And Then There Was …

I’m going to go a little Hollywood on you now (warning: this is a long post). But I want to clarify first, that I am not overly impressed by the celebrity culture we seem to be living in now, and don’t take it too seriously. For various reasons I’m not going to discuss that in this post. Instead, I thought I’d have a little fun with it, and pass along those moments when my path did happen to pass the path of a celebrity (mostly actors) here and there. I will forego the times I may have met a celebrity, but don’t remember it much or was too young to remember. Let me explain that. My father has been a journalist for over 50 years, and on a number occasions has had contact with such celebrities. And sometimes when we were little, I and/or my siblings would tag along. I don’t remember much about those encounters. While I’m here I will plug his autobiography (Dealing Off the Top) that recently came out, and if you so desire, you can read about those yourself. Anyway, moving on …

I’m going to write this in a bit of a stream of consciousness and just recall these encounters without a lot of fluff. So they won’t be in any kind of order of occurrence, or any other type of order …

There was the time  … I happened to bump into Robert Mitchum in the elevator. Practically literally, bump. I was leaving a post-production facility, and in the basement heading for the elevator back up the ground floor, me and Mitchum were heading into it at the same time from different directions. It opened just as we got to it and we almost bumped into each other entering it. I at first didn’t recognize him, but in a few seconds did. I don’t usually address celebrities just because they happen to be one. I’m sure they get tired of people who do. At least I would, if I had that problem. I just nodded at him and said hello. He just mumbled unintelligibly under his breath. Dressed in a sailor cap and tennis shoes, he smelled like he’d just come off a boat (as well as recently having imbibed in some strong spirits). Maybe that’s where he was headed back to. However, I suspected he had just left an ADR (looping) session in a sound booth at the post house. What surprised me was how small he was, barely taller than me, and I am short. I think his height listed on IMDB is way off. Anyway, this was just before that mini-series he starred in, ‘War and Remembrance,’ was getting ready to air …

And then there was the time … Steven Spielberg and Michael Douglas almost ran me over, yes, in an elevator. I had just gotten into an empty one at the studio I was working at, when just as the doors were about to close, they pop in. Very deep in an intense, animated conversation. They seemed to be talking about a project they were going to work on together, and were totally oblivious to me being in the elevator. They kept moving around, talking to each other, and I spent most of my time trying to get out of their way, as if we all involved in some kind of elevator dance. And I was the spurned, odd guy out, as they left the elevator ahead of me in quite a hurry. Don’t think they ever did that project together …

And then there was the time … I was not allowed to go near Demi Moore, yes, once again, in an elevator. It was late and I was getting off work, and I wanted to get home. The elevator door opens, and Demi and someone else with her were the only ones there. I step in and her friend gets in front of me to block my way, and tells me I can’t get in. I’m like, what? I can see Demi is very pregnant, and this was near the time she did that nude pregnant cover for Vanity Fair. Anyway, her friend (?) or assistant (?) explains that Demi needs the whole space of the elevator and would I please grant her this privilege. I was tired and irritable, and didn’t feel like playing celebrity games with anyone. I pretty much ignored it, and found a corner opposite Demi and her friend, to give her plenty of space. Her friend got real irritated and started yelling at me, while Demi stayed calm, but she shot me a dirty cold stare. Oh well, guess I wasn’t enamored of her enough. I kept my ground and they kept theirs as they hurried off the elevator ahead of me, once we got to the parking level. I let them get way ahead of me as I stepped out into the underground parking lot …

And then there was the time … of Denzel. Yes, there are a few stars out there that you only have to mention their first name and everyone knows who you mean. It seems that Denzel had a office a couple floors above mine at the studio I worked at. I had the habit of eating a late lunch, and he must have had a similar habit. Because I used to see him in, yes, even again, quite a number of times in the elevator going down to the lobby to go to lunch. Usually he was met by an attractive woman in the lobby, his wife I’m assuming. I never said anything to him and usually the elevator was pretty full the times I was in it with him. However, on one particular day, I squeezed into an already full elevator. Just as the doors about shut, a hand stuck in, stopping the door and he stepped in. I moved over, as he got in tight right next to me. Then he did what I had seen him do many times before. Practically put his nose right to where the elevator shut, making sure to avoid eye contact with everyone. And then he’d be the first one off the elevator, in quite a hurry. But this time we were tucked in like sardines and I was rubbed up against him. He faced the elevator crack and I was close to the elevator buttons. At one point I glanced over and up at him. He was taller than me, and seemed to be the 6′ height on his IMDB page. He must have felt me looking at him, as he just glanced over at me. I nodded and smiled at him. He then went into his stoic stare at the elevator, but cracked a smile back, a small acknowledgment. I had to chuckle inside at that, and then the doors opened and he was rapidly gone. I’ve heard through the grapevine that he is a genuinely nice guy …

And then there was the time … actually several times. I would see Bob Hope tooling around Toluca Lake (which borders Burbank where I worked at the time) in his pink caddy convertible. Usually it was when I was walking somewhere to lunch, and I would see him drive by. But my first encounter with him had happened a while before all that. I had just started working in Burbank (late ’80’s), and was walking by a park where I saw a small crowd of people and a stage. So I was curious and saw Hope up on the stage talking. Apparently they were dedicating a new street name to him. I got close to the stage as there really weren’t that many people there. After he was done, he walked through the small crowd, thanking people. He shook a few hands here and there, but not mine. But he did stop and thank me for coming, as he did a number of other people. He seemed a kind, gentle soul. But my other encounter with him was more direct. Fast forward a couple years … I’m walking down the street in Toluca Lake … and Hope is parking his caddy right where I’m walking by … he gets out and smiles at me and I can’t resist … I say ‘Thanks for the memories’ as I walk by … he shoots me a not-so-friendly stare, but then smiles and waves at me … I wave back. Good guy. I bet a conversation with him would have been very interesting.

