Today's Blind Items - The Life And Times Of Timmy

From August 2007

I don't remember the first time I met JJ. It just seemed like from the first day I started at my first position he was there. It seems like he has always said he is retired, but at the same time it seems like he always has a piece of every project. JJ is pushing 90 if he isn't there already. He started in the business when he was a kid doing gofer work and his career rise has matched the rise of films through their infancy all the way to the present day. He knows everyone and for those few people he doesn't know, they certainly know him.

I've always told him he needs to write a book about his life and times and let future generations have an insight into his life and what he has seen. I get the feeling he has, although he hasn't ever confirmed it. Maybe he is waiting to publish it after he dies. I don't know.

With what I do now I don't come into contact with JJ much anymore on a professional basis but I always stay in touch on a personal basis. Every other month or so we get together for brunch and I get entertained for a few hours. I'm not sure what JJ gets out of it except for some company and some free food. Somehow I think I'm getting the better part of the deal.

This past Sunday the conversation turned towards an event he had hinted at previously, but had never really finished the story and I took the opportunity this time to get the answers I wanted.

All I will say about these events are they happened within the past 50 years and only about ten people know the whole story.

Timmy was a gay man at a time when gay men were treated miserably, not only in Hollywood but in the rest of the country as well. Timmy's homosexuality was compounded by the fact that he was very slightly built, had very pale features and a skin condition that prevented much hair growth on his body.

What Timmy had going for him was a personality that wouldn't quit and a way of capturing an audience whether one person, five hundred or through film that was unlike anything most people had seen previously.

Timmy grew up in the Northeast in a small town where he really and truly didn't fit in. At some point he knew he wanted to be an actor and began performing in theatres across the country. He would stick in a city long enough to work in some plays and shows and then move on when he heard of another opportunity in a bigger town or for more money somewhere else. Each of these moves pushed him further and further west to his ultimate destination in Hollywood.

When he first arrived in LA, the studio system was still going strong and most performers were tied to a studio for many years. They would often work on several films simultaneously and often share accommodations with other performers of the same level who also worked at the same studio.

Timmy worked often, but nothing more than a few lines here or there and spent a great deal of time in the "chorus" sections of musicals which were still fairly popular. To supplement his income Timmy began performing in local theatre productions. One night the lead actress was unable to perform and there was no understudy. A sold out audience was going to be sent home unless something was done.

Enter Timmy. With the audience none the wiser, Timmy performed the entire two hour show as the lead actress and received a standing ovation. He was brilliant and there was even a review in the paper which talked about this understudy who was even better than the regular actress.

As good as Timmy was, it was only for one night, and he went back to his regular role the next night. Timmy was excited about the possibilities the night before had held though and the response he received was never far from his mind.

After another year working at the studio without getting much further than bit parts, Timmy decided to do something which would put him in the spotlight. When his studio contract ended he basically reversed his original trek to LA and began performing in small town theatres again, but this time as a woman.

Timmy traveled and did the theatre route for almost two years while building up a resume and a background for his new persona. When he finally felt as if he had it down, Timmy returned to Hollywood. This time as a woman.

From his very first screen test as a woman, Timmy was destined to become a star. Timmy was initially given meaty supporting roles and moved into an apartment with two other women who worked at the studio. One of those women was JJ's wife. There was just no way for Timmy to keep his masculinity a secret in such close quarters and so the two women became Timmy's confidantes and helped him whenever possible.

Over the next two years, Timmy worked steadily as a woman and kept getting better and better roles. He was very rarely the lead, but in memorable role he was cast as the lead opposite a very closeted A list at the time actor who also remained single for his entire life. The two began a relationship which was always kept quiet but lasted for many years.

Shortly after Timmy was cast as the lead, he was cast in another role which is the subject of the blind. Timmy was incredible in this role and whether his acting was as a result of his new found love or as a result of just the right part at the right time, Hollywood took notice and so did the critics. During award season, Timmy began winning regularly for his role. I want to make it perfectly clear that none of these organizations knew Timmy was actually a man when they were honoring him with awards as an actress.

This award season was a blessing because it honored Timmy for his work, but at the same time the increased publicity and probes into his background were causing a great deal of stress and Timmy began getting hives and breaking out as the stress of trying to maintain three different persona's. Timmy himself, Timmy the actress, and Timmy the gay man in a loving relationship with a closeted star.

When it came to the very big award, the one with all the television viewers, Timmy won again. There he was, the woman who was really a gay man was being honored for being the Best Supporting Actress/Best Actress of the year. Its up to you to figure out which of the two he won.

After the award season, Timmy thought the hives and his skin would go back to normal, but if anything they became worse. The severe outbreak he had been dealing with had altered his body to the point where it just wouldn't go back to normal.

