Meeting Stardom

Ghost band. Metal! Nameless Ghouls, and Papa Emeritus III

The one and only Tim Curry!

Being the massive Rocky Horror Picture Show fan that I was and still am, you can only imagine how much of a dream come true moment this was when I had a chance to meet and talk with Mr. Tim Curry. Because of Rocky Horror I became a huge Tim Curry fan and went out of my way to seek whatever works he had performed in, that I could possibly view, listen to or experience. I was fortunate enough to chat with him a few times during his 1988 ‘Me and My Girl’ tour. He played the lead role of Bill Snibson in the play, which also co-starred Donna Bullock as Sally. Tim did an autograph signing at a department store and I was unable to go to my dismay. I was so sad as I was stuck out of town and there was no way I’d make it on time. I had a friend and my mother go and get an autograph for me, but that just wasn’t the same. Later on lucked out and I found out he was scheduled to do an interview at Much Music so off I went. Only a few other people as well as myself showed up so that was super nice. We had a chance to actually talk with out a crowd of people around. I made him a clay figure and gave it to him as well.

My next meeting with Tim Curry was when I went to see ‘Me and My Girl’. It was amazing to see him perform live. He has a voice like no other. He spoke to me when he came off stage during one of the main numbers, which was cool. After the performance at the O’Keefe Centre I went to the backstage area and meet him and Donna there. They were kind enough to autograph my program. Tim didn’t even ask me what my name was when he was signing the book because he remembered it. That was a wonderful moment for me.

Tim just celebrated his 66th birthday on April 19th and continues to act to this day.

Movies: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000347/bio

This post is in remembrance of actor William Finley, most famously known as Winslow Leach aka The Phantom in Brian De Palma's 1974 movie Phantom of the Paradise. William pasted away passed away suddenly after a brief hospitalization on Saturday, April 14th in New York. His wife Susan and son Dashiell survive him.

  I met William Finley and Gerrit Graham at the Phantom of the Paradise convention titled Phantompalooza, which was held April 23rd 2005 in Winnipeg Manitoba. The road trip itself has a disaster story I care not to share, but at least I got a wee bit of excitement out of the whole thing. The friends I went with and myself were interviewed for a special and I wonder to this day where that footage is, how tired, drunk and foolish we sounded and looked. I did get to ask a question for Gerrit in which he answered at the Q & A earlier in the day. I asked, “I really want to know what that white powder was that you put in your nose in the shower scene.” he answered powdered lactose, dried milk solids. Watch Gerrit answer this question and William talk about his action figure and how the Phantom’s intercom voice box relates to Darth Vader’s in Star Wars. There’s a bit of Star Wars trivia for you.

Here’s my question for Gerrit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXxxtZWz1ec

The following year another convention was held, William and Gerrit came again, and more of the cast showed up including Jessica Harper, Paul Williams, Juicy Fruit for the 2nd convention which I wish I had been able to attend. Winnipeg to this day still is the capital of Phantom fandom.

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Here’s a fun little promo for William’s Phantom figure of himself. I’ve had this action figure on my want list for over 10 years, yes over 10 years! Someday I’ll have $250 + dollars to spare.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmMndG8bx_8

NY Times news about Finley’s death

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/18/movies/william-finley-actor-in-de-palma-films-dies-at-71.html

Phantom vs Darth Vader article showing similarities

Clive Barker has a wonderful imagination. His horror and fantasy work can be described with words like dark, scary, sexual, clever, religious and funny. He is best known for creating Hellraiser and the character Pinhead based from The Hellbound Heart novella. For me his Books of Blood were a fantastic ride and kept me reading his other published works. The Damnation Game was the first book of his that I read and his first published novel. This was around the time of this first photo with me and my pink hair pictured above. That was in the 80's. He's written plays (I've seen History of the Devil), worked on movies, created beautiful illustrations, made video games, and of course written many short stories and books.    

Annie Rice book signing event held at The Atrium on Bay. She usually only signs one book. I had a magazine with an article about her in it, which she gave me an interesting story to (see photo). The photographer lit her bad on purpose for the photo session. She was nice enough to sign that for me as well :)

O.K., so I'm starting up a new space to share my experiences about seeing concerts, and meeting famous people. A project in the making. Over 20 years of material to share. It's going to be random with the years and in no particular order. I have tons of photos and stories to post about so feel free to follow.   

O.K., so I'm starting up a new space to share my experiences about seeing concerts, and meeting famous people. A project in the making. Over 20 years of material to share. It's going to be random with the years and in no particular order. I have tons of photos and stories to post about so feel free to follow.