Charles Martin Smith – Much More Than Toad
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
I had always hoped to get a chance to meet Charles Martin Smith. Not just because of his ultra-memorable and hilarious role as Terry the Toad in American Graffiti. Not just because of his great part in the film version of The Untouchables. Not just for his very early appearance on The Brady Bunch. Not just because he was Carter Pike’s brother Lyman on Picket Fences. Not just because he directed the premier episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wanted to meet Charles Martin Smith because as a teenager, he was a member of the Sons of the Desert Laurel and Hardy appreciation society. Read the rest of this entry »
What follows is the second dozen signatures that can be found in the autograph book that belonged to Our Gang member Mildred Kornman (seen at right) when she was a child (began 
I had fully intended to pick up a signed photo of Greg Evigan at the Hollywood Show in Burbank on July 18, 2009. I was probably going to get a picture from B.J. and the Bear – as that was surely his most notable role to the general public in the late 1970’s even if I had never seen an episode. Among his many television appearances, I was most drawn to the sitcom My Two Dads. But not because of him. The fact is that the daughter of the two dads (the other played by Paul Reiser) was smoking hot – even if she was four years my junior. 
Although she tried out for the role of Princess Leia, Cindy Williams’ fate was cast to not be known for Star Wars, but rather as Shirley Feeney in the popular sitcom Laverne & Shirley. This show was of course a spin-off from the classic Happy Days, in which she played the same role alongside Penny Marshall’s Laverne. I’d have to say that my interest in Cindy Williams however was her role in one of my favorite films American Graffiti. Even if she is annoying when she eats french fries in it. 
It seems as though when you needed a relatively large, menacing man – particularly an Australian one – with a mohawk during the 1980s, casting directors needed to look no further than Vernon Wells. His most notable role was that of Wez in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. But my favorite film in which he appeared was Weird Science – which in essence was in a role that was merely spoofing the Mad Max part. He led the bikers who invaded Wyatt and Gary’s party and delivers the classic quote “You two can’t even take a shower with a beautiful woman without wearing your jeans!!”