MAK A
Sti

sion to capture Bernstein's attention.
"I wanted desperately for Herb to
hear me sing," recalls Budd, hoping
he would make her a star. "At first I
managed to meet him, but he
brushed me off. So I became his shad-
ow — wherever he went, I. followed.
If he went to the basketball court, I
was there. If he went to the tennis
court, I was there-Finally, just to get
rid of me, he let me into the night-
club one afternoon and let me sing
for him. And he liked what he heard."
Bernstein asked Budd's parents if
their daughter could cut a demo, and
they granted permission. Bernstein
played the record for Mery Griffin,
and two days later Budd found herself
in front of millions of television view-
ers on the "Mery Griffin Show."
The guest spot on Mery Griffin's
show led to almost weekly appear-
ances, and before she knew it she had
a contract with the prestigious
William Morris Agency.

"I just never
focused on a
record career,
which I know is
unusual for a
musical act."

— Julie Budd

"Things seemed to happen really
fast and kept snowballing," she says.
"I was on the 'Ed Sullivan Show,' the
`Carol Burnett Show,' the 'Mike
Douglas Show,' the 'Tonight Show
Starring Johnny Carson' and many
more popular programs."
Since the child labor laws prohibit-
ed working in nightclubs until age 18,
she couldn't perform where alcohol
was sold. But as soon as Budd reached
her 18th birthday, she started playing
every major music hall in the United
States.
"I also sang in Europe and toured
all over with big name stars," says
Budd, a native New Yorker who had
to attend a special high school for
kids with show business careers. "By
the time I was 21, I had performed as
a headliner around the world."
Working with great talent brought

its own rewards. "I got to know these
wonderful performers well and
learned a great deal from them," she
says nostalgically. "Bob Hope would
run lines with me over the phone,
and Sinatra was very nice to me as
well. Danny Thomas was especially
wonderful... I loved that man. He
enlightened me about being stage
savvy and taught me about colors that
look better on stage and which fabrics
illuminate under the lights. I had
been dressing for television and he
taught me how to dress for the the-
ater."
But it was Liberace, she says, who
probably had the greatest impact.
"We were the best of friends, until the
day he died," she says proudly. "He
was one of the finest human beings
that I have ever known. We would go
shopping together and I was like his
Barbie Doll. He loved to dress me up.
"He bought me a diamond, gold
and emerald watch, and to this day,
every time I open my jewelry box, I
see it and think of him. He had it
engraved on the back: 'To Julie, with
love from youf accomplice."'
Over the years, as Budd's career
continued to accelerate, she landed a
role in the film The Devil and Max
Devlin with Bill Cosby and Elliot
Gould, starred in They're Playing Our
Song in Boston, did one-woman
shows and performed around the
country, including Meadowbrook in
Detroit. -
Not surprisingly, like other Jewish
performers, she also encountered anti-
Semitism on the road. "Sometimes I
would receive a threatening letter
because I was Jewish," says Budd,
who was raised in an Orthodox
household and keeps kosher in her
own home.
"But it doesn't happen much any-
more."
A voracious worker, Budd doesn't
plan on slowing down any time soon.
In September, Budd appeared at the
Algonquin Hotel in New York City.
She has upcoming engagements at the
Jackie Gleason Center in Miami and
in Atlantic City, and will be touring
the country promoting Pure
Imagination. Next week, she will be
honored by the American Jewish
Congress as "Entertainer of the Year."
"With all the acts in this business
that are out of work, God has been
good to me," she says. "I have worked
ever since I was 12 years old, and I
am busier than ever. And I hope it
lasts." 0

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