Which do you remember him best for? The single episode of Star Trek: Voyager in 2000, or his role as Mike Teevee in the mega-cult classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? If you’re like me, once you’ve seen Willy Wonka, you’ll never forget it. Even if Paris Themmen, the actor portraying young, obnoxious, TV-loving Mike Teevee, has become largely forgotten. Perhaps his endearing lisp didn’t translate all that well once he grew older than eleven. So he ventured into computer retail, film production, and even worked for a while as a Disney Imagineer. No matter what he’s done, when I met him at the Hollywood Show on Saturday, April 24, 2010, he was a pretty nice guy.
I had acquired the signed photo of him above about ten years ago when he did an appearance at a Hollywood Collector Show, so I didn’t need to purchase anything further. In fact I wasn’t even tempted to buy one of the golden tickets that he was selling. Still he obliged in posing for a picture with me – holding up said ticket of gold – and became the second cast member from Willy Wonka whom I’ve met.
I ran into Paris once again when he attended the Chiller Theatre show in New Jersey on October 30, 2010 – about six months after our first encounter. I decided to go ahead and have him sign the Wonka cast shot that had been previously signed by Leonard Stone and Denise Nickerson (and I would later get signed by the entire cast – as seen here). He had the same deal as Denise Nickerson where he offered a signed Golden Ticket free with an autograph purchase. As he struggled to keep a Willy Wonka poster up behind him, he also took time to pose for another picture with me – which I wanted to get updated since the one seen above was a bit blurry.
Celebrities of the Spring 2010 Hollywood Show will continue…
Celebrities of the Fall 2010 Chiller Theatre show will continue…
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