LisaLinsky

I discovered the piano hidden in my parenss garage at the age the four. My love of the piano has led me on a wondrous journey through life. One of my fondest early memories is sharing a piano with fellow actor Jack Lemmon during the 1965 filming of the movie The Fortune Cookie. (I played the little girl on the skate board in an early hospital scene.)
Although my life has taken many detours, from child actress to mother of six children, the piano has always remained my emotional and creative outlet.
My memories of The Fortune Cookie:
I first met Billy Wilder at the “cattle call� child actor audition for The Fortune Cookie. It was held inside of a big warehouse type studio in Hollywood, with literally hundreds of kids auditioning. When it was my turn, Mr. Wilder asked me about the rhinestone cross that I was wearing and I shared with him how my Aunt Georgia had brought it back from Rome for me. I remember showing him the tiny picture of the Vatican in the middle of the cross. That exchange between us was very fortuitous, as I later learned.

About a week after the audition, I came home from school one day and my mother asked me if I had a rhinestone cross. I answered yes and showed it to her. As it turned out, Mr. Wilder had lost my name and therefore informed his office to call every agent in town until they “find the precocious little girl with the rhinestone cross.� It was kind of like the story of Cinderella’s glass slipper - and I got the job!


Everyone on the set was really nice to me, including Billy Wilder, but especially Jack Lemmon. I remember during one of the days we were filming, while I was in the trailer with the tutor, I heard someone playing a piano in the distance. Although I was only nine, the piano had been my passion since I was four. So I told the tutor that I had to go to the bathroom and followed the sound of the piano to a dimly lit set, where a nice looking man was playing. At first, I just stood next to him watching him play. Then, after a few songs, he invited me to sit on the piano bench with him and we ended up playing duets together! When someone came over to make me leave him alone, Jack Lemmon assured them it was alright for me to stay. It was my favorite day on the set.


As a child actor, working with Billy Wilder was a positive, fun experience. He was kind and said some very nice things about me to others in the industry. At nine years old, I had no idea that Mr. Wilder had co-written the screenplay and directed not only The Fortune Cookie, but many of the most classic films to ever come out of Hollywood. Looking back, as an adult, I appreciate how fortunate I was to be around so many legendary talents of the film industry including Walter Matthau who won an Oscar for his role.