Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Night With Johnny Grant - Part Three

The actress that walked up to the table was at her peak. She was getting nominated and winning the big awards and was on a nice long streak of great roles and she was stunning. At the time she could play comedies, romantic comedies and of course would long be remembered as the smoking hot actress in one of the biggest movies of all time. That role seemed long ago when I saw her, but she was a presence in that room. One hundred or so diners in that room and I don't think anyone was talking to each other, or if they were, they were doing so while looking over at her. This was a movie star. She might not be a movie star now, but she is still B+ list and I saw her a few months ago from across the room and she still could command a room when she wanted. At some point that night a few months ago, we crossed paths and as we always do when we meet said what OE first said to her when he saw her that night (Lets call her NQ).

I expected OE to have a huge grin on his face. I mean this actress was coming to him. Instead, he looked like he was ticked off. The first words out of his mouth were. "Where the f**k have you been?" No hello, or good to see you. No pleasantries whatsoever. It was just straight to what he was thinking with no filter. There was no offer for her to sit or any other courtesy shown. Watching NQ and OE stare at each other, it looked as if neither was going to blink. NQ said that she only found out the night before that OE had been looking for. OE then said he left word with a guy we will call PI and that PI had been trying all over the place to find NQ.

PI was and is an actor. He is actually still on a hit network show but in a minor recurring role. He had his run a couple of decades ago and was about five years removed from the end of a long running hit show. The thing is our actor also had another side business and apparently as a result of that side business and connections he had, met OE. They had a long shared history together and that history apparently included NQ. Our actress was not always an actress and sometimes had to make ends meet. Now, even though she was arguably the biggest actress in the world at that time, OE wanted her to earn some money to help out a friend of his.

Lets take a break for a second. All of this banter between NQ and OE was filled with half sentences and things that did not make a lot of sense to someone who was put right in the middle of this. Later Johnny filled in some of the blanks. Some. There were a ton of blanks he didn't ever fill, and he kept a lot of secrets. He told me several hundred, but he kept several thousand to himself. One of the blanks that he answered was that NQ actually married a guy just to have an excuse to avoid OE's requests. Even though OE was an a-hole who would cheat on his own wife in a second, he would never force NQ to cheat on her husband. Now that NQ had split with her husband though, the past year or so had been one excuse after the other. She tried to work as much as possible just to avoid even having to see OE. Bringing in PI though notched everything up a level. She knew it was serious which is why she showed up. That last little bit I got directly from NQ. I had not seen her since that night until we ran into each other of all places at a grocery store. Ice cream aisle. I closed one of the glass doors and there she was. She remembered that night and I reminded her of what OE had said to her when he saw her and since then, we use that line. Being the inquisitive person I am, I started asking her some questions, and she also filled in some blanks. Obviously she didn't know me, so her answers were somewhat guarded, but she was still talking to me while my hand nearly froze from holding that ice cream so long. Over time we talked more and because of that grocery store meet she actually got me a client or two. Now, back to the restaurant.

NQ agreed to meet whoever OE wanted her to meet, but only for a drink. I found out later they did meet for a drink, but she refused to do anything more with him and OE decided it was fine and found someone else for the guy.

NQ said her goodbyes and turned around and headed straight for the door. All dressed up and alone and every guy watched her walk out of the place.

I had a lot of questions for OE, but Johnny told me to not ask any for a few hours and to be very careful if I chose to do so. I ended up not asking him very much at all that night except things that I knew he would answer because they were all about his successes. Later that year though I saw him and had drinks with him the same weekend I wrote about a long time ago with some members of the original 90210 cast. He was much more forthcoming then. He seemed different too, maybe because he didn't have to do anything but talk to me, and not be the center of attention at a restaurant in Hollywood. That conversation is for another day though.

Shortly after NQ left, plates of food started appearing. No one had ordered anything, but no one was supposed to. Everyone ate what OE ate and he always ate the same thing so the food just started coming out. There were lots of plates and lots of waiters so I stood up to give them more room and while I was up thought I would take a quick lap around the place. Take it all in. I could not have been gone for more than two minutes but when I got back there was another guy sitting in my seat and talking to OE. There was no room for me, so I just stood there looking like a fool. I think OE kind of liked that.

Final installment tomorrow.

40 comments:

sandybrook said...

Side business=hooker so Sharon Stone did that and she fits. And maybe Tom Selleck for PI

selenakyle said...

Tom Selleck immediately comes to mind for PI, and NQ makes me think Raquel Welch.

Not sure if they fit at all, though...

I love this stuff. Thanks, Enty!

TopperMadison said...

Obviously Sharon Stone.

June Gordon said...

Raquel Welch was never up for any awards other than "Hottest Piece of Ass".

And Sharon Stone only was taken seriously as an actress AFTER she was at the peak of her career.

selenakyle said...

Yeah, upon further thought I realized Welch's peak was WAY earlier than this tale's supposed 1990's occurrence.

snitty said...

Sharon Stone has never been known as a romantic comedy actress. The only one I can think of is Meg Ryan, but she doesn't seem like the "command the room" type.

selenakyle said...

OK, think...think...

Comedies and romantic comedies.
Nommed/winning big awards.
Smoking hot in one of the biggest movies of all time.

SS in Basic Instinct would fit for the last one, and SS in Casino fits for the 2nd... But not for comedies or romantic comedies, IMO...

