The Montgomery Siblings Bred Prodigy Doctors and Rats
Sunday, September 22nd, 2013
Sometimes celebrity encounters can lead to one or more of those fun ‘a-ha’ moments when you realize things about them that you never did. Sometimes it comes during the encounter through chatting, or seeing a photo on their table of them in a film or TV show that you never knew that they did, but often it comes into research that follows the encounter. Either way, the Montgomery siblings were full of them. Most notably, I had them on my list to pick up signed photos of them at the Hollywood Show on August 4, 2012 – but I had no idea that they were even siblings. Read the rest of this entry »
It is one thing to simply meet celebrities. That is an occurence at which I’ve become more than adept. Seldom does my voice quiver with nervousness when I encounter one. On the other hand, meeting them rarely brings a lump to my throat or a swelling of my heart – because it is often nothing more than a fleeting, cold encounter. But it is another thing to call one of your favorite performers a long-time friend. This is the case with my pal Jerry Tucker Schatz. Every since I first met the former child actor who had starred in 18 entries in the Our Gang/Little Rascals series, he has enchanted me with his stories, his humility, and above all his kindness. 
Sometimes life can be just simply amazing. It was on February 14, 2012, that I was watching the film Raging Bull for about the third or fourth time, when I realized just how incredible it was. Yes, it was a pathetic Valentine’s Day…but it was an incredible film. This led me to do some research (okay, let’s be honest: I opened up Wikipedia) on Jake LaMotta, the subject of the film. I was quite amazed to see that this former World Middleweight Champion, who had been portrayed by my favorite actor Robert DeNiro as a self-destructive, violent man, who was his own worst enemy, was still alive! He was 90 years old at the time, but he was still alive. 
Considering our late night the night before, Bob and I managed to get up relatively early, get ready and head out for our second day in New York City, on the morning of Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Readers of this blog will already have some idea of the types of things that were on our radars for the day. Needless to say there are lots and lots of things to do in New York City, but most of the things I was focusing on during this first visit had to do with either the entertainment industry or Presidential/historical sites. And a little bit of sports I suppose. It was just a bit after 8am as we began our day, heading from our hotel on 46th street toward the subway stop on 42nd street, Bob opting to stop at McDonalds for a quick breakfast on the way. 
My Dad always thought that The Dukes of Hazzard was the dumbest show on television. At one point I had picked up the DVDs for several seasons of the show, and I must admit, I was inclined to agree. But instead of watching it with disdain, I couldn’t help but enjoy it and its southern good ol’ boy humor. I had had the opportunity to meet the ‘replacements’ Duke cousins Coy and Vance (Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer), who took over for Bo and Luke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) during a contract dispute, but I bypassed them. I now regret this since Mayer since passed away unexpectedly.