Yes, there have been some sordid details about Mackenzie Phillip’s private life that have been fed to the wide-eyed public for consumption, and the details came from Mackenzie herself in her tell-all autobiography High on Arrival. I won’t go into them here because a cursory google search can fill you in, and I really have no interest in her private life. But I still think she’s bitchin’ – and that’s because at age 13 she nearly stole the show right out from a brilliant cast in one of my all-time favorite films American Graffiti.
Among her memorable lines was when her character Carol forced the character of John Milner to say “I was a dirty bird, Carol’s not grungy. She’s bitchin’.” Over the years, I’ve been very lucky in not only obtaining a signed photo from nearly every major member of the cast, but I have been lucky enough to meet most of them as well. Most, not all. No Ron Howard, no Richard Dreyfuss, and up until now, no Mackenzie Phillips. You can check out some of the other encounters, starting here.
Fortunately that changed on September 7, 2013, when she came to the Hollywood Show being held in Chicago, Illinois. I had skipped going to the Summer show in Los Angeles where she appeared, and I made sure to tell her that it nearly killed me to bypass the opportunity then, so I was so glad she made it to Chicago.
Intially I was only going to take advantage of the photo op, since my friend Bob had already gotten her to sign the American Graffiti photo during the late 90’s. But then I decided to tote along my cast shot from One Day at a Time, which had already been signed by Pat Harrington. She of course played the lead role of the older daughter Julie until she was fired midway through the show’s run.
Mackenzie wasn’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, charging $20 per autograph plus another $20 for the photo op. But there was no way I was bypassing a performer from American Graffitti whom I hadn’t met before. She was quite friendly too, and threw in a photo op with Carolyn and then offered another with both of us.
I may not be a dirty bird – but I thought the whole experience was pretty bitchin’.
Celebrities of the Fall 2012 Chicago Hollywood Show will continue…
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