In my many years in and around show business and comics, I've met or worked with a few people I thought were truly wretched, nasty human beings. I am amazed sometimes when I read a mention of them on the Internet or hear someone say what great, charming people they were. This usually comes from one or both of two sources…
- The person who found them so wonderful met them ever-so-briefly and in a context of fan-worship. I would guess that even Hitler could be a helluva great guy if you spent five minutes with him and started those five minutes by saying, "I'm one of your biggest fans and I've always admired your work."
- The person who found them so wonderful was never in a position of being threatening in any way to them, nor could they have profited from hostility or dishonesty. One of the main people on my "nasty" list was Mr. Wonderful until he thought he could make twenty bucks by screwing you over.
And I suppose there's a third situation, where someone is kind of irrationally bi-polar, coming across like Mr. Rogers in the morning and Mr. Hyde after sundown. Meet him at 10:30 AM and you would have thought he was the greatest guy on the planet.
All that said, I met Roy Clark exactly once. We spent about 45 minutes together when there was a possibility he would be starring in his own variety show pilot for NBC and I would be its Head Writer. He was, at least in those 45 minutes, the greatest guy on the planet. He was funny and he laughed at just about everything I (or anyone) said with one of those rollickin', genuine laughs that makes you feel so good when you induce it in another human being. It was altogether consistent with the jolly, jovial air he projected on TV.
I always thought he was a great entertainer and that day, I thought doing a show with him would be a fine, fine experience. I was quite disappointed a few days later when the folks at NBC decided they really weren't interested in The Roy Clark Show after all.
Now, I guess it's possible that my 45 minutes with him were atypical and that an hour later, he was out kicking cocker spaniels and small children and bragging about grabbing women by the pussy. But I'd sure like to think not. I think the world is a little worse off for him not being in it today.