The Hollywood Show

There is a convention that is held in a hotel area of the Westin near the Los Angeles International airport that hosts celebrities from past and present to meet and greet their fans. They have some themes like, in this one...the reunion of "Too Close For Comfort" and 80's show that I watched as a kid. They also have a lot of film reunions. Linda Blair was actually at this one and was stunning. More so now than in her youth.
There is an old adage that "sometimes you don't want to meet your heroes." This implies that since we build them up to be Gods they will essentially disappoint you, or you will never be able to extract enough blood from them (information, stories, trivia, etc...). Myself, I geek out hard at the celebrities I see. I know deep down in their hearts, they no longer feel Hollywood embraces them as much as we do. And you do sense the bitterness. But a lot LOVE the fans they still have and love speaking with them about it. For me, I love set stories. Many actors don't recall the drama or they never had any. Or they're curious why I am so curious. This time around, there was a few disappointments (don't meet your heroes). This time, a show I'd grown up in the 1980's. "Too Close For Comfort" boasted the fame of Ted Knight as a father trying to raise two daughters in San Francisco. One daughter was Deborah Van Valkenburgh. Whom I've seen also in "The Warriors" and "Streets Of Fire". When I approached I was curious how the great director Walter Hill dealt with actors. The response was a bit clipped in a New York gal type of way "well, what would you like to know?" I had no specifics. Fuck! So I vamped for a while until her eyes grew bored. Her beauty was still there. Obviously now in her 60's looking at some putz across from her spit out a question. Which is when I stepped into her sitcom years. That didn't hold water either. I think she was curious what my point was without buying anything.
The thing with these shows is...it's sometimes very sad. Not because they are there doing this for some extra cash, but the last question most people may ask (which I have no idea) is "what's next?" Most of the people there have moved on from the limelight. Most won't be cast in anything in today's Hollywood. I'm more bitter about it than they are. In Ms. Valkenburgh's eyes, I'm just another fanboy face that chips away at the past she most likely can't remember. Or doesn't want to be a dancing monkey for a few bucks. I respect that. I respect everyone who did something pre-millenium. It was harder back then because the outlets were smaller. We had 4 network channels. Now, there is mass media.
I'm sure, if pressed, most of these celebs probably would prefer being in today's market. I tend to go there to sniff out potential people for my own films though...I fanboy out too easily. Yes, I love the REAL celebs of yesteryear. Because they had talent, and guts and were literate (no Kardashian). I hope they know that.