Western

  When I was a kid, I loved watching westerns on TV.  Shows like Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, The Lone Ranger, The Wild Wild West, and so many more.  Most of them came on CBS.  For some reason, I didn't care for most of the westerns on NBC.  They just seemed not as real as some of the others.  And, I wasn't allowed to watch Gunsmoke or Have Gun Will Travel, because they were too violent.  I did meet two actors who were on NBC western shows.

 The first was Lorne Greene.  He came to the opening of Richland Mall in Columbia.  He was on Bonanza.  I know that was a very popular show.  I just didn't watch it.  It came on opposite Perry Mason, which my mother loved to watch, and later opposite the Smothers Brothers, which I liked to watch.  CBS was big in our house.  When Lorne came to the mall, he was swamped by little kids.  He looked a little perturbed at that prospect, but he tried to be nice.  Everybody wanted his autograph, but he brought black and white photos with his printed signature.  I shook his hand and told him my name.  He had rough hands. You could kind of tell that he just wanted to get paid for his appearance and leave.

 The second was Leif Erickson.  He was on the NBC show The High Chaparral.  I watched a few episodes of that show, but not because of him.  He had come to Columbia to make an appearance at our Christmas parade.  After the parade, there was a luncheon for him.  My father was invited to go, and he took me.  I got to sit at the head table next to Leif.  When he turned to talk to me, his breath could have knocked the spots off of a horse.  He was drunk.  He could barely sit in his chair next to me.  I hadn't been around someone that drunk before.  He wasn't the guy I saw on TV.  He was a lush.  

 One thing I realized about both of these men.  The actors you see on TV or not always the same in real life.  They both should have tried to be actors with the public.  Instead, they were just two guys who would have rather been somewhere else. 

Named

  The next two couldn't be more different except for the fame part.  One was an actor who won an Academy Award.  The other was an actress primarily on TV.  One I met on purpose, and the other was by accident.  Both were very interesting people.

 Jack Palance had written a book of poetry and was at a book signing in Columbia.  He had won an Oscar for "City Slickers" and was the epitome of the tough guy on screen.  Before I meet someone famous, I think of something we have in common.  That way, we have something to talk about.  As I was standing in line to meet Jack, I thought of three things we had in common.  We were both actors.  We both knew Yoko Ono.  And, we had both worked with Burt Lancaster.  When it was my turn to get a book signed, I told him my three things.  I told him that Burt taught me how to dance.  With a wry smile, he said that he didn't know Burt knew how to dance.  I told him that he knew enough to teach me.  We had a big laugh over that.  Jack was a very nice guy in person and nothing like the characters he played on the big screen.

 Julie Newmar was best known for playing Catwoman on the "Batman" TV series.  She was on other TV shows including "The Monkees".  She was living in Ft. Worth the same time I was.  I was with some friends to go to the premiere of the movie "Superman".  We got there kind of late and had to sit down front.  It was a big theater.  As being in some movies, I have a habit to watch the end credits to see if I know anyone on the crews.  When the movie was over, my friends left along with almost everyone else.  I looked over to see a woman toward the front looking at the credits.  We were the only two left in the theater.  I realized she was Julie Newmar.  As we were there, I started to get a bit uncomfortable.  I thought it would be best if I left before her, so I walked out.  My friends were running around outside with their arms stretched out like Superman.  I joined in.  I ran around the corner of the theater, and my fist went smack dab into Julie's chest.  It bounced off.  I was really embarrassed and apologized profusely.  She smiled and told me that it was all right.  She was wearing a peach-colored mini dress that was knitted.  She said she noticed me reading the credits, and I told her why.  She said she did the same thing.  We talked for a couple of minutes, and then I rejoined my friends.  She was nice in a lot of ways.  Outside and inside.  

Namely

 There have been many people I have met over my lifetime.  As you have seen so far, some are pretty well-known.  Politicians, musicians, actors, and more.  There were two that could have not been any different to me.

 One was Hope Olson.  That name might not be familiar to you, but she was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for October 1976.  She was the first model I had met, and yes I had seen her pictures.  I was working at Sanger Harris Department Store in Fort Worth, and she came to do a personal appearance promoting jeans. I was a little nervous meeting her, but she was very nice.  She was signing pictures of herself (just headshots).  I asked her to sign one for me, and she wrote:  "To Walter, Best of things to you always, Lots of love, Hope Olson".  The picture is on my wall in my bedroom along with other autographed pictures of folks I have gotten over the years.  I had a friend in seminary, and I asked if she could sign one to him thanking him for last night as a joke.  She did it.  I don't know if he still has it, but we thought it was funny.  The last I heard, Hope went back to her home in Wisconsin and got her degree in Early Childhood Education.  

