Tim and Nina on their 25th
wedding anniversary. |
SILVER
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Power
Blackout of 1977:
When the Smoke Cleared,
I Found Myself Married
By Tim Boxer
Photos by Dov Israeli
 EW
YORK in summer ‘77 is notable for several cataclysmic events. The
Son of Sam murder spree gripped a terrified metropolis. An eight-day
heat wave had the thermometer spiking above 100. A 25-hour power
blackout paralyzed the greatest city in the world, sparking a wild
orgy of looting and burning. It was the summer of wild abandon at
Studio 54.
Aaron and Lois David at the
celebration. |
Then the unexpected
happened. I’d been working as assistant to syndicated Broadway
columnist Earl Wilson of the New York Post. I, who
covered gala film premieres, star-studded premieres on Broadway,
nightclub openings – interviewing and photographing stars,
celebrities and gorgeous models – set my sights on one true love
and married her.
I found a brunette beauty
at an event for Faberge. My pickup line was irresistible: “How
would you like to come to a party for Telly Savalas?”
How was I to know that Kojak
was Nina’s favorite show? Off we went to the wrap party for
TV’s hottest drama series, where I almost lost my date. I surmised
that Telly was paying too close attention to my girl.
Gabriel and Rebeka Boxer. |
There was only one thing to
do. On June 12 I married Nina.
I don’t believe in long
engagements. That gives people the opportunity of finding out each
other’s character before marriage – which is never advisable.
Now, instead of going out
to all the celebrated bold-face parties by myself, I had my own
beautiful model/assistant/wife by my side. Nina met them all – Ronald
Reagan at the White House, Cary Grant, Robin Williams, Omar
Sharif, Pierre Trudeau, Rock Hudson. You name them, she’s met
them, helped interview them, even posed with them.
For a couple of years we
produced a weekly celebrity talk show on Manhattan Cable, called Traveling
With The Stars. I did the interviews and Nina handled the video
camera. Milton Berle once stopped an interview to give Nina
some pointers about shooting. After all, he was Mr. Television.
Gregory and Reny Naham with
sons Stephen and JR. |
This summer Nina and I
celebrated our silver anniversary with a few friends at the Cho-Sen
Island Chinese Restaurant in Lawrence, Long Island.
Over the years I’ve
learned a lot. I can honestly say that if it weren’t for marriage,
I could go through life thinking I had no faults at all. Is that
bad?
When I met Nina, she was a
secretary for George Barrie of Faberge. Ever since, I’m the
one who’s been taking dictation.
Mind you, at home I run the
show. But Nina writes the script.
I found out pretty quick
that marriage isn’t a word – it’s a sentence.
Someone once asked me,
Don’t you and your wife ever have a difference of opinion? Sure we
do, but I don’t tell her about it.
Nina has always been a
great homemaker. Do you know how she keeps the kitchen so
immaculate? She never goes in.
Chaim and Linda Israeli with the Boxers. |
Yet she’s writing a
cookbook. It will be in two parts. Part one will have all the
recipes, and part two will have the antidotes.
Yes, man is incomplete
until he is married. Then he is really finished.
Don’t misunderstand. I
love Nina. You gotta love a woman who’d put up with these cracks.
My thanks to Henny
Youngman, Milton Berle and Robert Orben for helping me
formulate my thoughts on wedded bliss.
|
