tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66236398218431646052024-02-19T00:01:23.347-08:00The Hollywood GalTerrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-10231723488513664472013-06-18T20:23:00.001-07:002013-06-24T19:21:47.565-07:00Star Wear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have always been a rag hag. No, that is not a typo. I was the other kind too, but before that, I was a rag hag. I have always loved<br />
clothes. I love fashion, design, period clothes, fabrics and trims. And don't forget the accessories! Shoes, hats, bags, jewelry!<br />
I still remember favorites from childhood. The little halter crop tops, with the ruffle around the neckline and shoulders. The shorts with the rockets and planets on them. The dress with the strawberries. And I could go on and on about the cute little mini skirts and Mod numbers I wore as a teen.<br />
I loved dressing my dolls, the baby dolls and Barbies alike, and the more accessories the better! I designed clothes for my paper dolls.<br />
My mother was a beautiful seamstress. She made look-a-like outfits for me and my three sisters every holiday. We looked like little dolls. She taught me to sew, and I made doll clothes. Later, I designed and sewed my own one of a kind fashions.<br />
It seemed only natural, that one of my many jobs I had to supplement my movie and tv work was at a Hollywood costume house. The premiere Hollywood Costume House, Palace Costume. The owner, Melody, had been collecting for years. Her impeccable collection of vintage clothes from the 1900's, to the 50's, 60', and 70's is in constant use in movies and tv shows. We who worked there, were in charge of it all. The Gown Room, The Depression Collection, The Victorian Whites, The Men's Room, the Jewelry Room, The Children's Room. Each day, there would be something that needed to be done in one department or another. From pulling clothes for a period movie, to putting it all away when it came back in. Repairing, steaming wrinkles, and keeping it all orderly. Sometimes it was hard work, like moving racks of clothes around re-arranging departments, or digging in barrels of shoes to find the right pair. But all those clothes! The periods! The styles! The fabric, the prints and the patterns! Looking at all those clothes,and thinking back on all those time periods and how things were, was always enjoyable to me.<br />
Sometimes, stars would come in for fittings with the costumers. We decked out Bette Midler in vintage finery for a magazine photo shoot. Martin Sheen came in reeking of booze. We had to tell David Bowie he couldn't smoke in the Gown Room!<br />
Everyone who worked there was into clothes. We would buy and collect, and look for things for the shop. Melody was always buying. Sometimes, when my closets would get a little too packed, or I could use a few extra bucks, I would sell some things to Melody. My clothes funded my first trip to Europe! (Where I met up with Melody in Paris!) Sometimes, I was a little sorry when I sold something. I would see it in the shop, and think, "I want that back". But, hey, Europe was calling!<br />
All these clothes, in all these movies! I started to recognize some of the clothes from the shop in movies. Some of them used to be mine.<br />
The first time it happened, I was watching "Rush" with Jennifer Jason Leigh, about an undercover drug agent who became addicted. I suddenly gasped in recognition. Hey, she's wearing my skirt! I had collected men's ties from the 30's and 40's, for years. When you could still find them for 50c and $1. Autumn colors, gold, red, orange brown, yellow, with great deco designs. When I finally got enough, I split them open,and sewed them all together into a skirt. It was a really great unique piece. I missed it. After that first stab of recognition, I thought it was pretty cool. Something of mine, that I made was being worn by a star in a movie! She probably thought it was cool.<br />
It happened a couple more times. In the movie, "Hollywoodland", about the tv Superman, Diane Lane is wearing a sweater my aunt had given to me. Soft pink cashmere, with black lace insets at the bandeau neckline, and 3/4 length sleeves. Hey! She's got my sweater on! So pretty. Why did I sell that!?<br />
The third time, I was watching the tv movie, "Temple Grandin". Claire Danes plays the autistic woman who developed a more humane procedure to slaughter cattle. She was known for her decorative cowboy shirts.<br />
I had a really nice brown one. Wool gabardine, with piping, embroidery, and applique cowboys on it. I wore it with a brown leather mini skirt and cowboy boots. So, I'm watching this tv movie, and she's wearing one cool cowboy shirt after another, and then, "Oh my god! She's wearing my cowboy shirt!" Oh, that was a nice one. Guess I wasn't into brown anymore. <br />
As much as I miss some of my old clothes, like a long lost friend, it was kind of fun to see them being worn by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Diane Lane, and Claire Danes in the movies.<br />
My clothes got better gigs than I did.<br />
<br />Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-17255663751859868872011-11-09T22:04:00.000-08:002011-11-10T20:39:35.738-08:00Newhart<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsXS8952Xxlc3PgbbbVvzGoqOQ98VHxAh_bDrXwR2btlqA4CDh-0nZjiZtrU5fYIz7-o-VgnjrwjtFUSIP2B3xlAMaOn-rjlqUbNv2tjIrsrSVajurkPYkHprVIJtDje4vYYkW0OyKmlW/s1600/n600674124_1804854_7205861.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidsXS8952Xxlc3PgbbbVvzGoqOQ98VHxAh_bDrXwR2btlqA4CDh-0nZjiZtrU5fYIz7-o-VgnjrwjtFUSIP2B3xlAMaOn-rjlqUbNv2tjIrsrSVajurkPYkHprVIJtDje4vYYkW0OyKmlW/s320/n600674124_1804854_7205861.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5673266617529107026" border="0" /></a><br />When I look back on my measly little mini-career, I feel like I started at the top, and worked my way down. Several cult hit films, (of course we didn't know it at the time). Several top ten shows, with top name stars. (and then it descended into, what's the name of this, and who's in it? Who? And then on to, "We just want your car", just like Norma Desmond) The first of those Top Ten shows, was Newhart.<br /><br />I had met Julia Duffy on her show, "Wizards and Warriors". I was her stand-in. Blonde, petite. I got many jobs with those qualifications. The show had many stunts, so she also had a stunt double. They made her be the stand-in too. I got the boot.<br /><br />Later, I had been working on "The Love Boat" frequently, as background, and when they needed a short stand-in, for kids or petite actresses, I would get a call. So, one day there was Julia Duffy, guest starring, and I was to be her stand-in again. She said,"I remember you, I've been trying to find you! I am on "Newhart" now,and I want you to be my stand-in". The start of 6 years working on a top ten, heck, maybe even top 5 show, with a big name star. The Wonderful David Steinberg, and Dick Martin, of Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-In", directed many of them.<br /><br />I came on season 3, I believe, I was on it 6 years, and I think it went for 9.<br /><br />It was great from the get go. But not to say it was not without any drama! Bob Newhart is very mellow, and the set reflected his attitude. He really had it down. If you watch the shows, notice that he rarely moves from one spot. Everyone revolves around him. He does his schtick, and plays off all these crazy characters.The less he had to do the better. He didn't even change out of his wardrobe after the show. He wore it home, and the wardrobe guy went and picked it up. He told the writers and producers, when they offered him a show, that he didn't want any wise cracking kids.<br />He knows what works for him, and what he wants. He was never crazy about the wife.<br /><br />God Bless Mary Frann, RIP. She was a ray of sunshine on the set, always smiling and greeting everyone. But she had some annoying tics, and was constantly mugging. Bob, would edge away from her as she mugged away, so she wouldn't be in the shot. And those sweaters! God! I think she found them herself, had wardrobe buy them, and then kept 'em. Well, after a few years, she started to want more. I think agents put actors up to this. Pulling little trips, like showing up late to the set; everyone waiting for her. Pissed Bob off. So, he would open his dressing room door, which was right next to hers, and shut it, so she would think he went to the set. Well, after many antics and posturing, and contract demands, and stories in the tabloids, she was told that the name of the show was not "Frann", and until it was, she better cut it out. You can be replaced, you know, Chickie, Baby.<br /><br />Even though I worked with Julia for 10 years, on two shows after that, we never became friends. We had a friendly, professional relationship. I really liked her, and loved her work. She was not quite the free spirit that I was. A little staid. Married to an older man. We were very different, but I appreciated her, and her loyalty to me. We worked well together.<br /><br />Bob and Tom Poston were buds. They had lunch together every day. Wow, can you imagine those coversations!? Tom was a dear, and I loved watching him on tv when I was a kid.<br /><br />The audience would get very excited whenever Larry, Darryl and Darryl were on the show. I used to stand in for one of the Darryls as well. The blonde one. John Voldstadt, and Tony Pappenfus were excellent, trained actors, who had the perfect job. They made a decent living, working every few weeks. I hung out with them some, and they told me their agents didn't want them to take the job, because they didn't have any lines!! Agents can be idiots. They got famous, hello!? Harpo! Hello!? Everyone loved them! I really think there was a lost opportunity for them, but the creators of the show owned the characters, and did not allow them to do anything without approval. They all could have made a fortune in merchandising!<br /><br />One time I asked Tony, Darryl #1, what he did to his hair to get it to look like that. He said, "Oh, I just let it do it's thing."<br /><br />John, Darryl #2, met a girl on a golf promo trip to the south, married her, had a baby, and she left him, and the baby, when the show got canceled!<br /><br />Larry, Bill Sanderson has had quite a nice career as a character actor since then. He is from Memphis, and used to hang out with Elvis when he was a teen. Went to the midnight movies and amusement parks. One time, I went to visit him in his dressing room, and he was listening to country music, reading the bible, drinking Jack Daniels, and chewing tobacco all at the same time.That was such a satisfying, exquisite, moment. Some actors can make it look easy. Bill made it look really, really hard. Rehearsals could be excruciating. But he always pulled it out for the show. He always wore a quarter in one ear, as Larry, and he said he saw an old black man do that, and decided to use it for the character. He used to leave his tobacco spit cups all over the set.<br /><br />All the other stand-ins on the show were former dancers, who worked on all the variety shows, and Elvis and beach movies, I watched growing up, and were in all the tour companies for all the big Broadway musicals of the 50's and 60's! Way Cool! They call themselves gypsies.<br /><br />Once in awhile, I would get a little part, or voice over, or if on a rare occasion, Julia couldn't be there for rehearsal, I would have to rehearse for her. It can be intimidating, to rehearse with all the cast, but I was a trained actress, so I felt competent. They paid a lot more for that at the time, as well. While rehearsing with Bob, he wouldn't even look at me in the scene. And after rehearsal, over in craft service, he came over, and right next to me, asked the AD, when Julia was coming back. And not a thanks or a "good job" to me. I thought that was very insensitive. I guess he was uncomfortable rehearsing with someone else.<br /><br />The last season, they did an episode where Peter Scolari's character creates a tv show for Stephanie. Twins, like the Patty Duke Show. the episode is called, "Seeing Double". They gave me a a co-starring role, with billing, as the "other" twin. It's a pretty hilarious episode, and even though my back was to the camera, and I had no lines, there was a lot of business, and action. And Don Knotts was in the episode to boot! Between scenes, the warm-up guy, took questions from the audience, and someone asked about me. So I waved my hand out from behind the set, and it got a big laugh. It was a lot of fun to do, and after the show, Julia thanked me for being such a "rock". After curtain call, I went back to hair and make-up, and they ripped the wig off me, and were ready to take off. I was incredulous. My hair was a mess, and their stuff was all packed up, and I said, "I'm going out after this!" They looked at me like, "Huh?" and I made them take out their fucking curling iron, so I could fix my own fucking hair. Hair Bitches. Had to ruin my high! But, hey, it is on You Tube! Enjoy!Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-60275404473521489892011-08-11T21:12:00.001-07:002011-08-11T22:24:35.320-07:00And All That Jazz<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.pisgah.org/foric/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/053bobfosse1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 326px; height: 326px;" src="http://www.pisgah.org/foric/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/053bobfosse1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>
<br />Growing up in Los Angeles, one of the local tv stations had "The Million Dollar Movie", and they would show the same movie everyday for a week. My sisters and I, if we liked a particular movie, would watch it everyday. One of our favorites that I remember was "Damn Yankees". We liked the swear word in the title, especially. "Let's watch DAMN Yankees again!" Haha! We loved sexy Gwen Verdon, and would imitate her number, "What Ever Lola Wants". Lola gets! Yeah! I learned that choreographer means the one who made up the dances. Bob Fosse. He knew what he was doing. I mimicked Bob Fosse's moves as a moppet.
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<br />Imagine my excitement, years later, while working at the beautiful Pantages theater, that we were going to have the premiere of "Sweet Charity"! Starring one of my favorites, Shirley MacLaine, and directed and CHOREOGRAPHED by the one and only, Bob Fosse!
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<br />Working the premieres at the beautiful Pantages theater, was so fun and exciting. The girls all had to wear formals, and the guys in tuxedos. I finally got to wear a formal! I never went to my high school prom. (Not that sad of a story; I was not into school at all, but felt like I should have gone, just to go. My social life was at the theater.) But I think a Hollywood Premiere beats a high school prom anyway! (Plus, I got to go to the prom on "Carrie"!)
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<br />So, the night of the "Sweet Charity" premiere, my co-worker, Nancy and I decided we were going to talk to Bob Fosse. We were encouraged to mingle, to act as hostesses, so it was not like we were just some FANS--NO, we were working. It was part of the job.
