But Eventually I Want To Direct

movies, NYC

I wanted to write a book about how exciting and unique every day can be working in various parts of the entertainment industry. After struggling with how to structure such a book I settled on writing in first person present tense and breaking out some of the wildest and most evocative days. The book went on sale at Barnes & Noble on April 7th, 2023 and this is the description from the back cover:

Come along on dozens of days with Kurt Henricks working as a stand-in for an actor that portrays a version of you, attending film premieres full of A-List Hollywood actors and directors, working security at the 1984 Olympics gymnastics venue to keep the most famous Soviet bloc athlete from causing an international crisis, working your first day in Hollywood on the same soundstages that hosted Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart, Bewitched, The Monkees and Dexter, winding up as an on-camera “black belt” stuntman with less than 2 minutes of training in karate, working as an Extra with the producers and crew of The Wire as they craft an equally intense and immersive HBO drama and being Vice Admiral Lord Mountbatten while wearing his original uniform in the most expensive miniseries ever made.

Written engagingly in first person present tense, this book puts you in the middle of about 30 very different individual days working in the television, film, streaming and recreation industries. A stranger-than-fiction behind the scenes look that spans six decades while using detail and specifics to let the reader experience the uncertainty, surprises and excitement of each day.

-Barnes & Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/but-eventually-i-want-to-direct-kurt-henricks/1143259000?ean=9798369217177

But Eventually I Want to Direct
Front cover

The image on the cover is courtesy of America’s most skilled and prolific photographer: Carol Highsmith. This is the back cover:

back of the book
Back cover for ISBN 9798369217177

You can buy it at this link:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/but-eventually-i-want-to-direct-kurt-henricks/1143259000?ean=9798369217177

Stage 5 – Young Frankenstein

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For 7 weeks in 1974, Stage 5 at 20th Century Fox hosted the production of the most beloved comedy in a generation. Terri Garr was the unknown daughter of a costume designer when she got her part. She was paid only $1000/week but she loved every minute of the work and it launched her career.

Gene Hackman was tennis partner to Gene Wilder and when he heard how much fun they were having on Stage 5 he talked his way into the role of the blind hermit in the farm house. Cloris Leachman showed up unable to do an authentic German accent and that made her character all the more unique and memorable. Peter Boyle came to the set even on days when he had no work scheduled.

Mel Brooks and Wilder believed the core of the story was really about parenthood and they found unlimited humor in Wilder’s struggle to parent an awkward monster “child.” The original film came from a parent and child relationship — that between Carl Laemmle and Carl Laemmle Jr.

Carl Sr. was the father of Universal Studios. He is remembered as bold and paternalistic with those outside his real family calling him “Uncle Carl.” When control of Universal passed to Carl Jr, the son pursued edgier horror films. The studio had a major hit with “Dracula” and their follow up was “Frankenstein” in 1931. The film was heavily censored in many states with Kansas demanding the most cuts — 32 scenes (!), nearly half of the 71 minute film. The death of the little girl was cut so frequently that it took decades to find a remaining print of the film that still had the scene and it was not restored until the 1980s with the help of print kept by the British National Film Archive. The film was banned outright in Northern Ireland, Sweden, Quebec, Italy and Czechoslovakia.

Bela Lugosi had hoped to play Dr Frankenstein but was offered the monster role which he turned down. The first director had conceived the role as a mere killing machine and Lugosi told Universal, “I was a star in my country. I will not be a scarecrow here!” That director was replaced but since Lugosi had already passed the part went to Boris Karloff. The concept got revised to have the monster be more tragic and sympathetic and that quality was enhanced much further in “Young Frankenstein.”

A young member of the union crew remembers “Young Frankenstein” as the first film he worked on . He kept hearing “most sets aren’t like this, they aren’t this much fun.” He wandered over to a neighboring stage where they were shooting “Towering Inferno” and found that indeed no one was laughing at the end of takes. On that stage when Irwin Allen called “Cut!” he followed it up by asking “Is anyone hurt?”

