William Sadler was charging an additional $10 to get a picture with him after buying an autograph for $20 – and I didn’t care for that proposition. In fact he was on my ‘solid maybe’ list to even pick up his signature at all while he was making an appearance at the Chiller Theatre Show in Parsippany, New Jersey on Saturday, October 30. Perhaps he thought he could merit this exorbitant amount of money because he was one of those Star Trek people, having portrayed Luther Sloan in Star Trek Deep Space Nine. He had a few other notable roles as well, in such fine films as The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and Hard To Kill.
However, I would never have recognized him on the street or anywhere else for that matter – for the only role that meant even a smidgen to me was that of the Grim Reaper in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. And even that film meant little to me. However, one of my standard Big Seven bands KISS had released an exclusive single on the soundtrack to that album – a little ditty named God Gave Rock and Roll To You II – and William Sadler was on the cover of this KISS CD single.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the single – and finally determined that I may have sold it. But I did have the full CD itself, which I only had as part of my KISS collection due to the inclusion of one song.
So because William Sadler was the third cousin once removed of the Big Seven, I went ahead and made the take-it-or-leave-it offer to him to sign my CD cover and allow a photo with him for $20. Mr. Sadler repeated his advertised prices to me, so I reiterated my offer. Finally the light went off and he understood: I was wheeling and dealing with him. I was, in fact, striking a deal with the Grim Reaper. But I preferred to think of him as “this guy –>”
Death rarely smiles
Celebrities at the Fall 2010 Chiller Theatre show will continue..
So good in Shawshank. Let’s not forget his turn as the main bad guy in Die Hard 2 with that naked Tai Chi scene! Seriously. Google it.
Eric Hubble
January 13th, 2011