For someone who consumes as much film and television as I do,  a big upside to living in New York City is frequently encountering actors, directors, and writers I admire. I think I’m normally rather shy, but I don’t seem to have any problem approaching these people to say a word or two. I don’t have many photographs to document these auspicious events, but here are a few, with context provided.

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In 1997, for the centennial of the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, New York University held an event called “The Dracula Centennial: The Aesthetics of Fear.” The scheduled lineup of speakers looked interesting, especially with the addition of Stephen King to the roster. I felt compelled to attend.

During a break I was in a lounge off the auditorium. Just a few people were there, and Stephen King was one of them. I’d already spoken to him at his seat in the theater, sitting directly behind Joyce Carol Oates. Pretty cool. Anyway, in the lounge I asked if I could get a couple pictures. He said sure, but first wanted to take a picture of me, so I handed him my camera (35mm film, well before iPhone cameras). Here’s the shot of me taken by Stephen King.

I asked someone to take a photo of us together, which is at the top of this post. When we were standing side by side, he glanced over and saw I had my arms crossed, so he crossed his. I got a kick out of that. He’s someone who’s a phenomenally successful and popular author, but on a personal level, he seemed like a regular jeans and t-shirt kind of guy. Here’s a photo I took of him then that I like a lot.

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In the mid-’90s I took a film class run by Richard Brown called Movies 101. Chartered trips were offered between terms. The trip in 1994 was a Mediterranean cruise. I’d previously thought a cruise was the last thing I would ever want to do, but this sounded interesting and I decided to do it. Guests on the cruise were Jerry Stiller and his wife Anne Meara. Everything turned out fine. This was a 600-passenger ship, not those absurd multi-leveled things you see today. Stiller and Meara were great, especially Jerry. He was still doing Seinfeld at that time. The shot below is when I was wandering around on our stop at  Sardinia. He saw me and called me over to have a picture taken. His idea. The shot below that is of Jerry, Anne and me on the fantail of the cruise ship.

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From 2001 to 2010, I worked for the Christopher Awards, a part of The Christophers organization. Christopher Close-Up was, a televised interview program produced at the office. When I found out that actor Bruce Campbell was going to be a guest, I was very excited. I knew his work well from the Evil Dead films and a recurring role on the Lucy Lawless series, Xena: Warrior Princess. I wanted to meet him and got the okay to sit in on the interview. The photos below resulted. By the way, this was before the term “selfie” had entered the language. My term for a photo taken like this was “crapshot.”

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In 2019, a new film directed by Stephen Soderbergh, High Flying Bird, was screened at Film at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater. Kyle MacLachlan was in it and was one of the participants attending the screening. After it was over, I saw him standing by himself in the lobby by the concession stand, and went over to say hello. I’d recently watched David Lynch’s Twin Peaks follow-up on Showtime. MacLachlan was in that and I wanted to ask him about it. After a few words, I thanked him and started walking away. I stopped, and even though I felt weird doing so, walked back and asked if I could take a picture. He agreed, and here it is.

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Sesame Street‘s Caroll Spinney was a presenter in the Books for Young Readers category at the 59th annual Christopher Awards ceremony in 2008. He brought Oscar the Grouch along to add insults and commentary. I was able to get this shot with them at the reception afterwards.

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In 1998, I was working for the New York office of a French-based subtitling company called Titra. I attended the Hamptons Film Festival that October in an effort to drum up business. I have zero skills as a salesman, and my personal agenda here was to see as many movies as possible. Richard Lester was there. I spoke briefly with him after a showing of his second Beatles film, Help!, and continued to run into him and his wife Deirdre Smith at parties. I assured him  after the second party in a row that I was not stalking him. His stunning film Petulia was also shown at a beautiful theater in Sag Harbor. I don’t know how many people have seen Petulia (1968), but this film with Julie Christie, George C. Scott, and Richard Chamberlain is excellent, one of Lester’s best.

Sometime during those two to three days, I managed to get the following shots. In the background at right is Alex Cox, director of Repo Man (1984) and Sid and Nancy (1986). Below that is one of my crapshots. I think it turned out rather well, though the effect was completely by accident.

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The most recent encounter, and for me one of the most significant, was three weeks ago. I’d just seen Hitchcock’s 1956 remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much at Film Forum. When I left the theater, I saw Christopher Nolan standing outside, probably waiting for someone. I knew it was him, but just to make sure said, “Mr.Nolan?” He admitted he was, and I proceeded to establish my bona fides as a true Oppenheimer fan. We chatted a bit about the film’s music, etc, then shook hands and I started down the street. I’d gotten about 50 yards away when I realized, much like with Kyle MacLachlan at Walter Reade four years before, that I wanted to go back and see if I could get a picture, which I did. I muttered something about hating to be such a fanboy, but it was fine. Like I said at the beginning, this is one of the reasons I love living in this city. Not too many other places where this would be likely to happen, just running into someone like this on the street.

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Finally, to wrap this up here’s a photo that has nothing to do with me or anyone I’ve encountered, but it kind of fits the theme. It’s a great shot of actor Sam Neill with a well-groomed pig. I grew up on an Iowa farm where we raised pigs, so I have a special feeling for my porcine friends. That’s all for now. See you next time. — Ted Hicks

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