The Sunday Memory Drawer - When The Stars Came To Mount Vernon, New York

I've used this photo before.  It's downtown Mount Vernon, New York.  My hometown.  And, on a previous Sunday, I did a whole rundown of everything you can see in this snapshot.

So, I was watching some preview scenes from a new CBS show called "Hostages."  I think it premieres tomorrow night.  Well, one moment caught my eye and I had to rewind.  This very location above is used.  You can plainly see the building at the top right where my dentist and orthodontist was.  It's still there.  And, apparently being used to represent a Washington DC suburb which is where "Hostages" is set.  

For a series to be partially shot in Mount Vernon is a big deal.  Because, back when I was a kid, my hometown seemed to be planets away from the Hollywood we saw on the big screen or in our living rooms.  It seemed all like a fantasy and those movie and TV stars were bigger than life itself.

So when they actually showed up in town, our worlds stopped to watch.

Oh, sure, we had some celebrities in and around the neighborhood.  Art Carney lived there.  According to my grandmother, she used to see him play cards on the second floor of her friend's house.  Allegedly, actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were somewhere in town.  I used to know who Denzel Washington was, but that was long before he was Denzel Washington.  And when local athlete Ken Singleton actually got called up from the minor leagues to play for the New York Mets, it was likely V-E Day in Mount Vernon all over again.

Then there was wrestler Crazy Lou Albano.  

Hell, we knew who he was because he lived among us.  I would watch him with my grandmother every Saturday night on Heavyweight Wrestling.  Acting like some jerk and wielding a chair over somebody's head.  Well, in his non-grappling hours, Albano drove a cab in Mount Vernon for Reliable Taxi.  You knew it was his car because the words "Captain Lou Albano" were stenciled on the hood.  Meanwhile, he parked it around the corner from my house whenever he was "visiting" Costello's Bar and Grill on First Street.

One day, I was sent to the grocery store for my mother and I happened to see Albano getting into his cab.   I cried out a cheery hello.

"Fuck you, brat!"

Okay, I was perhaps eight or nine at the time.  And totally undeserving of that language, which I still didn't understand in its most clinical terms.  The next time I saw him wrestling on TV, I rooted a little harder for him to get the shit kicked out of him.

Within spitting distance of our house, they were opening up a new National Bank of Westchester branch.  And, as construction was finalized, we saw big signs for the grand opening that would feature some real star power coming to visit.

Famed TV host from our favorite kiddie show on WOR Channel 9.  Claude Kirschner and his pal Clowny!  

I couldn't believe that I was going to be that close to royalty.  On the day of the bank event, I was first on line to say hi to the ringmaster of Terrytoon Circus.  

Except I was incredibly disappointed.   Kirschner was seated at a table, scribbling his name on some glossy 8 x 10s.  But where was Clowny, I asked.

"He's at home.  He was busy."

Tell that to a seven-year-old.  

I persisted, not comprehending why Clowny wouldn't be popping out of Claude's pocket.   I needed more information.

"Next."

Huh?

Terrytoon Circus was a little less enjoyable after that major downer.

Well, it wasn't exactly within the Mount Vernon city lines, but I was over the moon when I heard that Officer Joe Bolton was going to be around.

Indeed, Officer Joe Bolton is probably the first person I remember from television. 

Every afternoon on WPIX, Channel 11 in New York, he'd swing that billy club and host a half-hour of Three Stooges shorts.

I would plan my very busy five-year-old day around this event. There were no parental worries about me watching or idolizing Moe, Larry, and Curly. I've never poked anybody in the eye or banged somebody over the head with a metal pipe. I have wanted to, but never really moved to that level. Nevertheless, Officer Joe and the Stooges were the highlight of my day.

I probably thought Bolton was a real policeman until I realized that he would turn up on the station at all other hours of the day. He did station breaks, filled in on the nightly news, and probably spooned out chili con carne in the WPIX cafeteria. But, for the time while I thought he was a cop, I guess my parents thought it was okay for me to idolize a person of such authority. This notion prevailed, despite the fact that he was the bridge between some of the most insane acts of comedy violence ever filmed.

One day between bangs and clangs, Joe announced that he would be appearing that night at a Catholic school feast on Bronxwood Avenue in the, of course, Bronx. It was a Friday and my father was available for chauffeuring. I began the usual begging and received the typical paternal responses.

