Friday, April 23

Frankly Scarlet......











.....I don't have time to blog. (But that never stopped me.)

***

I was not expecting to work today - but a phone call this morning rousted me out of bed. The shop in which I work for holidays and in prom season needed me for boutonnieres and corsages. I offered them three hours, and they took it. So, off I went. I work tomorrow and Saturday at my usual spot - and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, I will have some good photos for you by early next week.

***

The photo was taken in the early 90's in Los Angeles. I was there for a convention, and part of the entertainment one evening was a group of celebrity look-a-likes, who mingled with the crowd. Clark Gable really took his part to heart; he enjoyed (extremely so) posing with all the women for pictures, and Marilyn Monroe hammed it up for the guys. There were several more of them, but I can't remember who they "were" or were supposed to look like. Have you ever met or seen anyone who looked so much like some celebrity that you mistook them for being the real thing?

Every time we are on vacation, I think I see someone famous. It has happened in every major city we've been to and usually, I was wrong about who I thought they were. But there was that one time in the Newark airport.......when I saw the guy who played the father on Good Times - John Amos. We were waiting for the luggage to arrive, and up walked this guy to get his bag. He had a hat on, but I saw his face in profile and full on - and it was him!! I nudged mr. k and said "There's that guy from Good Times....what's his name?" and mr. k said what he always does when I think I've seen someone famous - "you're crazy...that's not him!"

I know it was, because Mr. Amos has a very distinctive nose. I don't recall ever seeing anyone else with a nose like that, and since the guy was built like John Amos and walked like John Amos - it had to be him!! Mr. k laughs at me every time he recalls a time at Sea World in San Diego, when a woman I was with thought she saw Tab Hunter. This was back in the late 70's (before Tab came out of the closet). She took off after this guy - who was inexplicably running - which only made her more sure that it was Tab. She chased him for at least 10 minutes through the crowd; running all the way, and since she and I were companions on that excursion, I followed her. After the guy stopped running, and she realized that's not who it was at all, we walked back to where mr. k and her husband were standing and took a crap-load of flak over it. Mr. k said "What on earth makes you think that Tab Hunter is going to be a guest at Sea World and then commence to running through the crowds like a fugitive?" I had to admit he made a lot of sense (at least in retrospect.)

There was one time that mr. k can't tease me about though, because he was there and saw him too. We had driven a car into Manhattan, and we parked on a side street in a residential area. I was sitting in the car trying to find something in my purse, and I looked up to see Peter Jennings walking by the car. He was more handsome in person than he was on TV, and had he been alone, I might have called out to him. But he was walking with a very pretty woman, and I let them be. Now, I wish I'd said something and hauled out the camera. Lost opportunities.....*sigh*

16 comments:

Pat said...

I remember a film with Tab Hunter which perfectly illustrates the idiocy of men compared to women. (No offence chaps)
Tab and this girl were about to be shipwrecked on fearsome rocks and he said:
'That's port and that's starboard. When I say port turn the rudder to starboard and when I say starboard turn to port.!'
Any woman would have shouted turn left or turn right.
Needless to say they foundered on the rocks.

LL Cool Joe said...

No I can't say I have, but I used to mistaken for someone famous in my younger years, but I don't know who it was but people would whisper and point at me and say "No it can't be, they wouldn't be shopping here" :D

Arkansas Patti said...

Wow, you two probably scared that poor Tab Hunter look alike half to death or perhaps he had just pick pocked someone and thought you saw him.
You were lucky to see Peter so close. He was one of those men I would have loved to be stranded on a deserted isle with. Handsome and smart.

Sage said...

I once rode the elevator at a Park City resort with a guy that I'm sure was Chuck Norris--I later learned they were doing some filming there. As for seeing look-a-likes, when I'm with my family, people often think I'm the ugly guy with Helen Hunter and Dakota Fanning.

Evil Twin's Wife said...

I haven't run into anyone famous, other than Johnny Cash and I was only 2, so I don't remember it. My parents said he was very friendly and even picked me up to hold me. Ahhhh. I love him!

robin andrea said...

When I was in 5th grade the student council reps went to Washington DC on a field trip. When we were in an elevator in one of the important buildings, we saw US Attorney General Bobby Kennedy. I'll never forget it.

Granny Annie said...

Why you didn't even mention the beautiful Audrey Hepburn dancing with Clark Gable.

Betty said...

When I was in high school, a bunch of us were at a local drive-in (do you remember them? Where you sat in the car and car hops brought your cokes, etc.?) Anyhoo, a convertible pulled in beside us and we all though the driver and his lady friend were Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood. Come to find out, they WERE! Groovy.

kenju said...

Thanks, Annie, I thought no one noticed....LOL

Isn't it funny how some posts you think are going to get a boat-load of comments don't - and others that you don't think will do? This one is low on comments, and I wonder if it is because it is Friday or that it isn't interesting.

Nancy said...

Judy,

I had it the other way around.

We were in Branson and they have a railroad there that has train rides to Arkansas and the scenery is beautiful so we decided to go.

While Roy was getting the tickets I walked around to the other side of the huge engine and was taking a picture of it when I heard a voice say,"Wait, let me take your picture." I looked around and there was a good looking guy with a Navy cap on. I said "Are you the engineer?' He laughed and said ,
" No, I'm Tony Orlando." I smiled and asked if I could take his picture,and I did.

The picture was great and when I got home I sent it to him via his web site and he sent me an Email thanking me for the picture.

Anonymous said...

Ha, funny story.
When you live in SoCal, you see celebs all the time, and yet you STILL mistake people for celebs, maybe more so. But when you do see them, there's usually no mistaking them! I'm trying to think if there's anyone I would chase through a crowd, lol.
~S

Star said...

Great photo. Peter Jennings was a favorite. There is still no one quite like him . I don't think I ever saw anyone famous, but I am not that observant. Jimmy Darren kissed me on the cheek when he was in the store selling his spaghetti sauce.

Travelin'Oma said...

I saw Arnold Schwarzennegger at a breakfast cafe in Sun Valley. He dropped his jacket right by our table, and leaned over to pick it up. I thought about touching his butt, but I didn't.

amarkonmywall said...

Love the photo and this post! Earlier I had just read a clip on FB so I didn't get the full story until now. "Famous people I have seen- or at least thought I saw" is one of the most fun conversations! In our family, Daniel is the one with good tales to tell because he really has met so many famous people in his touring travels, including every summer when the band spends a couple nights at Anne Heche's house while playing in LA...

amarkonmywall said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nancy said...

@ Travelin' Oma,

You should have touched Arnold's butt. It could have been your claim to fame.

I can see you being invited out to dinner for the rest of your life to tell the story of the time you patted Conan the Republican on the bottom.....