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<br />There he was in the lobby, by one of those big, cylindrical ashtrays, with the sand in it, that we had to ever so carefully sweep the butts out of. That was part of the job too. Kinda like Cinderella.
<br />So, anyway, there was Bob, with the ubiquitous cigarette; the smoke swirling around his head, while he squinted. We approached him, and introduced ourselves, and told him how we loved his work, and were thrilled to have "Sweet Charity", at our theater. He was very kind, a bit shy, and somewhat skittish. He shook our hands, and his was a little clammy.
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<br />After the premiere, Nancy and I wrote him a letter, and told him how great it was to meet him, and how nice he was. I don't know where we got an address, but back then, I guess it was easier.
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<br />Well, we were so astonished when a letter to us arrived at the theater! It was poorly typed, with strike outs, and no proper letter format. It was just a few sentences, but he was very gracious, and said he enjoyed talking with us, and said he was a bit nervous that night. Wow! Really. You're that good, and you still get nervous. I never thought of that before. I think I still have the letter somewhere.
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<br />Flash forward, years later, I am on an audition at Paramount. Some Tony Marshall thing. You know, "Happy Days" guy. Father to Penny Marshall, Garry Marshall, and Ronny Hallin. So I go in to read for Tony Marshall. A sitcom. Heightened reality. A lot of energy. Comic timing. Ok, I was in The Groundlings, I think I had the tools to do the job. So, I've got the script, and I'm reading, being all perky, and selling it, and he stops me and says, "Don't act." I was dumbstruck. Um, ok, be more real he means. Lines like, "But Dad, it's the 70's!" I gave it my best shot, and didn't really feel I was connecting with the material. I left feeling a little dejected, and like I did a bad job. So hanging my head walking across the lot, I passed by a row of townhouses, like a little village, and on one of the doors, the nameplate said, "Bob Fosse". Oh, wow. Bob Fosse. Remembering meeting him. I walked in the door, and spoke to the receptionist, and told her I had met him before, and she said, "Just a minute", and she went in his office and came out and showed me in!
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<br />He greeted me warmly, and invited me to sit down, and we chatted a bit. I had my portfolio with me, and I asked if he would like to see it. He looked through all my photos. There were some rather avant garde photos included with Joey Arias. We were very much inspired by Dali, and Bob Fosse, in our poses. I thought he would dig it. He said, "These are strange". I thought it strange of him to say that. He asked me if I would like to read for him. Really exciting. I cannot remember what the project was, but he handed me a script, I read it over, and then we cold read the scene together. Yes. Then he said to me, "You did that very well." Cloud 9! I floated out of there. I decided to believe Bob Fosse.
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<br />Later, I thought about what a strange experience it had been to feel so awful about one audition, and only minutes later, feel so elated about another one! Hollywood.
<br />Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-88618753639339815602011-07-07T21:41:00.000-07:002011-07-08T00:32:06.635-07:00Villa Vanessa<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/1210/slide_1210_18506_large.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 550px; height: 400px;" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/1210/slide_1210_18506_large.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I was working in the premiere costume house in LA, Palace Costume. The owner, Melody, is known for her impeccable, pristine collection of period clothes. Any period movie made in the last 30 years, probably has wardrobe from Palace. The place is decorated beautifully, with faux finished walls and floors, and tasteful displays throughout. I've always loved clothes, period costumes, and sewing, so it was a fun place to work in between acting, background, or stand-in jobs. Sometimes stars would come in for fittings. Martin Sheen and Bette Midler were two memorable ones.<br /><br />The summer of my 30th year, I was planning a European vacation, my first time, and Melody happened to be planning a trip as well. We discovered we would both be in Paris at the same time!<br /><br />I had plans to visit several major cities where I had a friend to stay with. Then, I got to Paris, and Melody, and her fabulous gay friend, Bill, were staying only blocks from me. They would be going down to St. Tropez, where Bill's friends, Jeff and Dell, were caretakers at Tony Richardson's villa, in the hills above the quaint, ancient fishing village, that became a jet set destination. Why don't I come along!? Fabulous! Tony Richardson's villa!! Vanessa Redgrave's husband! Tom Jones! The Loved One!! Wow.<br /><br />It took 2 hours just to get out of the city, but soon we were driving in the countryside, singing and telling scary stories, talking about philosophy,ufo's, and telling dirty jokes; me, Melody, Jeff, Dell, and Bill all packed into a little Renault. Finally arrived at the ancient country villa at 4 am. Couldn't sleep right away, Melody and I stayed up and talked. As the rooster crowed, we went to sleep. We each had our own room.<br /><br />Bill woke us up about 11, and Jeff and Dell gave us a tour of the place. The villa was very big, but very old, 300 years. Very rustic, very french country. It had 15 bedrooms, in the main house, and a couple of other buildings. The grounds had lots of fruit trees, and a huge pool on a hill, overlooking more hills, and part of the area is woodsy, with a brook. There are chickens and other birds, including a peacock, that screeched loudly. Also, 5 cats and 2 guinea pigs. Jeff and Dell had been caretakers there for 2 years, picking up visitors, and taking them into St. Tropez, shopping, cooking, cleaning, they were getting a little sick of it. Really? As we walked around the place, you could see that it was all hand crafted. Huge, thick beams, with worm holes. The walls are all uneven, no straight lines or precision engineering. The floors were all a little crooked, or sloping.<br /><br />Walking around the place, I started to think about Vanessa and her girls being here. She was always one of my favorite actresses, and I was in awe of her as a young acting student. Like specters, Vanessa and the girls, followed us into each room. Where did Vanessa stay? Did the girls run through the house? Later, out sunning by the pool, I imagined Vanessa and the girls cavorting and splashing in the water. Each time I pictured them, it made me smile.<br /><br />I took a long walk later, down the dirt road, and was struck by how much the area reminded me of the Hollywood Hills. Same climate and terrain. The whole place was picturesque, and serene. Life has been this idyllic here for hundreds of years, I thought. Who lived here before? Who walked these rocky mountain roads? Did Vanessa take walks here, too? <br /><br />Later, the guys made a beautiful dinner of fish, stuffed with shrimp, and salad. We ate by candlelight in the kitchen, at a long wooden table, with classical music playing, and good wine. I imagined Vanessa and the girls in the kitchen, preparing meals and talking and laughing. Sitting down at the same table we were sitting at. It was all so delicious.<br /><br />Later we went disco dancing in St. Tropez. Nightclubs are all the same everywhere. Walking along the water, there were many yachts docked that were as big as my apartment building.<br /><br />The next day were were going to a wedding in Marseilles. Friends of Bill. I woke up in my french country bedroom, and leaned out my french country villa window, and perused the landscape. French Country. The peacock and the cats were playing. Did Vanessa's girls play with the cats and peacock? Charming to think about. Jeff brought me coffee in my room, and we got ready to go.<br /><br /> After St. Tropez, Marseilles is a little down market. we went to the wrong wedding, and then finally found the right one, and after a brief ceremony, the partying began! Course after course, with wine in between, and then more wine. Took 3 hours to eat dinner. Then we danced. I was just drunk enough to get up and sing for the bride. I had been taking voice lessons, and sang for a couple of hours in the car on the way down, so I was in good form. I picked something easy, "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows", and "My Man" which I dedicated to the bride. She came over and kissed me. The whole thing went on for 10 hours, til 2am! We crashed at a charming sea side hotel overlooking the Mediterranean, and drove back to St. Tropez in the morning.<br /><br />We sunned by the pool most of the day, and then went into town. We window shopped, and looked at all the artist's work on the street.<br />Walking along the line of yachts, I saw some guys on one and they called me over. I went aboard, and they offered me some wine. One or two spoke some english. They were italian. The boat was huge, 60-75 ft. with 4 bedrooms. Incredibly beautiful, fantastic, gorgeous sailboat. The Serikon. We had a nice visit, and I visited them again the next day. They invited me to go with them, to an island, the day after that, and offered me my own room. Sooo tempting. But I was at the end of my trip, and had to get back to Amsterdam for my flight home. I bid adieu to the boys on the Serikon, and Melody and Bill and I stayed in town til dark, and then when we got back to the villa, went skinny dipping under the moonlight. <br /><br />The next day, Bill and Melody drove me along the French Rivera, to the closest train station. It was a gorgeous drive along the coast, dotted with tiny resort towns. All on the way to Cannes, Nice, and Monte Carlo. Sorry I would be missing those. I said au revior to Melody and Bill.<br /><br />On the train, I wrote in my journal about my time at the "Villa Vanessa". It was such a wonderful, enchanting part of my trip. So special to think that I was staying in the home of one of my favorite actresses of all time! I knew that I would cherish these memories for a very long time.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-86262312351429726432011-06-24T22:33:00.000-07:002011-06-25T16:38:28.375-07:00Toulouse Colombo<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwS83pZA-dVJzvflI2FvlrggeKYrXRkjn6LVGmYGirp6tT_Yg7d2eLLEdHsEt9PnUzrGDg8-BEMHH3RlYH0Kw3BfW0hCUY6wbdBGVyybVs866JgksMCYhnu-I-h2rwwm-k8AS-A55R90Fk/s400/PeterFalk81.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwS83pZA-dVJzvflI2FvlrggeKYrXRkjn6LVGmYGirp6tT_Yg7d2eLLEdHsEt9PnUzrGDg8-BEMHH3RlYH0Kw3BfW0hCUY6wbdBGVyybVs866JgksMCYhnu-I-h2rwwm-k8AS-A55R90Fk/s400/PeterFalk81.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />It was the night of my 21st birthday, and my roommate, Zoe, who I met when we were both usherettes and candy girls at the fabulous Pantages Theater, decided we would go out to....a bar! There was this place on Cahuenga West, Reuben's, across the freeway from Universal Studios. It was one of those semi-upscale dinner-steak house type places that people went to for birthdays. Dark wood, big booths. A Lounge with a 70's style singer-songwriter for entertainment. Of course it was a studio hang; I guess that is why were were there. <br />So, we were sitting at a table in the lounge,listening to some mellow tunes, and over at the bar, was Peter Falk, and Peter Bonerz. We of course recognized them, and soon we were chatting. They were filming god knows what, at Universal, and it was going to be awhile before they were needed, so they had gone in search of some liquid refreshment. So, while we were chatting, they invited us back to the studio with them! Well, this was years before I started working in the Biz! I was just a wanna-be Strasberg acting student.I had never been on a studio lot before! So this was very exciting! We followed them over in Zoe's car, and after they went through the guard gate, the guard waved us on! All Right!<br />We went into a dressing room, and they hunkered down, it was going to be a long night.<br />Peter Falk picked up a sketch pad and he kept drawing. Real quick, very few strokes, one right after the other. I was sitting at the make-up counter, with the lighted mirror, with my elbow, up on the counter, and my hand touching the side of my head. We continued our little visit, chatting and laughing until the AD came to tell them they would be ready for them soon. As we got up to leave and said our good-byes, Peter Falk tore off a page of his sketchbook, and handed it to me. It was a sketch of me sitting at the make-up table. He signed it, For Terry. Toulouse. Not to win, but Toulouse. <br /><br />Many years later, I was working in the casting department at Warner Brothers, and I would manage to get myself little parts here and there. I saw a script for a movie called "The In-Laws", and there was a scene in a dentist's office where there were several patients. "Hey, I could be one of these people", I said to the casting director. "Ok." <br /><br />I show up on the set, and I am immediately horrified by that yelling director, Arthur Hiller. I got to improvise a little bit; everyone needs to see the dentist, as Peter Falk's character drags him out of the office on his undercover caper.<br /><br />We did that short little nothing scene a kazillion times! I was surprised that the actors did not seem to be fazed by it. And Hiller just kept screaming about everything, and no one seemed to notice. He was wearing me down.<br /><br />I know that I probably mentioned to Peter that I had met him before, on my 21st birthday, and that he drew me, but I really can't remember the specifics. But it was fun to meet again, and this time, share the screen with him in such a cool movie!Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-4682900569750802342011-05-01T20:47:00.000-07:002011-05-02T13:24:49.461-07:00Roseanne<a href="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v4265/38/123/600674124/n600674124_1804855_6634510.jpg?dl=1"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 604px; height: 400px;" src="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-ash1/v4265/38/123/600674124/n600674124_1804855_6634510.jpg?dl=1" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I had just finished up the last season on "Designing Women", standing in for Julia Duffy, who I had worked with for 10 years, including, "Newhart",and "Baby Talk", (with a then unknown George Clooney). I got a call from my former co-worker on "Newhart". He heard that they were looking for a stand-in on Roseanne, who could read lines. They were introducing new characters, next door neighbors, and one was a girl about 11 or 12, so when she had to be in school, they needed a stand-in to rehearse for her. <br /><br />I went to the audition, and read, and they were concerned about me being able to work with big stars; I told them, no prob, and name dropped Bob Newhart, and all the Designing Women. I got the job.