The morning news brought information that movie/stage actor Pat Hingle had died. He was one of my favorite character actors, noticed by me early on because of his resemblance to a family member. He was versatile as an actor, playing villains or heroic good-guy parts. You may have seen him in "The Grifters," where he put out his cigarette on the hand of Angelica Huston.
I have been fascinated by movie stars and celebrities in general since childhood; awed by their presence. This is not an inherited trait as my mother once, when leaving a drugstore lunchroom, was bumped into by an entering James Stewart, superstar, and said "Watch where you are going!" And, my elder sister, while standing in the foyer of the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento, was smiled at by a passing Bob Crosby, big band leader and brother of crooner/star Bing Crosby. She said "What are you looking at?" and made a face.
I did share mother's bumping into trait, however. At the old Alhambra theater in my city I started to enter the seating area and crashed into the largest man I ever encountered, Buddy Baer, the brother of heavyweight boxing champion Max Baer and a professional boxer himself. He often played "giant" parts in the movies. I later seemed to be courting his disfavor when at a baseball game in old Edmond Field, Sacramento, I was sitting in a second level row and the entire field dissapeared as a large gentleman blocked my view while pausing on the walkway in front of me. I said "Excuse me, but could you move on? You're blocking the whole field." The man turned towards me and it was Buddy Baer. I quickly followed with "But, that's O.K. because I am tired of watching anyway!" He smiled - - then laughed and moved on.
I also bumped smack into the great boxing champ Joe Louis. I was in an army military base in Brooklyn, N.Y. awaiting assignment to Great Britain. While in line to wash my mess kit after breakfast I rinsed the equipment and turned abruptly into the champ. I stood there aghast and then the original Sugar Ray Robinson, a boxing champ also, stepped forward and said to Joe "Is everything O.K.?" Joe smiled and tapped me on the shoulder as I apologized. Why do I pick boxers to blunder into? Other boxers I met in a more casual way are Max Baer, whom I frequently met and Sacramento champ Jim Marshall. Max always called everyone he met "Champ." I first saw him in person when I was a pre-teen. I was riding with my uncle in a big-rig Peterbilt truck and trailor when we were pulled over by a traffic cop. He was writing a ticket because uncle's truck had flickering running lights. A car opposite us pulled over and the driver yelled "Hey! Leave that poor guy alone." It was Max and the cop crossed to greet him - - then turned and waved my uncle on."
I have seen or met in person several U.S. Presidents, movie stars, politicians, Mafia godfathers, sports stars and various other celebrities as I meandered around the U.S. and Europe. It is always a thrill for me. I will tell of other encounters later on. I don't know what this facination means but I get a kick out of it - -
Just sayin'