At that time there was no CGI, and makeup could only do so much. Timmy the award winning actress was having trouble finding work because of his condition and so he saw his career slowly work its way back down the ladder over the course of three or four years.

Timmy considered trying to resume a film career as a man but the skin condition made that impossible because it would have been one hell of a coincidence that two people who looked remarkably alike had the same condition. What he could do though was return to the theatre, and he did so, as a man and worked as a man until his death from AIDS related complications.

Sunday after brunch I went to Blockbuster and I rented the award winning film, and even knowing what I knew, when I watched it Sunday night it was almost impossible to tell. If you watch it carefully there is one giveaway which is a scar. It's not a big scar, but its evident in photos of the male Timmy which you can still find online in old cast photos and in the female version of Timmy as she acts her way to one of the biggest awards in films.

Timmy as an actor and actress was in over 100 films and theatre productions from Topeka to Broadway, but this is about one role and one award.

Today's Blind Items - The Life And Times Of Timmy

It has been almost a dozen years since I first posted this blind item about the craziest Oscar surprise ever. You can read the other hints and parts by clicking on the Timmy label. If you click the link above you can see the original post and the 300+ comments.

I don't remember the first time I met JJ. It just seemed like from the first day I started at my first position he was there. It seems like he has always said he is retired, but at the same time it seems like he always has a piece of every project. JJ is pushing 90 if he isn't there already. He started in the business when he was a kid doing gofer work and his career rise has matched the rise of films through their infancy all the way to the present day. He knows everyone and for those few people he doesn't know, they certainly know him.

I've always told him he needs to write a book about his life and times and let future generations have an insight into his life and what he has seen. I get the feeling he has, although he hasn't ever confirmed it. Maybe he is waiting to publish it after he dies. I don't know.

With what I do now I don't come into contact with JJ much anymore on a professional basis but I always stay in touch on a personal basis. Every other month or so we get together for brunch and I get entertained for a few hours. I'm not sure what JJ gets out of it except for some company and some free food. Somehow I think I'm getting the better part of the deal.

This past Sunday the conversation turned towards an event he had hinted at previously, but had never really finished the story and I took the opportunity this time to get the answers I wanted.

All I will say about these events are they happened within the past 50 years and only about ten people know the whole story.

Timmy was a gay man at a time when gay men were treated miserably, not only in Hollywood but in the rest of the country as well. Timmy's homosexuality was compounded by the fact that he was very slightly built, had very pale features and a skin condition that prevented much hair growth on his body.

What Timmy had going for him was a personality that wouldn't quit and a way of capturing an audience whether one person, five hundred or through film that was unlike anything most people had seen previously.

Timmy grew up in the Northeast in a small town where he really and truly didn't fit in. At some point he knew he wanted to be an actor and began performing in theatres across the country. He would stick in a city long enough to work in some plays and shows and then move on when he heard of another opportunity in a bigger town or for more money somewhere else. Each of these moves pushed him further and further west to his ultimate destination in Hollywood.

When he first arrived in LA, the studio system was still going strong and most performers were tied to a studio for many years. They would often work on several films simultaneously and often share accommodations with other performers of the same level who also worked at the same studio.

Timmy worked often, but nothing more than a few lines here or there and spent a great deal of time in the "chorus" sections of musicals which were still fairly popular. To supplement his income Timmy began performing in local theatre productions. One night the lead actress was unable to perform and there was no understudy. A sold out audience was going to be sent home unless something was done.

Enter Timmy. With the audience none the wiser, Timmy performed the entire two hour show as the lead actress and received a standing ovation. He was brilliant and there was even a review in the paper which talked about this understudy who was even better than the regular actress.

As good as Timmy was, it was only for one night, and he went back to his regular role the next night. Timmy was excited about the possibilities the night before had held though and the response he received was never far from his mind.

After another year working at the studio without getting much further than bit parts, Timmy decided to do something which would put him in the spotlight. When his studio contract ended he basically reversed his original trek to LA and began performing in small town theatres again, but this time as a woman.

Timmy traveled and did the theatre route for almost two years while building up a resume and a background for his new persona. When he finally felt as if he had it down, Timmy returned to Hollywood. This time as a woman.

From his very first screen test as a woman, Timmy was destined to become a star. Timmy was initially given meaty supporting roles and moved into an apartment with two other women who worked at the studio. One of those women was JJ's wife. There was just no way for Timmy to keep his masculinity a secret in such close quarters and so the two women became Timmy's confidantes and helped him whenever possible.

Over the next two years, Timmy worked steadily as a woman and kept getting better and better roles. He was very rarely the lead, but in memorable role he was cast as the lead opposite a very closeted A list at the time actor who also remained single for his entire life. The two began a relationship which was always kept quiet but lasted for many years.

