My Afternoon With Richard Dreyfuss! part 1

OK...here we go. Thanks for bearing with me while I gathered my thoughts...

Finally, after a few months of waiting and planning, I was able to collect on my "Possible Dream" auction winnings from Martha's Vineyard this past summer: DINNER WITH RICHARD DREYFUSS. Truth be told however, it turned into LUNCH because Richard (yes, I can call him Richard!) is currently in an off-broadway show called "Imagining Heschel", and he had requested that his evenings remain open so he can spend time prepping, etc...I was only too happy to oblige his request, and told his assistant, Tom, that as long as the timeframe of the afternoon was the same as what a dinner might be like, that would be fine. I was figuring on a roughly 90 minute to two-hour get-together. Tom agreed that sounded like a fair bet.
Before I get into the details, let me shock and amaze you with the pre-event prep work I did in the past few weeks and months...nothing so much on a daily basis, mind you, but my sole desire in meeting Richard was to make sure I was going into the day "smart"...not just prepared, but REALLY with a solid agenda of what I wanted to talk about, learn about, hear about and walk away at the end with from him.
My admiration of Richard, of course begins with JAWS. As a lifelong guest of Martha's Vineyard, starting around age 8, I was even more smitten with the island once I learned that the film was made there in 1974. I could see the wreckage of the ORCA 2 beached across the channel in Menemsha from the deck of my house, and I knew one day I would make it over there to see it up close. Of course, not too many summers later, that worked out, and my first piece of JAWS memorabilia made its way into my hot little hands--after I had to stand on my brother's back. I peeled off the vinyl number "1" from the right side of the bow...part of the identification number that all watercraft must have. The number was "MS LF 15". No one else but ME has that "1". It was a coup to be sure, and since then, I have come clean to the owner of the wreck, who has since become friendly with me, and has given me permission in recent years to go over to the remains (which as of this year are no longer there as he has chopped up what was left and has the pieces in his garage to deter thieves...after 35 years of souvenir hunters). I have also (with permission) grabbed a few pieces of wood from the ORCA, and the owner sold me a few larger pieces of the fiberglass hull as well as one of the barrels used to help with floatation of the ORCA during filming...these are the same bareels they painted yellow and used in the film as well. Pretty damn cool...but onward with Richard...
So, as my love of the film increased...thanks in part to my parent's adamant refusal to allow me to watch it (so I would sneak, of course!)...so did my enjoyment of the cocky and arrogant Matt Hooper, as portrayed to perfection by Richard.
Years go by, and JAWS becomes etched into film history, and into my own film library as one of the true greats. Undisputed. Ask anyone. Go ahead...I'll wait.

As I got older, and the name Richard Dreyfuss becomes one I hear more and more of being attached to films like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, THE GOODBYE GIRL (for which he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1978...and he was the youngest man to win the award at age 30. he held this record until just recently when Adrien Brody won it at age 29) and WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY?, I start taking more of an interest in the often wise-cracking, fast-talking passionate character actor whose unmistakable voice, mannerisms and laugh become more and more popular in the world of movies...everyone's, not just mine.

