Monday, January 19, 2015

A Night With Johnny Grant - Part Four (Final Part)

The guy who was sitting in my seat got up after just a few minutes. I learned that I shouldn't take it personally and even OE lost his spot a few times during the night when he would get up and wander. He would not actually lower himself to the point where he would make a point to go visit someone at another table, but if he were walking to or from the restroom and someone called him over that he liked or found interesting or could help him he would go slightly out of his way to shake their hand or say a few words. No lingering though. This was OE's version of make everyone come to your office. I noticed that RP didn't have that issue. He was happy to go wit with other people and seemed to get a big thrill of being the big shot at a table which he definitely was when seated with almost anyone other than OE. It was when he was seated with others that he smoked. Most of the time when he lit up near OE, he would get a look. OE smoked, but for some reason RP was shamed for doing so.

The most fun OE seemed to have all night other than when some teenage girls asked him for his autograph and weren't doing it for their parents was when this at the time B+ list mostly television actor and hiatus movie actor came by to say hello. OE actually got up and came out and gave the actor a hug. The actor, who we will call LM, was all smiles and laughs but then OE had to go and ruin it by asking LM to do a little comedy bit and LM said it wasn't really the time and place and the two went back and forth and it became really awkward until Johnny intervened and told OE that one of the waitresses wanted to show OE something. Apparently there was no waitress who wanted to show OE anything, but I didn't know that until later. It was code for OE and one of his many escorts or side pieces to head up to a room that was next door to the restaurant. A little attic space that is now a club was the place OE would take women for 30 minutes when he was in town. At the time there was a side door and he never had to go out front or in the back and no one ever knew what he was doing. Apparently it was supposed to happen later in the night, but Johnny decided it would be best to mention it right then so OE could save some face and there would be less of a chance for things to be said that could not be taken back. As it was, I don't think OE and LM ever really got along after that incident.

OE carried a lot of money, but I never saw him pay for anything. He would tip people all the time, but never actually pay for anything. I'm not sure how he handled the whole escort thing. From what Johnny told me, there were others who would pay for him, and the women he slept with who were not escorts were all hoping for a favor or were paying off a debt.

I think I went into the limo that night hoping for lots of stories and learning more about what happened in Old Hollywood. I got stories, but they seemed to be the same stories the same group of people had been telling for years and although they were excited about the stories, it involved people that were only specific to them and not all that exciting. What that night did give me was something that a lot of people never get the chance to do. I got to spend a night with some legends and see them in a mostly unguarded way and that is something I will never forget. When I did see OE a few months later, he continued to be unguarded. Because I had been introduced by a friend he assumed I wouldn't go talking to the press or write a book about the guy. He was right. I kept my mouth quiet. I would tell bits and pieces to friends, but it was not like any of it was revolutionary or demanding to be told. A few months later when we spoke, some of that began to change.

 


25 comments:

  1. Tricia132:28 AM

    LM=Martin Lawrence

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  2. D Brown2:42 AM

    For the Rat Pack you would probably have to move the date back to the middle-late 1980s. In terms of the last line about things changing the major events were: Dean's son killed in 1987, Dean walks out on last tour in 1988 and Sammy dies in 1990.

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  3. June Gordon2:50 AM

    Frank Sinatra whould NOT got to pay me a dime!!!

    Ava Gardener said he had him a H U G E YKW.

    He could raped me right on the table between courses!!!!! LOL!!!!!!

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  4. Im wondering if the time and dates are purposely off. This sounds like Sinatra but more like the late 60s thru early 70s time period . The female star mentioned could be Natalie Woods. They had a relationship --she never won an Oscar but was nominated a couple of times and her career went up and down. She was beautiful and had that movie star charisma that is rare these days. She was in West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause. Career was on the upswing before her death in 1981.

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  5. Shirley MacLaine.

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  6. The 10th Doctor5:32 AM

    I'm so out of the loop. Barely visited at all last week and will have to backtrack to the beginning and go from there.

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  7. The 10th Doctor7:07 AM

    OK, backtracked through everything. My guesses:

    OE: Frank Sinatra
    RP: Dean Martin
    A+ drunk Walk of Fame Actor side story: William Holden
    Wife of drunk actor: Brenda Marshall
    Girlfriend of Drunk actor: Stephanie Powers
    NQ: I like the Kathleen Turner and Michelle Pfeiffer guesses
    PI: Like the Larry Manetti guess someone put out there
    LM: Could it be Bob Hope?

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  8. If we're going back to the 80's, could the nice guy who apologized to the waiter about the ice cubes be George Burns?

    If we're in the 90's, the guy who didn't know how long he'd be alive could be the rapper who died young, friend of Puff Daddy, name of the time. The hint being "without guard" in part 4. I don't know who the others would be.

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  9. An important point is that the main guy is still sleeping with women so can't be that decrepit, or at least in the kind of ill health that he feels he might die soon. So it must be someone who had enemies.

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  10. it took forever9:05 AM

    wow at 10th doctor just wow

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  11. Babble11:18 AM

    I'm very impressed @The 10th Doctor!

    Holden makes a lot of sense.

    I like Dean for the sidekick, but the timeline is messing with me, I believe Martin passed in 95(?). Anyway, I hope this is revealed so we can put our curiosity to rest.

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  12. Holden died in 1981. Other rat packers & molls, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford, Angie Dickenson.

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  13. I don't think the drunk actor is William Holden. The blind says the actor had an A-list wife and offspring. Brenda Marshall was never A-list and I don't know of any Holden A-list offspring.

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  14. The 10th Doctor6:31 PM

    @H2O, Hilden was a side story bling within the blind and wasn't involved in this specific night so I didn't think his passing away would remove him from being the Walk of Fame actor. Maybe I misread it.

    @Carol, his wife seemed pretty popular from the research, kids were shaky, although his daughter was well-known as an author. It may well not be him, but epic drunk actors who would be that out if it, seemed like him to me.

    It's all just guesses.

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  15. Sticking with Goldie Hawn for NQ

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  16. Carol2:10 AM

    Thanks, The 10th Doctor. I never knew about Holden's daughter being an author.

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  17. Drunk actor. Kirk Douglas.

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  18. And very few women tho beautiful have the presence to "carry a room". So I am sticking with Angie Dickinson or Michelle Pfeiffer. Or even Lauren Bacall. These are the only three I can see in a stare down with Frank.

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  19. ^^^^how about a young Wil(l) S(m)ith

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  20. Heather7:29 AM

    A+drunk Tony Curtis - A wife Janet Leigh and A offspring Jamie Lee Curtis.

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  21. back again10:25 PM

    LM- one of Lorne Michael's
    alumni from S.N.L.-i.e. Billy Crystal doing his Sammy Davis Jr. imitation or like Steve Martin "wild & crazy guy" king tut,etc,
    oe-Frank Sinatra
    rp-Dean Martin
    A+ drunk- tony Curtis
    except for the marriage part, Kathleen Turner definitely fits & P.I. could be Ted Danson who played a p.i. in Body Heat w/her. He did Cheers forever & now has a recurring role on C.S.I.- he was known around town for his role in "The Onion Field"

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  22. back again10:30 PM

    just throwing the connection betw/Ted Danson & Kathleen Turner (Kathleen won 2 Golden Globes & nominated for an Oscar all around that time)out there but I like Larry Manotti & Michelle Pfeiffer esp. since she was an escort back in the day--& her Romantic Comedy- "One Fine Day" & "Married To The Mob" I guess.

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  23. Carol3:50 PM

    AGC is saying that PI is Robert Wagner and LM is Larry Manetti. That makes no sense to me.

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  24. back again2:10 AM

    @Carol, I was thinking the EXACT SAME THING--not if the clues are accurate-- AGC is wrong(remember.they're just guesses too since they're printed in Black-the only RED answer was the no-brainer, Dan Tana's for the restaurant-I think @Sandybrook nailed that immediately-good one, : ) ; All Of Our CDaN answers are better than AGC's so I'm sticking w/our group detective work consensus hahaha lol

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  25. Carol2:45 AM

    back again, I think you're right. The CDaN answers are better. AGC also says RP is Merv Griffin, which really doesn't make sense to me.

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