Shortly after Timmy was cast as the lead, he was cast in another role which is the subject of the blind. Timmy was incredible in this role and whether his acting was as a result of his new found love or as a result of just the right part at the right time, Hollywood took notice and so did the critics. During award season, Timmy began winning regularly for his role. I want to make it perfectly clear that none of these organizations knew Timmy was actually a man when they were honoring him with awards as an actress.

This award season was a blessing because it honored Timmy for his work, but at the same time the increased publicity and probes into his background were causing a great deal of stress and Timmy began getting hives and breaking out as the stress of trying to maintain three different persona's. Timmy himself, Timmy the actress, and Timmy the gay man in a loving relationship with a closeted star.

When it came to the very big award, the one with all the television viewers, Timmy won again. There he was, the woman who was really a gay man was being honored for being the Best Supporting Actress/Best Actress of the year. Its up to you to figure out which of the two he won.

After the award season, Timmy thought the hives and his skin would go back to normal, but if anything they became worse. The severe outbreak he had been dealing with had altered his body to the point where it just wouldn't go back to normal.

At that time there was no CGI, and makeup could only do so much. Timmy the award winning actress was having trouble finding work because of his condition and so he saw his career slowly work its way back down the ladder over the course of three or four years.

Timmy considered trying to resume a film career as a man but the skin condition made that impossible because it would have been one hell of a coincidence that two people who looked remarkably alike had the same condition. What he could do though was return to the theatre, and he did so, as a man and worked as a man until his death from AIDS related complications.

Sunday after brunch I went to Blockbuster and I rented the award winning film, and even knowing what I knew, when I watched it Sunday night it was almost impossible to tell. If you watch it carefully there is one giveaway which is a scar. It's not a big scar, but its evident in photos of the male Timmy which you can still find online in old cast photos and in the female version of Timmy as she acts her way to one of the biggest awards in films.

Timmy as an actor and actress was in over 100 films and theatre productions from Topeka to Broadway, but this is about one role and one award.

The Life And Times Of Timmy Revealed

The very first thing everyone needs to realize is that I had brunch with JJ and we talked about Shimmy/Timmy for ten minutes. Everyone here has had a month to dissect every last inch of this story, and so I will attempt to fill in as much detail as possible, but a ten minute conversation might not be enough to satisfy each and every one of your cravings. I have added a narrative to it so that is more fun to read and easier to see how it happened. With all the hard work everyone did, I didn’t want the write up to be sterile.

I really appreciate how everyone worked on this so hard and loved all of the e-mails I received from so many of you describing how Timmy/Shimmy made you look at Old Hollywood in a new light or how it made you look at it for the very first time. Old Hollywood has the best stories, and some of the best characters. I do have one more big blind from that brunch with JJ and also have some old Hollywood stories I can turn into blinds that are much easier to solve.

People say that Timmy/Shimmy couldn’t happen today, but I think it could happen even more easily today. There would be more rumors of course and the internet and people like all of you would make it very difficult, but advances in technology are such that it would be much easier to pull off.

Back in the day when this happened, the press backed off and didn’t report everything they knew. JJ told me that only about ten people know the whole story. I didn’t ask him to name them, but the number doesn’t seem that far off. Could it be more? Sure. I don’t know, and don’t know how anyone can count because 95% of the people who would know are dead.

When this event happened, there was no television. There was only radio and film shorts which were shown only before other films. Stars were not routinely followed and privacy was the norm. Unless a star was a big star or had huge publicity behind them, chances are you would never recognize the person standing next to you in line as an A list actress.

Ultimately this is a story about luck, a parent’s love for their child, fame and compassion.

What made this whole thing possible though was the work of one man who loved his daughter very much and wanted her to succeed. He wanted to give her everything. He especially wanted to give here everything he could because she had been really sick, and although doing better now, he was very afraid of a relapse. His daughter was always getting sick throughout her life and was constantly breaking bones in her legs and feet. She had at least one known trip to a mental institution following a nervous breakdown and therefore he always did his best to take care of his beloved daughter.

One night, this father went to see a show that a friend of his owned and the friend wanted to sell a piece of the show. The father went, not expecting much but was entranced by what he saw in the performance of a very young actress and decided he had to meet this wonderful woman. When the father went backstage to introduce himself, he discovered that the enchanting actress was actually a man. He further learned that this man had the uncanny knack of being able to mimic almost anyone within a few minutes of meeting them. An idea began to form in our father’s mind, but at that point it was just an idea.

A few weeks went by and our father’s daughter was complaining she wasn’t feeling well and would have to drop out of a film on which she was supposed to begin shooting. His daughter had to drop out of several films because of illness, but wondered if something could be done about it.

The father tracked down our mimic/actor aka Timmy and talked to the actor about possibly becoming an actress rather than the actor he was. It’s not known what was said by the father or if he revealed his whole plan at that time, but what our actor did was start doing shows as a woman with the help of the father. The father knew every theatre owner in the country and got them to take on this new talent and that of course the father would owe the owner a favor in the future.

