Bea Arthur was the first celebrity I ever met. It was in a shoe store in Brentwood when I was six or seven. Engrossed in sandal selection (fag!), I heard my aunt say, "Well, since I see you on TV every week ..." and looked up to see her talking to ... Maude.
My little world was rocked. I suppose I realized that actors were actual people, but I'd certainly never imagined they shopped among us. Back home in the Washington suburbs, all we had were politicians and journalists, and who the hell cared about them. But a TV star ... Wow.
"Who else have you seen?" I asked my aunt.
"I saw Burt Lancaster at the deli counter once," she said.
"Who?"
"He was in The Swimmer," she offered, to no avail whatsoever.
There've been plenty of star sightings in the years since (especially in New York, where they really do live among the people), but Bea will will always be my first.
6 comments:
Twenty years ago or so, Borden and I turned on the TV and saw Burt Lancaster walking beside a swimming pool, a memorable thing because he had the most stunning body in movie history. I looked up the title, and it was "The Swimmer." We weren't interested in seeing it, but while channel surfing much later that night, we kept passing the movie. Every time we did, he was standing beside a swimming pool, walking beside a swimming pool, or swimming in a swimming pool. I swear this went on for three hours. It's become a joke between us.
Great story. The first celebrities I ever met were the guys from Air Supply. I could DIE.
I'm jealous.
What were you doing in Brentwood?
Oh for heaven's sake, Perris is my daughter. It's me, Susan, the tar-lovin' broad.
I spent my sixth and seventh summers with my uncle and aunt in Santa Monica.
The other highlight was Nixon's resignation. I still remember being shushed. (I was often shushed as a child. And sometimes as an adult.)
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