Monday, September 27, 2010

The Carpet Rake And Other Tales From A Coke Dealer

This weekend my mom and I were at a garage sale. I could not convince her to drive all the way out to see Octomom's house, but we did do some early morning hunting. It was so hot here this weekend that even my mother, who can usually go for hours without a break called it quits after three houses. Anyway, at the first house we went to, there was a carpet rake for sale. I have not seen one of those in many years. For those of you who have no idea what a carpet rake is, let me explain. Back in the day, houses had two common denominators. Wood paneling and shag carpeting. If you had the shag, you had a carpet rake which is basically a plastic version of a real rake.

When I saw the rake for sale, it triggered in me a story the late great Johnny Grant told me about how the coke industry used to work in LA. Back in the late 70's and early 80's, coke took off in LA much like the rest of the world. At the time, the dealers for celebrities were divided within industries. It was really strange. You had dealers who sold to people on television, others for movies and others for the music industry.

This item involves the television dealer. He operated out of some apartments near Sunset and Vine which are gone now, but at the time was coke central. Because of his location, our dealer could service the entire television community. Although many television shows are not filmed in LA anymore, back then most were filmed in LA and they had fairly regular hours.

Actors and actresses would stop by the dealer's house on the way to work and generally on their way home after work. The truly addicted would often get away at lunch and rush over to the dealer's apartment. When they did so, the actor or actress often did not have time to change out of their wardrobe before coming to the dealer.

#1 This Emmy nominee/winner actor would often show up wearing surgical scrubs from his show.
#2 This Golden Globe nominee/winner actress would show up often at lunch. One of the dealer's best customers. Often she would forget to remove the name tag she wore on her show with her character's name.

Although the television users generally stuck with one person, the movie actors and actresses would sometimes stop by although the dealer would charge them almost double because that is what they were paying the guy who usually sold to them. #3 Anyway, one time, this still A list Academy Award nominee/winner actor who has also done lots of television called the dealer at 3am and begged the dealer to come to his house and bring some more coke. The actor was having as huge party and someone had spilled a huge bag of coke onto white shag carpeting. Apparently a bunch of drunk and high people had all tried to use a carpet take to gather up the coke, but were so f**ked up they did not realize it was just sliding right through the rake. One person was do desperate for the coke that they vacuumed it up but this was at a time when they still had vacuum bags so they cut open the bag and the coke was all mixed up with lint and other stuff. Did not stop the people from trying to snort it though. Eventually the dealer came out and charged enough from that one sale where he managed to buy a car just from that one night.

Eventually the dealer got chased out of the business by people tougher than he was and he worked on some shows as a consultant for people who had been his customers. He died about 15 years ago.

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank God i have never done drugs. smh.

looserdude said...

2=Roseanne?

danatestingsite said...

#2 - Julie from Love Boat?

danatestingsite said...

Never mind - Lauren Tewes never got a GG nod.

RocketQueen said...

Did anyone from Laverne & Shirley need a nametag? Love this blind!

BigMama said...

What about Alice for #2? And didn't Howie Mandell use to use alot back in the day?

Got nothing for 3 except maybe Martin Sheen.

looserdude said...

Roseanne might not fit the timeline. It started in the late eighties.

Ryan said...

1: Gregory Harrison from Trapper John MD. (Before he rocked my world in North Shore)

ChrisO said...

Could no.1 be Jack Klugman from Quincy? Timeframe fits and I think he won an Emmy or two.

Jessica said...

#1 Alan Alda

Serena said...

#1 someone from St. Elsewhere

#2 some from Alice?

Jessi said...

#3 I am going to guess Robin Williams. Not sure if he is considered to do a lot of tv, but he did win an Oscar and is A list I think.

mindyj9 said...

This blind so made my afternoon. Love it. First names that came to mind after reading each one,
#1 Howie Mandel - St. Elsewhere
#2 Julie or Vicky - The Love Boat
#3 ??? stumped me on this one

Audrey said...

Alice was a waitress on the show. That means she would have worn her uniform too, which Enty didn't mention.

mindyj9 said...

Jessi,
#3 Robin Williams is a good guess. He did Mork and Mindy. I think his original Mork character was on Happy Days for one or two episodes, then he got the spin off for Mork and Mindy.

Karmen said...

This blind is awesome. Please tell me people did not try to snort up the coke mixed in with the lint. I have really bad dust allergies and that story made my nose shriek in horror.

Karmen said...

Robin Williams is still A list? Doubtful.

SkittleKitty said...

1) I also think Gregory Harrison, or perhaps an actor from M*A*S*H like Larry Linville.
2) Beth Howland or Polly Holiday from Alice would be my guesses.
3) I like the Robin Williams guess, though it's not clear to me whether this actor was a 'movie star' at the time when this happened (which seems implied). That might leave out Williasm.

