Silicon Valley Historical Association's video: Jeff Goldblum s The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra named after Silicon Valley Centenarian

Mildred Snitzer (1908-2011), centenarian from Silicon Valley and inspiration for the name Jeff Goldblum chose for his jazz band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, talks about how her name was chosen for the band's name. This is a segment from the full unscripted interview. Mildred Snitzer 2001 Interview Interview date: February 12, 2001 Interviewer: Sally McBurney, Films, Santa Clara Valley Historical Association Interviewer's question: "Tell us a little bit about Jeff Goldblum. How did you meet him?" Transcript: "Mildred Snitzer. My birthday is January 12, 1908, and my maiden name was Mildred Robb - R-O-B-B. Well I knew Jeff Goldblum, the actor, he was in "Jurassic Park" and biggest picture was "The Big Chill." I knew him when he was 12. In those days, he played the piano and even had a small orchestra going. He was determined he was going to be an actor. And I knew his family. I played bridge with his mother and father and my first husband. And his father was my doctor. I was very fond of him. He was a wonderful man. He's dead. And I used to visit there. When my husband passed away, his mother invited me to dinner every Tuesday night, which was very nice. I got to know the children. There were four. One of his brothers passed away. He was a handsome guy. Now Jeff was very upset about the fact that the local drama school did not accept him, Carnegie Mellon. By this time I had remarried. Jeff was 19 or so. My husband had a brother, Lou Snitzer, who was one of the old-time talent agents. He featured orientals and he provided Flower Drum Song that was played in San Francisco on Grant Street with actors. So husband said, "Why don't you look up my brother, Lou. Maybe he can give you some tips on how to get into the business." Well, Jeff did that. And Lou Snitzer said, "Go to New York. Get your feet wet there and then, if you are . . go to school, then maybe you'll hit Hollywood. Well Jeff followed his advice and came back and went to Joseph Papp school where he was discovered by a man named Altman and he had a part, I remember, in "Gentleman from Verona." And then this man invited him to Hollywood and he had a part in a picture called "Nashville" and then he got "The Big Chill" which was his big picture and then he got into some of these . . well he was very tall. He did "Ichabod Crane." They ran that for years for Thanksgiving. But anyhow, I think that's why he thought of my name. Because I hadn't seen him for 25 years or so. I said, "That's another person. Jeff wouldn't ever think of me. Well, then there was a little blurb in the "Mercury News" about it. It was Mildred Snitzer and she'd lived in Pittsburgh. I said, "My God, that must be me!" And here it was." For requests to use this copyright-protected work in any manner, email the copyright owner, Santa Clara Valley Historical Association. The contact information can be found on our YouTube About page.