Late Fame and Radio Man

A bearded older man lay on the sidewalk. Heap of humanity. The screening crowd ignored him deceived by their blather. I had no idea who he was. A human in distress. His attempts to stand feeble. I bent over to help him. He begged off my aid. I lifted him to his feet and he stood a crooked man. I recognized him. He had been inside the theater. Soiled clothing like a derelict, but familiar to the audience.

Willem worked the autograph line. He had been here thousands of times in hundreds of places. A car was waiting for him. We were. Going to his apartment thereafter for tea.

"Stay close. When I go. I go."

I nodded and asked the old man, if he was alright.

"Fine."

I went to the big black SUV. The black driver asked if I wanted inside. I waved off the offer. This was Willem's ride.

The risen fallen man was speaking with Willem. He listened with intent. Willem despite his fame has retained his humanity, as have I from time to time.

"Let's go."

"First a photo with the old man."

Willem stood close. The two seemed to know each other. One shot was enough.

Willem jumped in the car. I got in. The doors shut. The SUV was supersized for comfort. Willem was relieved to be out of the limelight. Our friendship went back into the last century. Both of us lucky to be us now.

"Do you know Radio Man?"

"Who?"

"The old man. He's famous. Radio Man comes to all the first screenings. He's been in lots of movies. Here take a look."

Willem found Radio Man on Google and handed me his iPhone. The bearded old man had been in many films. Even a documentary. He had been discovered shouting at celebrities from a news stand. He never had to pretend to be real. He was real. He had no other choice. Still I had never heard him.

Radio Man had confided to Willem that Late Fame will be the one to earn him an Oscar. I think so too. Once more he was playing real and nobody was better than that than himself adn Radio Man was more famous than me, but I had always wanted to be famous for never and at that I succeeded without faulure___

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The Harsimus Branch Embankment - Jersey City

Last Wednesday I left Clinton Hill to act the role of a drunken pool player in low-budget film. LATE FAME. A movie from a 1894 novella about a forgotten poet discovered by the young. My friend was the lead.

"This movie is about you."

Famous for never. I know it well

One scene was all I got.

A local losing at pool to the hero's friend. None of the extras looked like barfly. The actor couldn't play eight-ball. I guess I was there to add cred. I had drank, since the age of 12. I hadn't had a drink in four years. Doctors' orders. No other choice other than to be sober.

The shoot began at 9. I was out at 2.

I walked to the Grove Street past the Harsimus Branch Embankment. Erected in the 1900s to carry trains to New York Harbor. Red sandstone. Each block a ton. According to Wikipedia the Pennsylvania Railroad branch served its freight yards and carfloat operations on the Hudson River at Harsimus Cove

Landscape historian John Stilgoe writes of the structure as having “the everlasting solidity of Egyptian pyramids and Inca roads."

Fairly amazing masonry work and still standing, although the ground has sunk under its weight. The height varies from 13 to 27 feet. The top is inaccessible to the public and since its closure in the 1990s nature has taken over with woods spanning the one mile stretch.

I saw no way to scale the walls

A new Eden.

Without man.

No Adam or Eve.

Mankind back to whence we came

No one.

Ps I thought the Embankment was pre-Roman.

Acting Advice 102

Last week I was hired to play a bar pool player in LATE FAME, a movie created from Arthur Schnitlizer's 1894 novella about a forgotten Vienese poet discovered by the young. the script was well-carved for the leafing man, Willem Dafoe, who had said, "This is a story about your recent life."

Sort of true. I am famous for never.

I had no written lines. I ad-libbed and Willem fed them to me without the director countering him.

I also heeded Steve McQuuen's stage stealing from Yul Brenner in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. Brenner was a big star and he demanded the six other cast members stand still. He had the biggest horse on set. In one screen McQueen stands with the other five actors. They are all still. McQueen plays with his hat. According to vintagenews.com When the camera was rolling and he was crossing a stream on horseback behind Brynner, he swung out of his saddle, scooped water in his cowboy hat, and doused himself. or dipping off his horse to get water from his hat et al. Your eyes are glued to him. No lines.

In 1985 I played a thug in Dennis Berry's LAST MOVIE starring Scott Renderer and Gabrielle Lazure. Scott had been in the Performance Garage Troupe with Willem. I asked for some acting tips. I knew nothing.

Scott, also a young painter, said, "Speak slowly and distinctly. Move a little slower in the scene. Know tour marks and lines. Don't look at the camera. if you can see the lenses, then the lenses can see you. Lastly never start until you hear 'action' and never stop until you hear 'cut'.

It was good advice.

Someone else told me, "Don't hit on the lead actress. The producer is # 1. # 2 the director, # 3 the lead man and as for the writer and actress prefers to go home with a Hollywood Boulevard valet than a writer

Good advice then

Good advice now.