And then there was the time … of a long, involved phone conversation with Stephanie Powers. Let me set it up. I was working in a financial department of a major studio and she had a piece of the TV series ‘Hart to Hart.’ Somehow I got saddled with the task of talking to a very upset Powers, who didn’t feel she was getting all that was due her. After she calmed down, we got into a very nice, very intriguing conversation. I got the feeling that she just needed someone to talk to. She began discussing her life, then about her marriage to William Holden, then about the African art they collected, and on to several other topics. It ended with her inviting me to a showing of that art collection. Maybe I should have gone, but didn’t. A compelling woman.

And then there was the time … I worked on an indie film that featured Sally Kirkland. Another intriguing woman. One night late I sat with her in her car, and had an intriguing spiritual conversation with her. Turns out we did a similar type of meditation. She told me a lot about her life, some that was fairly personal and which she might have regretted later. But then, maybe not. She may be that kind of person, which didn’t really bother me. Sometimes people just want others to listen to them. Funny, I saw her years later at a film festival where our film “Dreams Awake” had won a couple awards. She had also won an award for her work in a film screening there.

And then there was the time … Peter Guber and Jon Peters. Two big producers who left Warner Brothers to run Sony Pictures after it became Sony when Coca-Cola sold it. One day while doing some auditing work, I needed to get some legal documents pertaining to a particular film project, which I found out were in Peter Guber’s personal office. There apparently was a reason that they were needed in a timely fashion. Once I actually got into his office, in which both he, Jon, and another party were having a meeting, there was bit of a tense standoff. It seemed he didn’t want to give them up, but after a bit of a tug-of-war and some pressure from my boss, I finagled them away and got back out of there. Whew, that was a bit nerve racking.

And then there was the time … of some short takes. Here are several encounters that were brief. I sat next to a booth where Jonathan Winters was sitting, and could hear a lot of the conversation he was having with another person. Mostly about the TV show he was currently in with Randy Quad, called ‘Davis Rules.’ He was not a happy camper. … Another, Tony Danza helped emcee a studio employee Xmas party I was at. And Arnold Schwarzenegger drove up in a Humvee and hopped up on stage for an appearance. When I worked in Venice at a commercial production company several years before that, I used to see Arnold leave his office, which was across the street from ours, on his way to the gym down the street. I once saw him trip over a curb and take a nasty spill hitting his head, which might have knocked out a normal person. I went out to see if he was all right, but he was gone. However, there was blood on the curb. Hhhmmm … Another, Bill Murry was at another company party. While on the dance floor, his personal assistant made sure no one got too close to him. Apparently he needed his space to be ‘creative.’ Whereas, I can understand the basic principle, he was pretty much in a semi-public place, and his assistant seemed a bit too controlling. But we all stayed clear of him, except for a couple of people who creeped near him. She ‘took care of them.’ … Another, Ronald Reagan, who I saw give a speech while running for the GOP nomination in 1976. Afterwards, he walked right near me, shaking hands, and shook the hands of a guy right next to me. I made eye contact with him and he hesitated a couple beats. Oddly, it felt like we had made some kind of connection. He had a lot of charisma and gave a pretty good speech, but I was pretty non-involved and non-committed politically in those days (as I still am for the most part) … Another, when at lunch with friends we met up with Ed Marinaro and Sela Ward, who one of my friends knew … Another, I was in a screenwriting class with Melanie Mayron, and as we were sitting next to each other we got paired together to work on some of the screenwriting tips discussed in class. She was nice, and smart.

And then there was the time … Some short takes on the studio lot: I once had to go to Ray Stark‘s (big time producer) office on the studio lot to deliver some legal paperwork and had a few words with him; I was walking by Clint Eastwood‘s Malpaso Productions office on the studio lot as he came out and got in his pickup, and we shared quick ‘howdy’s’; again I was walking on the lot and across the street going the opposite direction was Kevin Kostner, who was surrounded by a group of Japanese (I’m assuming) all dressed in suits. He was a fair amount taller than all of them, so he stuck out and I was a bit amused as he seemed bugged by the situation. We did make eye contact, and he just shrugged and smiled at me. I nodded and smiled back as I went on to do my business on the lot; Some of us at the studio would sometimes have lunch with Billy Hayes, of ‘Midnight Express’ fame and whose incident it portrayed, and who was a financial participant of said project. In picking up his check he usually had stories about his exploits to pass along to us.

And then there was the time … Some short takes at film festivals where either “Dreams Awake” screened or my “One Hand Clapping” screenplay won an award. I had some intriguing verbal exchanges with John Savage, Lee Majors,and Donovan at these events.

And then there was the time … I just had to end with a funny encounter once again on an elevator. This time with ‘Princess Leia’ and ‘The Force.’ I was packed in a tight elevator full of people, when all of a sudden the elevator stopped abruptly, stuck between floors. Some tense moments passed as people tried to figure out what to do. Seeing that Carrie Fisher was on the elevator with us, I said in a voice everyone on the elevator could hear, “May the Force be with us.” Several people laughed and chuckled. But Carrie gave me a cold stare, obviously not amused. Oh well. And then suddenly the elevator became unstuck, and everyone rushed out …

Anyway, if you’d like to read about some others I had met and had written about in a previous post, read here — Defining Moments, which includes Hunter S. Thompson, Liz Carpenter, Bill Wittliff, and Ethan and Joel Coen (the Coen Brothers).

Anyway, fun stuff to pass along and maybe even entertain you a bit … enjoy!

JAD

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