The Movers and the Shaker: The Shows Go On . . . Mostly : How Did Entertainment and Arts Figures React to Thursday’s Quake?

Trouper Angela Lansbury made it to the stage on time. CBS reported that the star of “Murder, She Wrote” was above Los Angeles in a plane when the quake hit, and was informed by radio that the plane could not land at Burbank Airport due to the quake. Lansbury, claiming that she had never missed a rehearsal or a cue in her entire career, said she wasn’t going to let an earthquake stop her now. She made it to the set on time at noon after the pilot found an alternate landing site.

Johnny Carson, during the monologue on his 25th anniversary special Thursday night: “I want to thank the state of California for that special salute. Any out-of-towners here, your timing is impeccable. Where are you going next--the Straits of Hormuz for the mine sweeping? This is a strange state, isn’t it? First the Raiders move to Irwindale and today Irwindale moved to Pacoima.”

Composer Henry Mancini prepared to meet the day: “I was literally caught with my pants down. I was standing in the bathroom in my underwear. I dashed over to a door jamb, and by the time it ended I did have my pants on.”

Producer Norman Lear: “I was on my treadmill when it happened, and for a while I continued watching the water in my pool move. But then I thought my wife might be frightened, but she was not. She was watching NBC, and did you see those guys? They went crazy ducking under their desks. . . .”

As far as Hollywood was concerned, the outer limit of quake effect probably hit somewhere around faraway Santa Ynez, where John and Bo Derek were rattled on their ranch. “Actually, I missed it,” Bo Derek reported. “But John felt it upstairs. He came down, and got right down to business. It was time to prepare. He knew it was a big one.” Bo said she missed the quake because she was crouched “on the floor, scolding our littlest dog. He’s been terrorizing the housekeeper.” But, she noted, she also missed the 1971 quake. “I was 11 years old and slept right through it.”

Filming on the sets of a few film and television companies was interrupted by Thursday’s earthquake, with the TV show “Cagney & Lacey” reporting the longest delay because of the temblor.

“Cagney & Lacey” production was held up for nearly three hours on location shooting in a warehouse north of downtown Los Angeles, costing the show about $8,000-$10,000 in delays said executive producer Barney Rosenzweig. Emmy-winning stars Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly appeared calm when he arrived on the set around 9 a.m., he said, though several others seemed anxious.

“Are you kidding, I’m a sixth-generation Californian,” Gless told Rosenzweig when asked about her relaxed demeanor.

Meanwhile over at Power Breakfast Central--the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge--publicist Lee Solters reported that no one seemed to notice. It looked like business as usual, Solters told the Hollywood Reporter: “Everyone was too intent on their conversations to notice. Maybe the quake didn’t have reservations and couldn’t get in.”

“The Mahabharata” director Peter Brook reported that he was swimming in the pool of his hotel when, over his shoulder, he noticed a large gentleman jumping into the water. The next moment, the pool was engulfed in a mini-tidal wave. “My word,” Brook says he thought, “that was a belly flop.”

Singer Peggy Lee: “I was so calm I surprised myself! I have this huge glass chandelier in the foyer and just knew enough to stay away from it. The only thing that made me nervous was seeing Kent Shocknek on KNBC diving under the desk. I was most impressed and proud of how calm all the women were on TV.”

Gary Lieberthal, chairman of Columbia/Embassy Television: “I was just standing there toweling off. My wife and I looked at each other for a second and we were both shaking up and down, and then I grabbed her and ran outside. My wife is from Oklahoma and this was her first earthquake. So I guess we were able to share a special moment together. And then I was thinking that I’m probably not insured for this.”

There was a lot of excitement among the power breakfasters at the Garden Restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel, reported assistant manager Sandy Cagan:. “Some people broke out in tears. Others got under their tables, almost like a drill. You could see the chandelier in the foyer (outside the restaurant) swaying. The curtains in the restaurant were moving. A couple of people left the restaurant. They had a look of woe on their faces. Some people went out on the patio. For many it was the first earthquake they had ever experienced. Many people just shut up, they didn’t know what to say. Everyone’s energy level was a lot higher than it normally is.”

