By Bill Sewers "God gives everyone certain talents and He gave me this gift.""Okay, Gino, if you want to go into show business, go into show business, but when you want to go back to work, call me." Thus the admonition of his mother to young Gino Empry as she closed the door of their family home in Toronto, Canada, and Gino went off to Toronto Island to live. Recalling the incident, Gino chuckles and says that his mother always told him that if he was hungry, though, that he could always come home for a meal. Gino didn't tell me how often he returned home to eat in those days, but he did say once "it got to the point where I either had to give up my apartment or my car" -- an interesting revelation for someone who since has been touted as "the father of entertainment and [show business] public relations in Canada". "I was the world's greatest actor - or thought I was," says Gino, "and I loved acting. As a boy I went to St. Michael's College, an all-male Catholic boys' school in Toronto, and ended up playing Portia and Juliet in school plays. I didn't care ... it was show business." Later, Gino satisfied the urge to act by taking to the stage in several little theatre productions in the city. "You have to remember that at that time there was no professional theatre in Canada, " he says, "so there was no real way to make a living from acting alone. I began working for a trucking company, where I learned about costing, scheduling and accounting, and doing semi-professional theatre whenever I could. I decided that I was going to give myself two years to build a livelihood in show business, and if it didn't work out in that time ... well ..." All seemed in vain for the first while, however, until a Toronto newspaper columnist, Herbert Whittaker convinced Gino to offer his services as a fundraiser to a benefit show that was being mounted by the Crest Theatre in the Royal Alexandra Theatre, and |
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If hobnobbing with and handling the publicity and press needs of such megastars sounds like a daunting task, it didn't seem to faze Gino. "My secret was to give them loyalty and tender loving care," he says, and, in the introduction to his new book, "I Belong To The Stars," he writes, "They work very hard honing their talents, keeping in shape, watching the foods and liquids they eat and drink, exercising, getting enough sleep. They do this to ensure that the public gets the most enjoyment out fo their work." While his talents and reputation have thrust him into the international entertainment stage, Gino still lives and works in Toronto and, as a result of a long lasting friendship with former CALLBACK editor and Hollywood Reporter veteran, the late Mark Tan, contributes a column from time to time to our pages. His latest accomplishment, as you read last issue, is the aforementioned new book about his life working with the greats, and there's talk of a film about his life. "I started the 'star-system' and the professional PR system in Canada," says Gino, "but what really made it all work for me was the fact athat I had both stage and business experience. God gives everyone certain talents and He gave me this gift. I automatically put the needs of the people I work for and with first. They entertain the public. I consider it my job to make sure that they don't have to climb mountains to do just that." reprinted with permission from CALLBACK March 12, 2004
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opulent Toronto theatrical landmark owned by Canadian business mogul "Honest" Ed Mirvish. It wasn't long before Honest Ed asked Gino to be house press agent for the budding Royal Alexandra. At about the same time, Gino also became professionally involved with a woman named Pauline McGibbon, who later went on to be the Lieutenant Governor; Pauline founded the Dominion Drama Festival, an assembly of little theater companies from across Canada and an annual event that marked the beginning of professional theatre in that country. With the addition of this role as publicist for the Imperial Room, an elegant 350--seat supper club in the Royal York Hotel, Gino's evolution in to professional show business was now set. "Robert Cummings was the first star I ever really worked with," said Gino, "but there were many more to follow." Indeed. Steadily gaining a solid reputation with New York and Las Vegas producers and booking agents, Gino's star-studded list grew to include Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Marlene Dietrich, Rosemary Clooney, Cher, Bill Cosby, Peggy Lee, Peter O'Toole, Lena Horn, Jack Lemmon, Phyllis Diller, Duke Ellington, Jane Russel and "ol blue eyes" himself, Frank Sinatra. |