Go South Young Man
I went to the campus of Louisiana State University upon arriving in Baton Rouge because my contacts said I could get shelter – at the swimming pool. And I did, in the small building to the left, upper deck –
Yes, I came south without a job, or a place at college or a home. I didn’t feel lost, I felt the beginning of an adventure was about to unfold.
Unlike Monroe, I couldn’t just waltz in and get a job in television in Baton Rouge. I tried the two television stations there – one, the NBC affiliate (Channel 2), the other CBS (Channel 9). Only WAFB-TV (Channel 9) anchorman and news director Carton Cremeens said he would think about my three months’ TV news experience.
So I had to bide my time in other jobs, selling clothes in a department store (quit after a month), a waiter in a restaurant (The Chimes – quit after three weeks), then a stagehand at the LSU Union Theater. There I learned crafts such as film projecting (I’ve seen Psycho 36 times), striking and assembling sets, the basics of lighting, and how to handle yourself in front of stars; and there were some stars in Baton Rouge who played in 1963.
Bob Hope was probably the biggest name of the time. Backstage his minions summoned me to his side. He had a sandwich order for me to fetch for him and it had to be just so. He pulled out a wad of bills and dealt me a $20 bill – the smallest he had.
Now this was the time when a McDonald’s burger cost the princely sum of 15 cents. I know this because I ate them.
Off I ran to feed Bob Hope – it was a mission from God. The LSU Union was not known for its cuisine, but it couldn’t mess up a simple sandwich. As I remember it was 75 cents total, plain ham with lettuce on the side. I ran back to Mr. Hope in anticipation of praise and a good tip (from my waiter days).
He inspected the sandwich and counted the change and pocketed it. He never once acknowledged me or gave me a thank you.
I had just completed the first lesson go-fering.
♦
Pianist Roger Williams (Autumn Leaves, Born Free, Lara’s Theme) came to town and I remember he wanted to cut the legs of our Steinway before his concert because the height wasn’t right. He didn’t get his wish.
♦
And Mark Twain came to Baton Rouge – not the real one. He died in 1910. It was Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain, but he could have fooled you:
And I got to be a go-fer for Hal. I wasn’t worried about tips, I was just grateful to be around him in the metamorphosis from Hal to Mark. It took nearly four hours for the process to be complete.
(Fast forward to 1988 – Denison University in Granville, Ohio had a celebration for one of its most famous graduates, Hal Holbrook, and I was invited to introduce him. I remarked to him that I’d watched him morph into Mark Twain 20-something years ago as a stagehand at the LSU Theater:
He told me how he wrote the dialog, from research he did himself. I added, you painted the man yourself too, meaning the makeup he did himself. The result was just like meeting Mark Twain.)