Back on Stage 5, on the last day of shooting, Gene Wilder asked if they could improvise more scenes and keep going. Mel Brooks said ‘Unfortunately, that’s a wrap.”

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon

Food, , ,

My goal was to bring out the nutty and buttery taste of squash and to avoid making it any sweeter than it already is.  This soup was nice in front of a garlicky roasted chicken.RBN-Squash-soup
3 or 4 pounds of butternut squash
1/2 pound of sliced bacon, only mildly smokey
1 quart of chicken stock
butter
salt and pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the squash lengthwise in half or into 3 pieces if extra large. Scoop out seed and pulp. (optional: separate the seeds from the pulp, salt them and roast in a single layer until browning starts, about 12 minutes)
  2. Cover the cut side of squash slices with bacon (use more slices than the picture shows), put a dollop of butter in the seed cavities and place on cookie sheet or pizza pan. Roast for 40 to 60 minutes, until you see the start of color change on the surface of the squash. Squash should be tender and easily scooped. RBN-oven
  3. Remove bacon slices and set aside for garnish. Scoop the insides of the squash out to a 4-quart stock pan and add half the chicken stock. Discard skins to your compost pile. Puree with an immersion blender. Over low heat, stir in more of the stock until you like the consistency of the soup. Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Ladle into bowls. Top with bacon and serve with the roasted seeds on the side.

My squash was huge so I cut in lengthwise in thirds, about 1 to 1-1/2″ thick each. The middle section did really and absorbed some of the bacon fat from both cut sides. I really liked the toasted seeds but they were a bit small and chewy to add directly to the soup (as a topping), better to know where they are when you are eating than to choke on one.

I would like to try grinding the toasted seeds to a nut-butter and adding that to the soup because the flavor of the toasted seeds really extends and enhances the roasty, nutty flavor that this soup has.  I might also try chicken stock that has more roasted garlic in it.

From Kitchen to Farm and Back

Food, Hudson NY, , , , , , ,

“I came back to farming as part of a larger journey in food,” says Kurt Henricks, Director of Strategic Development for Columbia County NY’s Stewardship Farms. “I like to focus on brix, soil, plant breeding and other things that affect taste.”

“I grew up on my mother’s Midwestern, French and German cooking, my neighbors’ Italian-American cooking and then was Lead Line Cook at two of the busiest restaurants in the area before going to UCLA,” he recalls. “Eventually my love of food led me to farming and cuisine develoKurt Henricks, new yorkpment in Upstate New York.”

Kurt traces his family back to Renssellaerswyck. Documents of the Dutch West India Company in the Netherlands show an ancestor who came to our area on the Kalmar Nyckel in 1638 at age 17 to make wooden shoes. He was paid 40 guilders a year.  380 years later, farming in Columbia County was a homecoming of sorts for Henricks. “These days the footwear is much more comfortable.”

At his farm plot in Stuyvesant, NY, Henricks uses data loggers to measure weather and growth data. A background doing multivariate analysis, direct marketing, test design and brand development at Madison Avenue stalwart McCann Erickson led to developing software for MicroSoft and then to the launch of his own brands – one in nutrition software and the successful, eco-friendly LED maker Kick Lighting. Now he tests endless combinations of bean varieties, soils, composts and techniques to produce the best premium snow peas, haricot vert, and edamame. Using his chef skills and a volunteer team of super tasters, Kurt perfects regional and seasonal delights like Roasted Waltham Butternut Squash soup.

As 2016 roars to its end, Henricks is developing cuisine for a landmarked boutique hotel and preparing to launch a weekly, ready to eat food delivery business for small cities like Hudson and Athens which have no grocery stores.

“We are living in the golden age of food. I couldn’t be more excited to be able to pursue great cooking, farming and technology in a community of quality-focused entrepreneurs like Zak Pelaccio and Rachael Mamane. And to do so on the soil that Henry Hudson called “the finest for cultivation that ever I in my life set foot upon”…I’m living the dream.”