This is hard, y'all!

Babble said...

Having a tough time with timeline.

For some reason, Kathleen Turner came to mind while reading blind.

Google search shows multiple connects with Sinatra.

snitty said...

Is Andie McDowall too obscure? She's gorgeous and she was in 4 Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day

Babble said...

Jeez. Only connect is Roger Rabbit.

I just need to read and lay low on guessing.

snitty said...

what about kim basinger? she married alec in 93

snitty said...

Okay...did some research..I'm sticking to my Kim Basinger guess.

tricia13 said...

Demi Moore

Babble said...

Julia Roberts

Dena said...

I'll add Michelle Pfieffer.

tricia13 said...

Julia Roberts _married Lyle Lovett in '93

snitty said...

you guys! think about how popular Kim was for a short time! She was in Batman. She won an Academy Award for LA Confidential. 9 1/2 weeks.

Stephie said...

Geena Davis was pretty popular at that time.

shakey said...

I haven't seen the other instalments, but I thought of Kathleen Turner as well. She's the only one I can think of who, at her height, could make people stop and stare.

Mo said...

My first thought was Sharon Stone and that one role being Basic Instinct.

Babble said...

Right?! @shakey

But her big streak was in the 80s. The blind reminded me of her in Romancing the Stone and she was literally smoking hot in Bodyheat.

Asta said...

Enty, Would you like me to donate my services as an editor? Way too long.

Chi Chi said...

Raquel made a movie with Sinatra too. Seleck is the star of Blue Bloods hardly a bit player but Joe Montegna is on Criminal Minds and was a bigger film star in the 90's. Joe is also from Chicago, Frank was close with Chicago boss Giancana.

Chi Chi said...

How could it be Stone when one of her first acting roles (bad as usual) was on Magnum PI? She would have known Selleck already.

SheenaBeena said...

My first thought without hesitation for NQ was Julia Roberts. She seems to fit everything and never could figure out how she ended up with Lyle Lovett

sultry said...

this is too long for me to deduce what the exact details are but im seeing selleck's name thrown around and if it's in reference to him scoring women, it's off because he is 100% gay.

June Gordon said...

I done know if she's the answer but Michelle Pfieffer was a hoooker.

Villagedianne said...

RP from part 2 = Rat Pack. I'll say Sammy Davis Jr or Dean Martin.

Squeaky Blinders said...

I think I've figured this one out:

NQ = Michelle Pfeiffer. Both N and Q are one letter further along in the alphabet than her initials, M and P.

PI = Larry Manetti. He was the sidekick on Magnum PI, has a recurring part on the Hawaii 5-O reboot, and his memoir "Aloha Magnum" has anecdotes about both Michelle Pfeiffer and Sinatra.

The M said...

Makes perfectly sence with Sinatra, Manetti and Pfeiffer. All of them popular and successful in the late 80s/early 90s; rumors about mafia-connection from both Sinatra and Manetti. Pfeiffer was nominated for/won several awards. One of the nicknames from Sinatra was Ol' Blue Eyes (OE).

JayJay said...

Didn't Sinatra have Alzheimer's by the 90's? I can't remember him going out a lot during that time period. He was doing shows but forgetting lyrics & basically didn't seem to know where he was or who most people were by the end. Maybe I'm off on the timing, but I'm pretty sure he was suffering from the disease by the time this story supposedly took place.

As for guesses about the actress. Sharon Stone would fit if not for the part about romantic comedies. Sharon wasn't known for those and I don't think Michelle Pfeiffer was known for romantic comedies either. She also had several hits not just one big role that people remember her for. Julia Roberts works on the romantic comedy side, but I don't remember her being a person that would make everyone in the room stop talking just to stare at her. Either the time frame of this story is way off, complete bullshit (likely,) we haven't guessed the actress correctly, or Enty is exaggerating the looks of the actress by a ton!

June Gordon said...

Michelle was knowed for Romantic Comedies. One of her best movies was Married to the Mob.

Lena said...

Sinatra, Angie Dickinson, was going to say Telly Savales but Tom Selleck is still on a show.

JayJay said...

Then she works for this. I guess I just think of her in Dangerous Minds and Scarface.

Lena said...

Ima throw Wayne Newton name in too.

Carol said...

If it's Michelle Pfeiffer, what was the biggest movie of all time that she starred in?

selenakyle said...

Scarface.

murph said...

OE= Frank Sinatra
NQ = Goldie Hawn, they would have known each other from way back (Rowan and Martin show, Dean Martin show, etc). Won an Oscar (Cactus Flower) and nominated for for Private Benjamin. Back in the 80s she was still very hot and maybe the most bankable female lead.

Frosty said...

I'm thinking NQ is Goldie Hawn also. Had a some nice hits then a big hit in 1980 with Private Benjamin, and stayed hot to red hot throughout the 90s. Also guested on Dean Martin's show around the time of laugh-in

Babble said...

Actually, Michelle works. Manetti supposedly took her under his wing, he was on the board when she won the beauty pageant and helped her get her start. He was also pals with Frank.

I didn't think Michelle could pull a stare down, but you see it in Scarface.

I think the RomCom clue is a bit misleading, she's more drama, in my mind, but there was Married to the Mob, possibly Fabulous Baker Boys, and One Fine Day. I guess I wouldn't put her in RomCom the way I would Meg Ryan or Sandy Bullock.

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