The father wanted Timmy to play a variety of different women and not just concentrate on one look or style, but wanted Timmy to try and get an idea of the many different characters and personalities a woman would be asked to portray. Timmy would be one name one week and then another name the next.




In early 1934, our father got Timmy a screen test as a woman. He wanted to see if what he saw in Timmy live translated onto the screen. Timmy was amazing as a woman and had Timmy mimic several different women including Shimmy. He was amazing. They even looked a great deal alike when they were dressed similarly. The only problem our father could see, was the nose. Something had to be done about the nose.

From that point forward, Timmy became a woman when in public. He put Timmy in a house that one of his mistresses lived in and JJ’s future wife. Often Timmy would spend time with Shimmy, usually as a man but sometimes as a woman, especially when he visited her on set. Timmy who could mimic someone after five minutes of knowing them was like Shimmy’s twin after spending hour and hours conversing and spending two or three days at a time at her home.

The first real test came in a film called The Gay Divorcee which starred Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In what could be explained as a joke if it went awry, Timmy made his first appearance as Shimmy. Timmy did one scene which was a group scene, but it’s unknown if it made it into the film. After spending time with Shimmy, Timmy knew that Shimmy was sick. She would have good days and bad, and also for some reason was always breaking bones which everyone knew and expected from her. Breaking a nose wasn’t a big deal at all. It would just be intentional.



Over the next two years, whenever Shimmy was sick, instead of having to call in sick or not even being able to do a film, Timmy would step in. It really wasn’t that hard. People were used to Shimmy being ill and looking unusual. Remember Shimmy was never a very healthy woman in the very best of circumstances, very rarely a lead, and Timmy was so good that each would seamlessly slip in and out as needed.

In 1935 Metropolitan was made and Timmy met the man he would call his friend and lover for a few years as well as confidant. Cesar Romero played opposite Timmy/Shimmy and perhaps saw something in his own personality because he quietly confronted Shimmy. If he had confronted Timmy, Timmy may very well have let it all out of the bag. Shimmy on the other hand explained how she needed help sometimes with work and everything in her life. Her appeal must have worked, because Timmy and Cesar became very close when introduced. I don’t know if Cesar and Timmy went out as two men or as a man and a woman.

In 1936, My Man Godfrey was filmed and for much of that film and the next three done, the majority of the work was done by Shimmy, although Timmy did contribute to each.

In 1937 Shimmy looked at all the commitments she had lined up and knew she couldn’t do it without Timmy. Timmy agreed to help as much as possible but wanted to see if he could make it as a man in film because he was allegedly a little jealous at the attention Shimmy received for My Man Godfrey. While filming In Old Chicago, Shimmy got very sick again very suddenly and at that point the filming was too far along to stop. It’s at this point that more people became aware of Shimmy/Timmy although as I said it’s possible they had been letting people in on the secret prior to this. The director and producer both became aware of the situation and became very accommodating to letting Timmy take every shot that wasn’t a close-up, but in the end even gave him several of those as well. Both Timmy and Shimmy are in the film.





Over the course of the year the acting Timmy did was in direct correlation to how Shimmy was feeling.

When it came to Academy Awards time, Shimmy was nominated and decided to bring Timmy with her. Timmy at that time had moved out of the house he had been living in and had a place of his own although he did share it with a male lover. In those days, the Academy Awards were broadcast on radio and the winners were known in advance. In one instance, the LA Times even published the names of the winners before the broadcast. That year though, the Academy Awards were delayed by a week due to flooding like LA had never seen before and during that time Shimmy broke her ankle and was also very ill. She decided she wasn’t going to attend, and Timmy decided that he wasn’t going also as he hadn’t really wanted to go. His body was breaking out in hives because of the stress of award season and Shimmy’s insistence that he accompany her everywhere and as a man and her delight in thinking of it as one big game while he was afraid people would find out about him, the fact he was gay and ruin him. There was no way he was going to the Academy Awards alone.

At this point, this all becomes pure speculation. Timmy did have a ticket to the Awards and it is believed that his male lover at the time really was start struck and wanted to go. He knew the story and knew for sure that Shimmy and Timmy wouldn’t be there. He went to the awards ceremony and when the winner was announced knew that no one would be there to pick it up, decided to pick it up himself. You would like to think he gave it to Timmy or Shimmy, but as far as we know he didn’t, if in fact it was him who picked it up. There was no award found in Timmy’s possessions when he died. There are two versions of what the Academy did after. One is that Shimmy never got her award and the other is that the Academy gave her another two weeks later.

