Many years ago, I received an inquiry about doing freelance publicity for a “Famous Monsters of Filmland” event at the Vista Theater in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.
Stop-motion genius Ray Harryhausen would be honored at a public screening and his handprints placed in cement outside the Vista. Would I like to be Mr. Harryhausen’s assistant at the event?
What, are you kidding me? I loved Ray Harryhausen’s work. I was, at the time, the Universal Pictures Marketing “Horror and SciFi Goddess”, i.e. the one who wanted to work on all those films. Yes, pretty please.
The three Rays, Harryhausen, Ackerman and Bradbury were all old friends and often, appeared together in the 90s when Mr.Harryhausen was visiting from his home in England.
The early - mid Los Angeles 90s were a time of rebuilding after the Northridge earthquake, riots and OJ. The city and Los Feliz, a tiny Hollywood area neighborhood, still funky and a bit tarnished. Jumbo’s Clown Room, the Pussycat XXX theater and Thai Elvis were next to the Barnsdall House, next to Fred62 and Home restaurants and the Celebrity Center.
I’d been to the famous “Ackermansion” in the Hollywood Hills when Forrest Ackerman conducted personal tours of his home museum. If you wanted to visit, you called his publicly listed phone number and talked to Forry. Tours were on most Saturday mornings.
Forry was always entertaining and loved to tell his fan boy stories to visitors, for brownies (mine) and dramatic effect.
Here’s a visit to the Ackermansion, hosted by California legend and former co-worker of mine, the late Huell Howser.
At the time, I was unaware of a certain someone named Ray Ferry who was involved with Forry and the “Famous Monsters” brand. I was asked to meet with Mr. Ferry about the event. The link here explains who Ferry is and the magazine’s history.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_Monsters_of_Filmland
I brought my ex, a six foot two inch walking film encyclopedia, to a meeting at Mr. Ferry’s home near the Van Nuys airport. I remember the home was ranch style and decorated in dark red. The conversation was interesting, just like the personalities present.
My ex and our friend, the late director Jeff Burr, met up at the Vista the night of the event. In an interview, link here, Jerry and Jeff talk about that night. (I play the part of the ex.)
Directors Joe Dante and John Landis were also in attendance, as well as one of my all-time favorite writers, Ray Bradbury. Mr.Bradbury was in ill health but managed to make it to the event and the dinner after at the Dresden Room.
Mr. Harryhausen insisted that I also attend the dinner. Imagine my luck, sitting in a beautiful old round booth, surrounded by all these famous Rays.
Mr. Harryhausen was an absolute delight. When I asked him which were his favorite of his creations, he told me Medusa from “Clash of the Titans” and the cyclops from “The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.”
Earlier this year, I revisited the newly remodeled Vista, now a historical landmark and was thrilled to see the theater beautifully restored, thanks to the efforts of director Quentin Tarantino, among others. The handprints from that night are still there as are many others. Sometimes, preinternet times seem like dreams as they live on only in our memories. We didn’t take many photos back then.
I never cared to brag about my involvement in many, many special events over the years. I think I was too busy working to be telling stories. I think of these adventures fondly and the friends and others no longer with us.
My ex liked to tell stories twenty-four seven and not always accurately, as in the YouTube video here. That’s just the way he liked to tell it when it was recorded. Jeff was a wonderful friend to us both.
Nowdays, I just like to tell people I’ve had some amazing experiences and the night of the Rays is just one of them.
You just have to take my word for it.
Photos:
The Rays, Pinterest
Vista, me and historictheatrephotos.com
Videos: YouTube
You're so cool! I love hearing about your adventures.