1956 Durban, South Africa

Pat Gil

1949

Durban, South Africa

Interviewed on February 10, 2023

by Zia Makhathini

I have to think now because I really was impressed by this movie. It was with Gina Lollobrigida and — Trapeze! That was the name of the movie and I just fell in love with the movie. It’s all about the circus and trapeze artists and that’s when I decided I wanted to join a circus. I must have been about six years, seven years old. 

We didn’t have television then. Television didn’t come to South Africa until 1976. So to go to the movies was a big deal. You got all dressed up or you went to a drive-in. There were lots of drive-ins back in the day and that’s what most people did, but then every once in a while you’d get all dressed up and go to a movie. I was with my mom and possibly my grandma, I don’t remember. Tony Curtis was the other star in the movie. It was Gina Lollobrigida, Tony Curtis, and… Burt Lancaster, thank you. 

Well, I was just fascinated by the circus. I mean, the whole thing. I mean I was six years old. You don’t think about characters and actors and all of that. I just thought that the three of them were brilliant and that they were flying the trapeze and I just felt that this was something I wanted to do. I really enjoyed it immensely. I’m sure we did get something. I know that if we went to the drive-in we usually took our goodies with us. I’m surprised I can even remember the name of the movie, but it did make an impact upon me.

Most of the time, you know, I’m sure I went to movies and I didn’t even know what was going on. Of course, West Side Story was another one that I saw there and just was blown away absolutely! But then I’d already started with doing drama classes and we all went as a group to see it. Of course, being that I was a dancer, I just was nuts about it, never dreaming that five or six years later I’d end up meeting and doing the Ed Sullivan Show with George Chakiris. Unbelievable. He came to see my show at the Moulin Rouge and asked to meet me and said that he was filming some TV and he asked me to be part of the number. And of course because I didn’t grow up with TV I didn’t know who Ed Sullivan was. I hadn’t a clue, so I was just, “Yeah, sure, I’d love to do the number!” Just really thrilled to meet him. He was just too divine for words. He really was.

The other movie that made a huge impact on me was G.I. Blues, which was with Elvis Presley. Elvis Presley had a huge fan club in South Africa. There was the Elvis Presley fan club, the Pat Boone fan club, and there were two other stars. I can’t remember their names now. Of course, I was part of the Elvis Presley group and saw G.I. Blues and just thought he was divine. Juliet Prowse was in that with him and she was from South Africa. I looked at her and I said that’s what I want to do!  Never dreaming I’d end up – because she was like a cabaret artist in the movies – never dreaming I’d end up coming to Vegas and meeting both of them and becoming good friends with both of them. That was truly mind-blowing. Who would have predicted in those days? 

And then the first movie I saw of Sean Connery was with Ursula Andress. Dr. No, I believe it was. Again, never dreaming I’d end up in Vegas and wind up in a movie with him, which is, you know, Diamonds Are Forever. It’s quite crazy the twists and turns that my life took over the years, all over the world. Who would have predicted some of this stuff? I look back on it now, I go, “Wow that’s truly mind boggling.” Crazy how one’s life turns out to be. 

I’m sure I saw others that I enjoyed, but those are the ones that have stuck with me for my life. It’s amazing that I can still remember some of it. Gina Lollobrigida, she was just amazing. She really was beautiful.