Lüchow’s — A Love Story

Food, NYC, , ,

I recently acquired an original copy of the 1952 edition of Lüchow’s cookbook. What I was expecting was the time honored recipes from America’s most famous German restaurant for their sauerbratten, lentil soup, venison stews, potato pancakes and roulade. What I got was something even better.

The 64-year-old book, which was obviously lovingly cared for, has only a  few notations in the margins of some of the recipes.   The recipe for “Broiled Deviled Short Ribs” has a brown dot near the top of the page which may be the archaeological evidence of “English mustard, olive oil, bread crumbs and mustard sauce” or it may simply be a little grease from what was no doubt a delicious batch of short ribs. The oven temp of 325F is crossed out and “350” is penciled in the margin. Next to where the book says “Broil under moderate heat until browned” is written, this time in pen: “very short time.”  When you open to this page the binding becomes slightly exposed suggesting that this was a common page for the prior owner to have the book opened to and laying flat on the kitchen counter.Luchow's Cookbook 1952 edition cover

The physical book embodies the love of one who owned it but it is the first Chapter that moved me as much as any cookbook has ever moved me. It is a story of love with all the irrationality and obsession that characterizes enduring love.  An epic story of one man’s journey to his destiny, spanning generations in the ever-changing, multilayered island of Manhattan. Of a massive and mythical restaurant that calls to him like a siren song, drawing him into its history and his future.

The story begins with millionaire piano magnate Joseph Steinway putting up the money to buy out the young August Lüchow’s employer and rename the restaurant “Lüchow’s“.   At a time when 14th Street was full of German “bier gartens” and Italian wine restaurants, Lüchow’s immediately became the flagship as Steinway brought the era’s best pianists and musicians for lavish meals. Live music in the restaurant soon followed with an 8-piece orchestra imported from the old country to serenade a sea of well-heeled diners.  ASCAP was founded inside of the restaurant’s walls and the song “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby” was so feverishly inspired by the muses, food and copiously flowing beer, that is was penned directly on the tablecloth of Eddie Cantor’s table.

The story goes on. Lüchow’s not only survived Prohibition but emerged from it in 1933 with honor.  Lüchow’s cancelled 4 straight years of New Year’s Eve parties because Herr Lüchow refused to sully his beloved emporium with the illicit liquor that patrons had to smuggle in in hip flasks. Lüchow’s record during Prohibition was so impeccable that when Prohibition finally ended and the world’s finest lager and pilsners flowed again on 14th Street, New York City honored August Lüchow with Liquor License Number 1.

While his restaurant survived Prohibition, August Lüchow did not and in 1923 ownership passed to Victor Eckstein, his nephew in-law. Victor presided over a grand chapter in Lüchow’s history, when the restaurant was a parade of the biggest and best known figures of the 20th Century — John Barrymore, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Walter P Chrysler, Antonin Dvorak, Lillian Gish, Marlene Deitrich,  Florenz Zeigfeld, Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein.

Meanwhile in Europe, Jan Mitchell spent his youth in grand dining halls watching the preparations for grand hunting feast. Mitchell believed he was “headed for the country squire’s life” until his first visit to the United States in 1932. He recalls that entering Lüchow’s was a turning point. The atmosphere, food and tradition’s engendered an insatiable lust that would only be cured by owning Lüchow’s.

He was of no relation to Eckstein or anyone else well connected to the property but he embarked on a 13 year quest that included attending hotel management schooling in Zurich and the purchase of long-standing restaurant in Washington D.C.  in 1940 (an apt  time to leave Europe). During WWII, Mitchell made many trip to New York, each time trying to convince Eckstein to sell it to him. He promised to keep the traditions and atmosphere consistent but was rebuffed many times. By 1945, Eckstein was finally convinced and a restaurant that had played host to thousands of marriage proposals agreed to a marriage of its own — Eckstein sold to Jan Mitchell.

