The Maids of “Diff’rent Strokes”
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
Yep, there were three of them altogether. It began when Mrs. Edna Garrett was assigned the task of cleaning the soiled underwear of Willis and Arnold Jackson in the first episode of the series. She lasted a full season and a half before moving on from the penthouse apartment of Diff’rent Strokes to the Eastland School for Girls on The Facts of Life. Then came Adelaide Brubaker. She was older than dirt when she took on the role for the next year and a half. Finally, Pearl Gallagher came to the rescue and remained with the Drummond family as long as they had a TV show and young Arnold managed to keep his lip shaved. Then, most likely, she slew them. Read the rest of this entry »
It was most certainly pricey, but there wasn’t much of chance that I was going to drop Louis Gossett, Jr. off my list of celebrities to give money to when he appeared at the October 9, 2010, Hollywood Show in Burbank. Afterall, he was an Academy Award winner – having earned his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman. He had also starred in the mini-series Roots – for which he won an Emmy award, and the films Iron Eagle, A Raisin in the Sun, Enemy Mine, and Jaws 3-D. 
I had bypassed meeting Theresa Russell when she had made appearances at autographs shows that I had attended in the past, but this time I noted that her first major film appearance had been in one of the films of my favorite actor Robert De Niro, The Last Tycoon, so I decided to check out what she was offering up for sale. I’m glad that I did – as it ended up being one of the most rewarding of my celebrity encounters at the Chiller Theatre show in Parsippany, New Jersey, on Saturday, October 30, 2010. 
I was on the fence about getting an autograph from and photo with Peter Fonda. On one hand, he was the star of the legendary 1969 picture Easy Rider and had secured his spot as an icon of the counterculture of the late 1960’s. He was a prominent member of the Fonda family, son of Henry, brother of Jane, and father of Bridget. And he continues to act in films today, most notable in the recent 3:10 to Yuma. But then on the other hand, most of his performances hadn’t meant all that much to me. Even Easy Rider, I found to be rather a bore. And what’s worse, he was charging $30 for the autograph and an additional $30 to get a picture with him. 
I am from the Saturday morning cartoon ilk. I literally spent many of my childhood Saturday mornings in front of the TV watching The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show, Fat Albert, The Pink Panther, The Monster Squad, In the News, and my personal favorite, the live-action Land of the Lost. As any man who was once a boy watching this show will tell you, the girl playing Holly was a hottie: a rugged tomboy capable of getting her hands dirty, but with glowing blonde pigtails that made our hearts flutter. At the time, I had no idea that her real name was Kathy Coleman… or that nearly 35 years later I’d be getting to meet her.