Green

 The next two are actors whose roles were vastly different, but who both were very friendly and interesting to talk to.  One was pretty famous in the 1960's on TV.  The other was a character actor on TV and in the movies.  

 The first was Tom Lester.  You may remember him as playing Eb on "Green Acres" mostly in the 1960's. He was rather dim-witted on the show, but he was nothing like that in real life.  I met him, when he came to Southwestern Seminary to talk about his faith.  He visited my small Religious Drama class one afternoon to talk with us about sharing our faith through our work.  I sat across the table from him and picked his brain about Christianity in Hollywood.  He told us about the few Christians there were in the movies and TV who were willing to keep the faith without compromise.  He told us of his attempt to witness to those on the set.  He said Eddie Albert accepted Christ, but that Eva Gabor didn't want anything to do with it.  He was very easy to talk to.  It is very hard to stick up for what you believe in Hollywood, because most people will do anything to get a job or do anything the director tells you to do in that job.  I applauded Tom for doing the right thing, even if it meant not working in a part that would propel him further in his career.

 The second was Bo Hopkins.  His name may not be instantly familiar to you, but you have probably seen his work on TV and in film.  He played in films like "The Wild Bunch", "American Graffiti", "Midnight Express", and many more.  He did TV shows like "The Virginian", "Gunsmoke", "The Andy Griffith Show", "The Mod Squad", "Hawaii Five-O", "Dynasty", and many more.  He was also in the first episode of "Charlie's Angels".  He usually played a tough guy.  I met him at an event in Greenville.  He was looking for money to finance a film he wanted to make on Shoeless Joe Jackson, who was an early baseball player.  As was my custom, I thought of something we might have in common to start the conversation.  Both of us had worked with Burt Reynolds on movies.  He said he remembered me on "Semi-Tough".  He was just being nice, because there was no way he could have remembered me.  He did tell me that he would cast me in his new movie.  I thought that was very nice, but the movie was never made.  

 Both Tom and Bo were good old country boys.  Tom was from Mississippi, and Bo was from South Carolina.  Hollywood called both of them there.  It was good to meet them in a casual environment.  Both were very down to earth.  They couldn't have been more different.