<br /><br />First day on the set, I walk up to Roseanne and introduced myself. "Hi, Roseanne, I'm Terry, I'll be standing in for Danielle Harris".<br />"She's not here today", she snarled, and walked past me.<br />I was dumbstruck. I loved Roseanne, was a big fan of the show, thought she was an amazing, talented, intelligent, brilliant, funny woman. All those are true. She is also a crazy bitch.<br /><br />A typical day. She would come schlepping onto the set, scuffing her feet, looking disheveled, like she just got up on the wrong side of the bed, had a fight at home, and hasn't had her coffee yet. There's a sneer on her face, and she doesn't say anything to anyone. If you happen to be in her path, and cheerfully greet her, "Good Morning, Roseanne", she looks very bored and weary, and mumbles a begrudging "morning", and shuffles past. After coffee, it doesn't get any better. Sometimes worse. <br /><br />If she doesn't start out telling some funny story, where the humor is at someone else's expense,then she'd start regaling a tale of some cruel stunt she pulled on someone. Like the time she wrote "Julia Loser Dry Puss" on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' car, in lipstick, when she and Tom had a fight over a parking space. Or, she is just as likely to start screaming at someone. "Where's my fucking coffee!?" was not unusual to hear. Or she might call someone a 'stupid fucking idiot". She once screamed at the director, "I'll say when to fucking cut!" She'd scream at the writers, "I have 21 of you motherfuckers! I want 10 new lines in half an hour, and they better be fucking funny, or someone is getting fired!". If she sees someone on the set she doesn't know, she'd yell, "Who the fuck is that!", or "Who the fuck are you?". If she can't hit her mark, she'd yell, "You've got four fucking cameras, can't you just follow me around!?" If she didn't want to do another take, she'd yell, "I ain't fuckin' doin' it again!", and walk off. She is in charge of everything, yet has no idea what it takes to do any of the jobs, and just expects any change of set, costume, script, can just be produced in the twinkling of an eye. If not, she'd start screaming at everyone. And firing people. She loved to fire people. <br /><br />This was around the time Tom and she were in the tabloids all the time. There was never a dull moment around there. They just fed on each others' insanity. <br /><br />Tom also surrounded himself with beautiful young women. He got Roseanne to hire Miss Iowa, (his home state) to be her stand-in. She couldn't read a line to save her life. Nice girl, though. His assistant was young and beautiful too. After one season, they dropped the neighbors. I was concerned about my job, but I was asked to be Roseanne's stand-in. Miss Iowa flew the coop. I think Tom must have hit on her. It was odd. She was just suddenly gone, but I was told that they were impressed with my reading, so they wanted me to do it. Ok, cool.<br /><br />Well, since they finally had someone capable, Roseanne decided she didn't want to rehearse anymore. There would be the table reading Monday morning, then Roseanne would announce that she was going shopping, and the A.D. would say, "Terry, you're up". I sometimes would have to run to the bathroom, I would be so nervous. (Sorry, but it's true.) I never got a chance to see the script before hand, so I just had to wing it. After rehearsing all day, I then had to be Roseanne for the network run-thru; with all the writers, producers, and network brass watching. It got to the point where I was always doing everything, even establishing her blocking. Then I would have to show it to her, and she wouldn't listen. So then when she wasn't where she was supposed to be, I got yelled at. I was rehearsing all of her scenes; and she was in almost all of them; with John Goodman, Laurie Metcalf, Estelle Parsons, and noteable guest cast members, all day, every day. I was working harder than anyone. Also, Laurie Metcalf, who is a brilliant, theater trained actress, didn't feel she was getting enough rehearsal, so they asked me to be her dialogue coach as well. She was a little hard to read; but we had a professional relationship. Plus, I ran lines with the kids, and the guest cast. I was a very busy gal. Sometimes, I would work in the shot, too. I was completely taken for granted. I was a nervous wreck most of the time. I finally had to go ask the producer for more money. I told him, I am working harder than anyone! Everyone put together! I was carrying the show all week! She'd come in on shoot day, and I would show her what to do. I did everything but go on camera as her. They finally gave me a few hundred a week more. Chump change, really. I was making more money than I ever had, but was miserable. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The crew and the kids on the show were great to me. We always partied together too, after the show. Every once in awhile, after I read a scene, one of the crew guys would say, "Good job, Terry". A little 'atta boy' goes a long way. <br /><br />After awhile, John Goodman resented me. I'd be on the set when he'd walked in, and he would be so pissed that Roseanne wasn't there, that he couldn't even look at me, let alone say, "Good Morning". Then I'd have to rehearse with him. Yeah, as if I said, "Beat it, Ro, I'm doing this one". He resented me so much, that he actually physically, shoved me out of his way, on three separate ocassions. I was so shocked. Yes, big John Goodman, physically pushes a 5ft. tall woman aside. He is no Dan Conner, I can tell you that. He was a big alcoholic, womanizing, glutton. Baby Huey. He showed up to work drunk a few times, and Roseanne almost had him fired. There was a prop rubber cast iron skillet on the stove, in the kitchen set. I got to hit him on the head with it in one scene. I wished it was real.<br /><br />She called me "The Girl". "Have the girl do it!" She would yell from the wardrobe room, where she liked to hang out and look at porn magazines. The wardrobe sisters were her friends, and she and Laurie would be in there, and they'd all laugh when she told the A.D. to "fuck off", when he came to get her. Sometimes she would come out and watch me do her part. Uh, yeah.<br /><br />So, after 3 stress-filled years, and health problems, and a little money in the bank, my number came up, and she fired me. She wanted her long lost daughter Brandi, to have both my jobs! Of course she wasn't any good. I ran into Estelle Parsons at the Sunset Marquis, where she stayed, and she said she missed me. She sort of gave me a backhanded compliment, saying Brandi got in the way. I took it to mean, I gave a good reading so they could get a good rehearsal.<br /><br />The best of times....the worst of times....<br /><br /><br />Epilogue<br /><br />A couple of years later, I was working a catering job. Marvin Davis, the Denver oil tycoon, who bought 20th Century Fox, was throwing his son a Bar Mitzvah. It was a Las Vegas theme. Yeah, a casino, for a 13 year old. So, I'm manning one of the buffet tables, and here comes Rosanne, one of the early arrivals, walking toward me, with her young son, Buck, in tow. She was pregnant with him when I left, by her third husband, chauffeur/bodyguard, Ben. "Hi, Roseanne", I said. "It's Terry, I was your stand-in". She looks at me puzzled. "You were my stand-in?" She asked, incredulously. "Yes, for 3 years." I reminded her. "Have a nice time." If she pretended not to know me, or if she really didn't know me, I don't know. But either way, it's fuckin' crazy!Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-64528727302985847652011-02-27T11:12:00.000-08:002011-03-22T22:53:33.555-07:00Malibu<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvv0zml12vlfkwDYLoyDJpYJrfWkfgGrK-stKh0u0nfaNX9I84joSf74-uI8eZIs6MMMEk1gv7TQj8GqpZFjLymmP7ldaMdcUBswmyAZOxNgO5FebSJrC4sUjz_QSst1htg75GgUAyB5c/s1600/182775_10150110577659551_796379550_6076153_3012842_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvv0zml12vlfkwDYLoyDJpYJrfWkfgGrK-stKh0u0nfaNX9I84joSf74-uI8eZIs6MMMEk1gv7TQj8GqpZFjLymmP7ldaMdcUBswmyAZOxNgO5FebSJrC4sUjz_QSst1htg75GgUAyB5c/s320/182775_10150110577659551_796379550_6076153_3012842_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578449945243299618" /></a><br />Malibu, the quiet beach community, where movie stars' homes line the private beaches, and the sport of surfing was turned into a national craze. The Chumash Indian village was called Humaliwu, meaning where the surf sounds loudly. They rode the waves in their tomol canoes. Life was good for thousands of years, until the Spanish showed up. The Spanish land grant of 1802 was called Rancho Malibu Topanga Simi Sequit. In the 1890's a wealthy easterner, Fredrick Rindge purchased the land grant. He wrote a book about his life and times, "Happy Days in Southern California." He referred to his Malibu as the "American Riviera." His widow, Rhoda, fought the federal government for 17 years to prevent the railroad from cutting across their land. They lost the battle, and the highway was soon built as well. Now known as PCH, Pacific Coast Highway is dotted with pricey restaurants, where celebrities go. Like Geoffrey's with the beautiful flower filled patio, over looking the ocean, that you never want to leave. Beau Rivage, a lovely Mediterranean Restaurant that was the favorite of Michael Landon and Johnny Carson, and Moonshadows, where Mel Gibson should have left a few hours earlier. Rhoda ended up selling parcels of their beloved ranch, to pay lawyers fees, and many of these choice parcels, Malibu Colony, went to movie stars in the 1930's. A weekend getaway from the summer heat, and long hours at the studios.<br /><br /><br />The Rindge's daughter, also named Rhoda, married Mr. Adamson, and they had a dairy, Adohr Farms (Rhoda, spelled backwards)I remember drinking Adohr milk here in the sixties. They built another home on the property, and established the Malibu Tile Works. Right there on the beach. There is good clay there. The red tile topped wall many a surfer has leaned their board against, was the Rindge/Adamson property wall. The pier dates back over 100 years. The Rindge family dock, and later used for the tile factory, in the 20's and 30's. The tiles are in homes and buildings all over Southern California. Very collectible now. The Adamson House was the showroom for the tile factory. The whole house is full of tile samples, in beautiful, vibrant, saturated colors, difficult to reproduce today. There is even an oriental rug design all done in tiles, complete with tile fringe. There is a huge tiled fountain in the yard, with the famous point break just beyond. The Adamson House is open for tours a few days a week.<br /><br /> <br />With the building of the road, people began trespassing on the beautiful, untouched beach. 1926. The first Malibu surfer paddled out on a 10 ft. California redwood board. <br /><br /> <br />After WWII, and the re-designing of the board, and use of fiberglass, the sport became more and more popular. Then, in 1957, Frederick Kohner published his book about his daughter's experiences hanging out with the crazy surfers at the beach. The popularity of the book, and subsequent movies, and later tv show, "Gidget", started the whole surf craze, and created a new musical genre.<br /><br /> <br />This of course, did not make the surfers of Malibu happy, with swarms of hodads descending on their beloved turf. And surf. Well, you can't stop a wave, whether it be water or a cultural phenomenon.<br /><br /><br /> <br />I always loved to go to the beach and watch the surfers. I had moved to LA from Arizona in 1965. Arizona had plenty of sand, but no water. So, when I got here, I jumped right in. I got my St. Christopher medal, and striped shirt, bleached my hair blonde, and became a California Girl. I learned to body surf. I loved coming home after a day at the beach, slightly sunburned, gritty with salt and sand, and sleepy from the sun.<br /><br /> <br />Years later, when I worked on the cult surf movie, "Big Wednesday" as a beach bunny and party girl,(type casting!) I learned all about the legendary surfers of Malibu. Miki "Da Cat" Dora, "No Pants" Lance Carson, and others. Some of the Malibu regulars were used in the movie as well, Johnnie Fain, who also appeared in many beach party movies, and Angie Reno. Being a part of that movie experience, ingrained in me a fondness for that time and place, and wanting to know more of the history.<br /><br /> <br />When we went on location to the Hollister Ranch to shoot the film, they perfectly reproduced the wall at Malibu's Surfrider Beach, and built the little palm covered shelter that used to be there where everyone hung out. They needed that pristine look, before all the buildings and houses were built, on Pacific Coast Highway, and the bluffs over looking Surfrider Beach.<br /><br /><br /> The real Gidget Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, is the weekend hostess at yet another storied PCH eatery. Duke's, named after the legendary Hawaiian surfer, and Olympic swimmer, Duke Kahanamoku. He also re-introduced the sport of surfing to the islands, after missionaries discouraged it. And he brought it to the Mainland. The restaurant has a kitsch Hawiian surf motif. You can buy Kathy's Dad's book there. <br /><br /><br />More recently,I had attended a couple of "Big Wednesday" Reunions at Duke's. They were benefits for the Surfrider Foundation. I met Kathy Zuckerman there, and many of the cast and crew from the movie showed up, and we all partied again.<br /><br /> <br />I don't get to the beach much anymore, but when I do go, I always want to go to Surfrider, in Malibu. And nearly everytime I'd been there, I'd see Angie Reno there, eternal beach boy.<br /><br /><br />Malibu is world famous, for it's surf and celebrities. I'm sure Barbie and the Chevy helped to make it so, and all the movies shot there; it is such a part of American culture. People ask me at the Visitors Center where I work, how to get to Malibu. I try to prepare them, because for all it's glamor and fame, it's still just a quiet little town, and at Surfrider, it's just the sun, and the sand, and the surfers in the water, catching some tasty waves at one of the best surfing spots in the world.