. I went for what I thought was an audition for Beach Blanket Babylon at the Beverly Hills Hotel; they gave me 15 pages of music to learn. I auditioned, and [director Steve Silver] said, "We want to see if you fit into the dress." There was a Snow White outfit and a hairstylist and makeup person. I got dressed and made up, and they said, "Now we're going to go somewhere." There was another girl there, too. So you have a Mercedes with two Snow Whites in the back, and we were told, "Close your eyes, you can't see where we're going."
And here it is in all its glory:

No comments: