In about five years, I’ll be able to say that I’ve been part of the Sons of the Desert organization for 5/6ths of my life. That is pretty crazy in itself. As a lifelong devotee and student of the club, I’ve gotten to know five names pretty darn well: John McCabe, the club’s founder, and Al Kilgore, Chuck McCann, Orson Bean, and John Municino, the club’s founding members. Of the five, only four have really had any degree of fame: McCabe as writer (most notably as biographer of Laurel & Hardy), Kilgore as artist (he even drew the escutcheon for the Sons), and Chuck McCann and Orson Bean as actors. John Municino, swell guy that he probably was, would be the least likely to be a household name. In fact, I dare say his greatest claim to fame was that his name appeared in the Sons constitution as one of the founders. And now, he is the only one of the five whom I never met – and sadly never will.
For the longest time I had only met three of them. But on July 2, 2014, that finally changed. As part of the Sons of the Desert 19th International Convention aka Laurel & Hardywood, Orson Bean made a brief appearance at the film screening held on that evening at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
I had already purchased a cheap autograph of him, so my main objective was just to get a photo with him. Not only had he been a Sons founding member, but he had had the lead role in The Twilight Zone episode Mr. Bevis, not to mention roles in films such as Miracle on 34th Street and Anatomy of a Murder, and television shows like The Love Boat, The Facts of Life, The King of Queens, Will & Grace, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, and a recurring role on Desperate Housewives. Just getting ready to turn 86, he has had a long, varied, and lucrative career. He also has a hot wife.
I had no idea until he walked into the theater with her that he was married to Alley Mills, best know as the mother Norma Arnold in The Wonder Years. The real shame in this was that I did have a photo that I would have liked to have her sign…if I had only known.
In any case, both were nice enough to pose for a photo with me, and it was a real bonus to get them both together. Not only did I fulfill my longtime quest to meet Orson Bean, but I met one of the all-time great TV moms as well. In fact I actually chatted with her more than Mr. Bean, mostly about the upcoming DVD release of The Wonder Years.
There were many highlights and very cool first-time celebrity encounters and this one ranked right near the top.
Celebrities of the Laurel & Hardywood 2014 will continue…
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