Timmy’s hives wouldn’t go away and although he spent a great deal of time with Shimmy as she got more and more ill, he never acted again as Shimmy, and in fact all of his roles in later years he wore a tremendous amount of makeup as his hives would sometimes return.

When Shimmy went back to New York in a valiant effort to get medical treatment for her cancer, Timmy said goodbye to someone who was a part of him in more ways than one. Shimmy died a few weeks later, and Timmy went on with his life and as far as I know never mentioned it to anyone again.




There is a rumor that Shimmy's father tried to recreate this scenario again in 1949 when he cast his daughter Barbara opposite his wife in one play and one play only. No one is really sure if it was his daughter although she did win a Theatre World Award for her performance. William Brady, the father that made all this possible died just ten days after the play opened.

Shimmy-Alice Brady
Timmy-Arthur Blake

Final Timmy Update

I thought about throwing out some more red herrings but everyone has worked so hard on this and done so much that I don't want to throw everyone in a tizzy again for the next 36 hours. Therefore I will refrain from driving you even more insane by throwing out hints that may or may not be hints.

It is indeed a dog who won a gold medal and the dog belonged to a black kid who was in Our Gang, but really wanted to be a woman. I don't know how you managed to put it all together.

Seriously though, from a quick read of all the comments it appears that for the most part, the entire thing including the how and why have been solved. There are about four or five comments that put it all together, and so I really don't know what to add except to tell you that it was an Academy Award.

Timmy Weekend Update

#1 Think water when you are thinking of Noah's Ark.
#2 Timmy is NOT

George Noisom
Robert Moore

#3 Shimmy is NOT

Marie Dressler

Six Days And Counting Timmy Hints

#1 Noah's Ark. You know that whole two of each thing.
#2 Shimmy Is NOT

Mary Pickford
Susan Kohner
Luise Rainer

#3 The award was NOT a Golden Globe

Tomorrow I will have some NOT's for Timmy and another clue to see you through the weekend.

Today's Blind Items From AP's World--Date Of Timmy Reveal and Emmy Plans

I haven't looked at the Timmy comments in a day or so, but I do know you all work very hard on it so it will definitely be by Wednesday that I do the reveal. It won't be Monday because that will be all about the Emmy's and Tuesday I will be catching up with the work I didn't do on Monday, so it will have to be Wednesday. Mark it down. Get the kids, wake the neighbors, and pull up a chair and you will learn all I know.

Speaking of the Emmy's, the woman I was supposed to go with who is our gossip queen for these events without knowing it, now does know it, and so will take a friend of hers instead of me. Now that she knows I could have been there, but was afraid we would talk and and I wouldn't write anything down so she will still do it the old fashioned way. Now that she knows she's on the spot she said she will try and give more info than she has in the past and is actually excited about it. We have tentative plans to try and do live blogging from the Golden Globes as they happen from right there in the room.

Now here is something for today from AP all of which happened this summer in the Riviera.

#1 This aging Academy Award winning A list actor invited five or six beauties to his boat every night where he would proceed to get drunk and regale them with stories about all the women he had slept with and how they had all thought he was the best lover ever. Our actor would then tell the assorted group of women that he wasn't going to have sex with them because he didn't want it to ruin it for them with others, but wanted them to dance for him, strip and then he would have each come over to where he was sitting and tell them he was Daddy and proceed to spank them. This would go on for two or three hours or until he passed out whichever came first. Our actor drank and spanked, and the women would leave at the end of the night tender but well rewarded.

#2 This formerly married C list film and sometime television actress with B list name recognition and an A list body spent each night going to a different boat and different party looking for a guy she could capture with her body and hook him for his money. She was willing to do anything to hook a rich guy, but she told too many people what she was doing. Word got out about her game and soon she was being forced into more and more degrading situations and multiple partners and the only thing she succeeded in capturing was a new STD.

September 11 Timmy Update

#1 One very good possibility for Shimmy was discarded much too easily.
#2 Yes, the explanation for the blind is long, but only because it would be a disservice to just give the answer and not tell you the why. I did see a comment where someone got very close to the why.
#3 I was going to post something on Jane Wyman and then figured everyone would see the photo and die, so held back. Ditto a photo collection of Hollywood leading ladies which is really incredible.
#4 The photos in the post are just photos and as far as I know Timmy isn't in any of them. They were just photos I found on Google looking for old Hollywood casts. I'm amazed by the amount of research done on the theatres and if there is a historical society associated with them, they have enough for a book.
#5 Sorry to disappoint the t-shirt makers (where are the free t-shirts for all the people who worked on this?) but it isn't Kay Kendall for Shimmy (did I hear a gasp or groan?) and it isn't Robert Moore for Timmy.
#6 Not Judy Holiday, Judy Holliday, or Madonna's song Holiday.

