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I’ve met a few notables here and there; mostly US professional athletes. The most infamous was OJ Simpson, along with his first wife and very young children. That was way back over 45 years ago, when he was known only for being a very nice man and talented athlete. 

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Oh oh, celeb stories. I have a bunch. Many I guess I've told here or in my blogs. 

 

I was on a friendly first-name basis with two of the most difficult celebs -- Miles Davis and George C. Scott. 

 

Joe Don Baker and I came from DC to NYC together. We met in an acting class and shared a little flat on 3rd Street off the Bowery for a year. When Joe Don got a night job in a small hotel that included a free room, he moved out, and Eloise (later to be my wife) moved in. Joe Don became a movie star. I became a photographer. 

 

I was thinking about those temp jobs (we called them job-jobs) that actors used to have, unskilled labor where you could earn something for food and shelter. I'd been a waiter, a counterman, and a dishwasher. For a time, I ran the lobby bar at the Circle in the Square Theatre. These days, the job-jobs would involve delivering stuff -- Amazon packages, food on a bike, and people in Uber cars.

 

I remember serving free drinks to Jason Robards at a party. He was a heavy drinker at that time but so entertaining and charming with endless tales about Fredrick March and others.

 

In my jazz days I knew all the palyers and in Rome I snapped many film stars. 

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1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Joe Don Baker and I came from DC to NYC together.

 

 

 

Great actor. He played a leading role in one of the best TV dramas ever, Edge of Darkness, which coincidentally I've just watched on BBC4 a couple of weeks ago.

 

Alan

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Right, Alan -- I think that was the best thing Joe Don ever did. Bob Peck won some aware for that show. 

 

Great show, great writing. I was living in Oxfordshire at the time.

Edited by Ed Rooney
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My best celebrity experience was back in 1989 when I had the horse boarding and training farm.  Movie producer and director Norman Jewison lived a couple of roads over from me and I used to go over to exercise his horses most days.  On Saturdays (when he was on the farm and not in LA) we would go riding together for about 3 or 4 hours.  Man could that man tell a story.  That year he had the film "In Country" with Bruce Willis premiering at the Toronto Film Festival.  Willis was staying at the farm.  Norman called me and asked if I could find some time to take Bruce out riding, and could they borrow my western saddle as Norman only had english saddles and Bruce only liked western saddles.

 

I of course found the time and rode over on my horse with the western saddle.  At Norman's we put the western saddle on one of Norman's horses and I put the english saddle on my horse.  Off we went for a few hours of riding.  At one point there was a small jump in a field and we decided to go over it.  Norman lost control of his horse and fell off hitting his head.  He got back on and said he was fine.  When we were riding up his driveway he then asked where we had been.  He had totally forgotten he had been thrown from the horse.  I was a bit worried.

 

I was then invited to the big opening of the movie.  Have to say that was quite an experience.  My boyfriend and I walked the red carpet into the theatre, really feeling like somebodies.  Met the bigwigs from Warners and then watched the movie.

 

All in all, quite a day.

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On 11/03/2023 at 11:39, Ed Rooney said:

 

Oh oh, celeb stories. I have a bunch. Many I guess I've told here or in my blogs. 

 

I was on a friendly first-name basis with two of the most difficult celebs -- Miles Davis and George C. Scott. 

 

Joe Don Baker and I came from DC to NYC together. We met in an acting class and shared a little flat on 3rd Street off the Bowery for a year. When Joe Don got a night job in a small hotel that included a free room, he moved out, and Eloise (later to be my wife) moved in. Joe Don became a movie star. I became a photographer. 

 

I was thinking about those temp jobs (we called them job-jobs) that actors used to have, unskilled labor where you could earn something for food and shelter. I'd been a waiter, a counterman, and a dishwasher. For a time, I ran the lobby bar at the Circle in the Square Theatre. These days, the job-jobs would involve delivering stuff -- Amazon packages, food on a bike, and people in Uber cars.

 

I remember serving free drinks to Jason Robards at a party. He was a heavy drinker at that time but so entertaining and charming with endless tales about Fredrick March and others.

 

In my jazz days I knew all the palyers and in Rome I snapped many film stars. 

 

Miles Davis wow!