<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br />Footnote: Last year, Malibu was designated the first world surfing preserve. In a ceremony performed by the Chumash people, it was recognized, and as such, will be protected because of its historical, cultural, biological and economic significance.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-54435761351462040152011-02-21T21:02:00.000-08:002011-02-21T23:12:43.959-08:00Chuck E. and Rickie Lee<a href="http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2007/04-15/music_chuck_e_weiss_02_400.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2007/04-15/music_chuck_e_weiss_02_400.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.heyheymymy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Rickie_Lee_Jones.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 500px; height: 500px;" src="http://www.heyheymymy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Rickie_Lee_Jones.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />The legendary Tropicana Hotel, where many, many bands stayed throughout the 70's and 80's, had this funky little coffee shop attached, called Duke's. It looked like a cross between an employee lunchroom, and a small town coffee shop, with a big seascape on the wall, with a collage of different people and scenes modge podged onto it. There was a counter and stools, and the grill behind that. It was always bustling. You waited for a seat, and sat down at long tables, with other people. You would always end up talking to the people at your table, and it was always interesting. Rockers on tour and locals,tumbled out of bed with tousled hair, threw on some clothes, and ambled in to Duke's for a strong cuppa joe and a monster omlette. <br /><br />I found myself there, one day, with my aunt, and during our meal, we noticed that a bag lady at the table had ordered a glass of water. That's it. I was surprised they let her stay. As we chowed down on our giant platter of food, the bag lady, was spooning jam, from the jar at the table, into her glass of water. My aunt and I watched her for awhile, and were giggling, what's next the ketchup packets? As we were watching, the guy at the end of the table said, "What you mock, you will become." We looked at him and he said it again. So we laughed, and of course struck up a conversation, and he told us his name was Chuck. He had a band, he was playing at The Central on the Sunset Strip,(later to become The Viper Room) and we should come and see him. Chuck E. Weiss and The Goddamn Liars.<br /><br />So, I'm at the Viper Room, waiting for the band to come on. They walk onto the stage, and there is my friend Spyder, who I knew from another friend's band! A wild and crazy sax player, with a little Pacino thing goin' on, with a pompadour and a cream colored zoot suit. <br /><br />The band starts playing "Rumble". From the shadows, Chuck struts onto the stage to the music, in a zoot suit with a looooong chain hanging from his trousers. He took the stage, and went into his set. <br /><br />Afterwards, I went to say hi to them, and Spyder gave me a big hug, and introduced me to Chuck, and I said we had already met. Chuck wagged his finger in front of my face, narrowed his eyes, and said, "What you mock you will become." I cracked up. I went and saw the band a few more times, and Spyder had told me that the song by Rickie Lee Jones, "Chuck E.'s in Love", was about Chuck. I said, "Oh, that's the Chuck!?"<br /><br />One lazy mid-morning, the phone rings, and it's Spyder, who was one of the funniest people I had ever known. We hung out for awhile, but later on I found out he was hanging out with Katy Sagal. Anyway, so he says, "Stay on the line and don't say anything." He does a conference call, and gets Chuck on the phone, and the two of them were making phony phone calls, and had me in silent hysterics. I had to muffle the reciever so I could laugh out loud. They did this a few more times to me. Occasionally, I would run in to Chuck around town, and he would look at me and his eyes would narrow, and he would shake his finger at me, and say, "What you mock, you will become." I would laugh, and the last few times I saw him he would just do the eye thing and the finger shake.<br /><br />Around this same time, I was working in my friend Carolyne's boutique on the Sunset Strip, Cheap Thrills, right next to the famous Schwab's drugstore, were many celebrities frequented, and Shelley Winters held court. An artist friend of mine, had painted the place up all crazy, and we had painted a leopard print on the floor. It was vintage, and punk. We took on some hand-made consignments, one of a kind fashions. One time, Dodd Darin came in. We had made a big collage on the wall behind the register, and on the wall, was a 45 sleeve of a Bobby Darin record. The girl he was with said, "Hey, look, there's your Dad". I looked at the photo, and looked at him, and there was a strong family resemblance. (Also, I had donated the autographed 8x10 of Grouch Marx to the collage, that I had recieved from the evening I spent at Groucho's house with Laraine Newman and Bill Murray. But that's another blog post.) So, you never knew who might walk into the shop.<br /><br />One day, I was there, and it had been a slow week. My friend was a little concerned. She had been spending time at home with her new baby, so I would fill in a few days a week for her if I didn't have a show to work on. The store was empty one afternoon, and then in walks Rickie Lee Jones! Cool. I greeted her, and she was looking around, and started picking out things to try on. I showed her a few choice items. She went into the dressing room, and everything she tried on looked fabulous on her! One thing after another. I brought her more stuff to try. Even the WAC outfit, which was kind of drab, hugged her voluptuous curves perfectly! After trying on and modeling outfit, after outfit, she piled a bunch of stuff on the counter, and I started ringing it up. Ka Ching! Ka Ching! I bagged up all her stuff, and she left smiling. So was I; she spent hundreds! I excitedly called Carolyne, and said, "You won't believe who was just here! Ricky Lee Jones just bought a shit load of stuff, and everything she put on looked GREAT! Even the WAC suit!" Carolyne was very excited, and laughed, and said, "I knew the right person would come along and get that!" Rickie Lee had made her week.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-69816665363877394102011-01-30T21:48:00.000-08:002011-01-31T08:34:21.643-08:00Party Animal<a href="http://www.thecheapchick.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/younger-bruce-willis-posing1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 315px; height: 433px;" src="http://www.thecheapchick.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/younger-bruce-willis-posing1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />So my pal Alice and I were out at the Improv, the famous comedy club on Melrose Ave. Being in the comedy world, you were almost always guaranteed to run into someone you know there, or at least a few celebs.<br /> <br />It was busy, and bustling, and Alice spotted Jerry Seinfeld, who she had a big crush on, and he had just finished his set. This was way before "Seinfeld". We went over to him, and he was talking with a few other guys, and I guess he and Alice were acquainted, they chatted a bit, and then he said he had to have a "comedy pow wow", so we left them to their business, and went to drink some wine. <br /><br />So we are having our wine, and looking around the room. We thought we might hit another place, and Alice mentioned her friend's after hours underground dance club, so that was always an option. It was starting to get a little late, and I spot this guy in the bar.<br /><br />"Hey, Alice", I said, "isn't that that cute guy from that show "Moonlighting"?" <br />"Oh, yeah", she said, "I like him". <br />"Me too", I said. "Let's go kidnap him!"<br /><br />We walked into the bar, and Bruce was just tossing back the last of his cocktail, or beer, or whatever it was he was drinking, and when his head came back, he looked at us standing next to him.<br /><br />"Hi", I said. "My girlfriend and I want to kidnap you. We're going to an underground club, want to come?"<br /><br />He looked at me then at her, and said, "Well, I have some other people with me".<br /><br />"Bring 'em." <br /><br />He rounded up his posse; who all called him Bruno. It was his name he used in a band he played in. There were 3 or 4 others, including a couple of girls, and his brother, David. They all went in one car, and Bruce jumped in my car in the front seat between us. I had a Maverick with a bench seat. He settles himself in between us, and points at Alice and says, "You, are pretty darn cute." He then turned to me, and points to me and said, "And you are exactly cute." Driving away from the Improv, through West Hollywood, he had Russian Hands and Roman Fingers with the two of us. <br /><br />"Hey, I'm driving!", I said, and waved his hand away. We headed toward Sunset and Vine, to a old auto repair garage on a side street. We found parking, and as we walked by the Cinerama Dome theater, Bruce steps up to the wall in the front foyer area outside of the theater, unzips his pants, and relieves himself!<br /><br />We get to the garage, and could hear the music throbbing within. The posse met up with us. Alice got all six of us in. We all danced in, and danced together in a big group, to one great song after another, and did not stop for, oh, maybe a couple of hours. Finally, Bruce drenched in sweat, danced closer and shouted, "Let's go up to the house!"<br /><br />We got back to my car, and winded our way up into the Hollywood Hills. I thought, "Oh, good, maybe we can talk now, and get to know him a little bit". As soon as we got in the house, music was on, champagne was popped, and the guys took all their clothes off and jumped in the pool! David, Bruce's brother, asked us girls if we wanted a t-shirt to wear in the pool. I thought that was nice and considerate of him. He took us into the bedroom, and pulled out t-shirts for all of us to wear. Once in the pool, Bruce was going around to everyone, and pouring champagne in their mouth, and whooping and hollering. It was all very fun and funny, and the guys were all cutting up, and jumping in and out of the pool. We were all having a great time.<br /><br />After a while, I realized, this guy is never going to stop! I'm never going to be able to sit down and talk to him. He did not stop jumping around and hooting and hollering the whole night! I was getting tired, and the sun was starting to come up. Pumpkin Time. <br /><br />"Come on, Alice," I said, "I think I'm ready to go. You can stay, but I want to go." She decided to come too. So we dried off and got back in our clothes, and started to say our "Thank yous and Good-byes, and as we were making our way to the door, Bruce jumps out of the pool, naked, dripping wet, runs past us, and bars the door with his wet, naked body.<br /><br />"No, don't go! You can't go yet!" We just stood there looking at him.<br /><br />"It's late, we're tired, the sun is coming up", we kept saying. He would't let us out.<br /><br />"We can do it again", I said, "here, we'll give you our numbers, and we fished out a pen and paper from purses, and wrote down our phone numbers. <br /><br />"Ok, bye! See you later!" We made a move for the door. Then, he wouldn't let us leave until we shook "little Bruce" good-bye! We looked at each other. <br /><br />It was late. We were tired. The sun was coming up. He wouldn't move from the door. What's a girl to do?<br /><br /><br />Epilogue<br /><br />We got out the door. <br /><br />A few days later, Alice and her roommate partied with them again. Even though I was on a real date, and couldn't go, I was still jealous when I heard. (Her roommate made it with David)<br /><br />A few weeks later, I see a tabloid with a big front page story about Bruce Willis' wild parties, and how all the neighbors were complaining. Damn. Those front page stories are big bucks! <br /><br />Less than a year later, I see in the tabloids, Bruce Willis married Demi Moore.<br /><br />Many years later, I am talking with my friend who writes for the tabloids, and got on the subject of Bruce Willis,and she starts telling me this story about how these two girls took Bruce from the Improv and had a wild night of partying! <br />"Uh, that was me," I said. "You mean you heard about it from someone else!?" "Oh, yeah, it was going around", she said. "That was you? I had no idea!" <br /><br />Yep,that's me. Hollywood Party Girl.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-79480167173813612912010-10-20T21:02:00.000-07:002010-10-20T23:17:20.136-07:00Bill, Meet Robin, Robin, Meet Bill<a href="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l93thxxK1B1qzzs0oo1_400.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 359px; height: 450px;" src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l93thxxK1B1qzzs0oo1_400.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><a href="http://files.doubledotdash.org/bash/other_images/mork.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 385px; height: 477px;" src="http://files.doubledotdash.org/bash/other_images/mork.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Around the time I was in The Groundlings, there were many other improv groups sprouting up all over LA. I wanted to see what the other groups were up to, and so I would go to some of their performances, and if they offered them, would take a couple of classes.<br /><br />One of the companies I went to see, was called Off The Wall. I remember everyone in the show was pretty good, but then one guy came onstage, and he was like the Tasmanian Devil of comedy, a human tornado, that blew everyone else off the stage. I remember thinking, "WHO IS THAT?" So quick, so clever, what is he going to do next? After the show, we stayed around to chat with the cast, and found out the guy's name; Robin Williams.<br />This was pre-Mork, but he already had his trademark rainbow suspenders with an assortment of pins attached to them. Very cute, I thought.<br /><br />When I went to the class, Robin came over to me and picked me up, and twirled me around. I guess he kinda liked me. We got friendlier, and I invited him to the Warner Bros. lot where I was working in the casting department. We had lunch, and walked around the leafy, campus-like setting of the buildings, and sat down on the grass. He was very different off stage. Quiet and shy.