Mitchell’s enduring memory of his ownership is embodied in his recalling an early Christmas there. A pine tree towered 25-feet tall in the high ceiling cafe’ area, adorned with 2500 “electric candles” that were not lit until Christmas Eve in keeping with the German tradition. An orchestra from Bavaria played “Silent Night” as diners sang together and as the evening came to its end, the aging friends of August Lüchow shook the hand of its newest owner and told him, some with tears on their cheeks: “If August Lüchow came in tonight he would feel right at home — Nothing has changed.”

 

 

 

8 Tips for Photographing Food

Food, , ,

Paintings of fruit and other foods were a way for the Old Masters to show off their skill. Human vision is most discerning when appraising the edibility of potential foods. For example, we can see more shades of green than any other color and that probably helped with foraging. In artwork, food either looks right or it looks disgusting, which literally means ‘not good to eat.’

Here are 8 simple ways to make your food pictures better:

1 – Photograph the food in natural light. Shade or diffused sunlight is the best. The full spectrum of color that is in sunlight brings out all the best colors in food.   Avoid, if possible, fluorescent light which tends to make food look washed out and bland.  Look out for hard shadows which you would get in direct sunlight — better to move to the shade or have a friend hold a menu up to block the direct sunlight.

 

2 – Photograph the plate BEFORE you take any bites of food. Ideally, the picture should look “ready to eat” rather than half-eaten.  A fork or spoon in the picture is suggestive of food that is ready to be eaten right now and encourages the viewer to take that mental bite.

3 – Shoot straight down on the plate unless the food is stacked, in which case shoot at the angle you would have if the plate was placed in front of you, about 45-degrees or so.  The straight down shot avoids having things in the picture that are distracting and is more natural angle for close shots.

4 – Shoot close or crop tightly. Most of us are seeing pictures on fairly small screens like phones or tablets. If you can’t see the detail on the food then the picture is going to have much less impact.

5 – If you are the one cooking, get some color on your food, preferably golden brown.  A little butter and hot skillet can transform ordinary foods into mouth-watering show stoppers.  Think of tuna salad on white bread versus that same tuna salad on toasted sourdough or on grilled (skillet) bread. The color sets our expectations higher.

6 – Look out for greasy or reflective spots on the plates. In close pictures everything will show so take a careful look for the odd crumb or hair that spoils an otherwise great pic.  Wipe the rim of the plate with a paper napkin, not your finger.

7 – Avoid plates and flatware that have a lot of pattern or more than 2 colors as they will distract from the food. The plate and flatware should be secondary to the food so unless the food is white, a white plate works fine for most foods. If you have white food (rice, bread, eggs, milk, etc) then an off-white plate or perhaps a very dark plate will help the food stand out.

8 – Having garnish or sauce in the frame expands our mental playground. That little ramekin of ketchup gives us one more thing to taste with our eyes. One of the toughest things to photograph is any food that is served in a bowl — stir fry, soup or pasta — because it lacks definition.  Something like a grain bowl generally needs to have a fan of avocado slices or bean sprouts on top; something that shows us that there are a lot of good tastes in bowl by isolating one or two of them.

To your eyes I say “Bon Appetit!”

Bourbon Bacon Jam

Food

I used Maker’s Mark 46 which is aged in seared french oak casks so it has a smokey note. I skipped coffee which is popular in these more complex bacon jams. Results were very good and this jam was great on grilled burgers or just on french bread crustini that was fried in a little olive oil.

bacon jam in 4oz ball jar
Makers 46 bourbon jam

1 lb bacon, prefer applewood smoked
1 medium white onion, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
3 oz Maker’s Mark 46 Aged Bourbon
3 cloves of garlic roasted in olive oil for 45 mins at 375F
2 Tb brown sugar
salt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Cook the bacon fairly crisp in an oven and pour off most of the grease. Carmelize the onions in about 2 Tb of the bacon fat for 10 mins then add bacon, garlic and other ingredients.  If you are cooking on flames, remove the pan from the burner when adding the bourbon as it may ignite otherwise.  Simmer on medium low heat to allow most alcohol to evaporate then reduce heat to low heat for another 10 minutes.