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I was an extra in the film Reds, directed by Warren Beatty, in about 1979. We were doing a theatre scene in the Zion Centre in Manchester, UK, that looks like the relevant US theatre inside. I looked round and Jack Nicholson was leaning on the wall behind me so that was me starstruck. One lunchtime a group of black women from Moss Side came to harangue Warren Beatty outside about why weren't there more black extras in the production. They had a lively debate. 

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1 hour ago, StokeCreative said:

 

Miles Davis wow!

 

I was a young trumpet player in 1954. Miles had just gotten back from kicking heroin at his father's home in East St. Louis.  He was living at 881 Tenth Avenue in NYC, and that was where my sister lived. I was staying with her. John Lewis of MJQ, Diahann Carroll, Terry Gibbs, and others lived there too. Looking back, I think the most significant thing I did in music was fix an instant coffee for John Williams, the film composer. He was a student at Juilliard and was working a gig as a rehearsal pianist for Dave Lambert and a vocal group. LOL, goodness me. 

 

That was a very positive creative period for Miles . . . until the cops hit him in the head with a blackjack outside of Birdland.

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41 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

I was a young trumpet player in 1954. Miles had just gotten back from kicking heroin at his father's home in East St. Louis.  He was living at 881 Tenth Avenue in NYC, and that was where my sister lived. I was staying with her. John Lewis of MJQ, Diahann Carroll, Terry Gibbs, and others lived there too.

 

 

 

Has anyone ever filmed a documentary on your life, Ed?

 

Alan

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2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

I've suffered from dyslexia all my life, OY.

 

I suspect spell-check got you on that one. I try to proofread everything but have sent some odd emails. I was writing to my doctor about a stye but the darn computer called it style. A stylish stye I guess.

 

Paulette

Edited by NYCat
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1 hour ago, NYCat said:

 

I suspect spell-check got you on that one. I try to proofread everything but have sent some odd emails. I was writing to my doctor about a stye but the darn computer called it style. A stylish stye I guess.

 

Paulette

 

Yes, Paulette, Grammarly causes more errors than it corrects. The Sisters of Charity at Saint Paul's School in Brooklyn used to begin everyday with a spelling bee. I was always the first one down. 

 

Edited by Ed Rooney
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7 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

I was a young trumpet player in 1954. Miles had just gotten back from kicking heroin at his father's home in East St. Louis.  He was living at 881 Tenth Avenue in NYC, and that was where my sister lived. I was staying with her. John Lewis of MJQ, Diahann Carroll, Terry Gibbs, and others lived there too. Looking back, I think the most significant thing I did in music was fix an instant coffee for John Williams, the film composer. He was a student at Juilliard and was working a gig as a rehearsal pianist for Dave Lambert and a vocal group. LOL, goodness me. 

 

That was a very positive creative period for Miles . . . until the cops hit him in the head with a blackjack outside of Birdland.

 

cool; I've been to the Jazz Standard in NYC a couple of times (Dave Brubeck's sons at one gig) That's as close as I get to a famous Jazz musician ;)

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5 hours ago, Ognyan Yosifov said:

Everyone here has misspelled a word or two, including me of course...

Indeed.  When posting in the Photos Found thread I generally condense the titles so they will fit on one line and am tempted to edit out some of the errors. However I think that, on balance, it's best to leave the typos in place in the hope that the perpetrator will spot the problem.  I've mentioned in the past that I always check my keywording a few days after submission, but, despite this, errors still sneak in.

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On 08/03/2023 at 09:08, Ed Rooney said:

 

I found my old Italian press card from the 1960s. Why do I always look uncomfortable in photos? I'm not a moody or  unhappy person, honest. 

 

 

photographer-ed-rooney-italian-press-car

 

 

 

Do you by any chance take a Vodka Martini shaken, but not stirred?

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2 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Where are the young pictures of the rest of you? Post ‘em. Surely you all are good-looking enough that you don’t need to tie pork chops around your neck to get your dog to play with you.

 

🤣🤣🤣

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10 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Where are the young pictures of the rest of you? Post ‘em. Surely you all are good-looking enough that you don’t need to tie pork chops around your neck to get your dog to play with you.

😂

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