Downtown

Downtown

     Day, or night, working in downtown Los Angeles, is always an adventure. When I played a ghost, we were either on Main Street, or Broadway, in the heart of the city. 10 of us, dressed in black suits, and white shirts, with various amounts of blood splatter. Most of the people, who approached us, gave us a wide berth. Maybe they thought we were the infamous, “Men in Black.” Not one panhandler asked us, for anything, all day. Very unusual. After we had been on set, for a few hours, one of my co-workers said, “Seems like everyone is scared, of us.” I replied, “This is L A. Don’t they know that movies are filmed here?” Judging from some of the reactions, we got, who knows? Maybe they forgot where they were. I once saw a man, fall off the roof, of a 12-story building. It was a movie stunt. Sometimes, when we had gunfire, people, on the street, would panic, because they thought it was real. We always got a good laugh .

     I was a grocery store shopper, in a downtown grocery store, and they put my car in the parking lot, near the front, of the store. I don’t remember to much about it, except that I was a spec, and John was the guy who hired me, and my car. A 1979 Thunderbird. I think I got an extra 15, or 20 bucks, for the use, of my car. Awhile later, I saw John again, on “Waterworld.” During the entire time, I was an extra, only a few people, besides myself, had the ability, and the authority, to directly affect, my job, in a positive way. John. Bill Dance. Charlie. Sandi. Dixie. Jeff. Thanks to all of them.

     Occasionally, I felt bad, about the people, who lived, in the neighborhoods, where we worked. Until I found out a lot of them, get paid. Very well. On “Strange Days,” we were in East Los Angeles, on 4th street. The set was large, and noisy, plus the lights were extremely bright, so if we were there filming, in front of your house, I hope you got paid. 

     Whenever I am downtown, in any city, I sometimes think of the song, “Downtown,” by Petula Clark, and I remember a time, in my life, when that song applied. Going to downtown Los Angeles, is still pretty popular. Always something going on. Live shows. Traffic.  Crazy people. Movie shoots. Panhandlers. Sex in cars. Documentaries. Tourists. The garment district. Newscasts. Alcoholics. The jewelry district. Skid row. The LAPD motor pool. Chinatown. 5th, 6th, and 7th streets. The shooting gallery. Angels flight. Los Angeles public library. Pershing square. MacArthur park. Museum row. Pick a stadium. There are at least 4, you can walk to. Theatre anyone? Street people. Fleabag hotels. Nice hotels. Middle of the road hotels. Closed hotels. Union station. Homeless people. The subway. Drug addicts, The Alley. Churros. Bacon wrapped hot dogs. Legal, and illegal drugs. Pay toilets. Helicopters.  Assorted nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and stores. Empty places. All manner of things, for sale. Skyscrapers. Gunfire. Flea markets. Main street. Broadway. The L A Times building. The freeway. Little Tokyo. Wilshire Blvd. Sporting events. Musicians. Hookers of both sexes. Lets not forget the working, and non-working jail cells. I could keep going, but if this is not enough, for you, go to Hollywood. Santa Monica. West Hollywood. East L A. Venice. Griffith park. One of many amusement parks. The Galleria, in Glendale. Echo park. You could even get on the Blue Line, and ride it all the way to downtown Long Beach. If this is still not enough, for you, then get the f**k out of town. You will never be happy here. 

     I am not sure of the name, of the film, but we were on a bridge, at, or near 4th street, in downtown L A. If I had to guess I would guess, “Most Wanted,” with Keenen Ivory Wayans. Cars on fire. Cars crashing, and cars exploding. 10 different cameras, filming, at the same time. They even had a remote-controlled, model  helicopter, with a camera mounted, on it. My friend Billy, got booked with his car, but production placed me inside it! They made him, a cop. He was running all night, and I was sitting, in his car. No business like show business! I think Bill Dance got me this job. If memory serves, a member of his office staff, was booked as a homeless bag lady. I let her use my coat, and my hat, for the shoot. I still have a picture, from that movie, and I still have the hat.

     In another film, who’s name eludes me, production had dressed the street to look like Tijuana, Mexico. When casting booked me, they actually told me to “stay out of sight,” because this was supposed to be Mexico, and I am not Mexican. One of my friends, had his car, parked right in the middle of the street, as if waiting to make a left turn. He was in the drivers seat, and another guy, I knew was in the passenger seat, so I got into the back seat. When production asked me why I was in the back seat, I said, ”Casting 

Told me to stay out of sight.” Again I spent the night, in a friends car. The night was very cold, and windy, so I was lucky too. It was a small car, but I had the back seat, all to myself. Except for this Mexican lady, who I had worked with, many times before. “Sex, and the City,” “Pups,” and “Artificial Intelligence,” just to name a few. She had been booked as a hooker, on this shoot, so she was not dressed for the weather, and she was freezing. . So my friend bid her, and her friend, who was also booked, as a hooker, get into the back of the car, with me. Therefore, I can now say that I spent the night in my friends car, with 2 Mexican hookers, and got paid too! Technically It is the truth. 

     I only got out of the car, to eat lunch, and go to the honey wagon. On one such occasion, there was a line waiting, and the wind was just beating our asses. A Native friend of mine, “Crow Bear,” was next in line. When the door opened, he discovered that he was to big to get through it. He was at least twice my size, and he had 3 coats on. He started to remove his coats, and I jumped inside, ahead of him. “Don’t worry, I won’t be long,” I assured him. He was good natured about it, and had shed his coats, by the time I was finished. He still likes to bust my chops, about cutting in front of him. I still have pictures of myself, and him, taken when we were both booked on E R. I hope he is well, and his family too.

     I got booked as a pedestrian on the sidewalk, in downtown L A, but production had dressed the street to look like New York city. It was raining, but none of the extras were allowed to carry, an umbrella. I do not understand s**t, that is blatantly stupid, so I said to one of the production assistants, “You are aware that the people of New York city, carry umbrellas, when it rains? I’ve seen them do it, many times.” He looked like he was as confused as I was. “What can I say? This is movie world, not the real world.” I could not argue with that logic, so I found a doorway, in a closed down office, to hang out in, and stay dry. They were not paying me to get wet, so I wasn’t getting wet. F**k em!

     I worked in downtown Los Angeles, at the Sports Arena, on the film, “Showtime.” A film about real cops, doing a reality TV show., about cops. Yeah, right. Never saw the film. I remember we were at a gun show, and at one point a scoreboard either fell, or exploded, or both. My favorite memory, of the shoot, was the fact that it was a real gun show, with live ammunition, and real vendors, who were not actors. I bought a tri-fold wallet from one of the vendors, and I still have it. If you had enough money, they had a fully restored, absolutely beautiful, Gatling gun, mounted on a 2 wheel trailer, circa 1880. Very nice! It was also the first time I saw a T-shirt, that read, “United States Marine Corp. When it absolutely, positively, has to be destroyed, overnight. It was a fun shoot, because there was a lot, going on, and when cameras were not rolling, we were free to roam about, at the gun show.