Today's Blind Items & Timmy

So, I know everyone has been working hard on Timmy/Shimmy and so I won't even make you wait until I hit 2,000 posts. I will do it sometime next week. Not going to tell you when, but I will do it next week. Like many of you I haven't been doing all of my work lately and was really far behind so I haven't had a chance to go through all your weekend comments in detail to see if you discovered the identity of Timmy.

I will say that in my superficial glance at some of them that some of you have started to speculate HOW it could have happened, but you also need to think about WHY it happened in more detail. There's even a little bonus mystery solution at play in all of this which I think is almost the best part of the story.

#1 This married, goody goody A list director has all the best lines. Women feel safe with him and unthreatened and so get sucked up into his aw shucks pick up lines and the next thing you know they are spending time in his trailer throughout the whole shoot. It's even possible that his best friend's wife spent some time in the trailer as well.

#2 Which disfigured celebutante makes all nice with new friends, gets them to tell their secrets and then sells them to the tabs all to make a little extra money. Although things aren't great career wise right now she doesn't need the money. She is just doing it for power and control, and to get back at the people who have slighted her or displeased her. She's also been known to make a phone call or two to the pap when she is with someone who is drunk or involved in a very unflattering situation. As people have become more and more aware of what she's doing, she's had to find more and more people to go out with and many times having to go out alone because no one trusts her.

Timmy Weekend Update

#1-To the best of my knowledge there is no book deal or anything like it. If there is, I'm not getting any money from it. I think it would make a great book and movie, but I think there is more potential for a movie with Gift Clement.

#2 It's not a simple answer. When I reveal it will be a long post explaining everything.

#3 Shimmy is NOT
Hattie McDaniel
Edith Evans
Josephine Hull

#4 Timmy was a very good singer. He was not A list. William Haines was a mentor to him. Katharine Hepburn adored Timmy.

This has nothing to do with Timmy, but just an observation. This site generally gets between 2M-3M hits a month and that's great. I'm perfectly happy with that and don't want to get much higher because then it would be much harder to fly under the radar. That monthly number translates into about 100,000 hits a day and about 50,000 unique visitors. It never really varies up or down much except on the weekends. Even with Timmy/Shimmy the comments increased, but not the number of people coming to the site.

Since the Vanessa Hudgens nude photo scandal, this site has been getting 200,000 hits an HOUR. Is seeing an 18 year old girl naked that exciting? At what point in the world has everyone seen the photo? If I get 3M people a day looking at it and all the other sites who have her photo get 3M hits a day at what point do you reach the population of the world?

The surreal thing about it also is that none of those 200,000 people an hour looking at her photo have any idea what the rest of the site is about. They are just following a link. They have no idea about Timmy/Shimmy or anything else. It's a very odd kind of feeling. It's like the rest of us are living in a separate world.

I just wish that those numbers of people could be turned into something more positive than looking at some really bad photo of someone barely B list. It seems like such a waste, so if anyone has any ideas, I'm open to putting a link, and idea, a charity, or anything on that naked photo post which would at least present the opportunity for something positive.

Thursday's Timmy Hint

Shimmy is NOT

Mercedes McCambridge
Judy Holiday

Timmy is NOT

Danny Kaye

Tomorrow night I will provide two more NOT's and also give big hint for Timmy

Timmy Hint For Tonight

NOT Sandy Dennis

NOT Shirley Booth

I don't think anyone has mentioned Timmy on any blog. I'm not absolutely, positively, 100% sure because there are so many comments on so many different blogs and sites but to the best of my knowledge no one has mentioned Timmy.

Miyoshi Umeki Dies--Oscar Winner Dead At 78

The Houston Missouri Herald (Thanks Jen) is reporting today that Miyoshi Umeki died on August 29 at her home in Licking, Missouri. She was 78. Miyoshi won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1958 has been a frequent guess in the Timmy blind item which is why I'm reporting her death and also to say she is not involved in any way in the blind item.

From wiki

Miyoshi Umeki (b. May 8, 1929, Otaru, Hokkaidō, Japan -- d. August 29, 2007, Licking, Missouri[1]), was an Academy Award-winning actress best known for her roles as Joe Kelly (Red Buttons)'s wife, Katsumi, in the 1957 film, Sayonara, and as housekeeper, Mrs. Livingston, in the TV series The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

Miyoshi Umeki (梅木美代志, Umeki Miyoshi?) (her birth name) began her career as a nightclub singer in Japan under the name Nancy Umeki (ナンシー梅木, Nancy Umeki?) before moving to the United States. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her first film role, Sayonara (1957), becoming the first Asian actress to win the award. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway premiere production of the musical Flower Drum Song, which opened in 1958.

She appeared in only four more motion pictures during her career, most notably the film version of Flower Drum Song (1961). During 1969-1972 she appeared in The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

As a recording artist she made several records for RCA Victor Japan and appeared in some musical shorts as Nancy Umeki until she moved to the US. After her appearance on the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts (she was a series regular for one season), she signed with the Mercury Records label and released several singles and two albums.

Her first marriage was to television director Wynn Opie in 1958; they adopted one son. She later married Randall Hood, a marriage that lasted until his death in 1976. She and Hood also ran a theatrical lighting business that she dissolved after her husband's passing. She lived out the remainder of her life in the small town of Licking, Missouri, near her son and his family.

Another Timmy Hint And A Note About MV

So as I waded my way through another 200 comments, I noticed another theme popping up which was whether the award was a BAFTA. It wasn't. So you can remove from your consideration that Cornell woman. Second, remember the A-lister was an A lister at that time.

There is some confusion about whether cancer was the reason why I didn't reveal the MV blind item back in July. Letting you know about the cancer was just to give you an update. The only way the MV blind item will be revealed is if one of the contract signatories decides to talk or if all three were to die. Of course if I ever hit the lottery and don't need to work anymore, then I will reveal every BI I have ever posted, plus the fifty or so that I'm dying to tell everyone but can't because the people who know every detail is usually limited to two or three people which is not enough to cover one's ass. Too bad I didn't win Mega Millions last weekend.

Timmy Hint

As, I am going through all the comments to make them more manageable, I noticed that in at least the first 300 or so comments, that people are confusing the biography of Timmy and Shimmy. Yes, Timmy was born in the Northeast, but I never said where Shimmy claimed to be from. Shimmy can be from anywhere. I apologize if someone already addressed this issue in a later comment, but it kept popping up at least in the first set and wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page. Hopefully by sometime tonight I will have the comments and guesses reorganized to some extent.

Timmy Comments

If anyone has an idea about how to make the Timmy comments more manageable, please let me know. My idea is to give each one of the guesses its very own post. Obviously there would be some overlap and not every comment has a guess, but it seems that may be an easier way to keep track of everything. I would then add them to the labels so it would be Timmy - "guess" and then you could keep track of your favorite guess.

Timmy Hint

There seems to be a very popular guess that everyone is making and one website made it their official guess. However, if you read the blind you realize this popular guess makes no sense. Timmy the actress gave up acting very soon after winning the award, so when you look at IMDB and see an actress worked for many years after her win, the guess doesn't make any sense despite the fact that everything else fits. It's easy to make up biographies, but you can't hide the fact that this actress who is a popular guess was in so many movies after her win.

Timmy Clarifications And Hints

Because I write these quickly, and don't always proofread them, as regular readers know, sometimes things aren't always clear or I miss a word or two. Most of the time it's not worth going back and editing because the incorrect grammar or missing word doesn't really help find the answer, but in this case it might make a difference.

#1 I meant to say the events happened within a 50 year time frame as opposed to happening within the past 50 years. To help you out more I will say that Timmy died between 1980-1985 so you need to go back 50 years from that date.

#2 Combined between Timmy AND his female persona they were in over 100 movies.

#3 It wasn't actually Blockbuster that I got the movie on Sunday. I said Blockbuster to just indicate that I rented the film at a video store. I actually went to a place that has older films, BUT, I didn't use their name more to protect my own identity for when this is solved/revealed because there aren't that many people renting this particular film.

#4 Remember that Timmy was under a great deal of pressure even back then about his biography as a woman. People wanted to know where she was from, etc. Timmy provided information and it wasn't as easy to check on stories and timelines for reporters then, and so whatever an actress said about their past was generally just accepted and is reflected on the "official" biography for Timmy as an actress. The story Timmy gave is the one still in use.

#5 Timmy had a relationship with the closeted A list actor, but it didn't continue until Timmy's death.

#6 The post was reposted on several sites and was guessed correctly on at least 3 of them. I won't say if anyone has guessed correctly on my site.

#7 This item will be revealed. Probably at Christmas when I do the July-December updates and reveals.

#8 Why does the date of death of the "actress" matter? If she is in fact even listed as deceased.

The Life And Times Of Timmy

I don't remember the first time I met JJ. It just seemed like from the first day I started at my first position he was there. It seems like he has always said he is retired, but at the same time it seems like he always has a piece of every project. JJ is pushing 90 if he isn't there already. He started in the business when he was a kid doing gofer work and his career rise has matched the rise of films through their infancy all the way to the present day. He knows everyone and for those few people he doesn't know, they certainly know him.

I've always told him he needs to write a book about his life and times and let future generations have an insight into his life and what he has seen. I get the feeling he has, although he hasn't ever confirmed it. Maybe he is waiting to publish it after he dies. I don't know.

With what I do now I don't come into contact with JJ much anymore on a professional basis but I always stay in touch on a personal basis. Every other month or so we get together for brunch and I get entertained for a few hours. I'm not sure what JJ gets out of it except for some company and some free food. Somehow I think I'm getting the better part of the deal.

