Toronto Star - December 8th, 2002

Portraits of Gino Empry line the halls of his Carlton St. condo. On one wall, Gino a study in black and white by Charles Pachter; on the adjacent one, Gino in impressionist oil by Telford Fenton.“ It’s my Dorian Gray,” he laughs. Empry, public relations man to the stars, has come out with his showbiz reminiscences, "I Belong To The Stars", more work book than coffee-table book, published by Mosaic Press. I know what to get Empry for Christmas. A proof reader. Tony Bennett’s name is misspelled in the sub-head on page 15. That is, unless “Tony Bennet” is Tony’s illegitimate French brother. These days, Empry services corporate clients like Warren Shepell Consultants and wrangles Playboy Bunnies and ex wrestlers like Sable and Chyna/ Joanie Lauer. In his glory days before the advent of boutique p.r. agencies, he was pretty much the only game in town. He catered to a roster of boldface including Bennett (whom he managed for 12 years), Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Jack Lemmon, Ella Fitzgerald, Liberace, Bob	In his new book, Gino Empry coddles high-maintenance stars like Frank Sinatra The flamboyant P.R. guy swears he’s just shy, like his father. And Ella Fitzgerald. By Rita Zekas
	Hope, Natalie Cole, Lena Horne and Marlene Dietrich. He did publicity for the CNE Grandstand show until CPI took over; was press agent for Ed Mirvish, handling publicity for the Royal Alexandra Theatre; and impresario for the now defunct Imperial Room in the Royal YorkHotel, booking everyone from Roy Orbison to Pia Zadora. It is as warm as a hothouse in Empry’s apartment. The message light on the phone in the bathroom with the Jacuzzi is blinking. There are 93 messages registered. On the counter is an assortment of eye makeup, cover-up and brushes. He is ready for his close-up. There will be a launch for his book at David Mirvish Books on Markham St. this afternoon. Didn’t the Mirvi and Empry part company in 1990 after Empry had been doing P.R. for the Royal Alex for almost 30 years, the Mirvi replacing him with inhouse publicity in 1991?“ David found out there’s a chapter in the book about his dad,” he explains. “The chapter is colourful. Ed is coming.” Ed Mirvish has nothing to worry about. Gino Empry is not a mean	man. There are no great revelations: Empry procures combustibles for party-hearty Peter O’Toole; Empry talks dirty with Jane Russell; Empry does a Peter Sellers à la Being There, watching Xaviera Hollander in action. At least it didn’t involve a German shepherd. If anything, he comes across as a tad naïve. It’s good to be editor. Empry reinstates himself into a photo featuring a brunette babe, Jack Lemmon and Pierre Trudeau (who looks remarkably like Colm Feore). When it ran in the Toronto Star, Empry was airbrushed out of the picture.“ I soon learned how healthy it was to enjoy beauty without getting sexually aroused,” he writes in his book about his long associationwith the Playboy Playmates. He’s never married, not even to his companion of 14 years, psychic Nikki Pezaro.“ I’m not getting married andI’m not going to live with anyone,”he vows. “I say no to a mock wedding. Anyone who lives with me for two weeks would murder me.”	Still, marriage would quell those gay rumours. "They're bulls--t," he sputters. Besides, he's never gotten over the "love of his live," Georgia. He can't remember her last name. He thinks it could be Stoney. "She was half black and half Portuguese. One day, this man came to the door (of the Empry summer house on Centre Island). She was on he main drag shopping. He wanted her to come back to Guinea to him and their two kids." Empry was born in "Little Little Italy" (Dufferin and Davenport)., the first of seven children. His mom was 15, his dad was 28. His father was so chronically shy, Empry says he was "just a man in my mother's bedroom. He wasn't a tower of strength; my mother had to beat the kids up." Empry started out as a systems analyst with a transport company, where he learned to curse like a trucker. But what he really wanted to do was act. He did pantos (Christmas plays) and became star and producer of The Ferry Boat Follies, which led to the Ontario Drama League memberships and appearances

Robert Goulet, the poinsetta's best friend	Roy Orbison made in the shades	Those eyes, those hips, it's just gotta be Diahann Caroll
Claudette Colbert: Parrish the thought	Sal Mineo would be a Calvin model.	Those eyes, those hips, it's just gotta be Diahann Caroll

Eartha Kitt is the definitive Cat Woman for us: Tommy Tune just can't make a false step; set 'em up joe, it's always quarter to 3 for Frank Sinatra.

in more than 50 plays in the Metro/Pickering/Port Credit circuit.
He clamims he was a good actor. "I was in Teahouse Of The August Moon - R.H. Thomson was my lighting man - and the Japanese community thought I was Eurasian. My nose gave me away."
His nose is as legendary as his narcolepsy. He sat beside me at the Floating Film Festival during the screening of The Silence Of The Lambs and snored throughout. It was disconcerting through the scary bits and I kept punching his arm to wake him up. Next day he complained about bruising on his arm.
"You must have slept on it," I suggested. Tony Bennett hired Empry because he said that Empry had a face "that can't tell a lie." What about lying about his face?

Gino Empry stocks up on body parts during a shopping expedition with his trusty side cat. The sunglasses are instrumental in combating the glare of his shirt. BARBARA COLE PHOTO

Appearances to the contrary; Empry swears he hasn't had any work done. We recall the late Barbary Hamilton guffawing during one of Empry's parties, in which the likes of Donald O'Connor would noodle at the baby grand:"Looks like Gino got too close to the can opener again."Mulling over all the gin joints and dressing rooms, all the divas and drama queens, Empry says Ella Fitzgerald stands out as his favourite star.
"We were much alike," he recons. "She was shy and I'm shy. She was afraid of people thinking she was playing the big shot."|
Robert Reed, The Brady Bunch patriarch, was the biggest pain in the butt, he says.The first time I met him, I encountered him at the stage door at the Royal Alex and he threw me out. 'I have an agent in California,' he said. 'What are you some kind of amateur?'"But I got even. Two weeks later at a party at the Towne Inn, I opened a closet and there he was on his knees, getting serviced. He wasn't rude to me any more." Then there is his old nemesis Louis Janetta, the former maitre d'hotel at the Imperial Room

Their skirmishes were part of the entertainment.
"He started everyone," Empry claims."I hit back. We're friends now because I can do things for him. He got mad when he heard I was writing this book. 'It should be my book,' he said. So when will Empry hang up the gold chains and hallucinogenic jackets? When will he retire? " As Ella said, 'And do what instead?' I've started a talent management company." He's already got a hooker/singer and a lady bodybuilder who placed first in the Ontario finals on his roster.
Regrets, he's got a few. Like not representing Anne Murray.
"I was busy," he recalls. "I gave her the namne of my accountant, Leonard Rambeau." As we exit, we spot a list fo names on a sheet of paper. Empry explains they are characters for his next book. Bernadette Peters, Diahann Carroll, Jackie Mason, Paul Anka, Woodward and Newman, Leonard Cohen, Rosemary Clooney, Eartha Kitt.
Leonard Cohen? I can hear it all now: I remember you will, in the Royal York Hotel.