Feeling a little old? Wonder how you got to your present age so fast? Well, this won’t help. If John Kennedy were living, today, he would be 91 and Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Mortenson) would be 82. Reckon’ they would still be “friends”? I kind’a doubt it, don’t you?
I’d like to go to a dinner party with Kennedy, Monroe, Winston Churchill and Robert E. Lee. I’d bet that Churchill would steal the show, although he might spend all of his time talking to Marilyn!
Writing of President Kennedy and Ms. Monroe reminds me of celebrities I have met through the years.
Some of them are: Muhammad Ali, Billy Graham, Johnny Cash, Mike Tyson, Herschel Walker, Reba McIntyre, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bill Clinton, Maria Shriver, Jimmy Carter, Kenny Stabler, Mickey Mantle, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston and her husband, Bobby Brown, Prince Charles, Jane Fonda, Deborah Roberts and her husband, Al Roker.
I would say that at one time, Billy Graham was the most readily recognized person in the world. I met him at a prayer breakfast in which I participated in Atlanta.
I met and talked with the “Champ”, Muhammad Ali, at least three different times. Like Dr. Graham, I believe he was at one time the most recognized person in the world. I saw and talked to him at the old Downtown Marriott (now Sheraton) in Atlanta, at the Governor’s office in Atlanta, and at a hotel in New York. He always had a big smile on his big face and was always approachable and friendly.
Why I can’t exactly say, but the person who came to the legislature with whom I wanted to visit and have my picture taken more than any other (and there were many) was Kenny Stabler, and I did both. This left-handed, ex- Alabama Tide and Oakland Raiders quarterback, had long, flowing hair and had on a long overcoat. He looked like a television evangelist! What figure! And, the conversation did not disappoint. I can’t remember whether we talked about his sometimes leading as the celebrity thrower of the Annual Interstate Mullet Toss at the “Flora-Bama”.
Do any of you know where the Flora-Bama is? Well, at the Mullet Toss, individuals compete on the beach, throwing a mullet from a ten-foot circle in Florida across the line into Alabama. That should tell you where it is. Then there was Mike Tyson. How sad! Janice and I spent the weekend in Atlanta at the Buckhead Ritz-Carlton. On Sunday morning, I went to the fitness center to “work-out”. There was only one other person in the center. You guessed it: Mike Tyson.
At first, I didn’t say anything to him, but then started a conversation with “how are you doing, champ”? He was very, very polite. He was also very sad seeming. I’ll never forget his response when I asked, “where is your home,” to which he replied, “I don’t have a home”. I thought everyone had “a home”. I had interesting experiences with Jane Fonda. We were working on a possible made-for-television movie, and I met with her on a few occasions, even having lunch, twice, with her. I found her to be warm, smart, and very engaging.
This is how I met Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston. I was at a hotel in Miami for a State Legislative Leaders Foundation meeting. We were out by the pool, and I had on a “Larry Walker” campaign t-shirt. Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston were also there. He walked by and wanted to know, “who is Larry Walker” and, of course, I supplied the answer. I invited Whitney and him to our reception that night, and he actually came. He also gave me his telephone number and his “password” which was “Justin Case”.
Later, I ran into the two of them at the Ritz in Atlanta and the lawyer from Galveston, Texas, with whom I was working on a case, and was astounded when both of them knew my name!
In the late 1960’s, I think, Janice and I, and others, were in Alice’s Restaurant at Malibu Beach, California. At the next table were Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw. He looked tired and scruffy. She looked wonderful.
We didn’t “meet them,” but we were “with them,” and it was quite exciting - especially at that time in our youthful lives.
Then there was Prince Charles. He came to the legislature when I was Governor Harris’ Floor Leader. He actually spent the night at the Georgia Governor’s Mansion and slept in the same bed in which Janice and I slept when we were the Harris’ first “spend-the-night” guests after he became Governor. I used to tell folks that “Janice and I slept in the same bed at the Governor’s Mansion that Prince Charles slept in, but not at the same time!” Whether I actually “met” Prince Charles when he was at the legislature, I cannot remember. But, as we shared the same bed, I feel that’s close enough, so I will claim that I met him.
And, isn’t that the way with celebrities? You take a few “licenses” in telling of the encounter, which is usually a meeting that you well-remember and the celebrity remembers “not at all”.