Cool slightly and process in a food processor to the preferred texture (for me, about 12 quick pulses removing the lid twice to push down any onion or larger pieces of bacon which may stick the side walls of the processor).  Taste and adjust seasoning. Acids like the balsamic really help the other flavors pop. One more pulse and you’re done.

Serve on burgers, pork, steak, eggs or just on breads.

 

“Home Alone” and the Gulf War

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I was working at 20th Century Fox in 1990. The studio had lured Chris Columbus away from Universal and the story goes that within 2 hours of  Columbus agreeing to leave Universal, the new studio sent a van and 2 mover to help him pack up.  1989’s “Uncle Buck” a family comedy that showcased John Candy and Macauley Culkin, had done $70 million at the box office, very respectable.  John Hughes, who wrote and directed “Uncle Buck” had another film cued up — “Home Alone.”

Chris Columbus was red hot at this point. He wrote and sold “Gremlins” and “The Goonies” before directing “Adventures in Babysitting.”  All of these films sold well in VHS in addition to doing very well in theaters.  Hughes had used Culkin in “Uncle Buck” and thought Culkin was exactly what would make “Home Alone” work. Chris Columbus, who would eventually direct “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone,” was a good fit as director of yet another film where kids triumph over adults.

I read the script long before I saw the film and I thought it was a bit weak.  The first 20 minutes are boring set up — kids saying snarky, mostly unfunny things to each other while the parents scramble to get everyone to the airport. There was no hook, no reason to care about any of these vapid, 2-dimensional people. Then there are scenes of Kevin (Culkin’s character) being at home, alone. Much of it made no sense — why does he shave (leading to the iconic scream)?  Do kids in the audience even know that aftershave burns? why would they? Why don’t Kevin’s parents call a neighbor to check on Kevin once they land? etc.  Finally Pesci and Daniel Stern come into the story and we get slapstick. Kevin turns out to be some kind of natural McGuyver and can rig any kind of Rube Goldberg trap for them.  After injuring them in various ways and triumphing, Kevin becomes a nice person, misses his family, welcomes them home. The end. I was mystified by why they thought this script was good and started to suspect that it was just a deal film — a film that the studio finances in order to get other films from the same writer, director or a film that gets made because some box office draw actor agreed to make it. The only thing that fit there was that Hughes and Columbus were so sought after that Fox had agree to make this turkey.

I went to a pre-release screening on the Lot. The film played a little better on screen than on the page but still seemed very uneven.  I saw it in Zanuck with about 20 other studio people. No one was laughing in the first 40 minutes and the last half is this kid burning, shocking, BB-gunning and torturing Joe Pesci.  Pesci was the funniest thing in the film.  Funny how? Slow burns and great timing.

We were prepping the release and we tried to get The TODAY Show to book Culkin. They declined.  Siskel and Ebert gave the film 2 thumbs down.  Meanwhile the first Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm was ramping up into a full blown war.  “Home Alone” opened November 16, 1990, a week before Thanksgiving and the film is set at Christmas time so the idea was that it would run for 6 good weeks.  President George HW Bush went to Saudi Arabia on Thanksgiving and visited the US troops staging there for the counter invasion of Kuwait and Iraq. Months of saber rattling and coalition building was coming to a boiling point.

Universal was giving shit to Fox for luring Columbus over. They faxed the bad reviews of “Home Alone” to Geoff Ammer’s machine, taunting us.  They made jokes like ‘Thanks for stealing our Thanksgiving Turkey. Stuff it.’

Fox had done well with “Die Hard 2” that year but everything else seemed to be struggling.  “Edward Scissorhands,” another deal film which had been financed to get Tim Burton to Fox,  was a flop in theaters.  Alan Parker’s “Come See the Paradise” was a love story set in a the US internment camps for Japanese Americans.  A difficult film to sell in any environment but theater owners would not even give it a chance in the pre Gulf War environment.

“Home Alone” did respectable in its first week, $18 million. We called TODAY again — “Hey we’ve got this kid, he is really funny and weird, kind of Dennis the Menace meets Robin Williams. You should have him on.”  Still not interested.