<br /><br />Another time, we went to one of the trendy West Hollywood restaurants, Joe Allen, where all the actors and comedy people went, but the hub bub of our surroundings soon faded into the background, as we looked across the table at each other. Both our eyes were like pinwheels. <br />"It's exciting, being here with you like this", he said. I felt the same.<br /><br />There were a few more meetings, and one time he came over to my apartment. We realized we lived 2 blocks from each other. It was just after the Off the Wall show, and we visited for a couple of hours and he said he had to go. He had another show to do! What!? <br />"Why, I said, you just did one." "Have to", was his reply. Sometimes he would do three shows a night, in three different places. (That's how ya do it, folks, in case you were wondering)<br /><br />Around this same time, my friend from the Groundlings, Laraine Newman, was visiting from New York. She was hired from our show to be in the very first cast of Saturday Night Live. We were all so proud, and excited for her. She came home frequently to visit, and we would get together, and one time she brought with her, the new guy, Bill Murray. <br /><br />She said he said to her, he wanted to meet a real nice girl.<br /><br />So, Laraine, her boyfriend, and Bill and I went on a double date. And what a strange one it was. <br /><br />We ended up being invited by a high school pal of hers over to a relative's house of his, who happened to be Groucho Marx. The house was one of those wild, over the top, mid-century modern places, that are all the rage now. We were in the den, partying, and I got up to use the restroom. As I came out, there was Bill down the hall, and he motioned for me to come over to a door that was cracked open. We peaked in. There was Groucho, in bed sleeping, with a huge oxygen tank by the side of the bed, and a nurse sitting there, reading! We looked each other with eyes wide, and mouths dropped open, thought balloons over our heads saying, "Can you believe it!?" and we tip toed back to the den.<br /><br />We went out a couple more times, and I have to say, he is one of the funniest people I have ever been around. Non stop hilarity, pretty much. He would have this running commentary going about everything. He had just been cast on SNL, so he was not quite yet famous. I remember people would come up to him and say, "Don't I know you from somewhere, didn't we go to such and such school together?", and he would just say, "No, I didn't go there". <br /><br />One night, Bill and I ended up at yet another hip, trendy restaurant, where all the actors and comedy people hung out, Theodore's. (The Groundlings had their own room there!) and I see Robin! So, I said, "Oh, I there's someone I know, let's go say HI, so we went over, and I introduced them.<br />They both seemed to be aware of the other,("Oh, yeah, you, oh Hi, yeah, Hi") but they had not officially met.<br /><br />Soon after that, Robin's phone calls stopped, and I later heard he was getting married. Bill and I saw each other, a couple more times, when we both worked on "Where The Buffalo Roam", then I didn't see or hear from him for awhile.<br /><br />I would run into him again, a couple years later, when I worked background on "Ghostbusters". I was working in a scene, outside the Biltmore Hotel in downtown LA, and I hadn't seen him yet, and didn't know if I should say something to him, or not, in case he didn't recognize me, but he jumped out of the Ghostbustermobile, and ran over to me and picked me up and twirled me around! Later, when I was talking with him in his motorhome, he told me he was going to be getting married.<br /><br />They were both fleeting flings, at a time when the heavens were positioned just right, and there I was, witnessing two shooting stars.<br />I don't know if they remember that night, but I sure do.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-53092093993856155932010-10-12T19:36:00.000-07:002011-12-14T22:48:47.718-08:00My Night in Jail<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFeZKq7ZiCygSb08Vn9jGl1sGGFTvS78TJ_CrRy2jrom7ZyU3hLQTfzwynX06FujGkrr8zMzVZZ8CKoF2jm_CaUOao1YUkIeMaU6nonDZrEQtWovA2YkyCcC77CASVxfymEaunFiCeC1w/s1600/20b28595_620.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFeZKq7ZiCygSb08Vn9jGl1sGGFTvS78TJ_CrRy2jrom7ZyU3hLQTfzwynX06FujGkrr8zMzVZZ8CKoF2jm_CaUOao1YUkIeMaU6nonDZrEQtWovA2YkyCcC77CASVxfymEaunFiCeC1w/s320/20b28595_620.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527366895146189842" border="0" /></a><br />The summer of my 21st birthday, I had gotten cast in a theater group that did musicals in Big Bear Lake, California. A resort town, up in the mountains, 2 hours outside of Los Angeles. I was very excited to be doing this because not only do I love all the old Broadway musicals, I would be able to add some summer stock to my thin resume. I took some singing and dance classes several weeks before rehearsals began to get in shape. I called my agent to tell him the good news, thinking he would be happy for me getting this experience. I was surprised that he was pissed because I was taking myself out of the marketplace for the busy summer. Couldn't go on auditions. I wanted to do it anyway.<br /><br />We were set to do, "Fiddler on the Roof", "Annie Get Your Gun", and "The Sound of Music", which we never got to, because the whole company fell apart before that could happen. Yes, it was that dysfunctional, crazy and chaotic, but we laughed it all off because we were a bunch of young people away from home for the summer up in the mountains, having a blast! <br /><br />We rehearsed one show in the day time, under the pine trees, on the lawn behind the big ski lodge. In the evenings, we performed the other show, while patrons dined on mexican food on the outdoor patio. It was a lovely setting.<br /><br />The company was run by a chubby gay guy, who directed and choreographed. We called him Twinkletoes. His chubby tomboyish sister had the lead in "Fiddler", and her girlfriend played the piano.<br /><br />The girls were put up in a small motel, 3 or 4 to a room, in 3 rooms. It was a bit crowded, but we didn't mind, we were hardly there. The guys were all staying in a 100 year old miner's cabin, that didn't have running water, so they had to come shower at our place in the morning. <br /><br />After the shows, we'd usually hang out in the little bar of the ski lodge, and party with Gary, the tall, lanky, gay, alcoholic bartender I had a crush on. He later became Frank Butler in "Annie", because the actor who was cast left. Later, the kid who was doing the lights, who never acted in his life, took on a small role when another actor bailed. A new girl showed up, to replace someone else who had left, and she was telling us how she had a tough decision, because she was hired to work in the new Electrical Parade at Disneyland. We all said, "GO! Go back, if you can still do it, go back!!" The next morning, the director was rather puzzled as to why his new cast member suddenly left.<br /><br />One night after the show, we went back to our motel, and we had noticed there was a new cute neighbor guy. So we invited him over, and he came over with a bag of pot. Oh Boy! So there was him, and about 6 or 8 girls. Guess he figured, those were some pretty good odds. So, the small room filled with smoke, and the laughter and the music got louder, and I guess it was pretty loud, because after awhile, there was some very loud knocking on the door. THE COPS!!! Everybody scattered. Someone jumped out a window on the other side of the room. I jumped in a closet. Two girls had gone to their room to get a pipe, and when they saw what was going down, stood down. We were all rounded up, and I was pulled out of the closet. We were hand cuffed and put into the police car, and driven to the little mountain police station and booked. The charge was being in a place where marijuana was being smoked.<br /><br />I went through a range of feelings, at first I thought it was funny, then I started to get a little scared, and then I was mad. I heard the cops in the hallway, talking about the one guy with all those girls, like he was some sheik and his harem, or the leader of the next hippie murder cult.<br /><br />They let us languish in cells alone, laying on the cot with just the mattress ticking, no sheets or blanket, with the stark bare bulb burning all night long. I couldn't sleep, and was getting very despondent. I wanted my Mommy.<br /><br />In the morning, Gary, the tall, lanky, gay, alcoholic bartender that I had a crush on, came and bailed us out, and then took us all out for breakfast. Boy, were we hungry! As we walked into the little homey, small town coffee shop, all of the customers turned to look at us. "Oh, they all know what happened", Gary said. "News travels fast around here". Outlaw celebrities, we were.<br /><br />That night, the show was packed. Before the show started, we looked out into the audience, from behind the sets, and there we saw, sitting in the front row, all the cops that had busted us!Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-44221928329779942572010-09-04T20:48:00.000-07:002010-09-05T11:12:49.104-07:00A Trip to Neverland<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Wddqq15L2L3nhH9FXAhN7euonvsrzb6NglJvHWpzKvL3pw3mxn4cAKaJ___oYJ_5zTeHdqpR-atSR0GKDfGsQ9JhzqQ9R0zobuXG1R92MaieXsUv44dGtkWLGB5l89-N2R0zhivcmk26/s1600/nev.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 319px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Wddqq15L2L3nhH9FXAhN7euonvsrzb6NglJvHWpzKvL3pw3mxn4cAKaJ___oYJ_5zTeHdqpR-atSR0GKDfGsQ9JhzqQ9R0zobuXG1R92MaieXsUv44dGtkWLGB5l89-N2R0zhivcmk26/s320/nev.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513298698065710114" /></a><br />Even though I am not a sick pre-adolescent boy, I did get a chance to visit Neverland. My friend, Greg, who worked at Sony, called me and asked if I would be interested in going to Neverland, because there was a Studio Day there. Apparently, Michael Jackson opened his home to studios, as well as other groups, and organizations. Busses would be taking studio employees, and friends and family, but Greg opted to rent a big car, and he drove me, and 2 other friends, the 2 hour or so drive, north, from Los Angeles, past Santa Barbara, to Los Olivos. This is where much of the movie, "Sideways" was later filmed.<br /> Past the charming town, out a long 2 lane country road, of green and yellow rolling hills, cows and vineyards, we finally reached the gates of Neverland. There were attendants directing cars to park outside the gates, and before we even got out of the car, we were handed release forms,to sign, saying we would not discuss, or reveal anything to any media outlet, or anyone at anytime,about anything we saw or experienced, so I guess I am now breaking the secret pact. <br />As we walked into the gates, and toward the house, there was music piped in, and upon inspecting a rock, found it was actually a speaker. They were all over the place. There were many bronze statues of children amongst the meticulously manicured grounds. Peter Pan's lost boys, and Fagin's raggedy pick-pockets from Oliver Twist. And there were a few girls, too.<br /> The house was a big psuedo Tudor style. We couldn't go inside the house, but peaking in the windows, you could see the rococo decor, and even more statues, and everything over the top, verging on gaudy, but not quite, there was an elegance to it. The house was surrounded by large oak trees, and bushes and flowers, and the statues and speakers. Nearby was a pool, and a large building, that housed a game room. Lots and lots of video games and pinball machines. Everywhere you looked, there was the logo for Neverland, a little boy, in sleepers, sitting on a crescent moon. There were people playing the games, and outside, there was a large barbeque area, almost an outdoor kitchen, and many, many staff members were busily cooking up burgers, and chicken, and there were tables of fixin's, and they were asking you what you wanted, and you could have as much as you wanted of whatever you wanted. As we were eating, somebody brought Bubbles, the chimp out. He had cute little pants on, and everyone was gathered around him, and he was doing all his chimp antics, and I went over to him, and reached out to grab his hand and he almost pulled me down with surprising force. It was like a 3 year old with the strength of a grown man.<br />The whole time, you expected to see Michael come out, but he never did. He wasn't there. It was strange to be a guest at someone's home, being lavished with anything you could want, and the host was not even there. There was no one to thank.<br />So, then it was off to the amusement park and the zoo, and the theater. We had to board the train, and the train station was exactly like the one at Disneyland. Inside the station, there was a huge painting of Michael on the wall, looking very Jesus-like, wearing all white, all back-lit, with a holy glow around him, and surrounded by little children, all skipping, and laughing. Kinda creepy. We went to see the theater. It was on another part of the property, and it was state of the art. There was a lobby with candy cases full of candy, Popcorn machine popping, and the staff offering you as much of anything you wanted. I guess there were going to show movies, but we didn't stick around for that, but did notice the bedroom in the theater with the big glass window, so sick children could watch movies while lying in bed. (With Michael?)<br />Time for rides! There was just about every type of amusement park ride you've ever seen. Merry-go-round, one of those big viking looking boat-type things that went back and forth, a ferris wheel, bumper cars, and more. We went on them all, but I think the thing I really liked the most, was the big huge slide that had about a dozen lanes on it, and it was one big, long slide. I did that many times. I think that was one of the first amusement rides that was invented for the public. <br />Then it was off to the zoo! Who wants to feed the alligators!? I do! I do! So, the staff gave you one of those grabber things you see advertised on late night tv, for old people to get stuff down from shelves, and there was a big tub of raw half chickens. So you'd pick one up with the grabber, and point it in the alligators direction, and he would come over, and just tear that thing out of your grabber, and chomp it right down in two bites. I loved the elephants the best, and seemed to have formed a special relationship with one. He kept coming over to me, for me to pet his trunk with his rough skin, and thick, prickly whiskers.