Harv
Elite Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2000
- Messages
- 3,346
- Tractor
- Kubota L2500DT Standard Transmission
Hmmm... /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif
I'm full of stories that nobody wants to hear, but Steve opened the door, your honor. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
My only real brush with celebs came about when my girlfriend at the time was accepted to be a contestant on the Hollywood Squares show. It was taped in Burbank, California, and she had family in the area, so we flew down and stayed for a couple of days for her TV debut.
As a guest of a contestant, I was privileged to sit in the front row, right down on the floor while the showbiz types paraded by all day. They tape 6 shows in one day, and the stars are rotated in and out between shows. It's interesting to see these famous folk as plain ol' people when they're not on camera. Some are just as you're used to seeing them. Some are totally different. Some are warm and friendly to the audience. Others are, well... not. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif Then there a few who are so enamored of themselves, it wouldn't matter if there was an audience or not.
Not to besmirch the reputations of you favorite personalities, but this was so long ago, you probably don't know who they are anyway. I was surprisingly put off by Anson Williams (Potsie - Happy Days) 'cuz he seemed convinced that every person, audience and other celebs alike, and all the cameras in the studio were there just to see him. When he came by shaking hands between shows, I managed to be looking the other way. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif Similar experience with Robert Goulet, except he didn't want to touch anybody.
The truly nice guys that I recall were Paul Williams (singer, songwriter, actor), and Abe Vigoda (from Barney Miller), who seemed genuinely pleased to shake my hand and say hello. Abe was incredibly warm and kind. Since I was sitting on the very end, where the stars waited for their turn on the set, I had a chance to have a little conversation with <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.zxcproductions.com/web/Abe/abeface13.jpg>"Fish"</A> (Abe's name on the show). He asked all the questions, wanting to know what brought me to the show, which one was my girlfriend, have I been to Burbank before, etc. Definitely the kinda guy you'd like to break bread with. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif
Now, that end seat I was in had one fatal drawback, as it turned out. I was generally looking to the left, where the set was, not paying a lot of attention to anything to my immediate right unless I heard a celebrity voice or something. So imagine how I felt when I casually swung my elbow up to the right-hand armrest and hammered this luckless fellow in the groin. I hadn't heard him approach and I really powered into him. All I could think to say was, "Why, you're McLean Stevenson (Colonel Henry Blake - M*A*S*H), aren't you?
Despite his pain, he seemed more concerned about my embarrassment than his own discomfort. Luckily, he was another one of the super nice guys.
Oh, I just remembered -- the company I worked for a while back, Novell, introduced a new product called LAN Ranger, so we hired Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) to be in our booth at the big trade show in San Francisco that year. I got to spend plenty of time with him, but he mostly made me sad 'cuz the guy was getting along in years and seemed a little dejected at being reduced to wearing his tight pants and mask for a bunch of computer geeks. /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif
I'm full of stories that nobody wants to hear, but Steve opened the door, your honor. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
My only real brush with celebs came about when my girlfriend at the time was accepted to be a contestant on the Hollywood Squares show. It was taped in Burbank, California, and she had family in the area, so we flew down and stayed for a couple of days for her TV debut.
As a guest of a contestant, I was privileged to sit in the front row, right down on the floor while the showbiz types paraded by all day. They tape 6 shows in one day, and the stars are rotated in and out between shows. It's interesting to see these famous folk as plain ol' people when they're not on camera. Some are just as you're used to seeing them. Some are totally different. Some are warm and friendly to the audience. Others are, well... not. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif Then there a few who are so enamored of themselves, it wouldn't matter if there was an audience or not.
Not to besmirch the reputations of you favorite personalities, but this was so long ago, you probably don't know who they are anyway. I was surprisingly put off by Anson Williams (Potsie - Happy Days) 'cuz he seemed convinced that every person, audience and other celebs alike, and all the cameras in the studio were there just to see him. When he came by shaking hands between shows, I managed to be looking the other way. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif Similar experience with Robert Goulet, except he didn't want to touch anybody.
The truly nice guys that I recall were Paul Williams (singer, songwriter, actor), and Abe Vigoda (from Barney Miller), who seemed genuinely pleased to shake my hand and say hello. Abe was incredibly warm and kind. Since I was sitting on the very end, where the stars waited for their turn on the set, I had a chance to have a little conversation with <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.zxcproductions.com/web/Abe/abeface13.jpg>"Fish"</A> (Abe's name on the show). He asked all the questions, wanting to know what brought me to the show, which one was my girlfriend, have I been to Burbank before, etc. Definitely the kinda guy you'd like to break bread with. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif
Now, that end seat I was in had one fatal drawback, as it turned out. I was generally looking to the left, where the set was, not paying a lot of attention to anything to my immediate right unless I heard a celebrity voice or something. So imagine how I felt when I casually swung my elbow up to the right-hand armrest and hammered this luckless fellow in the groin. I hadn't heard him approach and I really powered into him. All I could think to say was, "Why, you're McLean Stevenson (Colonel Henry Blake - M*A*S*H), aren't you?
Oh, I just remembered -- the company I worked for a while back, Novell, introduced a new product called LAN Ranger, so we hired Clayton Moore (The Lone Ranger) to be in our booth at the big trade show in San Francisco that year. I got to spend plenty of time with him, but he mostly made me sad 'cuz the guy was getting along in years and seemed a little dejected at being reduced to wearing his tight pants and mask for a bunch of computer geeks. /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif
I was a "Non- descript Vehicle" in " A Sure Thing". When they shoot driving scenes they shut down a section of road and pull the cars the actors are in on a specially built trailer. The trailer has ramps all the way around the camera people, director, etc. stand on to film the inside the car shots. They hire people to drive their cars by so they don't have people craining their heads and waving or running into the film rig and screwing up the shot. They gave us Motorolas and spent most of one day trying to teach us ( some of us had a hard time with simple concepts!) which way was east and which way was west on the road they had "rented" . Then we spent three or four days getting sent east or west past the film rig or driving past their driver. They had a Volvo that stayed on the trailer and one they actually drove on the road. In between shots we'd play football with the cast and with Rob Reiner, the director. I can't remember the actors names in the movie, it was a low budget movie and I didn't care anyway. One thing about working movies, they do serve good grub. Doing extra work was good for getting my old man off my back about getting a real job for a couple of weeks here and there.
