No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on September 25, 2021

There are two actors that I know personally who share this day as their Birthday.

One is Mark Hamill who is a friend of the family and all around great guy.

Peter introduced me to Mark and his lovely wife Marilou at a San Diego Comic Con while we were still dating. 

Probably my best Mark story is from when I was working at Del Rey. 

We were making the cover for one of the books in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series. Luke Skywalker was the prominent character on the cover. 

The art department was having a bit of an issue getting Lucas Films to sign off on the cover. They had used aging software to make Luke look the age he would be in the book but it didn’t look right.

I figured out that Mark was the same age as Luke at that point. I called Marilou and she sent me a current headshot of Mark.

The art department used that photo for Luke’s face and sent it off for approval.

They, yet again, got notes about Luke’s face to which they replied that then Lucas Films needed to go tell Mark Hamill he doesn’t look like Luke Skywalker anymore.

The cover was approved with no more notes.

The other is Christopher Reeve who I met when I was stage managing at the Williamstown Theater festival. I got to spend time with him because one of the cast members in my show, Stephanie Zimbalist, was good friends with him.

Chris held a beginning of the season party at his house just outside Williamstown. It was a very pleasant to just meet everyone in a casual setting with horses whinnying in the background. I ended up playing pool with George Wendt who turned out to be a bit of a pool shark.

I was stage managing “The Baby Dance” by Jane Anderson in the black box which is under the mainstage. 

It is about a dirt poor woman named Wanda who is living in a trailer with her husband and four children. She is pregnant with her fifth child and answers a baby wanted ad from a rich Hollywood power couple to give the child a better life than she could. Rachel is desperate to be a mother and tries to micromanage Wanda’s pregnancy which doesn’t go over well with Wanda’s husband Al. Richard, Rachel’s husband, is trying to make Rachel happy but is not sure about any of this.

One evening we were working on a rewrite of a very sensitive scene between Wanda and Al.  We were putting it in that night which is why we were rehearsing.  There was a matinee that day of “Death takes a Holiday”. 

Now there was a steel door behind our stage that led to the scene shop. We could hear if someone was working in the shop. The crew knew we were rehearsing so they had cleared out to the other shop. 

We were working when we hear the sounds of someone warming up in the shop.  The person had strong lungs because the steel door was reverberating with the sound.

I had two assistants Yee, who was from China, and Martin. I sent Yee to ask politely for the person to go elsewhere. She came back and said she couldn’t do it. So, I sent Martin on the same task. He came back and said, “This one is all your Boss.”

I go around to the shop and find Chris warming up in the shop.

I worked my way into his line of vision. He stopped what he was doing.

I told him we were rehearsing for this evening’s show and his warm-up was echoing through our space.

Chris had seen the play, so he understood what I was talking about.

I will always remember the pouty face I got as he said, “Where should I go warm up?”

I think he got away with a lot of stuff with that face.

“I don’t know Chris. How about you ask your stage manager if the white room is available?”

He smiled and said, “Ok” then bouncing up the stairs to the main floor.

I came back and said, “Solved” then we went on with rehearsal.

Happy Birthday to Mark and Chris. Two true gentlemen.

I am grateful for my time with Chris and Mark.

Category: Uncategorized
Tags: