I can’t resist a good Seinfeld quote for a title, this one relating to George Costanza’s irrational fear of contracting systemic lupus erythematosus when a psychic advises him not to take a trip to the Cayman Islands. But this has absolutely zero to do with the subject of this posting. The posting has to do with actor Peter Lupus – best known for his role as Willy Armitage on the TV series Mission: Impossible. Well… I say that is what he is best known for, but some out there may know him because he was the first well-known male actor to pose fully nude for Playgirl Magazine. I had cursory knowledge of the former when I met him, no knowledge of the latter.
Either way, I was glad I got him when he appeared at the Hollywood Show on February 11, 2012. I was going for the Mission: Impossible connection when we met, but later I found out a couple of other things. For starters, he has a Superman connection in that he was hired to portray the Man of Steel on some TV commercials for the US Army.
But most importantly, he played the original Norberg on the short-lived TV series Police Squad! (The role would go to O.J. Simpson in the Naked Gun movies). I actually realized this as I watching the show, and was able to yell out what has become one of my catch-phrases in recent years: “Hey, I met him!”
The encounter was brief and vapid. He charged $20 for the signed photo and $10 for the photo op. In the end, I got what I wanted. It wasn’t exciting as O.J. but it gave me one more chance to utter my new catch-phrase.
Celebrity encounters from the Winter 2012 Hollywood Show will continue…
He wasn’t signing pictures of his ‘Little Key Store’…was he?
Dave Chasteen
March 10th, 2013