Friedrich von Spiderman
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
On the morning of Saturday, April 24, 2010, my friend Bob and I rode the elevator down to the lobby of the Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center with a very friendly gentleman, who we later realized was Spider-Man in disguise – and we all know what a sucker I am for superheroes. Nicholas Hammond was one of those actors who was on my list because of the iconic nature of his accomplishments, but whom I wouldn’t recognize on the street if he came up and bit me…or flung a web around me. And his work on The Amazing Spider-Man television series for 14 hour-long episodes from 1977-79 was just part of his legacy. Read the rest of this entry »
I may not have been so inclined to purchase one of Elisabeth Röhm’s signed photos at the Hollywood Show in Burbank on Saturday, April 24, 2010, has she not been so captivatingly charming. She was on my list as a ‘possibly maybe,’ but once I saw her and made contact with those alluring eyes, she became a ‘probably so’. For me, it was her portrayal of Detective Kate Lockley in 15 episodes of Angel, the popular spin-off to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 
For $22, I can’t think of a finer way to spend an evening than with Carol Burnett and Tim Conway. I grew up watching the re-runs of Carol Burnett and Friends and I dare say that it would be difficult to find a television show that yielded more laughs. Mrs. Wiggins and Mr. Tudball, Mama’s Family, the Old Man, the kitchen commercials, and so many re-occurring bits that cracked us up each and every time. And who can forget such classic skits as Went With the Wind and As the Stomach Turns? Words cannot express how much I always loved Carol’s show…and how excited I was to now get the opportunity to see her and her #1 cohort in comedy, Tim Conway, in person. 
Of all of the celebrities whom I met at the April 24, 2010, Hollywood Show in Burbank, I’d have to say that I was most impressed with Tom Lester. As an actor, he portrayed Eb Dawson, backwoods farmhand to Eddie Albert’s Oliver Douglas on the classic sitcom Green Acres. He became mostly disillusioned with the Hollywood scene and, except for a few brief appearances (one in a Green Acres reunion), he retired from the business. As a man, he always professed a strong commitment to God and today acts as an evangelist, often giving away to charity any of the proceeds he makes on selling his autographed photos. 
There aren’t a great number of people walking around today who can say that they starred in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. There are even less who can say that they were in Hitchcock’s last movie. And even fewer who can say that they died in Hitchcock’s last movie. In fact, there’s only one. Yes, Ed Lauter’s character of Joseph P. Maloney in Hitchcock’s last film Family Plot was the last character that Hitchcock ever killed on screen.