Seafire: I got to rub shoulders with quite a number of Hollywood types during my 29 year carreer on the Seattle Police Department.
Two of my favorites were John Wayne and Gerald McRaney! Both great outdoorsmen and not the least bit aloof!
Speaking of aloof - I had occassion to be on the personal protection squad for Yul Brynner when he was in Seattle doing stage performances of "The King & I".
What a DORK!
Standing orders from him, for our squad, was to turn away from Mr. Brynner whenever he walked past and never make eye contact with him!
Let alone talk to him!
Mr. Wayne was quite the opposite and for weeks he went out of his way to speak with and be friendly with the boys in blue providing for his security!
Indeed one of the guys in blue became a life long chess playing partner with Mr. Wayne!
At the "wrap party" for the Seattle made movie "McQ" (which tragically I was not able to attend) Mr. John Wayne went around to each uniformed officer and gave them a Buck folding knife that he personally had bought (in fact he bought out the supply of them at the then original Eddie Bauer Store!) and shook their hand!
Other friendly Hollywood types that I had the pleasure of working security for were Tom Hanks (what a splendid and truly funny person he is!), Sylvester Stallone, Meg Ryan, Nick Nolte, Martin Short and on and on.
My closest encounter with a "star" though occurred when I was about 9 years old! I was a beginning swimmer and my friends were goading me into jumping off of the high dive! Well at this swimming hole you had to be able to swim the length of the roped off swim area twice, and I had not yet qualified!
I and my friends waited until the handsome young male lifeguard was pre-occupied with a gaggle of scantily clad teenybobbers and I snuck up to the high dive for the first time and "jumped" in!
Well I did not have a successful landing and I was in the process of choking to death on ingested water when said lifeguard dove in and saved my skinny butt!
I will never forget his face as he did the old style elbow lift type rescuscitation on me - it was Clint Eastwood!
He not only was a lifeguard for a short time in my hometown but he worked at Pacific Car & Foundry there for a short time. My father worked there at the time.
Yep Clint Eastwood is a talented man, great actor and an accomplished director - I enjoyed all his movies and especially liked "White Hunter - Black Heart"!
I don't know why?
Maybe it was the double Rifles and the insights into Hollywood types?
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