This past Sunday the conversation turned towards an event he had hinted at previously, but had never really finished the story and I took the opportunity this time to get the answers I wanted.

All I will say about these events are they happened within the past 50 years and only about ten people know the whole story.

Timmy was a gay man at a time when gay men were treated miserably, not only in Hollywood but in the rest of the country as well. Timmy's homosexuality was compounded by the fact that he was very slightly built, had very pale features and a skin condition that prevented much hair growth on his body.

What Timmy had going for him was a personality that wouldn't quit and a way of capturing an audience whether one person, five hundred or through film that was unlike anything most people had seen previously.

Timmy grew up in the Northeast in a small town where he really and truly didn't fit in. At some point he knew he wanted to be an actor and began performing in theatres across the country. He would stick in a city long enough to work in some plays and shows and then move on when he heard of another opportunity in a bigger town or for more money somewhere else. Each of these moves pushed him further and further west to his ultimate destination in Hollywood.

When he first arrived in LA, the studio system was still going strong and most performers were tied to a studio for many years. They would often work on several films simultaneously and often share accommodations with other performers of the same level who also worked at the same studio.

Timmy worked often, but nothing more than a few lines here or there and spent a great deal of time in the "chorus" sections of musicals which were still fairly popular. To supplement his income Timmy began performing in local theatre productions. One night the lead actress was unable to perform and there was no understudy. A sold out audience was going to be sent home unless something was done.

Enter Timmy. With the audience none the wiser, Timmy performed the entire two hour show as the lead actress and received a standing ovation. He was brilliant and there was even a review in the paper which talked about this understudy who was even better than the regular actress.

As good as Timmy was, it was only for one night, and he went back to his regular role the next night. Timmy was excited about the possibilities the night before had held though and the response he received was never far from his mind.

After another year working at the studio without getting much further than bit parts, Timmy decided to do something which would put him in the spotlight. When his studio contract ended he basically reversed his original trek to LA and began performing in small town theatres again, but this time as a woman.

Timmy traveled and did the theatre route for almost two years while building up a resume and a background for his new persona. When he finally felt as if he had it down, Timmy returned to Hollywood. This time as a woman.

From his very first screen test as a woman, Timmy was destined to become a star. Timmy was initially given meaty supporting roles and moved into an apartment with two other women who worked at the studio. One of those women was JJ's wife. There was just no way for Timmy to keep his masculinity a secret in such close quarters and so the two women became Timmy's confidantes and helped him whenever possible.

Over the next two years, Timmy worked steadily as a woman and kept getting better and better roles. He was very rarely the lead, but in memorable role he was cast as the lead opposite a very closeted A list at the time actor who also remained single for his entire life. The two began a relationship which was always kept quiet but lasted for many years.

Shortly after Timmy was cast as the lead, he was cast in another role which is the subject of the blind. Timmy was incredible in this role and whether his acting was as a result of his new found love or as a result of just the right part at the right time, Hollywood took notice and so did the critics. During award season, Timmy began winning regularly for his role. I want to make it perfectly clear that none of these organizations knew Timmy was actually a man when they were honoring him with awards as an actress.

This award season was a blessing because it honored Timmy for his work, but at the same time the increased publicity and probes into his background were causing a great deal of stress and Timmy began getting hives and breaking out as the stress of trying to maintain three different persona's. Timmy himself, Timmy the actress, and Timmy the gay man in a loving relationship with a closeted star.

When it came to the very big award, the one with all the television viewers, Timmy won again. There he was, the woman who was really a gay man was being honored for being the Best Supporting Actress/Best Actress of the year. Its up to you to figure out which of the two he won.

After the award season, Timmy thought the hives and his skin would go back to normal, but if anything they became worse. The severe outbreak he had been dealing with had altered his body to the point where it just wouldn't go back to normal.

At that time there was no CGI, and makeup could only do so much. Timmy the award winning actress was having trouble finding work because of his condition and so he saw his career slowly work its way back down the ladder over the course of three or four years.

Timmy considered trying to resume a film career as a man but the skin condition made that impossible because it would have been one hell of a coincidence that two people who looked remarkably alike had the same condition. What he could do though was return to the theatre, and he did so, as a man and worked as a man until his death from AIDS related complications.

Sunday after brunch I went to Blockbuster and I rented the award winning film, and even knowing what I knew, when I watched it Sunday night it was almost impossible to tell. If you watch it carefully there is one giveaway which is a scar. It's not a big scar, but its evident in photos of the male Timmy which you can still find online in old cast photos and in the female version of Timmy as she acts her way to one of the biggest awards in films.

Timmy as an actor and actress was in over 100 films and theatre productions from Topeka to Broadway, but this is about one role and one award.