Fan Source Fan Appreciation Weekend and Dallas Tribute Dinner
October 10-12, 2008, North Hollywood, CA
What a great event! I met my friends Maria (along with me one of Larry Hagman's biggest fans), Kimberlee (Linda Gray's #1 fan) and Krystel (Sheree J. Wilson's biggest fan) for the weekend's festivities. It was looking dicey at first, with Sheree J. Wilson's new movie not ready for screening, and Patrick Duffy canceling at the last minute. Both Linda Gray and Larry Hagman were out of town, due to fly in on Sunday.
We were the first people there on Friday, early to beat the crowds. We had no idea what the turnout would be. No one showed up for a while, causing some concern. The hotel had some bad information, having nothing on the schedule for Friday, and a head count of 160 for the rest of the weekend! Finally other fans started to gather, forming a small crowd. No doubt the hotel's incorrect scheduling kept people away. Sheree J. Wilson appeared with her husband, Brett K. Miller, a sportscaster and ex-football player. Sheree was thrilled to see Krystel, saying "That's my girl!" when she saw her! She couldn't make Sunday's dinner due to another event in Dallas, and had invited Krystel to be her guest there a while back. They made arrangements to travel together once in Texas!
We enjoyed meeting many Dallas fans that we already knew by their screen names on UltimateDallas.com, among them Barbara fan, JR&SueEllen4Ever, Daphne and her mom and Wizard62. Fans came from all over the world: The UK, Germany, Romania, Canada. Dallas truly has an international audience! Several people recognized me from this web site or from my photo posts on the Ultimate Dallas forum, which was an odd experience.
Saturday was a light day, with most of the actors unavailable. There were silent auctions of Dallas memorabilia, including scripts and a portrait of Linda Gray, which sold for $800! Judy Keel, Howard Keel's widow, was on hand for a Q&A and autograph signing. She had a lovely booklet filled with photos of Howard throughout his career. I bought Howard Keel's autobiography and had it signed. I look forward to reading it!
Sunday was the big day, with four Q&A sessions and autograph signings as well as the Dallas Tribute Dinner, which was to be attended by 75 people. First up was Christopher Atkins, still a good-looking guy! He was funny too! Omri Katz, who played little John Ross, was next. Another cutie! He's no longer in show business, and doesn't want to be, but is a nice guy who the fans definitely enjoyed meeting. We got some nice reunion photos of Katz and Atkins together. Morgan Fairchild, the first Jenna Wade, was next. She is beautiful and very glamorous. She is also extremely intelligent, a knowledgeable supporter of AIDS related charities.
Although for me, no one compares to Larry Hagman, there were more fans of Linda Gray than anyone else at this event! She was the main attraction, and would prove to be the focus of the Tribute Dinner. Linda was late, having just flown in from New York after meeting to plan an off-Broadway engagement of Terms of Endearment. She was stuck in the horrendous LA traffic! When she did show up, the excitement in the room was palpable. Linda spotted her number one fan, Kimberlee, immediately and walked right up and embraced her! She then settled in for a fascinating Q&A, followed by photos and autograph signing. Linda was clearly delighted to see Kimberlee, and remembered me from the KCLU event at Larry Hagman's home in May. Linda took her time with fans, leading to a bit of a crunch when dinner time arrived. She then got people to move along quickly, promising to continue signing after dinner.
Soon it would be time for me to meet Larry Hagman, again, and I was getting nervous. We arrived at the dinner, signed in and found our tables. Shortly afterwards, Larry Hagman arrived with his wife Maj. Despite a nightmarish day traveling from Florida (his flight was canceled), Larry was in a great mood, charming and energetic! The crowd moved forward, with many people, myself included, waving and shouting our greetings. Larry scanned the crowd. When he spotted me, his face lit up and he waved and shouted "Hi!" enthusiastically! People crowded around him, getting photos, making it difficult to get near him. Maria and I grabbed our cameras and worked our way towards Larry. When it was my turn to get my photo with him, Larry reached out to me, pulling me in for a long hug, saying "It's great to see you again!" I put my arm around him, putting my head on his chest. He rested his head on mine and squeezed me tight for the photo. The flash didn't go off, so we had to do it again!
We noticed that Larry was wearing a gigantic ring. He isn't into jewelry, so at first this was puzzling. Until he turned it on - it had multicolored flashing lights! He bought a bunch of them at the Burning Man festival this fall. A flashing ring on his finger wasn't enough for Larry - he took it off and put it on his nose! He's 77? Take one of those 7's away from him!
We sat down for the presentation. There was a short Q&A, with each actor being asked one question from the audience. In the middle of this Charlene Tilton arrived with her daughter Cherish, leading to a story from Larry about her always being late. Finally, we came to the big announcement of the evening: Linda Gray is going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Her family was there, including children Kehly and Jeff, and grandchildren Ryder and Jack. Jack was adorable, stealing Larry's pile of Hagman money and running around saying he was rich! Larry eventually got half of it back, enough to toss into the air to watch us crazy fans dive for it!
Dinner was served: fish, chicken or a vegetarian dish. I chose the chicken, which was stuffed with mushrooms. Desert was ice cream with a chocolate shell. It was frozen, forcing me to use my knife to cut it up! Deborah Rennard, J.R.'s secretary Sly on Dallas, was at our table. Her husband, Paul Haggis, an Academy Award winning producer (Crash) was with her.
I had some photos and a Dallas book I wanted Larry Hagman to sign. Maria wisely sat down next to Larry as he was signing, and stayed there, maximizing her time with him. When I reached Larry, Kimberlee was standing nearby with her camera. Larry pointed to me, smiling, asking if she wanted to take a photo. We obliged. I had a gorgeous photo of Larry in an Indian headdress that he enjoyed signing, saying "I love that one!"
Linda Gray had many admirers getting autographs. When Larry was leaving, he found Linda, giving her a long kiss goodbye! Maria, who was getting photos signed by Linda at the time, had a front row seat for this, and said goodbye to Larry. As Larry and Maj headed for the exit, I joined other fans to line the way, leaving room for them to walk. Larry saw me, said "come here" and bent down to hug me, once again telling me how nice it was to see me again! I hugged Maj goodbye. Kimberlee hugged Larry as he left.
I had one more autograph to get. Charlene Tilton. There were only a few people around her, so this seemed simple. But she kept getting distracted, and needed to leave soon. Finally I caught up with her, and she signed my Dallas book, which had been signed by Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, Omri Katz and Christopher Atkins. Charlene is a real sweetie!
Linda Gray still had a long line of fans awaiting photos and autographs. She was as trouper, refusing to disappoint anyone despite her long hectic day. As she left, she once again singled out Kimberlee and hugged her, blowing her a kiss as she walked out the door!
Another fun and successful trip! On to Southfork!!
For the complete story of a series of Larry Hagman events, see About This Site.