Brush with celebrity

My biggest brush with celebrity came a few years ago when I was with my last employer.

I had to go to the local airport to pick up a guy who was flying in to help me sell the line of super expensive maintenance welding products that we carried. He was an older guy named John who had taught the welding products seminar that I had attended a few weeks previous. He was, and still is I imagine, a nice guy so I was looking forward to picking him up and working with him over the next few days. I got to the airport about 9:30 PM and I met him as soon as he got off the plane. We chatted for a bit and then we walked to baggage claim and waited for his bags to come out.

As we stood there waiting I looked over and I saw a woman who looked like Jill St. John. I nudged John and I said, "Who does that broad think she is? Jill St. John?" We both laughed but when I looked over again I realized it was Jill St. John and that Robert Wagner was standing there beside her. Being the wide eyed hick I sometimes am I blurted out, "Hey, you're Robert Wagner!" They both looked over and smiled and he said, "Yes, yes I am." I noticed that he was a bit sun burned and he needed a shave but he looked ljust like he did on TV. Jill looked just as beautiful as she did on TV and movies as well but she was tiny in comparison to Mr. Wagner. She looked like she weighed about 90 lbs.

So we all stood there at baggage claim waiting for the bags. It was after 15 minutes of awkward waiting when we realized that no more bags were coming out and that John's and their bags were lost for the time being. So we, and by this time the guy who was meeting Wagner and St. John had showed up and was chatting with them, all walked over to the window to report lost the lost luggage.

John went first and he gave his info to the airline employee so I took that opportunity to talk to the celebs. I told Robert, "I loved that SNL episode you hosted. You cracked me up."He smiled and said thanks. I went on, "I was rolling in the floor when you did that sketch with Jan Hooks where you were so debonair and suave until you both sat down to eat and then you started eating with your hands and shoving the food in your face. You said, 'I'm sorry but I always eat this way.' "

He, still smiling said, "Thanks. You know that episode paid dividends for me much later on."

I asked, "How so?"

"Well it was then that I met Mike Meyers."

Like an idiot I did not get his drift. I said, "And?"

"Well, he cast me in his Austin Powers movies as a result of that episode."

I actually hit my forehead with my hand and I said, "Oh, yeah, now I get it. Yeah, I love you in those."

John stepped back and then Robert stepped up to give his and Jill's info to the lost baggage claim person. I said to Jill, "So what brings you guys to the Tri-Cities?"

She said, "We doing a benefit play at the Paramount." She smiled and asked me if I had heard of the Paramount. Which of course I had it's a local theatre that has been restored and that hosts lots of theatrical, musical, and other performance events.

"I bet I can guess what play you're doing," I told her. "I bet you're doing Love Letters." Love Letters is a play by A R Gurney which consists of two actors sitting at desks and reading their love letters to one another. It's the "go to" play for fund raisers and for lazy actors around the country.

"Yes, yes we are. You know it?"

"Yep."

She asked, "Are you going?"

"Well," I himmed and hawed, "I'm kind of busy and this guy just flew in to work with me and I...." Thank goodness Mr. Wagner stepped back into the conversation. He said, "We better be getting on to our hotel."

Jill St. John smiled and she shook my hand. "It was nice chatting with you."

"You too," I said. "I hope they find your bags."

We started walking away from them and then I heard Wagner say, "I hope they do too. We're going to eat when we get to the hotel and you know how messy I am." He began laughing and then I stopped and started laughing too. I stopped and shook his hand and we all said good night to one another.

I'm sure if they had been in a bad mood they would have been dickish towards me and John but they seemed to take their lost bags in stride. All in all they were exceedingly nice and very gracious. Unfortunately for me they were also a bad luck charm for me because the next few days we didn't sell a damn bit of that expensive welding rod. But I'm not gonna blame them for that, they were too nice.