My print of "I Never forget a face : Above Michael Nouri: Right
The girls at the party (I am holding a glass)
I went to a dinner/birthday party for a dear friend of John's a couple months ago and in walked the actor Michael Nouri. Well I don't know if any of you saw the movie "Flash Dance" but he was the male lead and I have always liked him. I know John won't mind my saying this because he mentioned it too, but Michael Nouri is a very handsome man as well as smart and funny. Eight people made up this dinner party so it was fun, we all laughed a lot and really enjoyed ourselves. Everyone was telling stories about Hollywood so I decided to divulge one key moment in my life. I sold my very first painting to an actress by the name of Meg Foster. The name of the painting is "I never forget a face". This was the second painting in a series of three. Also it was the second painting I had ever made and part of a series that I handprinted limited editions of as well. Meg was a friend and lived here in Topanga, and she decided to purchase this painting. Not long after this she landed a role in "Osterman's Weekend" directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring John Hurt, Dennis Hopper, Rutger Hauer, Burt Lancaster, Helen Shaver, Chris Sarandon and Meg Foster. She asked me if I would like to spend some time with her on the set. Of course I wanted to see her acting in this major movie! It was 1981 and I was young but I had heard of Sam Peckinpah, I knew he was a great and famous director but I really didn't know much about him or his movies. I got to meet all the actors on the set and Rutger Hauer who at the time was pretty young and Dennis Hopper who came to my house for a summer party. Then Meg asked me to come meet Sam Peckinpah. He was sweet beyond belief, he took my hand repeated my name and said it was really a pleasure to meet me. Well I swooned!!! Later when I read and saw his bio he was termed as a notorious ladies man, a hard drinker and a man who lived life hard and fast. That day after meeting him I went home and told my boyfriend that I met Sam Peckinpah and he was just about the sweetest man in the world and boyfriend started laughing at me and said that Mr. Peckinpah made some of the most violent scenes ever and shows a misogynistic view of women. I didn't care, I thought he was sweet...
This is how I finish the story and Michael Nouri says " I have a Sam Peckinpah story too". He is a young actor living in New York and his agent calls and says you are being offered a part in a new Sam Peckinpah movie called "Osterman's Weekend". You have to pay your own way out to California but you should go and read for it. He does and meets SP and he doesn't even have to read SP gives him the part! He goes back to NY and his agent calls and says you are being offered a role in a movie called "Flash Dance" and he says to his agent what should I do? The agent says, "Take the part in "Flash Dance" it's directed by Adrian Lyne who has directed two movies but you will have the lead, so he did and Osterman's Weekend bombed. It was the last movie that Sam Peckinpah directed ane he died not that long after it was released. "Flash Dance" was a big hit and everyone in the cast became well known.
I have expeienced a lot of unusual events but this whole story and storytelling experience at this party ranks high in the synchronicity dept. I will never forget meeting that legendary movie maker who has been referred to as one of the last great American directors. When Michael Nouri walked in the door the first thing that popped in my mind was " the guy in Flash Dance! Because I never forget a face...
21 comments:
What a great story. I loved it. I also loved your wonderful spotted illustration friday below. Your blog is always such a pleasure to visit. Thanks for making me smile.
Val I love reading your stories. they are always so interesting
interesting story; always like seeing photos of blog owners that I visit often; and that top illustration is fascinating.
Great stories Val...and it looks like you also, like your comment on my post, don't take your friends for granted either. It's times like these that make life over the brim rich.
Another fantastic story from the keyboard of Val. I love your sweet, innocent, positive take on life. I remember Flashdance well as it was aimed directly at my demographic (which, come to think of it, is the same as yours), but I must admit it was the sets that really attracted me more than anything else! (I have Tim Curry and Terence Stamp stories, but they're nowhere near as good or serendipitous as yours, so I won't tell them!) The art is, as usual, worth visiting your blog for as well.
What a cool story!
Hey Val ~ I finally did a house for my small art blog. I want to do more -- I even have a vertical canvas to do one with three panels. You've inspired me!
That is really neat that you got to hang out on the set...
Another great post, Val! I remember watching the Meg Foster movie "Sunshine" as a teenager with my mom.I always loved her pale blue eyes.
Ha!You aren't busy enough Val...maybe you should check into rockerz "work from home" site. :0)
Wow! That was a fantastic story! To the best of my knowledge, I've yet to meet anyone famous. What was the rest of the painting series like?
You win the prize Janet! You are the only one that mentioned Meg's white blue eyes!!! She had the eyes of a wolf. A little known factoid but Meg was cast in Cagney and Lacey with Tyne Dailey and Meg got dropped from the series because they thought her character wasn't feminine enough! She was replaced by Sharon Gless. Michael Nouri now has a recurring role on the OC he plays a plastic surgeon.
What a great anecdote, Val!
I remember reading the book by Robert Ludlum but never saw the film! Now I know why!
As for Flashdance, what a great one!
I've always thought Michael Nouri had Algerian ancestry because Nouri is a popular Algerian name! Next time you see him, please ask him and let me know!
I love the painting!
And you look great!
Cherrypie tagged me and if you have time to play this game then you are invited, Val...
Oh I loved your story, Val! What fun! I loved looking at the photos, too. You're so adorable!
I´m like you in that, I never forget a face either. But I would have had a hard time recognizing Michael Nouri, although he is still very good looking - and whoop, did he look great in Flashdance. (You are all a good looking group! The one to the left actually smiles like Tyne Daly :)) The funny thing is I still mostly drive my racing bike back from that time (after seeing the film) when I decided it is a must for a cool woman to own a male racing bike, have a dog and live in a factory room. (And I still dream about the dog and the factory room, hihi. Some dreams never grow up.)
Great story about meeting the legendary Sam Peckinpah!
PS: I have a book on Cagney and Lacey and there is a photo of Tyne Daly and Meg Foster - as far as I know they even aired the first episode with Meg in it before they re-casted her role, but they never aired it in Germany. (I love those information bits, can you tell? :))
Wow! What an interesting story...and I and my daughters are familiar with Michael Nouri...very handsome actor. You had an amazing experience. Thanks for sharing that. I have a friend, now living in South Africa, who also met Sam Peckinpah and was affected in the same way you were.
Hey Val...my youngest son ended up with two german shepard pups from one of the actress from OC... 6 degrees of separation:))) Great story!
Val, did you get to meet actress Helen Shaver on the set of OSTERMAN WEEKEND? She once told a story on a radio show about how Meg Foster accidentally punched her in the face during a scene. It was supposed to be a fake punch, but Meg made contact and totally knocked Helen out. In another interview, Helen claimed to be the only actor on set who wasn't doing heaps of drugs. Makes me want to rent the movie.
Wow! Super cool story.
There are no coincidences!
love
Great story! Keep up the fantastic storytelling as well as the kick ass art!
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