Brushes with Fame

I've lived in southern California for nearly two years now, but had never been to Hollywood. My sister's visit provided the excuse, so last Thursday I took the day off work and we set out. We booked ourselves a walking tour of the Hollywood district, but arrived an hour early due to some really lucky breaks with Metrolink and MTA. We decided to amble down Hollywood Boulevard and look for place to have coffee.

As approached Fredericks of Hollywood, we noted that people were gathering at barricades set up in front of the store. There was a platform with a microphone set up near the entrance. We bellied up to the barricade and asked the guy standing near us, "So--what are we waiting for?"

"Suzanne Pleshette is getting a star on the Walk of Fame," he answered. Sure enough, as we stood and waited people began arriving on the OTHER side of the barricade. Marcia Wallace, who played Carol the receptionist on the Bob Newheart Show, Peter Bonerez, who played Jerry the orthodontist, Jack Riley, who played one of Bob Hartley's regular clients--and other folks not connected to the show, but who must have been friends of the late Ms. Pleshette: Arte Johnson, Tina Sinatra, Peter Marshall, and Dick Van Dyke. There were some other folks who looked vaguely familiar but who we couldn't name right off. (Those of you who've been reading a while may remember that this is my second encounter with Dick Van Dyke in less than 12 months. It's because he's Presbyterian, I'm sure. That Calvinist vibe draws him into my orbit.)

"Why isn't Bob Newheart here?" my sister wondered.
"Oh--I'll bet he'll swoop in with a big flourish right before the ceremony," I answered.

Yup. In due course a shiny car drove up and out popped the Big Guy himself. We had to sneak away just after the ceremony began because it was time for us to meet our tour.

During the walking tour, which was mildly interesting, we couldn't help but notice that there was a Big Commotion going on in front of the Kodak Theater.

"Oh yeah! The debates! Are those today?" we asked each other.

They sure were! We planted ourselves on a balconly two floors above street level and watched the festivities for nearly two hours. We had a great view of the CNN tent and watched Wolf Blizter chat with just about everybody, including the mayor of Los Angeles. We were hoping, hoping that maybe Barak and Hillary themselves might show up, but they must have sneaked them in a secret door somewhere. When we saw the barracades going down and the police leaving, we figured those two must already be safe inside the building--so we went home.

So, that was my brush with fame for the year. Whew!