As part of my "advance work" in the past 3-plus months, I watched all the Dreyfuss films I could get my hands on, if I didn't already have them:
JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, TIN MEN, LOST IN YONKERS, ALWAYS, FAIL-SAFE, MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, THE DAY REAGAN WAS SHOT, DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS, WHAT ABOUT BOB, STAKEOUT, ANOTHER STAKEOUT, LET IT RIDE, AMERICAN GRAFITTI, PIRANHA 3D...
There were some I missed, and there are still a few I haven't ever seen. The one film though, that I hadn't seen but felt it was a mandatory viewing was THE GOODBYE GIRL. It was his Academy Award-winning role, and it was very important. Problem was, I couldn't get my hands on a copy too easily...not even from Netflix! I looked EVERYwhere, and kept rolling snake eyes...until just this past Friday, and I went to Barnes & Noble in Yonkers on Central Avenue. It was my last hope...and again, I thought I lost out. I looked in EVERY section I figured it would be in, and found NOTHING. I was looking at their "Award Winners" section, under "G", and was again disappointed. I turned around and was facing the "Comedy" section, and as if Neil Simon himself was sympathizing with my plight, there the friggin' thing was! Sitting right in front of the "G"'s in the section. It stared right at me. I actually clenched my fist and uttered a quiet, yet forceful "BAZINGA!" to no one in particular (thanks, Sheldon).
I took my prize to the cashier and on my way there, I noticed the cover art for the MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS dvd. I grabbed that as well. I have the dvd already, but it was just a copy of it without the original case. I bought that as well because I had the thought that it might come in handy when it came time to get a signature or something...see? Always thinking!
I paid for my movies, and went on my way, happy with my success.
That evening, I watched THE GOODBYE GIRL for the first time ever, and really enjoyed it. A cute love story, and a well done turn for the young Dreyfuss. It occured to me that within 48 short hours from there, I would be meeting him. It was a bit unnerving, so I wrote an email to Richard's assistant, Tom...I told him I was just a bit jittery given the fact that, y'know...it's HOOPER!!!
Tom told me to not be nervous at all. Richard "the person" is who I'd be hanging out with, and he advised me that once he starts talking, he can TALK, so don't be relucatant to interject here and there to add to the conversation. Tom also said to think outside the box when I want to ask Richard questions. He would appreciate, be impressed and pleased with that. Don't ask the questions that have already been asked 1,000 times. "What was it like to work with the rubber shark?" No bueno...
Tom also mentioned that there was at least one film I probably didn't want to bring up at all: WHAT ABOUT BOB?
Apparently, Richard's co-star, the usually quite amusing Bill Murray, was a real pain in the ass to work with, and he made that film a really unpleasant experience. Good to know! Basically, Tom's advice was to relax and enjoy the time with company that can't be beat, so I kept all that in mind. During the afternoon with Richard, he would actually allude to "two...well, maybe three schmucks I've ever worked with, and that's not a bad number at all." Seeing as how Richard's body of work spans 50-plus years, I have to agree. Two or three schmucks in a proportional comparison to over 50 years as an actor...Richard, you got GREAT numbers, sir!!!
As I continued to go through the movies, re-watching the finale of MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS at least a dozen times, and getting goosebumps and teary-eyed each time (shut up!! It's an AMAZING film and a great ending!!), and various scenes from ALWAYS, JAWS, STAKEOUT ("eatinginbetweenmeals??") and GOODBYE GIRL to name a few, it really began to sink in that I was just a few short days away from having to shmooze with the man who brought all these endearing and ENDURING characters to life. I sure as shit hoped I was going to be well-prepared, and ready to have intelligent, not-just-a-JAWS-geek-type of conversation...
My next step was to determine which items of mine would I most want Richard to sign for me when it was "that time". I decided on the 4 pieces that by now many of you have seen posted on my Facebook page. The DVD covers for GOODBYE GIRL and MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, a really cool page of sheet music from MR. HOLLAND (the "American Symphony" piece that Mr. Holland was composing all his life, and the piece that was played and conducted by him at the finale of the movie), and finally, of course, I would need a really unique item from the movie that started it all for me...
So, this past summer, my friend and super cool JAWS fan and artist extraordinaire, Paul McPhee gave me the "shot glass" tooth, made from the original mold. This was the tooth that Hooper found in the wreckage of a boat, just before the head of Ben Gardner popped out of a hole and made him drop the tooth.
...by the way, if you notice, the tooth was sitting in that wreckage oh-so-nicely with the point UP--an impossibility unless Bruce the shark was able to pull the tooth out of his own mouth and place it there for Hooper to find later. Richard pointed that gaff out to me as we discussed the film. Pretty damn funny...
So I brought the tooth with me, of course.

Ok...you probably are getting twitchy...right? Who really cares so much about the prepping, the nerves, the questions...you want the JUICE...you want to know the GOOD stuff, right? Yeah, yeah, I know...but here I was trying to share the anticipation, the apprehension, the excitement and the surrealism of it all with you, and all you wanna do is cut to the chase...JEEZ!!

Yeah...so would I. So, let's do it.

