The October event wasn't quite as jam-packed as in years past, you could actually make your way through the corridors with little trouble, and save the headliner, nobody's line seemed to be too much of a wait. In fact, if it wasn't for the presence of Tim Curry, the latest event might have been overly tame. But the Rocky Horror Picture Show star brought fans in in droves. The longest wait of the night for most of us was excitedly queuing up on the photo op line for our 30-second brush with the man, the myth.
The other crown jewel was Martin Landau. The man is 88 years old, but he seemed sharper than any of the rest of us. I was tickled just watching him check his cell phone. And then again when the gentleman in front of me informed the Oscar winner that he had just had a birthday -- he turned 72. Landau then quipped, "You're just a kid."I'm a big fan of his work -- starting with the brilliant suspense thriller North by Northwest and on to Tucker: The Man And His Dream, the movie I expected him to win the Oscar for before he finally did with his dazzling turn as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood.
But first and foremost, I wanted to talk with Landau about the 1998 X-Files film. I wasn't sure what to expect, that was made almost two decades ago and maybe he wouldn't remember much about what some consider an unrewarding part. (Don't count me in that number, please.) But Landau had a lot of great things to say on the subject.
Chris Carter told Landau he was the only person he could envision playing Dr. Alvin Kurtzweil. The X-Files creator didn't have much of a character outline beyond a general description that he needed to seem sane and insane. The beleaguered doctor delivered a lot of exposition in the film, basically getting Mulder to go on wild goose chases. "I created a character out of nothing, so it was great fun," he said.
Even Mark was gobsmacked -- his word -- at being in the classy octogenarian's presence. After taking my photo with Landau, the actor looked at it and pronounced it to be "perfect." I couldn't agree more.The first thing I had him autograph was my comprehensive X-Files book, the one that I bring to almost every convention getting anyone connected to the show to sign. He said, "You're a big X-Files fan, aren't you?" I said "Oh yes," proudly pointing out my Fight the Future shirt I wore in his honor. "Yes, I saw that," he replied. That tiny little logo on the left side? I wouldn't have noticed it myself if I didn't know it was there.
There was a little post-it note his handler put on the book with my name on it for ease of signing. When I reached for that as Landau went to sign my Fight the Future lobby card, he indicated he didn't need it, he knew my name. Again, I was giggly fan girl ... "Martin Landau knows my name."
Upon departing, he offered his hand to shake. I told him I thought North by Northwest was a perfect movie. He responded with a gracious thank you and gave my hand an extra squeeze in the process. If ever there was a reason not to wash a hand ever again, that was it.
Remar had spent the summer of 2001 in New York City, riding Ladder Company 3's truck with friend Patrick Brown. He got a phone call from the show days before 9/11 telling him "he must come do this." He signed on, and a couple of days later, the towers fell. Ladder Company 3 lost most of its men, including Brown, in the attack. Remar showed me a cell-phone picture of his hand on his friend's name at the memorial. It really got to Mark and me.
It was quite emotional and might have been overwhelming if we didn't then get into our latest round of what's the right way to take a picture next. Blog readers might remember Tatum O'Neal -- who by chance was positioned at the same table Remar was this particular weekend -- urging Mark to shoot tilted down from above. Then Malcolm McDowell negated that concept, saying eye level was the way to go. Remar agreed with McDowell and Mark. Boys 2, Tatum 1.
I also was on the fence about meeting Eddie Deezen, perhaps best known from Grease, The Polar Express or WarGames, but on my list because of Midnight Madness. I showed him a pic of myself and Sestra cosplaying the movie's Game Control girls at New York Comic Con. As he signed my DVD cover, he said that film was a really fun one.Funnily enough, Deezen later posted on Facebook that he was surprised that the project most fans talked about him at Chiller was -- Midnight Madness. Surely the Game Control girls would have gone over huge at this event. No one knew who we were at the "other" convention.
I also met Marsha Warfield. I'll just say she was subdued, compared with the others. I was complimentary as I could be, admitting that when I'm feeling overloaded by work sometimes Night Court is my only remedy. My biggest response came when I asked her whether she wanted to "stick her hand in Bull" -- the puppet I brought for the picture. "No way," she said. Besides the picture and Warfield adding her Jane Hancock to my favorite Night Court script, there was one other little thing I wanted to ask of her. Now mind you, this was her first convention and I believe I was her first customer, so she might have been understandably thrown by my request that we act out one of my favorite Night Court lines. But ultimately, she was game.
So with the camera on, "Roz" said, "What's that behind your back?" and I reply (in my best Larroquette "Dan" impresssion, which admittedly isn't a real good one) "New Jersey." And then I quickly quipped, "It really is New Jersey" and got a thumbs-up.All of that was accomplished during the early-bird hour, so the only thing left was to wait on a couple lines for my Tim Curry photo op. About an hour later, I was sitting next to the Tim Curry! I babbled something about how much I appreciated his work, he replied -- in a voice clearly affected by his stroke but still with that same familiar warm British tone -- that meant a lot to him and offered his hand for a shake.
And then bubblehead that I am, I totally forgot my prepared line. Back when Clue was released, I actually went to different theaters to see the three different endings. They weren't all tacked on like they now can be seen on the DVD, you had to figure out which place was showing which ending. But in place of that, I offered the horrific, "Are you having a good time?" I shudder just thinking of it now. I composed myself, we took the picture, I wished him a fine weekend and off I went, hanging my head in disgrace. But not for long, because when I think back on the Chillers, this will rank as one of my favorites.
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