ROBIN WILLIAMS MADE MY CAREER
I am not being melodramatic when I say that Robin Williams made my career. It was in the development stage of the entertainment news series EXTRA and I was being groomed for the red carpet reporter position. We weren't even on the air yet and I was assigned to attend the MTV Movie Awards with the idea that I was to make something entertaining out of the piece. Well...as I mentioned we weren't on the air yet and stars are less likely to talk to an entity that isn't rather than one that is. So as a gimmick I work a very loud Versace shirt (hot at the time) to garner attention. And it did. As Robin Williams walked down the carpet, he looked at me and shouted "Somewhere there is a curtain missing." All the other media's cameras turned to me. And my cameraman pulled back for a two-shot of Robin and I bantering for five-ish minutes. It made my career!
Needless to say, I feel a palpable loss with the passing of Robin and as I look back on 2014, it is one of the milestones I will remember...the loss of a genius and the man who launched the colorful career I was able to have.
I have had many colorful experiences since with a number of extraordinary entertainment icons over the years. Click on to the passage "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" from my first book/memoir REALLY!?! to share my experience with three legendary women.
