Fall Comes to the Hollywood Show!

With Barbara Wilson.

Saturday, September 6, saw my return to the Hollywood Show in Burbank. There were several guests I was very interested in meeting, and I didn't know exactly which ones I'd meet until I actually got there. (A lot depended on whether there were long lines, how much they were charging, etc.) I ultimately settled on four guests, and I enjoyed meeting each of them.

The first guest I met was Barbara Wilson, a veteran of 1950s and '60s horror and sci-fi films. Her credits include: Captain Fathom (1955) as Carol Barclay, The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957) as Anna Sherman, Roger Corman's Teenage Doll (1957) as Betty Herne, Blood of Dracula (1957) as Linda, Lost, Lonely and Vicious (1958) as Helen Preacher, Terror in the Midnight Sun (a.k.a. Invasion of the Animal People, 1959) as Diane Wilson, and The Flesh Eaters (1964) as Ann. 

I asked Ms. Wilson what she remembered about working with director Jack Curtis on The Flesh Eaters, in which she plays the movie's first victim of the titular creatures, but it turns out that she likely didn't work on the film at all! She has no recollection of appearing in the film, though the actress in the movie is unmistakably her. Her assistant explained that they suspect the filmmakers got their hands on some unused stock footage of Ms. Wilson and spliced it into The Flesh Eaters, which was much easier to do back in the day.

The assistant also pointed out that you can clearly see that they used a body double in a certain scene, which lends even more credence to the idea that Ms. Wilson wasn't directly involved. It was certainly fascinating to hear, but, since I haven't seen The Flesh Eaters since around 2006, I'd have to watch the film again to see for myself. I ended up selecting a still from Blood of Dracula for Ms. Wilson to sign, which I saw on Svengoolie a few months ago. 

With Cathy Moriarty.

The next guest I met was Academy Award nominee Cathy Moriarty, who was nominated for her performance as Vikki LaMotta in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980). That film, of course, is an all-time classic, but I also enjoyed her turn in the John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd farce Neighbors (1981), certainly one of the most unusual comedies I've ever seen. (While it's not always as funny as it could have been, it's never a chore to watch.)

I brought my Criterion Blu-ray of Raging Bull just in case I decided to meet her, and, after seeing her prices were about what I expected, I got in line. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Ms. Moriarty was quite gregarious and outgoing, which you don't always get from an actress on her level. The main memory of the conversation we had was, when I passed her the Blu-ray sleeve to get signed, she pointed to the face on the Blu-ray sleeve and joked, if I ever get him (Robert De Niro) to sign it, too, he'd probably charge more. It was great to see Ms. Moriarty enjoying herself so much at the show.

With Mary Badham.

Meeting Mary Badham, another Best Supporting Actress nominee at the Academy Awards for playing Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), was probably the afternoon's biggest surprise to me. I started off the conversation mentioning that I'd lived in Japan for a while and that To Kill a Mockingbird is known as Alabama Story there. Amazingly, Ms. Badham told me she was aware of that and that she had also spent quite a bit of time in Japan.

She went on to describe how leaving Japan caused quite a few headaches, as she couldn't simply take her furniture to a secondhand store or have a garage sale. Instead, she literally had to take a sledgehammer to an armoire (!) and leave the pieces out on the street for the garbage collectors to pick up. She also recalled having to get rid of an expensive kimono because there was nothing else she could do with it. She also reflected on visiting temples in Japan and what a spiritual experience it was for her. 

She opened up so much about Japan that I started to feel a bit bad for the person who was waiting behind me, but I wasn't about to stop Scout from talking to me about the Land of the Rising Sun! On a much sadder note, she discussed the recent death of her friend, a Japanese artist named Toshio, who passed away earlier this year. The details of the case are rather shocking, and it's clear to me there's a lot more that needs to come out about it.

To Kill a Mockingbird was a movie I first saw in class in either December 1995 or January '96 after we finished reading the novel in my freshman-year English class. It was a story (and a movie) that just about everybody enjoyed, including myself, even though I was almost exclusively watching Japanese monster movies in those days. By the end of '96, we moved, and I ended up at a different high school, so I repeated the process of reading the book and seeing the movie in class by the end of '96 during my sophomore year. All I can say is, those are great memories from probably the best years of my life.

That's why I made it a point to meet Ms. Badham, and I'm very glad I did. When it was time for me to move on (during which I said my goodbyes in Japanese), she shook both my hands at the same time and gave me and a big, warm smile. Not going to lie, given my history of watching her in Mockingbird during a pivotal time in my life, it was a bit overwhelming. Experiences like that are exactly why I do this sort of thing.

