Joe the Bartender
April 17th, 2011
No, I’m not talking about Jackie Gleason’s friendly TV character. I’m referring to Joe Turkel. He was making an appearance at the Hollywood Show on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Although Joe Turkel’s career stretched all the way back to 1948, it was two roles that he garnered around thirty years later. I knew him best from The Shining, in which he portrayed the creepy, ghostly Lloyd the Bartender, whose dialogue exchanges with Jack Nicholson were quite memorable. He was also well-known, perhaps even more so, to the fans of Blade Runner, in which he played the eccentric Dr. Eldon Tyrell. Read the rest of this entry »
The original plans were to go back to Bob’s house in San Bernardino after Disneyland and then head out early Saturday morning toward our Utah destinations, stopping in Las Vegas for breakfast that morning. Then we had even talked about skipping Disney and just spending the whole day Friday in Vegas. What we ended up was an amalgam of both. After we had finished eating dinner at the Blue Bayou, Bob and I headed out from Disneyland directly toward Las Vegas on Friday, March 25, 2011. 
I’ve lately become a sucker for anyone from the golden age of Hollywood. So if I see that there is going to be a celebrity attending an autographs show and they have a scad of black and white photos on display on the show’s website, then I’m inclined to research their history. Gigi Perreau, for example, did not have a name that I recognized – but I’m very grateful that I checked her out before attending the show. If I hadn’t, I might not have realized that she played the key role of the orphan Shelly in Abbott and Costello’s last film Dance With Me, Henry. 
Perhaps you’re wondering how a real life actress can get the credit as playing Tinkerbell in the 1953 Walt Disney animated classic Peter Pan, especially since Tinkerbell didn’t talk in the film. Well here’s how: In the early days of Disney animation, live actors were hired to pantomime the movements of their on-screen counterparts. Margaret Kerry was the actress who was tapped to be old Tink. But to solidify her presence in the actual film, she also provided the voice of one of the red-headed mermaid in the Neverland lagoon. But when I first met Margaret Kerry, I didn’t really know much about her involvement with Peter Pan. 
Fred Dryer had an illustrious career as a football player with the NFL, starting in 166 games and recording 104 career sacks with the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Rams. He also had a distinguished career as an actor, starring in the popular police drama series Hunter, portraying the title character Sgt. Rick Hunter. But I think I am always going to think of him as the biggest almost-casting-mistake in history. He was in fact a strong candidate to portray Sam Malone in one of my all-time favorite TV sitcoms Cheers. Thankfully, the role went to Ted Danson, who helped make the show what it was.