I took along my camera but somehow never got around to taking any pictures yesterday afternoon at the Hollywood Collectors Show in Burbank. This, for those of you who are naïve and ignorant of the important things in life, is a quarterly event where all sorts of stars sit around and sell autographs and autographed photos and autographed books and autographed anything. And by "stars," I mean people who are stars or were stars or — in some wonderful cases — are stars to some of us who know and love(d) their work, There are old-timers, new-timers and a lot of folks you just always wanted to meet. It's enormous fun. Here, in no particular order, is a partial rundown of folks I talked to…
I bought Marni Nixon's new autobiography, had her sign it and spent a delightful time talking with one of the great singers of our day. Ms. Nixon, of course, is famous for dubbing the singing voices of many non-singing actresses who for some screwy reason were cast in musicals…like Audrey Hepburn in the movie of My Fair Lady or Deborah Kerr in The King and I. She's performing next weekend here in Los Angeles (details here) and though my schedule is booked, I may make time to go.
I also apologized to her for what occurred a few years ago when I attended a production of Follies with her in the cast at a theater in the Broadway district of New York. At a perfectly awful time for it to happen — not that there's ever a good time for this — my cell phone went off. I'd turned it off before the show but somehow, it turned itself back on. After that, until I got a newer phone that couldn't be turned on with an accidental bump, I adopted the following policy when I was at a show of any kind: I didn't just turn the phone off. I removed the danged battery. Anyway, Ms. Nixon graciously accepted my apology even though she wasn't on stage at the moment it happened. (She said something about hearing it backstage and figuring it was probably me.) There were 28 people in that cast and I apologized to Betty Garrett a few weeks ago so I now only have 26 more to go.
Eddie Carroll was there and I hectored him about not doing his superb Jack Benny Tribute Show in a venue closer to Los Angeles. That is, I wish he would so I would. His schedule is available on his website and if he's going to be in your neck of the woods, go see him. As I've mentioned here, I'm not usually a fan of impersonator shows but Eddie is almost channeling J.B., he's so good. About ten minutes in, you forget and it might as well be Benny. We also talked about Eddie's work as an animation voice (he currently plays Jiminy Cricket for Disney) and his days as a writer at Hanna-Barbera. His partner then was Jamie Farr — and yes, it's the guy from M*A*S*H.
My longtime pal Jewel Shepard was present, signing copies of one of her books, as well as photos from the classic horror film, Return of the Living Dead. I was very lucky Jewel was in town for reasons I'll explain in a post later today, assuming I get the time to write it.
I wanted to purchase Noel Neill's new book (a substantial upgrade on her old one) but every time I went by the table, the lady who played Lois Lane on the Superman TV series was mobbed with admirers. Finally spotting her without customers mobbed about, I rushed over and whipped out my wallet only to find…she'd sold out of the book. That'll teach me to wait. Next time, I'm just going to barge up and shove everyone smaller than me aside.
I spoke with voice actor Wally Wingert, who was so good on one of our panels at the last Comic-Con International in San Diego. Wally helped assemble the forthcoming DVD release of the old Filmation cartoon series, The Groovy Goolies, and it looks outstanding. You can order a copy here.
Also spoke with Billy Mumy, who I've known since he was on Lost in Space and coming to me for news of the comic book industry. And with the lovely model Lynda Wiesmeier. And with Marla Gibbs, who's only one of the classiest ladies in Hollywood. And with the great animator Ray Harryhausen. And with superagent Fred Wostbrock. And with Dawn Wells from Gilligan's Island who looked pretty darned terrific for a lady who was shipwrecked forty years ago. And with all sorts of other people I'm forgetting at the moment.
These shows are a lot of fun and not just because of the celebs who are announced to appear. I encounter people just as interesting in the aisles, walking around the room. The next Hollywood Collectors Show is February 16 and 17. I'll try and remind you as we get closer to the date.