<br />The giraffe enclosure was pretty cool, because there was a fort-like structure that you could climb up and be face to face with the giraffes, and they would come right up to you, and you could pet them, and they really smelled. Like nothing else. Giraffe smell. One came over and nudged me, and almost knocked me off the platform, with his big, strong neck. He kind of pissed me off. Damn giraffe with your big strong neck,I guess he expected some food or something, but there was no giraffe feed.<br />After doing everything there was to do, and seeing everything there was to see, you really had to marvel at the world he created, and all the dedicated staff it took to keep it all going.<br />It was a long, great, wonderful, fun, exhausting day, and we all reverted back to being children, running around, laughing, playing, eating too many sweets; over-indulging in everything. I guess that was the whole point. To be able to be a child again. It was so much fun. Thank you, Michael.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-44935144647983839572010-07-24T19:16:00.000-07:002010-08-03T10:43:01.145-07:00My Adventure with Pee Wee<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4bv5fjTHY5lO99FoEjYAys2NvmxlNkw8jSZu8xUnNA5DxU4e36h-dm5k1QztqVjeJ2f2fRw5bW5jTBFMPlH4E37E1wxpx4nZGxMxgxGvGKCBzU_qdBQVlo45CUfivOU3U_wDUl327QZ8/s1600/pewee.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp4bv5fjTHY5lO99FoEjYAys2NvmxlNkw8jSZu8xUnNA5DxU4e36h-dm5k1QztqVjeJ2f2fRw5bW5jTBFMPlH4E37E1wxpx4nZGxMxgxGvGKCBzU_qdBQVlo45CUfivOU3U_wDUl327QZ8/s320/pewee.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497954744516629394" /></a><br /><br />I was in The Groundlings with Paul Reubens, and was there the night he did Pee Wee for the first time in front of an audience. I loved him instantly. It was wonderful to watch as Paul took Pee Wee from the Groundling stage, to an Equity theater, and then on to the big and little screen.<br />Phil Hartman, also a fellow Groundling, was the co-writer, of "Pee Wee's Big Adventure". I was chatting with Phil over lunch one day, about the biz, stuff we liked, and parts we'd like to play, and I mentioned I always wanted to play a waitress in a truck stop. He said there was a waitress in a truck stop in the Pee Wee movie! He said he could get me in on it, but the final decision was not up to him, or Paul. I understood, and was delighted to audition. He told me to think of the Bette Davis character, in "The Petrified Forest", with Bogie.<br />I thought the audition went well, and Phil told me everyone really liked me, but another actress was cast.<br />Weeks later, I was at a friend's house, and her friend Harvey was there, and he had just gotten the job as the assistant director on the Pee Wee movie. I told him that I had auditioned, and he said, "Well, I'm going to need a couple of biker chicks, as background, would you want to do that?"<br />"Wood Eye!?" I mean, "Would I!?" Wow! Live out a fantasy!<br /><br />It was a 7:30am call at a bar on Sierra Highway, out in Canyon Country. A cold and foggy morning. I had gotten lost, and had to flag down a trucker in my tough girl garb to ask for directions. (Yer eyes can play tricks on ya when yer haulin' a load all night, to meet an early morning deadline)<br />I pulled up to the little dive in the desert, and got out of the car. There it was, the bar that time forgot. It had a hitching post out front, and about 20 motorcycles all in a row. Harvey and Paul, as Pee Wee were out front, and greeted me.<br />"Terry's too glamorous to be a biker chick", I remember Paul saying. Thanks, P, but I'm doing it anyway. Harvey told me I could relax for awhile. I went to check with wardrobe, and look for the coffee. I found my fellow "spear carriers" hanging out by the production trucks. They were all as big as doorways. Outlaws, in leather and denim, still dusty from days on the road...<br />"Hi Guys", I chirped, apprehensively, as I climbed aboard the wardrobe wagon. They eyed me lasciviously through dark shades, and nodded. They looked a little scary, but exciting, and in some cases, gross. Some of the bikers were actors, some were extras, some were stuntmen, and some were the real deal,scrounged up by Central Casting. One of the bikers, the tall Mexican guy, Luis Contreras, I went to Jr. High School with!<br />The wardrobe lady loved my imitation leather pants, and leopard top. She gave me a leopard vest and some dangle earrings to complete my easy rider ensemble.<br />I went back to the location, and talked with Harvey, and then Phil Hartman showed up, and we talked shop over more coffee, and we gabbed with Paul between shots. He was very happy with the crew, and the director, Tim Burton, who he felt was perfect for the project.<br />It was finally time to do the scenes with all the bikers. The Queen of the Bikers, Cassandra Peterson, also a fellow Groundling, then showed up on the set. She had needed some extra time to get into her "motorcycle mama" mean and nasty, super-studded, low-cut leather, I-can-hardly-breathe-in-this-thing top. Her own red hair was ratted into a high beehive. The boys were happy to see her.<br />"Oh, Hi Terry!", she squealed, just like a high school girlfriend. "I love your outfit!"<br />"Yours is pretty nice too," I laughed, staring at the studded creation as we walked toward the rest of the gang.<br />Well, as soon as word leaked out that these lugs would be sharing the screen with none other than Elvira herself, many Instamatics were pulled out from cut-off Levi vests! You never saw such posing and snapping except when Santa is at the mall!<br />Since it was a real bar, it had real beer! So we was drinking on the job! We shot the scenes of Pee Wee wallking in, trying to make a phone call, and almost getting beat up, until he wins them over with his unique charm. He then takes off on a bike, and has a mishap! Pee Wee's stunt double was Corey Eubanks, Bob"making whoopee"Eubanks son.<br />As we all spill out of the bar to see Pee Wee off, the gang gathers around Pee Wee on the bike, and I'm so short, so everyone (big as doorways bikers) are blocking me. One of them pushes me right out front, and you can see me sort of bounce into the shot. Thanks, Dude! Always ready for my close-up!<br />It was a long day, lasting well into the evening and past a second meal. I became a biker zombie, partied out and pooped!<br />Long after Paul, Cassandra, Phil, Harvey, and I, and all the rest of the crew were long gone, several of the boys stayed on drinking beer and playing tunes like "Tequila" on the juke box, celebrating their show biz debut. I heard the proprietors of the place finally gave them one of the teeny motel rooms out back, to rest their weary bones and bikes for the night.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-16658007252467501252010-05-01T22:10:00.000-07:002010-10-20T20:58:39.883-07:00When Everything Was GROOVY....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJIdwkObGaq06mSfvHPkSDb1gGVDw6RCqZXa9wh9nqDYGfktTi_VbuRQCZ46UzLxzmWjwEYrAJZPJqDY_pS4jTg5ml3aM9ZGpOw4CvekA9f97zV0-uFYQjajDE9ajRwbkUSzozVBATKpL/s1600/vw_van13.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJIdwkObGaq06mSfvHPkSDb1gGVDw6RCqZXa9wh9nqDYGfktTi_VbuRQCZ46UzLxzmWjwEYrAJZPJqDY_pS4jTg5ml3aM9ZGpOw4CvekA9f97zV0-uFYQjajDE9ajRwbkUSzozVBATKpL/s320/vw_van13.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466737362588564210" /></a><br />Before The Beatles came along, the early 60's were like a hangover from the 50's. As kids, we imitated 50's teenagers, like the ones we saw in movies, with the full skirts, or straight, with bobby sox, and the guys had duck tails and rolled up jeans. It was getting a little tired.<br />THEN~! The British Invasion!! Started by the Fab Four, and then, all the great bands that followed, and of course all the MAD, MOD fashions! <br /><br />We had moved to Hollywood in 1965, and the kids were into the whole surf scene that was going on at the same time. The boys mostly like The Beach Boys, and the girls mostly like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Soon, some of the boys started combing their hair down in the front to look like the Liverpool lads.<br /><br />There was a buzz in the air. Something's happenin' here, what it is ain't exactly clear....maybe the answers were blowing in the wind, but all we knew is that the times they were a changing...and..things got... psychedelic! A new big word. Had to look it up.<br />I was too young at first, for the war that was going on to be in my consciousness. I was vaguely aware of something going on far away, but that was something grown-ups talked about, and the boring guys on tv. I was more interested in other things, and maybe that was the point.<br /><br />The Southern California music scene had mushroomed out of Laurel Canyon, the groovy hippie enclave, where my best friend, Debbie lived in a big old ramshackle cabin on top of Look Out Mountain Dr. Down the hill was the big old log cabin where Frank Zappa lived. It was once owned by silent film cowboy, Tom Mix. Across the street was Houdini's old sprawling, run-down estate. There were many rock and roll shows on tv that all these bands appeared on, some local, some national. Hollywood aGoGo, Shindig, Lloyd Thaxton, Where the Action Is, Ninth St West, Hullabaloo. Shivaree! We watched them all. Some kids from school were in the group of kids that danced on one of the shows. Next door to us, lived a couple of rock and roll singers. One guy was in The Hollywood Argyles, of "Alley Oop" fame, and the other guy, Joey Paige, who used to sing with the Everly Brothers, appeared on Hollywood a GoGo.<br /><br />Our room was soon transformed into a hippie den, with psychedelic posters covering the walls, printed cotton bedspreads from India, colorful pillows, and a beaded curtain across the door. We'd spend hours in there, burning candles and incense, listening to The Doors, and other groovy bands.<br /><br />We attended The Teen Age Fair! It was at The Hollywood Palladium. Where Frank Sinatra sang with Tommy Dorsey. A whole FAIR!!! JUST for teenagers!!! FREE Clearasil!!<br /><br />Besides The Sunset Strip being a mecca for wandering youth, Fairfax Ave. which has since returned to it's former jewish cultural roots, was also quite the groovy hang. After a long night of just hanging out, or clubbing on The Strip, seeing The Doors, at The Whisky aGoGo, or The Byrds at Ciro's, with the grey haired, bearded sculptor, Vito, and his dancing Freaks; who would mesmerize the crowd, with their free-style freak dancing; the hippies would either go off to parties in Laurel Canyon, or, if the munchies got to them, they'd spill over down onto Fairfax Ave. and go eat at Canter's, the jewish delicatessen, that was open 24 hours.<br /><br />The Free Press Bookstore had opened up on this stretch of small, family-owned, jewish businesses. It sold the alternative newspaper, The Free Press, and other counter culture publications, books, posters, buttons, jewerly, and paraphenalia. It smelled like incense. Very hip, and happening. <br />My sister and I were walking home from Fairfax High, down Faifax Ave, and as we passed the Free Press Book Store, we noticed a little boutique opening up. We went in and started talking to the people opening it, David and Roseanna, hip, art-school types, and their employee, Henny, a pretty blonde school girl from Austria. We told them we would see them every day after school! And we did! They made mini dresses, and they were all $13, which soon became most of our wardrobe. They called it, "I'm a Hog For You, Baby", from a song.<br />On their opening night, my sister and I modeled their dresses in the window, sometimes dancing, and sometimes,we froze for minutes at a time! One day, we were hanging out after school, eating chocolate chip rolls from Canter's bakery, and Cher came in to shop!<br /><br />There was a groovy head shop down the street called the Infinite Mind. They had a room in the back, where you could lay down on pillows on the floor, and listen to music, and watch the trippy liquid light show! For Free! Very groovy!<br /><br />Sometimes, we would cruise The Strip if someone's friend had a older sibling with access to a car. Or, we'd go walking up there, but had to get home by the 10:00 curfew.<br />We met Rodney Bingenheimer, The Mayor of The Sunset Strip. He knew EVERYBODY!! <br />"Hi, What's Happening?", was Rodney's standard greeting, in his boyish, nasally voice. He was also Davy Jones' stand-in, on "The Monkees".<br /><br />My sister and I had met a band from the Bay Area, when we were going to Hollywood High. <br />We would go watch them rehearse after school, at a theater nearby. One time we mentioned Rodney Bingenheimer, and the guys exclaimed, "Rodney Bingenheimer!!?" "We went to high school with him in Mountain View!!!! "Yeah, man, he was mowing lawns, and one day, he threw down the lawn mower, and said, 'Fuck this shit, I'm going to Hollywood and be famous'".<br /><br />There were Love-ins in Griffith Park! The Merry-Go-Round area. Hundreds of peace loving souls gathered, to eat, dance, share, play music,paint their faces, and love! Wear your love like Heaven, and don't forget the flowers in you hair! Our neighbor was an older hippie dad, and he would drive us to the Love-Ins, and pick us up at a specified time and place. We would see Gypsy Boots, the hippie health food guru, and Wild Man Fischer, who sang with Frank Zappa. The Diggers passed out free food. A cute hippie guy gave my sister a joint, and she turned me on in the bushes. Really Groovy!<br /><br />People hitchhiked everywhere. Everyone was cool, was your brother. The feelings of peace, love and goodwill were everywhere you went. You met people, hung out, had an experience, and went on your way. It really was a beautiful thing. Yes, there were some hassles from the Man, and you'd encounter some uptight straights, but they just weren't hip, man, they just didn't get it.<br /><br />Then--Charles Manson. Everyone got paranoid. Bad drugs flooded the streets. OD's. Crime. Unsavory types posing as hippies. It all went bad, and then became a joke.<br /><br />I really thought we would change the world. Maybe all that beauty and honesty was a threat to the Establishment. People coming together and getting along? Naw...better we should be polarized, and fighting over "issues".<br />There are things that the counter culture has indelibly influenced. Speech, for one thing. Hippie venacular is ubiquitous. Ecology, recycling, health food, spirituality, fashion,(maybe not to the best effect, as casual has become slovenly) are just some examples.<br />There was a huge backlash, of which we are now only recovering from. I again feel a change is in the air, as people have become disenchanted with the consumer culture, a tanking economy, and a government that has disappointed, and let them down.<br /><br />Maybe the times they are a changing again.....and peace will guide the planet, and love will steer the stars! Let the sunshine in!Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-86106956500291541232010-04-27T15:32:00.000-07:002010-04-27T17:48:58.088-07:00Inhabiting a Role<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyaWhi2UEL25vuvGH9npYoOi-hN-iBbxabZWXRUw3a-spkQNTaJtLdKP3HSMQpG6btGF8tSKyNdmHJi22Kaki4_8-xErmWJji1U62Xu_nhn9HLYLbXJgFBIpM9jNmG1HJCRDdHuOVSTWkF/s1600/32174-woody_woodpecker.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyaWhi2UEL25vuvGH9npYoOi-hN-iBbxabZWXRUw3a-spkQNTaJtLdKP3HSMQpG6btGF8tSKyNdmHJi22Kaki4_8-xErmWJji1U62Xu_nhn9HLYLbXJgFBIpM9jNmG1HJCRDdHuOVSTWkF/s320/32174-woody_woodpecker.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464983931150208498" /></a><br />In between the small roles, background and stand-in work I have done, I was always looking for something else to do when work was slow, so when a friend asked me to cover for her on a gig, I was interested.<br />"Have you ever been a costumed character?", she asked me.<br />"Uh, no, I said, what do you mean?"<br />"Woody Woodpecker", she answered. "You appear at events as Woody Woodpecker."<br />"In a costume, that looks like him?" I asked. "Oh, yes, it's quite a costume!" she said, "It's fun, you'll have fun." My middle name!<br /><br />So, a few days later, I went to Universal for orientation, do some paperwork, and pick up the costume. The girl running the program had worked at Disneyland as Snow White, and knew all about working with, and appearing as a costumed character. There all kinds of rules.<br /><br />Number one. Don't talk! So even though the Woody Woodpecker laugh was one of my main parlor tricks as a child, I couldn't do it. Guess they don't want to be responsible for anything inappropriate someone might say while portraying a character.<br /><br />Number two. NEVER take the head off when people are around. Don't want to give any little kids nightmares of a decapitated cartoon character. <br /><br />Number three. Never walk around alone. It is hard to see and move in the costume, so this is a safety issue, also, some people can be mean and hurt the character, so you have protection. There is always someone with you to spot you.<br /><br />Number four. Do not stay in the costume longer than 20 minutes. You are on and off every 15-20 minutes. Those costumes are very hot, and you can become dehydrated and/or faint.<br /> <br />Suiting up. First there is a foundation garment. This is like a leotard, close fitting to the body, and zips up, but the suit has padding on it, in various places to give the proper cartoon body shape. Then, the costume itself,a full body suit, fitting the contours of the foundation, and with arms and legs, like big fuzzy sleepers. The hands are big, padded gloves, with 4 fingers, so you put the two middle fingers in one glove finger, and then, the big oversized clown-shoe like feet. The head is very big, and quite heavy. You can see through the mouth.<br /> <br />I have to say, walking out into the event, as Woody, it was a pretty wonderful feeling to see all these little children run up to you, with joy and excitement on their cute little faces. "Oh, I know You!" One little girl exclaimed, and gave me a big, heartfelt hug. They all want to talk to you and touch you, and hold your hand. It's a very warm, fuzzy feeling, and not just from the costume. <br /><br />That feeling dissipated quickly, on another gig, however, when I appeared at an event for the Braille Institute. Hordes of partially sighted and blind children swarmed me, and were poking, hitting, pulling, grabbing, clutching, molesting and assaulting me. I almost fell over. I was a little pissed that the kids were not better supervised, and when I mentioned it to someone in the administration, she said, "Yes, they are very tactile." Tactile! I was mobbed! I felt like I was Mick Jagger, or something. <br /><br />Another time, at an Earth Day Festival, a young couple came by with a little puppy. I bent down to pet the pup, and he grabbed hold of my big white cartoon hand, and started playing tug of war with it, growling and tugging and shaking his head! He was not letting go! I had to struggle to hold onto, it; I could just see the puppy run off with Woody's hand! In front of all the children! Eeeeeek!<br /><br />A little boy came up to me at another gig, and started doing a Chris Farley, when he would talk to a celebrity. "Oh, yeah, I know you. I seen you on tv. Remember, remember that time when, when, you were old, and, and you couldn't, you were too old to peck wood", and he started imitating an old Woody, too feeble to peck at a tree. I could barely keep from laughing out loud. <br /><br />One of my appearances was very special, because I got to meet "my Daddy!". I appeared with Walter Lantz, and had publicity photos taken shaking his hand!<br /><br />Another time, I was in a parade, and rode sitting on the top of the backseat of a convertible, waving to the crowd. I was hoping there was no lone nut in the crowd who had it out for woodpeckers. (They can be noisy little bastards, ever get woken up by one on a camping trip? If I had a gun, I'd think about it, ok maybe a slingshot!)<br /><br />Most of the events took place on a weekend, so I would go to Universal on Friday afternoon, to pick up the costume, to appear on a Saturday or Sunday, and then return it on Monday. So, one Friday, I went and got the costume, and put it in the trunk of my car, and went to visit my sister, stay over night, and do the gig on Sunday. I wanted to show my sister the costume, so I said, "I'll go put it on."<br /><br /> I went down the hall, and went out the back door, and put the costume on and walked up to the front door, and rang the bell. My brother-in-law, Tim, opened the door with my 5 year old nephew, Chris, who was just astonished to see Woody. <br />"Hello, Woody, come in", Tim said. I came in and started doing all kinds of antics, and Chris was just cracking up. I shook hands with everyone, went over to the table and picked up a liter bottle of soda, and pretended to drink it, petted the dog, hugged my sister, played with a few more props, and then signaled that I'd better be on my way, and waved as I walked out the door. I went to the car, took off the costume, and went back in the back door, and walked down the hall into the living room. Chris came running up to me, "Terry!, Terry!, you missed it! Woody Woodpecker was just here!"<br />"Oh no, really!? I feigned disappointment. "I just missed him? Darn! How nice of him to come visit!"<br /><br />Flash forward, 11 years later, I was at my sister's house, and she was helping me work on my resume. Among the many jobs listed, was; 'Costumed Character-Made personal appearances as Woody Woodpecker for Universal Studios'. The now 16 year old Chris, picked up the resume and was reading it, and all of a sudden he, says, "HEEEEY!!!" I looked at him, puzzled at first, and said, "What?", and then realized, he just realized, that it was really me, all those years ago. I guess it was kind of like finding out Santa wasn't real. "OH!" I said, and started cracking up. "I wondered how old you had to be before I could tell you!"<br />He said he always wondered what Woody Woodpecker was doing walking around the neighborhood in Valencia, California!Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-81458241053719946532010-04-22T19:15:00.000-07:002010-04-23T11:02:10.318-07:00Upstairs, Downstairs, at the Academy Awards<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_XlHflj7JDLXKc-yhGsLRQm6YAz5uhWHkM0ip043ufjEDG9OJR7xUqGk9ZwSP91IFy7aH2xyPxm_Bl-COO7imPFA5aJErYDA4eCNn-nLr2WPWARBNrYEXTsUkL2cjkr9zdYeS5Tcnzy1/s1600/oscar-1-300x300.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3_XlHflj7JDLXKc-yhGsLRQm6YAz5uhWHkM0ip043ufjEDG9OJR7xUqGk9ZwSP91IFy7aH2xyPxm_Bl-COO7imPFA5aJErYDA4eCNn-nLr2WPWARBNrYEXTsUkL2cjkr9zdYeS5Tcnzy1/s320/oscar-1-300x300.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463394782904052770" /></a><br />In the 70's the year of "Nashville", my friend, who's husband was a producer, offered her Academy Awards ticket to me, and her friend, Tad. She had been several times, and the novelty of it had worn off, and she preferred to stay at home and watch it on tv. <br />I was very excited to be going to the Oscar ceremony, especially because 2 people I had become acquainted with, were nominated! <br />Robert Altman was the ex-step-father-in-law of a friend of mine, and I had gone with him to several parties at The Altman's,and to screenings of his films. Lily Tomlin was a friend of the Groundlings, had been to see our shows, and hired several of us to work on her specials. <br />Back then, it was held at the beautiful, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, downtown, now home to the LA Opera. <br />I wore a long, vintage, peach-colored, silk brocade chinese dress, with the high collar, and slit up the side. It was the closest thing I had to a formal. Tad in a tux, of course. I was shocked to see some people showing up in denim, but this was the 70's, after all. It was fun watching all the people coming in, and then we went to find our seats. We were in the very last row! There was equipment and monitors, and cables everywhere, some partially blocking our view. But still, we were there!<br />After the first few commercial breaks, where everything just stops, and there is just silence, and you can see the commercials on the monitors, but not hear, and you're just sitting there, I understood why my friend chose to stay home. It was kind of boring. But still, we were there!<br />And it was very long, like it always is. <br />After the show, as everyone was streaming out, I felt a little left out, as my friend had not purchased the tickets to the Governor's Ball. That was extra.<br /> <br />I was to attend the Governor's Ball another year, but not as a guest.<br /><br />It was the year of "Titanic." I was doing catering work, and I got the call to work the Academy awards. Hmmm, this might be interesting, so I took the job. <br />Every person in LA who did catering work was probably there that night. I think it was one server per table, so they needed hundreds. Armies of actor-types in tux shirts and black bow ties. <br />This year, it was at The Shrine Auditorium. We got a briefing, and inspection, and were specifically instructed not to talk to any of the guest unless it was related to the job. And, DON'T talk to anyone in the kitchen!!! Those chef types are egotistical assholes! Who knew!? This was before all those asshole chef shows on tv!<br />The hall was huge, and gorgeous, all greens and golds, and plants, and matching linens, and little Oscar statues everywhere. Even some of the appetizers and desserts were in the shape of Oscar.<br />During the awards telecast, we were all busy bees backstage, and had no idea who won what. Not until they all started streaming in with their statutes in hand. Kim Bassinger! Yeah! James Cameron, Curtis Hanson. I nearly ran right into Kate Winslet; looking stunning in her emerald green, medieval-inspired, Alexander McQueen gown. Loved it! <br />I had Ellen Burstyn at my table. Deep Sigh. I had a personal story I would have loved to remind her of, but I couldn't. A very close friend of mine, who was a movie freak, wrote her a fan letter after he saw "The Last Picture Show." Because he was a very intelligent and thoughtful person, I'm sure it was a memorable letter, and she answered him. He was so thrilled.<br />Twenty five years later, as he lay dying of AIDS, in USC Medical Center, she happened to be visiting AIDS patients, and inexplicably, came to his bedside. He reminded her of the letter, and how much it had meant to him that she answered it, and she remembered. <br />I couldn't mention to her that he was one of my closest, oldest friends, and how much her letter, and the visit so many years later, meant to him. I just had to hold it in, and think about it to myself.<br />I worked my butt off that night, and the catering people who were running it were all high anxiety, and barking orders. I felt like a slave.<br />All in all,it was an interesting experience, but I would never do it again. Kind of like my trip to Morocco. <br />At the end of the night, as I was leaving, I picked up several of the real gold covered chocolate Oscars that people had left on the tables. I took a couple to my Mom. She had them in her fridge for years.Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-4254830942635032902010-04-14T11:58:00.000-07:002010-04-23T11:28:54.635-07:00We Meet Again<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pdpbC83c7SG-xV1r3mANQe1cCdZqOQlIH3cUmKfTR8_3ou_AxUmMmvK2-l3iojWl-H9K9CCs31Mm-ynweD_zO2mTxYN3t0cMGAvc-KLGR5alCI5w_e6MAT8yrKiF9maPN4-V9pxDPYNX/s1600/john_denver%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2pdpbC83c7SG-xV1r3mANQe1cCdZqOQlIH3cUmKfTR8_3ou_AxUmMmvK2-l3iojWl-H9K9CCs31Mm-ynweD_zO2mTxYN3t0cMGAvc-KLGR5alCI5w_e6MAT8yrKiF9maPN4-V9pxDPYNX/s320/john_denver%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463401638076114882" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwPNylLyEvWkaWtVt-KZHfxaLSAHjXdd41EDnknthXY6s6SqQHS9xUCFe2Mz_4v22ao4XeL_7Pl7R7al8U5bHn2aDT3MdcZeE9BdZ-xdP8N9GPAm9j0lrcQJJIX0OsZJzmFvjVNefAW6X/s1600/steve-martin-actor-comedian%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwPNylLyEvWkaWtVt-KZHfxaLSAHjXdd41EDnknthXY6s6SqQHS9xUCFe2Mz_4v22ao4XeL_7Pl7R7al8U5bHn2aDT3MdcZeE9BdZ-xdP8N9GPAm9j0lrcQJJIX0OsZJzmFvjVNefAW6X/s320/steve-martin-actor-comedian%5B2%5D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463401633249257986" /></a><br /><br /><br />Before we moved to Hollywood, we had come to visit a few times. My mother's sisters were here, and my uncle, Kin, was in a folk group, The Back Porch Majority. Some of the members in the group lived together in a house out in the valley. They called it the folk house. We went there one time with my uncle, and met some of the other people in the group, and others who also performed at the club, Ledbetter's in Westwood, owned by Randy Sparks, of the New Christy Minstrels fame.<br />One person really stood out to me, and I always remembered meeting him. My uncle said, "Girls, meet John Denver." I will never forget his beaming face, as he said, "Well, I am so happy to meet you," as he shook our little hands. I learned later this was called charisma.<br />Back in Arizona, some of the folk house gang were on the road, passing through, and stopped off to visit. My mother's cousin, Diane was visiting from Detroit, with her 3 kids, and the 4 of us girls, so we had a houseful. Diane made John and the others grilled cheese sandwiches. Later, he inquired to my uncle, "How is Diane and all them kids?"