House Bill 9169

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HR 9169

        By Representative Bloom






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution honoring the life of Peppy Fields

  3         (Rosalind Flaxman).

  4

  5         WHEREAS, Peppy Fields was born Rosalind Schwartz and

  6  grew up on the Lower East Side, New York City, but after she

  7  was crowned Miss Coney Island at the age of 15, she changed

  8  her name to Peppy Fields and went into vaudeville, although

  9  her mother wouldn't let her go on the road, and

10         WHEREAS, defying her family, she sang and danced in the

11  Loew Delancy Street Follies and other revues, and once

12  appeared on the same playbill with another unknown actress,

13  Jean Harlow, and

14         WHEREAS, marriage to Danny Flaxman and raising a family

15  barely slowed irrepressible Peppy, who continued appearing in

16  amateur shows and fundraisers, wrote a show business column

17  for a trade magazine in the 1950's, and then hosted a radio

18  show, "On the Town with Peppy Fields," on New York's WMBI, and

19         WHEREAS, with the family's move to Miami Beach in 1962,

20  the radio show became the "Peppy Fields House Party," a hokey,

21  homey, spontaneous blend of show biz, nostalgia, trivia,

22  sing-alongs, open phone lines, and famous guests, and

23         WHEREAS, over time, Peppy Fields became a legend in the

24  South Florida entertainment community, hosting her show for

25  more than 35 years, interviewing, ad-libbing, and sometimes

26  singing along with such big-name guests as Paul Newman,

27  Charlton Heston, Martha Raye, Red Buttons, Jackie Gleason, and

28  Shelley Winters, and

29         WHEREAS, this short, plump, energetic blond with her

30  quick wit and high spirits also became known and widely

31  praised for her big heart, as she staged dozens of charity

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HR 9169

    252-377A-99






  1  benefits and, from 1962 to 1997, raised hundreds of thousands

  2  of dollars as annual telethon hostess for United Cerebral

  3  Palsy Association of Miami, for which she received the

  4  Heartland Award for Charitable Service from former Governor

  5  Lawton Chiles, and

  6         WHEREAS, a source of joy and good works was removed

  7  from this world with the death of Peppy Fields on October 28,

  8  1998, at the age of 92, although she is survived by a son and

  9  daughter-in-law, Neil and Lynda Flaxman, by seven

10  grandchildren, and by three great-grandchildren, and will be

11  long remembered by many, many others whose lives she touched,

12  and

13         WHEREAS, it is altogether fitting and proper that the

14  House of Representatives take this time to appreciate the life

15  and achievements of this great lady, NOW, THEREFORE,

16

17  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

18  Florida:

19

20         That the House of Representatives commends the full

21  life and exemplary achievements of Peppy Fields, born Rosalind

22  Schwartz, and pays tribute to the exceptional talents and

23  resources she dedicated to giving joy and service to others,

24  and, further, expresses its heartfelt condolences to the

25  family.

26         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution

27  be presented to the family of Peppy Fields as a tangible token

28  of the sentiments expressed herein.

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