 The different one was Halle Berry.  She was playing one of the female leads in "The Program".  I was working on that film as a football fan. She had only been acting in movies for a couple of years and not obtained the fame she would get later.  To watch her act was like watching paint dry.  She really wasn't very good, but neither was this movie.  At the time, she was married to David Justice who played for the Atlanta Braves.  David had flown up to Columbia from Atlanta to spend some time with his wife on the set.  It was during a lunch break that I saw him standing around, and I went up to him to say hello.  We started talking about baseball, when Halle walked up to us.  She yelled at him and asked why was he talking to me?  She then yelled at me for talking to him.  He tried to tell her that we were just talking about baseball, but she then said some choice words to me, which I will not repeat.  Needless to say, she basically told me to go away, and then she told him that he was there to see her and not me.  She was extremely unprofessional.  They divorced a few years later.  I knew who wore the pants in that family.  She later went on to win the Oscar for "Monster's Ball".  She deserved it.  Her acting had gotten better.  But, she was too much of a diva, when I met her.  I hope she has mellowed out.

Names

  In another installment of people I have met, we look at a couple of men who had similar jobs but from different angles.

 The first was Grady Nutt.  He was a Christian comedian.  You might remember him from his appearances on "Hee Haw" on TV.  I met Grady at Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center back in the late 60's.  Let me just say that Grady was a cool guy.  He used his humor as a way to get people to think about God.  He would say that God had a sense of humor, because He made Grady.  Contrary to public opinion, Grady's last name was really Nutt.  It wasn't made up, but you could actually call him a "nut".  He also used his humor in the pulpit, as God used him to win souls to Christ.  One night, he was preaching on prayer at Ridgecrest to a bunch of young people.  I was there.  He told the audience that he was going to pray with his eyes open, and that everyone should do it, too.  We had been trained to pray with our eyes shut.  As he prayed, I looked around the auditorium.  There were some who kept their eyes open.  Most had their eyes closed.  His point was that you don't have to close your eyes to talk to God.  You can walk down the street or drive a car while talking to God.  He suggested to not close your eyes while driving.  People laughed, but he made a point.  

 The other person was Gregory Walcott.  You may not know the name, but he was an actor in Hollywood.  He was in a lot of films and TV shows including "Mister Roberts", "Plan 9 from Outer Space", "Bill Wallace of China", "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot", "The Eiger Sanction", "Midway", "The Rifleman", "Bonanza", and many more.  He also used his name to preach in churches about his Savior, Jesus Christ.  I met Greg, when I was 13.  He was preaching in a church in Sumter, SC.  He and my father were friends.  He was one of the first Hollywood actors I had ever met, and I was in awe.  Someone took a picture of me shaking hands with him inside the church after the service.  My mouth is open.  He was very kind to talk with me as a real person.  I didn't think of these actors as real people.  They were on TV or on the big screen.  He said I could call him "Greg".  That was so cool.  When I would see him in the movies or on TV after that, I would say that he was my friend.  And, he was.

Drops

  Here is another couple of encounters I have had with names you might recognize.  Today, we have stories about two guys named George.  I do regret never having met George of the Jungle.  You know, he is a friend to you and me, but he has to watch out for that tree.

 In 1978, I was working at Sanger Harris Department Store.  They brought in a lot of famous people to do personal appearances to promote one thing or another.  One of those people was a man named George Hamilton.  You may remember him as an actor, or that he dated Lynda Bird Johnson.  He came to the store to promote a line of skincare products.  He was very famous for his tanned skin.  When I met him at the store, he seemed a little stuck up, but he shook my hand anyway.  We talked for a couple of minutes about acting.  There were a lot of women swooning over him, which he just ate up.  Ego will do that to you.  He smiled a lot.

 In 2008, I was living in Greenville, SC.  The movie, "Leatherheads", had been filmed in that area the year before.  George Clooney was the director and star of the film.  The premiere was taking place in Greenville, and Clooney was there to get the key to the city along with his co-star Renee Zellweger.  I knew there would be autographs available, so I had gone to a bookstore and bought a magazine with both of them on the cover.  When I got to the site, there was already a crowd of mostly women looking to get an autograph or two.  The film company had passed out mini movie posters for them to sign, but I had my magazine.  George started to wander into the crowd, and I was right there.  I presented my magazine to him to sign.  He looked at it with a smile and looked at me.  He signed it, and I said, "Thank You".  He looked at me and said, "You're welcome".  I didn't see him doing that to anyone else.  We had a moment.  Renee was having some issues with her high heels, so she stopped signing right before she got to me.  I begged her assistant to have her sign my magazine.  She did, and that was the last autograph she gave out at that event.  After the ceremony, Renee went to get in the car, but George stayed to sign some more autographs.  There was some chaos at that second signing for a group much smaller than the first.  In the melee, I signed a woman's arm who was in front of me.  It was an accident, but I bet she didn't wash her arm for a long-time thinking George had done it.  As I have said before, usually the bigger the star, the nicer they are.  George Clooney was much nicer than George Hamilton.  Case closed.

Droplets

  As I said last time, I have been accused of being a name dropper.  I don't mean to be.  I have just been rather fortunate to have met some people, whose names you might know.

