Me and Celebrities

I used to work as relief manager at a couple of movie theaters in DC back in the early 1980s. One day, Jack Valenti came in to the Tenley Circle theater and asked to be comped. He showed me his credentials (he was with the AFI or some such thing at the time) and asked if I knew who he was. I had seen him on the Oscars many times and recognized him. But inasmuch as my masters had not left word to comp him, I declined to do so and made him pay for his ticket. I could have comped him, but I didn’t want to for some reason. Now he’s dead, and I regret that I made him pay. Sorry about that, Jack.

I comped Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver at the opening of one of the Rocky movies (the one with Mr T) at the Avalon by Chevy Chase Circle. They claimed to be friends with the owners of the chain, and I reckoned that they probably were. He was huge but not as tall as I had expected. They were the only famous people I ever comped just for being famous. Amy Carter came in a few times with her little friends and a team of Secret Service Agents, but they always paid for their tickets.

I lived in DC and its environs for over ten years, and I rarely saw anyone famous. I met Barry Goldwater on M Street once when I was in college. I went to church with President Carter. I attended a few events at the White House (Gorbachev’s visit being the coolest), and Warren Burger gave a speech in Lafayette Park once while I was hanging around. That’s about it. Oh, Wayne Newton sang on the mall in 1983. And the Pope came in 1979 or thereabouts.

I’ve seen more celebrities in New York and environs than I ever saw in DC. For example, Mia Farrow asked me where the pet store was outside of Danbury. We were standing in front of it, so I was able to help her easily. I sat across from Tim Conway at a play on Broadway. I saw Jesse Jackson get out of a limo. Well, you get the picture.