When I was in New York this past week, I told Prudence Bury-Fuchs and her friends Mike and Christine O’Neal the story of my late mother’s friendship with a man named Ted Montague. My mother, Joanne Waffle, met Ted at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where they graduated in 1946. As seen below, Ted went by the name Peter Montague. Another graduate was David Andrews, later known as ‘Tige’ Andrews. Vince Beck was a well-known character actor who appeared in many TV shows, especially during the Sixties.
How I learned of Ted Montague was typical of a lot of things my mother told me later in her life, because it was something my sisters knew, and she was sure I did too, but I didn’t. It was 1996, and my parents had retired. My mother’s lungs weren’t doing well, the result of decades of cigarettes, and she was looking for a place to move in the southwest. She had made several trips to Arizona to look at properties, and before one of those trips she called and said that of course I knew that she had to postpone it. I said I did not know that, and I asked her what happened. She made reference to George dying, and my father’s name is George, so that really threw me for a moment. But then I realized she was talking about George Burns, and I said of course I knew Burns had died a few days before, but what did that have to do with anything?
It turned out that my mother had been looking at houses with the help of Ted Montague, who was retired himself, and living in Tucson. At some point in the 1940’s, Ted became friends with George Burns and Gracie Allen, and he worked as their personal secretary for many years. When Burns died, Montague attended the funeral, and from what my mother said he also had some related business matters to attend to. Here is a picture of Ted with Gracie, and some other friends.
After Gracie’s death in 1964, George helped set up Montague with an interior decorating shop in Beverly Hills. When my mother told me about it I said, “Mom, I, uh, think your friend Ted is probably gay.” To which she replied, with great effect, “Well, DUH, son!” This is Ted with a boyfriend. I suppose it’s the sort of snapshot that gay men kept in a locked drawer, back in those days.
With Ted’s help, my mother found a house near Phoenix, and my father lives there to this day. A few years after my parents moved there, Ted Montague passed away. I think it’s great my mother had a lifelong friendship with Ted, and it’s to my father’s credit that he saw it for what it was, and let it be.
Fri., Feb. 12, 1999
Rodney Theodore Montague
By VARIETY STAFFRodney Theodore “Ted” Montague, who spent 18 years as personal secretary to George Burns and Gracie Allen, died Jan. 16 of complications from emphysema in Tucson. He was 77.
Following his many years with Burns and Allen, he moved over to the MGM music department for a short stint before opening a decorating and refinishing shop on Melrose Ave.
Well known in Beverly Hills social circles, Montague retired to Tucson to be near his family.
He is survived by a sister and numerous nieces and nephews.