 One of those was Dennis Hopper.  We met on the set of the film "Chattahoochee" in 1988.  Now, I know that there are stories about his drug and alcohol use, which was extreme, but by then he was clean and sober.  Dennis was a very interesting guy.  We were standing in a line together waiting for a scene.  He turned to me and asked if I knew anything about Charleston.  He said he wanted to go there for his off weekend from shooting.  It just so happened that I knew a lot about Charleston.  I asked him what he was interested in, and he said he wanted to see the history of the city.  So, I told him about the Battery, the Market, Charles Town Landing, Fort Moultrie, Fort Sumter, and Patriots Point.  The following year, he directed a movie called "Chasers" which was mostly filmed in Charleston.  All of the sites I told him about were in the movie.  I really should have gotten a credit for Location Scouting in that film, but I didn't.  Another guy heard us talking and asked Dennis if he wanted to go to a bar after filming.  Dennis was polite and told the guy that he just wanted to go back to his hotel room at Embassy Suites and watch ESPN.  He told me that he really liked to watch college sports.  He was a cool guy,

 Another was Gary Oldman who had the lead in "Chattahoochee".  Most everybody has a list of the best actors in the world.  Gary is on my list.  He emersed himself in any role he would play.  Gary has a Cockney accent in real life, but he was playing a guy from Florida and had to have a Southern accent.  The director had told us not to say anything to Gary, because he was concentrating on his accent.  We were standing around in a cramped space, waiting on a scene to begin.  I was next to Gary.  He turned to me and asked me what my name was.  I told him.  He then asked me if I was from Columbia.  I said yes.  So, he then asked me to tell him about the South.  He wanted to get an idea what someone from the South would do within his character.  We were chatting about that, when the director saw me talking to Gary.  The director wanted to fire me, but Gary spoke up and told the director that he had initiated the conversation.  I was allowed to stay.  Gary and I talked at lunch about the South.  He also wanted me in a scene with him behind a fence along with some other actors.  That made the front of the DVD cover.  I am on the far left in the artwork, even though I was right behind him in the shot.  

 By the way, who is on my list of great actors?  Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, Gary Oldman, and me.  That's the way it is.

Dropping

  These next few stories will contain observations about some famous people that I have met over the years.  I survived homelessness in a shelter by telling stories about these famous people, especially movie stars.  You might call it bragging or name dropping.  I call it a fortunate time in my life.  It may also be eye-opening to you, but famous people are famous because of the brand that people put on them.  They don't go around (at least most don't) proclaiming they are famous.  They are just people like you or me that may be recognized more in airports or on the street.  Fame can be hard on some.  It sort of takes away your independence in life.  Some become recluses.  Others go to a lot of parties.  Most of the ones I have known do not let fame define them.  They are just ordinary people with extraordinary jobs.

 Burt Lancaster:  When I had got onto the set of "The Midnight Man" in 1973, I had already gone through an audition process.  Burt was the co-director of the movie.  He lined a bunch of us up in front of the dance floor and picked the ones who would look the best on camera.  I was one of those.  He then went up to me and asked me my name.  When I told him, he recognized my name, because his son had told him that I should be hired.  Burt told me that he wanted me to dance with the female lead, who was Susan Clark.  I confessed to him that I didn't know how to dance, so he spent 45 minutes with me teaching me how to dance.  He taught a slow dance to me that would work in the film.  He brought in Susan Clark to rehearse dancing with me.  It didn't go well.  Susan wanted to dance fast, but I couldn't keep up with her.  Consequently, we were tripping each other up.  She got mad and threatened to walk off of the set.  Burt came to my defense and told her that I was trying my best.  But, he saw that she wouldn't work with me, so I was assigned another dance partner.  In the film, it looks like she is dancing with someone else, but she is really dancing alone.  Burt apologized to me, and he allowed me to use his name as a reference for my future work.  I learned a lesson that day:  the bigger the star, the nicer they are.  That is usually true, but not always.

 Charlton Heston:  I was living in Fort Worth, and he had just written an autobiography.  He was doing a book signing at Walden's in the mall where I worked.  I got off work early to be the first in line to meet him.  I had taken one of my acting books for him to sign.  When I got there to the store, the signing hadn't officially started.  I had to buy one of his books for him to sign it.  After he did, I asked him if he could sign my acting book.  His agent said no, but Heston did.  There was no one else in the store at the time, so we got to talking about acting.  He wanted to know what I had done, and I told him about the plays and two movies.  We talked about my work with Burt Lancaster.  Heston was a nice man, and he told me I could call him "Chuck".  So, I asked Chuck if I could use his name as a reference like Burt had, and he agreed.  Chuck had a good sense of humor, and a strong faith in God.  We had a falling out years later, which is a story in my blog about the TV movie "Chiefs".  I would rather remember him for the nice encounter.  I gave his autographed book to my Mother for Christmas.  She was a big fan of his.  I still have my acting book that he signed to me.