Missjenny619 said...

#1 - Alan Alda (M*A*S*H)

#2 - Penny Marshall (Laverne & Shirley)

$3 - Don't know

nunaurbiz said...

I'm sneezing just from reading people sniffing the carpet and vacuum bag!!!!!! :-O

lmnop123 said...

Wow! What a story.

#1 Someone from Trapper John, St. Elsewhere, or Chad Everett's show, maybe even Emergency.

#2 I was thinking someone from Alice.

Mark said...

1 - Pernell Roberts, Trapper John MD
2 - Polly Holliday, Alice
3 - Tom Hanks

sunnyside1213 said...

Maybe someone from General Hospital for #1?

jen said...

Someone from Marcus Welby MD? Like maybe...James Brolin?

Someone from Alice?

My very first thoughts.

Pookie said...

holy moly. =O

mingreader said...

#1 - Mark Harmon or someone from St. Elsewhere? Or someone from MASH?
#2 - Someone from Alice or Happy Days? I think Erin Moran played a waitress at one point.
#3 - Again, someone from MASH? Alan Alda?

Mark said...

I can easily see Bill Murray as #3, but he would have been the guy snorting the vacuum bag.

clatie said...

What about Michael Douglas for #3?

califblondy said...

Awwww, we had wood paneling and shag carpeting when I was young. I've raked miles of carpet in my day.

SeanX said...

#1 Denzel Washington, St. Elsewhere

#2 I liked the idea of someone from ALICE. And Linda Lavin did win a GG.

#3 I can't see Robin Williams having enough friends for a house party. I like the Tom Hanks guess. Mostly since he is quite dull, and this would make him more interesting.

Ms Cool said...

Gross. All of it.

WednesdayFriday said...

I was in the bushes until 1985. I don't think I have the cred to guess.

Cheryl said...

#1 Howie Mandel or Ed Begley Jr.- St. Elsewhere

#3 Michael Douglas- Streets of San Francisco. Big cokehead in the late 70's

Anotheramy said...

I love this blind! Other than that I have nothing new.

nunaurbiz said...

OT, George Lopez and his wife are divorcing.

Wasn't there a BI about someone we thought was GL?

MadLyb said...

Oooh, that is one juicy Blind. Just for shits and giggles, I'm going to say:

1. Alan Alda
2. Linda Lavin
3. Clint Eastwood

That's all I got...

Unknown said...

I immediately thought of Mark Harmon from St. Elsewhere for #1.

Beth said...

1. Alan Alda or someone else from MASH

2. Linda Lavin or someone from Alice

3. Michael Douglas was the first person who came to mind.

braverwoman said...

So Funny! Back in the day we used to call it "backpacking through the green shag". F rakes, it was hands and knees time. Lol

Mango said...

3. Beth Howland from Alice. IMDB says she was nominated for a GG three times, and she was very thin and played a really twitchy person. I'll bet it wasn't all acting.

Feline said...

The first that came to my mind - seems a lot of people think the same way on these:

1 - Gregory Harrison from Trapper John
2 - The "kiss my grits" waitress from Alice

For #3, I was thinking Burt Reynolds - he was an A-list movie star at that time, but has done a lot of television since then

bionic bunny! said...

pretty sure howie never did coke, he was messed up naturally. plus i don't ever remember fiskus wearing scrubs.
but i immediately flashed to james brolin.

shakey said...

I don't have any new guesses to add. Just wanted to say this reminds me of Ent's earlier days.

SkittleKitty said...

To all the St. Elsewhere actor guessers: Show didn't start until 1982.
Marcus Welby, MD, Medical Center, Emergency!, Trapper John, MD, and Quincy (Jack Klugman did sometimes wear a lab coat, but I'm guessing he would have taken that off) are options for the 1970s.

bestsofar75 said...

#1 Alan Alda
#2 Heather Locklear (TJ Hooker)
#3 Micheal Douglas??

mooshki said...

The actors on MASH weren't in scrubs most of the time, so I don't think it was any of them.

Kat said...

Actors on M*A*S*H had a 'morality' clause in their contract. (Not that it would stop people hell bent on doing coke, and not alleging anyone from that show did...)

Cheryl said...

It says late 70's early 80's

BigMama said...

on another site, someone guessed our favorite douche bag for #3. Ryan O'Neal.

Terri said...

1 -- Gregory Harrison
2 ?
3 -- Someone from SNL...I'd go with Bill Murray. Chevy Chase was my first thought, but no Academy nods.

Winsome said...

1. Ed Begley Jr.?
2. has to be Lauren Tewes, "Julie" from Love Boat - nominated for a Golden Globe and v public cocaine problem.
3. I like the Michael Douglas guess. He was in movies and TV (Streets of San Francisco)!

sts said...

#3 george clooney.

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