I feel like I might be getting redundant as I talk about my ever-evolving hobby of ‘celebrity collecting.’ Many things have changed in the last ten years, including tolerance of higher prices, willingness to bypass autographs in favor of photos, less stipulations on whom I get (meaning they didn’t have to do quite as much as once required before forking over money), and in this case, adding people to my list whom I had skipped in the past. Joan Severance is one such example of the latter example. Twice before I had seen her at events and twice I had skipped her.
The first time was in Chicago in 2009 during which time I noted on this site that I had ‘no interest’ in getting her. When I saw her again in Los Angeles in 2011, she had worked her way onto my list, but I didn’t care for her pricing structure that included extra money for a photo with her. I do recall though that she was very kind and went around giving hugs to all of the folks waiting in the long line for Martin Landau.
Now the opportunity presented itself once again at the Chicago Hollywood Show on September 10, 2016. She was of course still charging for photo ops over and above the price of an autograph, but this time I didn’t even bat an eye; I paid the $20 for the photo op, and bypassed the autograph like I do so often these days. This was the new norm. As Morrissey asks so well, “has the world changed or have I changed?”
So far I haven’t even mentioned why I was interested in her at all… and it mostly boils down to one film appearance. One that as time goes by, I kind of consider a classic of sorts, the third film in a series of four that starred the late comedians Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder, and perhaps the funniest of them all: See No Evil, Hear No Evil. Joan not only starred in the film, her character was the main catalyst, and she received billing just under Pryor and Wilder. And she was smoking hot. No one who has seen the film will forget the classic towel dropping scene.
She did star in some other films of note, but just not ones that I’d seen: Bird on a Wire, No Holds Barred, and Payback. She also had an uncredited part in Lethal Weapon, and starred in recurring roles in a few TV series such as Wiseguy and Love Boat: The Next Wave. Unfortunately there were no sitcom appearances that generally push celebrities into the must-get status.
As she was during the hugger-games of 2011, she was still very nice and affectionate during our meeting, greeting me with a warm smile and soft embrace. I’ll never tell if she left me in Gene Wilder’s ‘condition’ after that towel drop. Tell no evil…
Celebrities of the 2016 Chicago Hollywood Show will continue…
Leave a Reply