A life filled with the stars
Story by Leigh Pritchett
Photos by Michael Callahan
Bobbye Williamson might never have imagined that a simple wink would determine the course of her life, but it definitely did.
That single, innocent, little action set off a series of events that sent her globetrotting, mingling with celebrities and experiencing her own brushes with fame.
She would visit five continents; meet Rock Hudson, Clint Eastwood, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball and a legion of other stars; be part of a “Ben Casey” rehearsal; and lunch with Dustin Hoffman’s parents. She would even have to use her acting skills and an exaggerated Southern accent to talk her way out of trouble with President Richard Nixon’s Secret Service detail.
That little wink happened back in 1949 while she was working at Roberson’s department store in Pell City during Christmas break from the University of Alabama.
Emmett Weaver, an Anniston native and young editor of Pell City’s newspaper, came into the store. Bobbye greeted him with a pleasant salutation and a wink (which was actually a facial tic).
Emmett thought Bobbye was flirting, so he invited her to Citizens Drug Store for a soda.
Those few minutes over refreshments made clear that “we just had a lot in common,” Bobbye said.
They married in June 1950.
Scarcely three months later, Emmett – who had been a medic during World War II – was reactivated because of the Korean War. He was stationed at a military hospital in New York.
“Every night, we were at a Broadway show, if he wasn’t on duty,” Bobbye said. “That was the heyday of Broadway – Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, … . That was a lot of fun.”
When Emmett completed his military service in 1953, he became entertainment editor at the Birmingham Post-Herald. Bobbye taught music at Saks Junior High School. The two also attended Birmingham-Southern College – Emmett to do his master’s coursework, and Bobbye to finish her degrees in English and Spanish.
Through Emmett’s 30-year, award-winning journalism career and Bobbye’s various endeavors, the two met one celebrity after another, ended up in humorous situations and earned a spot on many prominent Christmas card lists.
Until recently, the Weaver home in Vestavia held reminders of the eventful life Bobbye and Emmett shared.
There was the ashtray from Bob Hope, the miniature piano from Liberace, the stirrup from John Wayne, the original artwork from Jack Lord. The Weavers’ collection of memorabilia is extensive and diverse: original scripts, photographs, letters, costumes, playbills, posters, keepsakes from premiers and gifts from famous people.
The treasures go on exhibit in 2019 at Oxford Performing Arts Center in Oxford, Ala. John Longshore, the center’s executive director, said the collection will be a semi-permanent exhibit. He noted the magnitude of the collection, saying its variety will marry well with the array of entertainment that the center brings into Northeast Alabama.
Always the performer
According to cousin Beth Geno of Kingsport, Tenn., Bobbye was born to perform.
“She has been a performer ever since she could talk,” Beth said.
Bobbye, whose parents were Robert and Lillie Kate Williamson of Cropwell, was talking and singing by 8 months, doing impressions as a toddler, studying music at a conservatory by age 8 and teaching piano lessons at 13.
In high school, she helped to lead worship services for evangelist Billy Graham’s “Youth for Christ” program.
As an adult, Bobbye chaperoned Miss Universe, Miss International and Maid of Cotton contestants, even designing a costume for one woman that captured media attention. Bobbye broadcast live updates about the pageants to Birmingham radio stations WCRT and WSGN.
A popular musician, Bobbye played piano and organ for many secular and religious events and the ukulele in an ensemble at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church. For decades, she taught music at Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham and in the music suite of her home.
She sang with choruses, operas, and numerous church choirs and in the High Holy Days service for Temple Emanu-El. In addition, she was a backup vocalist for Tom Netherton during his concert in Birmingham.
On Alabama Public Television, she hosted the show, I Hear Music.
All-Star Attractions, the production company she operated with Marvin McDonald, brought to Birmingham such personalities as Judy Garland and Victor Borge.
“Judy Garland just packed the house,” Bobbye said.
Bobbye-Weaver-the-Actress could be found in dinner theaters and Town & Gown Theatre (now Virginia Samford Theatre) in Birmingham. She appeared in such productions as Fiddler on the Roof, Arsenic and Old Lace, Annie Get Your Gun and Carousel. For her role as “Bloody Mary” in South Pacific, she won the Obelisk Award.
Emmett – along with James Hatcher and former Birmingham Mayor David Vann – established a seasonal professional theatre called Summerfest. Through Summerfest, Bobbye appeared opposite such talents as Edie Adams (in Hello, Dolly!), Joe Namath and Phil Crosby (Bing Crosby’s son).
As guest artist at Birmingham-Southern in 1987, Bobbye played “Fraulein Schneider” in Cabaret, even wearing the same costume that Lotte Lenya used in the Broadway production.
Beth said Bobbye was never one to be timid in front of a crowd. “At the drop of the hat, she would stand up and sing with somebody.”
In fact, Bobbye did that at a party with famous soprano Eileen Farrell.
Afterward, “she invited me up to her house in Maine,” Bobbye said. “Emmett and I kept in touch with her.”
Because of Emmett’s work as entertainment editor, the Weavers were familiar faces at premiers. Rocky, Music Man, My Fair Lady, A Bridge Too Far, The Spy Who Loved Me and Smokey and the Bandit are among the 42 premiers the Weavers attended. Thirty were world premiers. At the New York premier of Norma Rae, Bobbye even interviewed actor Beau Bridges for WCRT.
Annually, CBS, NBC and ABC sent Emmett to California to talk with stars appearing in shows and movies that were to be released the following year.
During one of those trips, Lawrence Welk encouraged Bobbye to go in another musical direction.
As Emmett and Welk were dining at the Palladium, Bobbye was invited to join them. Enjoying the musical entertainment, Bobbye began drumming a sequence on the table. In his distinctive accent, Welk told her she was “a natural” and should learn to play drums.
For Christmas that year, Emmett gave her a set of Slingerland drums. She taught herself how to play and later took gigs in Birmingham at Parliament House, The Club, the Luau, Downtown Club and the Elegant.
When Welk came to Birmingham to do a show in 1973, he engaged Bobbye to play in the “Dixieland jazz” segment.
Subsequently, the famed band leader made Bobbye an offer: Bobbye would have a six-month training period, followed by a two-year road tour, after which she could become part of Welk’s “family” of entertainers.
Though she gave it some thought, 40-year-old Bobbye declined because she knew she would have to get her teeth straightened. Plus, she just, plain and simple, preferred to stay in Alabama.
For 10 years, she taught drums. She even wrote an instructional book, called Through the Back Door, to give her students shortcuts for learning technique.
She also wrote and performed two one-woman shows, called Four in One and Raccoon Ridge (a comedy about Minnie Pearl’s cousin). In Four in One, Bobbye appeared as Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Marlene Dietrich and Sophie Tucker.
Bobbye toured with those shows eight years.
In 2008, Emmett was diagnosed with a chronic condition, and Bobbye left performing to care for him. He died in 2014.
“He was fun up to the end,” Bobbye said of her husband.
In September, Virginia Samford Theatre recognized the couple’s contribution to local theatre, particularly Bobbye’s sponsorship of the recent production of Hello, Dolly!.
Now at 87, Bobbye still heats up her Slingerland drums and is writing two books. One of the books is for children and is about dealing with bullies and challenges in life.
“She’s done so much in life,” Beth said of Bobbye, adding that Bobbye and Emmett were well matched as a couple. “They made the most of life and enjoyed everything they did. They were great partners.”
Editor’s Note: Margaret Vaughan, Jo Ann Winnette,
Beth Geno, Dr. Patrick and Sandy Bernardi assisted with this article.