Word of Mouth

Then somehow it all turned around. Word of mouth sold seats. We had given away tickets in the first week to try to get the fire going for Thanksgiving and it worked. Kids told other kids that film was funny and by the time schools were out for Thanksgiving break the film was starting to sell well.  After Thanksgiving break the film really got traction and the studio had to order more prints.  Multiplexes were putting it on more screens and just passing the prints they had between projectors. It grossed $100 million more between Thanksgiving and the start of the Christmas break.

The TODAY show called us, “Hey can we get that kid?”

Siskel and Ebert changed their review.  Their critique of the film had not stopped it and at some point they decided to CYA and they re-aligned their review with the success of the film. They gave it one thumb up and one down. Not sure they had ever done that before.

Ammer started faxing the box office numbers over our rivals at Universal on a daily basis. Universal’s competing film was “Kindergarten Cop” which did okay but “Home Alone” was stomping it. By New Year’s “Home Alone” had done $152,000,000 and we expected it to wind down. On January 16, 1991 the 42-day blitz of Iraq began. Smart-Bomb footage, nose cameras on bombs, Wolf Blitzer reporting from Baghdad all seemed to give the film a second wind. “Home Alone” was war for kids.  For 12 weeks during the competitive holiday season “Home Alone” was the top grossing film.

While CNN raved about how wonderful all the new “Smart” weapons were, kids were going back to see Kevin’s clever defense of his home.  Kids who grew up watching the same movie 50 times on VHS were now going to theaters and watching “Home Alone” multiple times. A habit created by the VHS boom was now unexpectedly feeding theaters.  Perhaps the internal tension and uncertainty of seeing their first US war drove kids back to the fantasy violence and happy ending of this movie.

Pieces of Culkin

The general consensus in Hollywood was that Culkin was key to the success of this otherwise forgettable film.  Pesci showed more the great comedic ability that was only a tease in “Goodfellas” but it was Culkin that this audience wanted to see more of.  The mania surrounding this tiny kid got as crazy as anything I have ever seen in the film business. In one crowd a woman ran up and pinched Culkin’s cheek so hard she left a mark.  Threatened with arrest, her excuse was  “I didn’t think he was real” (?)

We started sneaking Culkin into screenings after the lights went down so that people would not swarm him.  I imagine it was very scary to have that much hysteria aimed at you. You’re one kid, not the Beatles, and adults are screaming and demanding that you scream and civility is going out the window. Someone tried to pull out some of his hair.

My boss was in his 70s and had been my age when Shirley Temple was on the Lot.  I asked if people were worse now and he said ‘No. It has always been like this. A young woman slit her wrists at the studio gate when they wouldn’t let her in to see Errol Flynn.’

The film ran in theaters until August of 1991. It grossed $534 million, killed on VHS, did 3 sequels and a video game. It is today a touchstone of many childhoods, a happy memory that obscures the uncertainty and carnage of the first Gulf War.

Decades later I saw Mac on the sidewalk on the Upper Westside of Manhattan. He was unshaven, thin and smoking a cigarette while he thumbed through used books outside of Shakespeare and Company.  Although I wanted to ask him about his life after 1990,  I had seen how fame treated him. I left him alone.

 

 

 

Kale Chips

Food, , ,

Three summers ago I was developing recipes for farm to table convenience foods — local non-GMO popcorn, pasta, potato chips, red pepper hummus, etc.   When I got to kale chips I found all kinds of recipes and I tried 4 of them. The best one used as little olive oil as possible and a low oven temperature.

I created my version of that recipe by adding grated parmesan and then I tested it with 4 different varieties of kale.  The winner was a variety called Nash — a pale dark green kale with a relentlessly curly edge. The taste of the kale by itself was very mild with no hint of cabbage and a hint of sweetness.  Ask your farmer’s market farmers what variety they grow and if you can’t find Nash I would look for a variety that has relatively thin and smooth leaves without thick ribs.

