Wednesday in Los Angeles: Locations, Dr. Phil, and the Magic Castle
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
Wednesday, October 5, 2005 was another busy day to add to my bustling vacation on the West Coast. Jimmy and I had been up late the night before catching our appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and we were off to a running start that morning with much to do beginning with many stops to make. I had a twofold reason for wearing my nice purple shirt once again that day. I guess it never occurred to me to simply wear a white t-shirt and throw the dress shirt over it when it became necessary. Read the rest of this entry »
Henry Brandon became one of the staples of the Sons of the Desert conventions throughout the 1980’s. Although one of the kindest and gentlest men you would ever hope to meet, the Sons took his role as the evil Silas Barnaby in Laurel and Hardy’s Babes in Toyland to heart. Everytime he would enter a room, he would be greeted with scores of boos and hisses. I always wondered if that would eventually get on his nerves, but he was always a great sport about it and treated the Sons member like they were long-lost family at his convention at his five consecutive convention appearances. 
As I mentioned in my previous posting about the trip that Lisa and I took to Minneapolis for the Block-Heads Tent 30th Anniversary gathering, one of the major drawing points to get me there was the good chance that Gordon “Porky” Lee from the Our Gang series would be attending as a special guest. Living in Minneapolis at the time, he rarely made any appearances at collector shows or meetings in California – and he had yet to be invited to any Sons of the Desert conventions. I thought that this might be my only chance to get to meet one of my all-time favorite Little Rascals. 
What better autograph and celebrity encounter to share on Valentine’s Day than a star of the most romantic comedy ever to come down the pike – The Honeymooners! Jane Kean was the fourth and final actress to play the role of Trixie Norton on The Jackie Gleason Show when the show moved to Miami Beach. She remained in the show for the small handful of reunion specials in the 1970’s as well. Admittedly, the later color shows were inferior to the Classic 39 and earlier episodes from Gleason’s show. But the fact that this is one of my all-time favorite series made her autograph highly desirable, even before I had actually been able to revisit these Miami Beach episodes when a handful were finally released in 2006. Two more sets are on the way too, and I’m excited.
Even with my somewhat limited knowledge of the Laurel and Hardy canon in 1980, I was especially excited to get to meet Rosina Lawrence when we went to the Hollywood ’80 Sons of the Desert convention. She was best-known to me as playing the lead role of Mary Roberts in one of L&H’s best films Way Out West. She also played schoolteacher Miss Jones in several of the Our Gang films including the Academy Award winner Bored of Education and their only feature film General Spanky.