"Do you enjoy throwing up every five minutes, Claude?" -Aunt Edna, "National Lampoon's Vacation"
I’m not exactly sure when I met Joe Rock at Hollywood ’80. His autograph is wedged into my little album right between the technical stars and the Our Gang stars. It would make more sense for him to be on the technical panel, but I have a faint memory that he was actually hanging around the Our Gang meet-and-greet. In any case, I know that I met him since he signed my autograph album – and that is good enough for me! Read the rest of this entry »
Tongues were abuzz immediately as word circulated around the grand room at the Beverly Garland Hotel where the Summer 1995 Hollywood Collectors Show was being held on June 24. Long before the days of The Girls Next Door and he had sealed his reputation as a creepy, perverted old man, Hugh Hefner entered the building. He was with a minor acquaintance of mine, Dick Bann. Dick was co-author of two of my favorite books, Laurel & Hardy (the giant picture book) and Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals – which happened to be the book that I was toting around collecting signatures for my friend Henry Sorenson. Although Dick and I are not exceptionally close, we have certainly grown to be friends over the years. Read the rest of this entry »
Okay, so it’s not my greatest celebrity encounter in the world – it’s still fun. During the Summer of 2006, I became obsessed with collecting every Number One Billboard song ever produced – and wedged snugly in the middle of 1956, not long after the dawn of rock, was a snappy little number called “The Wayward Wind” by Gogi Grant. It peaked at number one on June 16 and remained there for six weeks. Have to admit: first time I’d ever heard of her. Flash forward to February 16, 2007. I’m at the Hollywood Collector’s Show and who should I see sitting there, virtually alone? None other than Gogi Grant herself! And at only $5.00 for this cardboard 5 x 7 head shot, how could I go wrong? Read the rest of this entry »
Dad jotted in his little brown memo book on Wednesday July 30, 1980: “Went to McCabe Forum. No McCabe. Heard tape. He is ill. Saw films. Went to Gen. Session and parade of Tents. Saw films in P.M. Went to tech stars panel. Saw many behind the scenes people. Lasted from about 8:30 to 10:15. Saw movie and visited Hospitality room. Went to bed at 12.” I believe by the time that this first full day of the convention had rolled around, we had met up with our fellow tent members Harry and Helen Carter and two other inactive tent members from Lima, Ohio, who would quickly befriend me, Steve and Sharon Stayonovich. Read the rest of this entry »
I had spent the Summer of 1985 immersed in old TV and one of my favorites of the classic was “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” The title character was portrayed by a young actor named Dwayne Hickman, who had gotten his start on “The Bob Cummings Show.” He had later starred in the 1983 TV movie High School U.S.A., which became one of those instant cult classics in my life, which I still repeatedly enjoy to this day. And one other bonus: he actually appeared in the M-G-M Our Gang short Melodies Old and New (1942 – his first credited film appearance). So it was a special treat to meet Dwayne Hickman at the Hollywood Collectors Show during my Hollywood trip of 1995. Read the rest of this entry »