<br />When we moved out to LA, we would go the the club to see my uncle and the group perform. They really put on a great show. The handsome guys in suits, and the girls in their pretty frilly dresses with big full skirts, picking and singing their hearts out, and they did some comedy bits too. They had a very loyal following on the college circuit.<br />One night, we were getting ready to go to the club, and my Mom said tonight there were going to be this really funny guy on the bill, Steve Martin. We couldn't wait to see this new act.<br />Yes, he did have the arrow through the head. Some things just always work. He probably started that back when he was at Disneyland. He was billed as "Just another banjo magic act".<br />Not many people knew for a long time, he is an excellent banjo player. He did put a CD out recently.<br />So, before the show, he was talking with my aunt and uncle, and my sister and I were standing there, and he mentioned that he forgot to get a newspaper. He needed a newspaper. And wondered where to get one before the show. "We'll go get you one!" we exclaimed, excitedly. We ran out of the club, and up the street to the Westward Ho market on Westwood Blvd. There were several newsstands out front. "Hmmm, do you think he'd want The Times, or the Examiner?" We got them both, and ran back to the club, and gave Steve the newspapers. <br />Onstage, during his act, he did "magic tricks". He comes to the newspaper trick. He elaborately unfolds the paper, and re-folds, and tears, and turns, it and folds, and tears, and folds, all with a flourish, and finally the newspaper page is all folded up very small , and he holds it up to the audience, and bends down, and puts it under the leg of the table next to him onstage.<br />Every holiday, my Mom would cook a big feast, and we would have a party, for family and friends, and she would invite all the people from the club who had no family to go to. One Easter party, Steve was in attendance at our house. My sister and I were taking a photography class is school, so we took some of the guys out in the yard to take pictures of them. Steve stood on his head, and his love beads draped across his nose. Snap!<br />Years later, I got to work with both of them in the movies.<br />On "Oh God", I had a vignette with John in the opening credits of the movie. When I met him on the set, I told him of our first meeting, when I was just a little girl, and how I always remembered him, and how he said he was so happy to meet us. He said, "Well, I'm even happier to meet you now!"<br />In the movie, John plays a grocery store manager, and I am having a hard time getting the shopping carts apart. He comes over to assist me. Ever since then, every time I get a shopping cart, I think of it.<br />I ran into Steve Martin on several of his movies. I would always say "Hi", and remind him of meeting him at Ledbetter's, and mention to him, how my uncle was, and what he was up to, and we'd have a little chat.<br />I think the last time I worked with him was on "The Man With Two Brains." I was standing on the street on Vermont Ave. across from a European style apt building, my little Audi parked in the shot, in front of the building. I was going to be crossing the street. The scene was supposed to be in Germany, so I got the job because they could use my car.<br /> He came up to me and said "hello", and was chatting me up, and asked about the family. Knowing I would be seeing him again, I had dug out the photo I took of him in my backyard, when I was in high school, and brought it for him to sign. Later, when I took the picture over to him, He looked at it, turned it upside down, and said, "This is me?"<br />"Yes, it is", I said. "You came to a party at our house, I took it for my photography class." Maybe he forgot his hair wasn't always white. <br />He signed it, "To Terry, You made me what I am today."Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-9508133824684352102010-04-12T15:00:00.000-07:002010-10-12T19:35:59.010-07:00The Pantages Theater<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGZ-JOB4YLhoCCEElstROOj9UO_qDvO7641lcxSQ6Zz9cD3C6W5dx9bGFyyJXcQYCAzqh6DZkRPPTCeo4qOSmLG_Io7eglV4NlaMtxsRSq3-8pFlT68-X8rnnX8a8aYrjHMGNuh67OeNa/s1600/7757_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGZ-JOB4YLhoCCEElstROOj9UO_qDvO7641lcxSQ6Zz9cD3C6W5dx9bGFyyJXcQYCAzqh6DZkRPPTCeo4qOSmLG_Io7eglV4NlaMtxsRSq3-8pFlT68-X8rnnX8a8aYrjHMGNuh67OeNa/s320/7757_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459434115835254354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />My very first real job, (not babysitting or housecleaning) was at the stunningly beautiful Pantages Theater, at Hollywood and Vine. I was not yet 16.<br />I saw a notice on the bulletin board at school for usherettes and candy girls. I still remember what I wore that day for the interview. A black and white striped mini tank dress.<br />As soon as I walked into the ornate, cavernous lobby, I fell in love with the place, and I had a feeling like I belonged there. I knew I had the job.<br />They were hiring a lot of extra staff for the premiere of a new Disney movie, "The Happiest Millionaire". We got period costumes to wear and had our hair done.<br />There was a big show in the street out front before the premiere. We were to seat all the guests at the premiere, including the stars. Well, this was all pretty exciting for a star struck teen, and getting paid to boot! After the premiere, there was a big party, and we were encouraged to mingle, and I had my first glass of champagne.<br />All the people who worked there were either aspiring actors, or or college students. We soon got tight, and the partying began!<br />I would come home from school, do my homework, eat something, and go to the theater. It was my social life, I just went to high school because I had to. Several of us became roommates together, just up the street from the theater, at the Castle Argyle, an old, swank spanish style apt/hotel from the hey day of Hollywood. Clark Gable used to live there. Apt. 302 was Party Central.<br />Our Boss, Mr. Perlmutter, we called him Mr. P, looked like a mobster. He had a big, black Cadillac, with a phone in it. This was 1967-69! We would have weekly staff meetings on the big staircase in the lobby. We discussed problems, and policy, and how things should be done. Everything had to be impeccable. For instance, you could not kick the door stop down with your foot. You had to bend down, and put it up by hand. This was not just any movie theater. All the movies had big premieres that we worked in formals and tuxedos. Then it was a reserved seat run, and it was the only place in town to see that movie. Everyone had to be seated personally, and we carried flashlights, and had special places to stand to greet the patrons. Then we had to stay inside the theater to watch for smokers. We saw the movies so many times, we made up trivia quizzes about them.<br />As much as Mr. Perlmutter taught us all about good service, and was good to us and fair, he had a lot of shady things going on. Years later, I found out he had people on the payroll that didn't exist. That was his gambling money. When the party planners called to ask how many cases of champagne were needed for the premiere parties, he added 10 to the count, and those went into the trunk of his car.<br />We all had a fondness for the theater and the history and lore. Besides showing movies, it was an old vaudeville house. There would be variety acts before the movies.<br />Howard Hughes once owned the theater and his office upstairs.<br />The Academy Awards were held there for the decade of the 1950's.<br />Miss Rupp was one of the assistant managers. She was probably in her late 60's at the time, and was a very prim and proper catholic lady. The story was, that she was jilted by one of the Pantages brothers, he married someone else, and she ended up being the family babysitter. She went with the theater. Whoever bought the theater had to have a job for Miss Rupp. She would ask to see people's tickets and direct them to the proper door. She was always on everyone about every little thing, and to not comply was grounds for immediate dismissal!<br />The uniforms we wore were old fashioned, but I loved them. A maroon top, with gold braid, and a zipper up the front. Big shoulder pads, and a cinched in waist, with a peblem bottom, and a black straight skirt that we rolled up to mini length. Men wore maroon blazers and black pants. Later, we got more modern uniforms, space-agey gold lame A- line mini-dresses with blue princess piping down the front.<br />We used to love to explore the theater. There were at least a dozen dressing rooms under the stage, and all kinds of balconies, and nooks and crannies that hadn't been used in decades. Once I found an old trunk backstage from one of the vaudeville actresses, and wore some of the 30's clothes from it.<br />We climbed up into the chandelier.<br />The projectionist, looked exactly like you would expect an old timey projectionist to look. We would go into the projection booth on our breaks and watch him change the reels. There was an older black lady, Pearl, who cleaned the ladies lounge, and kept the beveled, art deco wall of mirrors sparkling.<br />Because we were mostly Thespians, it was inevitable that someone would say, "Hey, Kids, let's put on a show!" We did a production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". I was Peppermint Patty. Then, in the tradition of the theater's past, we did a vaudeville show. These were actually pretty good productions, but it was not for the public. Some legal technicality, so we invited family and friends.<br />For some reason, after a couple of years, the movies being booked there, got cheesier, and cheesier. And no more premieres. "Hell's Angel's 69". "Helga" with a live birth! "Three in the Attic", and "Spirits of the Dead". I left soon after that, it ws so sad to see the demise of the crown jewel of the Hollywood movie palaces.<br />Several years later, the Nederlander company bought and started bringing the big Broadway musicals there.<br />Flash foward 35 years, after running into a few people from the old Pantages days, we decided to have a reunion. We found as many people as we could, and we all went to see "The Producers" at the newly restored theater, and the manager gave us a tour of the theater. We had a party at a nearby restaurant. We all told stories about how much those days meant to us, what we learned there, and all the fun we had. For many, it was our first job, and for others it meant more to them than their college days. I found out I was not the only person who still carried fond feelings for "The Pan".Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6623639821843164605.post-33791975184150606992010-04-10T19:11:00.000-07:002010-04-12T17:56:37.847-07:00How I Got Here<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmqutHB_VWGrfyCLkYyGwlAlmAE_ZANrds5W3-IOvYlOGgLq7GdQIWWldLYc6dSKjexyNsOoOYKRrUxtBABPeWE-kwhu3ORfNSl-QhxFrMTgh1dW5cMtgjTfl03e-Y5hWV7Oy75oItcP_K/s1600/hollywood.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmqutHB_VWGrfyCLkYyGwlAlmAE_ZANrds5W3-IOvYlOGgLq7GdQIWWldLYc6dSKjexyNsOoOYKRrUxtBABPeWE-kwhu3ORfNSl-QhxFrMTgh1dW5cMtgjTfl03e-Y5hWV7Oy75oItcP_K/s320/hollywood.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459419605813821138" border="0" /></a><br />We got dropped off at the movie theater every saturday afternoon, with 35c each. 2oc for admission, and the rest for candy. People just did that back then, free babysitter. I'm not sure, but I think it was when my parents had sex. Or just wanted to get four girls out of their hair. Anyway, we loved it, and it didn't matter what was playing. There were no ratings! I remember seeing "The Slender Thread", and "Back Street", I knew these were grown-up movies, and there was something dark and voyeuristic about seeing them. I felt a little tawdry. But then there was "Jumbo" and "The Parent Trap"! And all those fabulous Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies! Loved those. And of course, all the Elvis movies! We watched the double feature twice. And then, when we came out of the dark theater, there was Dad in the station wagon waiting for us. We would go home and act out some of the scenes, or pretend we were Doris Day while playing with our Barbies, Elvis is my boyfriend! My boyfriend is Troy Donahue!<br />Any money I got was spent on movie magazines. I'd cut out the pictures and put them on the bedroom wall. I loved Tony Curtis, and Doris Day! Had big crush on George Chakiris when "West Side Story" came out.<br />When "Pollyana" came out, my uncle told me I looked like Hayley Mills! So I went around thinking everyone thought I was Hayley Mills. Oh, they're looking at me, I bet they think I look like Hayley Mills. I wrote to her, and told her I looked like her, and was disappointed to get a picture with a printed on signature, and something generic like, "thanks for writing".<br />I was always a movie crazy kid, and we loved all the tv shows too. I would read the TV Guide, cover to cover, loved the articles, and would circle everything I wanted to watch.<br />THEN -- The Beatles hit! I became the biggest Beatlemaniac, and our room was covered with Beatle pictures, even a poster on the ceiling, so we could dream about them. Rock and roll was competing for my attention, but I still loved movies and tv too.<br />I was very upset to learn that we would be moving from Scottsdale, AZ, to Los Angeles, CA. My mother had 2 sisters, and they had both settled in Los Angeles. I was being ripped away from my friends. Between sobs, I thought, Los Angeles, that is where Hollywood is.... So as much as it was a trauma, I was intrigued.<br />Getting settled in was quite an adjustment, it was a culture shock really. Scottdale was like a small town, Los Angeles was the big city! The kids were fast. Where we were just starting to make out, the kids in LA were light years ahead. I remember hearing of a girl leaving school because she was pg!<br />The surf craze was in full swing, and I could now actually go to the beach!! The real beach! Not just the public pool! We played on the lawn at Television City, and walked up to Hollywood Blvd, and walked along the stars! Went to Grauman's Chinese Theater! My friends from school were dancers on after school rock and roll shows. Rock singers lived next door to us. We went to see "The Dean Martin Show" In Person!!!<br />From my homeroom desk, looking out the open door of the third floor, I could see a studio, and a sign, with the name, Glen Glenn sound. Saw it a million times on the credits of tv shows. Just above the studio, a couple miles away, I could see the Hollywood Sign, on the mountain. I remember staring at it and thinking, " Wow, I really am in Hollywood!!!"Terrybhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12412454084816478416noreply@blogger.com7