TV producer Mark Tinker of “St. Elsewhere” was home in bed with the shaking started: “I was out of my bed like a rocket. . . . When my phone came back on I immediately called the stage because one of my biggest fears is being on a television stage when the big one hits with thousands of pounds of stuff hanging from the rafters. They had evacuated the stage by the time I called. It shut down production for a couple of hours. One of our actresses was a little upset and didn’t want to go back inside, but that was it.”

Fay Kanin, former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who lives at the beach in Santa Monica: “We had a lot of shaking. We went outside, and we shook ourselves. It was not a great morning. The ocean did not appear to be more angry or restive. It didn’t seem to be like a tidal wave, the chairs and house shook. It was unsettling, but I guess you have to go on about your work and your life.”

A waiter who was on duty at the Terrace Restaurant in the Century Plaza Hotel, a top power breakfast site, said there were about 40 patrons in the restaurant when the shaking began. “The immediate reaction of most people was panic,” waiter Steve Johnson said. “Most people don’t know how to react when something like this happens. Some people headed toward the door to get out (of the restaurant), but by the time they got there, it (the trembling from the quake) had stopped. They were wondering if this is it (the Big One), and we were all going to go for a swim.”

While much of the city’s business ground to a halt, the surviving two Andrews Sisters of Swing Era musical fame went ahead with a ceremony dedicating a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Patti Andrews chose to make light of both the earthquake and her widely known disagreements with sister Maxene. “That rumble was Maxene and I on the phone together,” she quipped.

Dancer Bella Lewitzky: “I was standing in my bedroom, getting ready to talk to my dancers prior to our departure for Madrid. . . . I headed for the door and told the dancers I’d talk to them at the airport.”

Sarah Jessica Parker, the 22-year-old who plays Kay Ericson Gardner in NBC’s “A Year in the Life” and moved to Los Angeles just four months ago, said that when her bed started shaking and things began falling from her dresser, she thought of the bedroom scene from “The Exorcist.” “I was so frightened for my life I thought I should move back to New York,” she said. “I didn’t care if the people I work for sued me. Now I believe I have experienced this thing and am a California resident.”

Joe Smith, president of Capitol Records: “I was at home and my first concern was for my wine cellar. All 8,000 bottles were intact. I live in Beverly Hills and think I got a little break. Here at the office (the 13th floor of the Capitol Records building), there are a few cracks, but that’s about it.”

Jazzman Red Callender: “My wife and I were just watching the news on TV. . . . We saw them get under the desk. But this was nothing compared to 1971. We were living in Sylmar then, right at the epicenter, and our house was totally destroyed--we lost everything we had.”

Brentwood resident Michele Brustin, vice president of comedy programs at NBC, was walking her dog. “I didn’t feel a thing. I went home and tried to turn on the ‘Today Show’ . . . and this guy on Channel 4 was telling me that this could have been the big one. I had no idea what he was talking about. . . . I did feel a little left out all day because I couldn’t tell everyone this exciting story about what I was doing and what fell down off the walls and what didn’t.”

Playwright Beth Henley: “I was in bed and it woke me up. I thought Godzilla or something was in my backyard. Because all of the lights and phones were dead here, I went out in my car and listened to the radio to see if the city was destroyed.”

Industrialist, art collector and Southern California booster Armand Hammer: “I had just finished my daily swim, and I was in bed reading the newspaper. And then it happened. The bed was moving from side to side, and all the books in my bookcases moved and some fell off the shelf. No other damage. Mrs. Hammer lay on the floor and the maid came upstairs and thinking Mrs. Hammer was hurt, started crying. Both my wife and I think that it wasn’t as as bad as the one in ’71. And I still think, that with all the wonderful weather in Los Angeles, it’s worth the risk to live here.”

Jazz singer Annie Ross: “I was doing yoga. I was sitting in the lotus position--but not for long!”

Contributors: Dan Sullivan, Michael Cieply, Diane Haithman, Judith Michaelson, Leonard Feather, John Voland, Don Shirley, Steve Weinstein, Steve Hochman, Barbara Miller, Jane Lieberman and David Crook.