With Luciana Paluzzi.

The last guest I met was Luciana Paluzzi, who played Fiona Volpe in the James Bond thriller Thunderball (1965) and Dr. Lisa Benson in The Green Slime (1968). I hadn't seen Ms. Paluzzi since 2012, so, when she saw me at her table, her jaw literally dropped, and then she jokingly put it back in place with her hand. From the beginning, Ms. Paluzzi insisted I wouldn't be paying for anything, which was an incredible gesture. I asked her to sign my Green Slime Blu-ray sleeve and then pose for the photos in this blog post. She also asked me how long we've known each other, which we have since 2007, though we didn't meet in person until 2009.

I talked about how things have been going since I returned to California and what might be coming up for me, as well. She also commented on how I was maturing, which is a compliment I definitely appreciate! It was also a pleasure meeting her granddaughter, who was assisting her at her table. All in all, it was a joy seeing Ms. Paluzzi again after so many years.

Well, that's about everything. I had much more fun this time around than I did at the last Hollywood Show, and I stayed within budget, too!

Attending Another Hollywood Show in Burbank!

With Barbara Steele.

On Saturday, June 7, I attended the Hollywood Show in Burbank. Overall, unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the one in January. It was still a pretty fun time, but the January edition was one for the history books.

The first guest I met was horror-movie icon Barbara Steele. As a connoisseur of the various Mill Creek 50-movie box sets, I've become rather familiar with a number of her films. I can't say I'm the hugest fan of hers, but I do admire her work, and her movies are quite often pretty entertaining. 

Funnily enough, I met her 15 years ago (!) at the same event. (Time sure does fly.) Ms. Steele was polite but a bit guarded, which I suppose is to be expected given her age. 

The most notable interaction I could share about our encounter was that I originally picked out a Nightmare Castle (1965) photo for her to sign. Given all the black spaces on the image, I asked her to sign in silver, which she did. The silver pen, however, must have been running out of ink, because the autograph was barely visible.

Not wanting to make waves, I was prepared to accept it and move on, but she and her assistant offered a free replacement and let me keep the other autograph. Well, that was an easy decision on my part! I happily accepted their proposal and selected a She Beast (1966) photo, which had plenty of space appropriate for an autograph written in black ink. That signature looked fantastic, so I ended up with two for the price of one. Not too shabby!

With Hal Linden.

The next guest I met was Hal Linden. Most people will know Mr. Linden from his work on the TV series Barney Miller (1975-82), but, if you're a Godzilla fan, then you're more likely to him as the voice of Akira Takarada in the Titra/Titan dub of Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster (1966), as well as the voice of Akira Kubo in the Titra/Titan dub of Destroy All Monsters (1968).

When I approached Mr. Linden, I told him that I was a fan of his dubbing work and that I had interviewed many of his voice-acting colleagues, such as Paulette Rubinstein. He replied that dubbing kept him alive during the early part of his acting career.

Mr. Linden asked me if I knew when he dubbed the films. Thinking he was talking about the Godzilla flicks, I said it was around 1968 or '69. He said it went much further back than that, adding that he dubbed many other movies than just the Godzilla ones and went on to list several other flicks that I wasn't familiar with that he had also dubbed.

In the end, he signed my Media Blasters Blu-ray of Destroy All Monsters, which is a cool addition to my collection. 

With Martha Smith.

The last guest I met was Martha Smith, who played Babs Jansen in Animal House (1978). I asked her about working with director John Landis, to which she replied I was the first one to ask her about him, as everyone else wanted to know about John Belushi. While he didn't do it to her, she said that Landis would whack actors on the head with the script and shout, "Be funny!"  

Animal House, of course, is a classic, and it's a great showcase for the talents of John Landis as a director. Naturally, Martha Smith is great in it, as well. After we took our obligatory photos, I said to her, "And, remember, be funny!" That got a chuckle out of her, so I guess it was a nice way to put a bow on the whole experience.

After that, I went on to other appointments. As I wrote above, I definitely had more fun at the January show than this one, but it was still a pleasant experience. I look forward to adding the next one!

Remembering Francine York

With Francine York in July 2010.

On January 6, actress Francine York, a staple of television during the 1960s, passed away after a battle with cancer. She played the Bookworm's henchwoman Lydia Limpet on the Adam West Batman TV series and also appeared on such shows as Perry Mason and Lost in Space. Her film roles range from Mutiny in Outer Space (1965) to The Nutty Professor (1963).

While attending The Hollywood Show in July 2010, I briefly met Ms. York at her autograph table and spoke to her about her work on Batman. I'll always remember her kindness. Rest in peace.