Let's all raise a strong drink and take off our pants in honor of the one and only Elaine Stritch.
The 89-year-old Broadway legend died today in Birmingham, Michigan, according to media reports.
A native Detroiter with unabashed talent, humor, and a love of good booze, she gained new fame in her 80's for playing Alec Baldwin's mom on "30 Rock."
You only have to hear a snippet of that wry voice to picture her: the white pouf of hair, the bowler cap, the silk shirt over black stockings - and only black stockings.
When you have legs like that, what's the point of pants?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T67wmsEaYcE
Stritch did it all during her long career: collaborations with Sondheim, three Emmys, a Woody Allen movie, the Tony award, the cabaret, a popular one-woman show, even a documentary about her late-in-life celebrity.
By all accounts she had a rough transition when she recently moved from New York City to the Detroit area in order to be near her family.
But ultimately, she felt she'd made the right call, according to an interview she gave Vulture last year:
“I feel good about being here. When the hospital sends for me, when the ambulance comes and I ease my way out of the world, I’d rather be in Detroit, Michigan, than Lenox Hill. Pfft.”