"It's too far."

"It's too hot."

"It will be too crowded."

Nevertheless, as per usual, Dad caved. And while it wasn't that far or that hot, it was certainly crowded. I wound up standing next to my hero, who gifted me with an autograph and a glossy photo. I was hobnobbing with the stars.

The epilogue to this story is, however, more noteworthy. Years and years and years later, I was enjoying a trip down memory lane with my good friend, the Bibster. This very Catholic school feast came up in conjunction with meeting Officer Joe. After a few oral coincidences, we discovered that we probably had stood alongside each other for the Officer Joe meet and greet, as his dad obviously relented to the notions of too much distance, too much heat, and too many people. Fifteen or so years later, we would reconnect as friends, sharing an early memory we never knew we had.

A small world indeed.

Back in Mount Vernon, my father had a single celebrity name that he could drop.  He claimed to know former Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Ralph Branca.  You know him?  The guy who served up the cookie to the Giants' Bobby Thomson in 1951.

Branca lived in Mount Vernon and my father allegedly saw him from time to time.  Why allegedly?   Because, from my own vantage point, I never saw the two of them together.

We'd be out driving around town doing some errands and suddenly my dad would honk the horn of his Buick and wave.  I'd ask who that was.

"Ralph Branca."

I knew he was once a baseball player so I'd get excited.  I'd quickly turn around to rubber neck on what I missed.

And I never saw Ralph Branca.

This scene happened so frequently that I was surprised the pitcher wasn't coming to our house for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But, a bit of skepticism also crept in.  Was my father making this all up?  Because I never did see the guy.

When I was in high school and trying to get a summer job with the Mount Vernon Recreation Department, the commissioner of that division was Ralph's brother John.  To get into this prized and cushy summer job, you really had to know somebody.  My father stepped up to the plate.

"I'll make a call to John's brother."

Okay, I did get the job so somebody connected with somebody else.  But still I never ever saw Ralph Branca.

But there were some bigger names that I did see up close and in person.  Back when I was a kid, it was not uncommon for a new movie's stars to hit the road and promote their film by making personal appearances.  Take a gander at this photo.

Granted it's the RKO Fordham in the Bronx, but I remember this promotional tour with Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens.  Hell, I don't even recall the name of the movie.  But sometime on the same day that they visited the RKO Fordham, they were on stage at the RKO Proctor's in Mount Vernon.

I know.  I was there.

You'd see the listings in the newspaper with the times that these stars would be showing up in your town.

Yonkers:   6:30PM
Mount Vernon:  7:45PM
New Rochelle:  8:45PM

Given travel time, you can see that their appearances in front of your eyes would be brief.  You'd be watching the movie and then suddenly the screen went black.  Houselights would illuminate the stage and then out came Hollywood!  It was all so incomprehensible for this kid who wasn't even double digits in age.  They'd talk and answer questions for about ten minutes and then scurry off to the next theater.

This is how I got to see Jerry Lewis.

This is how I got to see Bette Davis.

And this is how I got to meet Lucille Ball.

She and Bob Hope were promoting some movie together.  In between stops at RKO in Yonkers and RKO in New Rochelle, they would be gracing us all at the RKO Proctors Theater in Mount Vernon.

This was way bigger than Claude Kirschner and the absent Clowny!

The event had an added bonus.  You could get in free with two box tops from Pepsodent Toothpaste.  My mom countered.

"We use Crest."

Not for the next month or so, Mother.

On this momentous day, the movie house was packed to the rafters.  The film was unspooling and suddenly stopped.  The lights went up and the stars magically appeared before us.  I suddenly, for the very first time in my life, was in touch with Hollywood.

They took questions from the audience and maybe my outstretched arm was higher than anybody else's.  Or maybe I was just an adorable little kid.  Lucy picked me.

"Lucy, how old are you?"

Eh, maybe not so adorable.  Lucy did a take and then answered me.

"Okay, next question."

Big laugh from all around.

And off they went.

Leaving me in that audience with a huge grin.  

Yep, Hollywood, so far away, had gone to visit me once again.

Dinner last night:  Pepperoni pizza at Stella Barra.