Lt. Ellis in L.A.

Last night Gabrielle Drake was at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood at
an evening of films about her brother Nick's life and career as a
musician. I confess I'm not a big fan of Nick's music, but I was
shocked and stunned to hear Gabrielle was coming to LA AND making a
personal appearance at a theater walking distance from my house!

First of all, I admit I'm completely biased. Lt Ellis made a huge
impression on me even at 8 years old when I saw UFO back in 1971. I
have enough Ellis images on my hard drive to worry any qualified
psychiatrist. I have an 18" maquette from Japan, a framed autographed
still photo and a cherished letter from her back when I was trying to
get the UFO remake off the ground.

That being said, Gabrielle Drake is an incredible lady. She was
charming, witty, funny and had the audience hanging on her every word.
Unlike the commentaries from Ed and George, her voice is exactly the
same as the Moonbase controller we all know and love. She's obviously
been driving the crusade to keep Nick's music and memory alive for
many years, (thirty three since he took his own life. Apparently he
told a friend he hand no more songs left, then went into deep
depression), but her stories about growing up together in Burma and
England sounded fresh and new. She's very quiet and VERY modest, never
once mentioning her own career or how much work she's put in on behalf
of her brother.

The cap on the evening came at the end after the theater emptied and I
ran into her standing outside in the corridor. I got the opportunity
to thank her for being one of the catalysts that got this Kiwi boy all
the way to Hollywood and into the film business. She laughed when she
heard that it was her 6 episodes of UFO that did all that! I asked her
if it was hard reliving her brother's death over and over and she
admitted that every time she watches 'A skin too few' there are
moments that still get to her.

The whole conversation only lasted a few minutes, but I walked home
with an extra bounce in my step. She actually thanked ME for coming! I
was thinking, 'lady, you got that the wrong way around'! I was never
fortunate enough to see Ed or Mike in person, but that's OK. I still
got to meet the Lieutenant.

ahast42696 wrote:
> Last night Gabrielle Drake was at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood at
> an evening of films about her brother Nick's life and career as a
> musician. I confess I'm not a big fan of Nick's music, but I was
> shocked and stunned to hear Gabrielle was coming to LA AND making a
> personal appearance at a theater walking distance from my house!

Thanks for that report Albert! I'm glad that you were able to see
her!

Marc

--- In [hidden email], Marc Martin <marc@...> wrote:
So was I! Sorry for the long winded review!
-Albert