Kurt’s Parmesan Garlic Kale Chips

Infuse extra virgin olive oil (I use “California Olive Ranch” which is available in most supermarkets) with garlic by placing 3 or 4 smashed cloves in a small sauce pan with 2 oz of olive oil over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Pre heat oven to 290F and get a sheet pan or pizza pan ready to use.

Wash and dry your kale leaves.  I shake the water off and then pat them with a lint free towel or paper towels to remove as much water as possible from their surface.  Tear the leaves into chip sized pieces. You can leave the stems in unless they are large and woody.

Using your fingers coat each piece with olive oil being sure to get it up into the edges. Don’t drench the pieces. A thin coating works best, about 1 tsp of olive oil per sheet.

Pile the pieces into the middle of a sheet pan or pizza pan and grate parmesan on to them. Salt the pile before spreading the pieces out into one layer.

Bake at 290F for 10 minutes and then pull out the sheet and check them for doneness.  You want to try to catch them just as they go stiff and before the edges get brittle.  I like mine just a little chewy so it helps to get them before too much water is cooked out.

Flip the pieces if you want to and put them back in for another 2 minutes or until they have reached your target crispiness.  They will crisp a little after they come out and cool so pull them when they are just under your preferred texture.

Test one and add more salt, if needed, while they are still hot.  Likewise you can add more parmesan right after they come out and it will stick.

Enjoy.

“The Facts of Life” in my Italian Class

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One day in the early 1980s I was in “Italian 102” at UCLA and the prof announced that we would have some new students joining us. She had been tutoring 3  actresses on the set of a sitcom where they worked but the sitcom was on hiatus and so they would be joining us in Westwood.  She didn’t say who they were or what show they were on but was asking us not to make them feel uncomfortable or ask for autographs.

There were only about 15 of us left in this class since about 8 students had been dropped out of it. I don’t remember much speculation but I was curious to find out who it was since the teacher had made a point of not saying who it was.

2 days later I show up and some of the other students’ mouths

clooney
The inspiration for George Clooney’s character on “The Fact of Life”

are literally hanging open. They are staring silently at these 3 young women who have joined us and I still have no clue who they are because I don’t watch much television.  To me they are just a vaguely Italian-American looking girl with beautiful eyes, a smartly dressed African American teen and a sort of non-descript middle American young woman. We go through the regular class with all the usual Italian dialog practice, question and answer, repetition and all that. The class breaks and no one says anything to the new students despite obvious interest.

I’m not the most outgoing person in the world but the teacher asked us not to make them uncomfortable and the whole situation was making me uncomfortable so I went over and said something like “Welcome to the class.  My name is Kurt…”  They smiled oddly and then introduced themselves to me “I’m Kim,” “Nancy,” “Mindy”   And now I can feel this ring of the other students has formed around us, still just watching intensely.

“You work in television?” I asked.

“Yes” was all that Nancy McKeon offered me so I went right on to talk about how I was repeating this class because UCLA’s course was much harder than UCSB where I took Italian the first time. One of them said they had been chewing through the course with tutors and it was nice to be in a bigger class.  They stayed in a little pack so it was me talking to all three of them at once and I’m asking “What’s your Major?” “Why did you pick Italian?” “Are you taking Italian Cinema?” stuff like that. Eventually someone else asked “Where is Blair?” and Nancy looked at her watch and said they needed to leave.

They were with us for another 3 weeks or so and they liked me because I had no interest in the show, had never really seen it. I had heard of it and knew “Different Strokes” but never saw an episode of “The Facts of Life” until years later. By the second week, some other students were asking Kim Fields about rollerskates, stuff like that. Just one or two odd questions at a time.

I remember Mindy Cohn being sort of easy going and approachable. Nancy McKeon had a dry sense of humor and Kim Fields was kind of quiet with a calm maturity.  Fields reminded me of other young people I have met who have grown up in the business like Christina Ricci and Sean Astin, the son of Patty Duke and John Astin.

(I’m of course kidding about the Clooney inspiration thing)