The arranged meeting place was Cafe Viand, essentially a diner at Broadway and 74th street, on the same blaock as the historic Beacon Theater (Bryan Adams will be there January 27th, by the way, and everything I do, I do it for YOU!). Tom had mentioned to me that Richard was very comfortable there, and had enjoyed many meals there as well. It was also close to his hotel, and very convenient...no kidding...he was in a hotel right next to the place!!
I didn't NEED a "wingman" in this instance, but I WAS told I could bring a guest. My friend, Christian had shown me several times in the past, even BEFORE this all happened to me, that he not only was a movie buff like me, but he was a real admirer of Richard's as well. How did he let me in on this tidbit? By quoting one of the more obscure, yet hystericaly funny lines from STAKEOUT, where Richard's character mimics a smarmy grocery cashier with his equally rude reply of "eatinginbetweenmeals?". It has ALWAYS been a line that breaks me up no matter what I'm doing. Christian even told me I should try to weave it into the conversation with him at some point. I was reluctant to do so, thinking the line was so obscure, from a film that was 23 years old, that Richard just wouldn't recall the reference. Christian begged to differ...more on THAT later.
Needless to say, Christian was very excited to be a part of the experience, and he and I bounced potential questions and topics off one another as we waited for Richard to arrive at the restaurant.
The time was 12 noon, and despite Tom's warning that Richard was notoroius for a typical 5-10 minute tardiness factor, we were just really excited. Cold standing outside, but excited! Chris and I didn't know if Richard had ever participated in something like the POSSIBLE DREAMS auction before, so we mused that Richard might be up in his hotel room, kicking himself for agreeing to participate in the auction, and fearing what would no doubt be a whole lot of silly JAWS questions from straight up nerdy fans with nothing more intelligent to offer besides the aforementioned "what was it like to work with a rubber shark?"-type questions. As Hooper might've thought right now, "Perhaps if the shark ate me instead of me luckily swimming to safety....."
Chris had been momentarily distracted by seeing an old friend from his past (on a random NYC street corner, with 74 billion other people in the city, he sees someone he knows...a great New York story!), when I noticed Richard walk into the diner, which was very crowded. I hoofed it across the sidewalk, signaled Chris "hey! look!!" and pointed towards the door to get his attention that we were "on". I went in after Richard and introduced myself.
"Mr. Dreyfuss?" I said quietly, but loud enough.
He turned around to see my outstretched hand.
"Hi, I'm Jon Bassuk."
Immediately, there was The Dreyfuss Smile (you've seen it a million times in ANY of his films), and he replied, "Oh! It's really nice to meet you!" as he shook my hand.
I mentioned that the restaurant was pretty jammed up, and we walked back outside where I also introduced him to Chris. Richard said that there was an Italian restaruant up the block that good reputation, but he had never been to it, and also a burger joint that he said was "nothing more than a hole in the wall, but they have great burgers". He said that the Italian place was called COSI. I mentioned what exactly COSI was, and that it really was not an Italian restaurant. Richard made one of those classic "eww" faces, to which I promptly replied, "Burgers it is!"
Richard asked if that was ok with me. WAS IT OK WITH ME??? Ummm, no Rich...I prefer anything other than what YOU suggest. My response: "You lead, I'll follow.". He smiled again, and we headed up the block.

Now, I should deviate for a second and tell you I had mentioned to Christian that I really wanted to hear what can only be called The Dreyfuss Chuckle...that chuckle of his that so often is associated with his characters, but is just how he laughs. A very staccato, and infectuous laugh. Christian said, "so make him laugh...you'll hear it." Easy for HIM to say. I can make just about anyone laugh, but I had no idea if I had the chops to break Richard up.

We approached a crosswalk, and Christian was too involved in whatever Richard was telling us as we walked, to notice he stepped into the street against the light, and a car was coming. Richard grabbed Christian's left arm gently to hold him back from stepping out into the street further. I saw my opportunity. I was to the left of Richard, and Christian was on his right. I leaned in front of Richard and looked at Christian.
"Ummm...excuse me, sir, but please remember who saved your life just now."
...and there it was. The Dreyfuss Chuckle. Effortlessly and simply. I was so happy.

We continued up the block to a place called Nick's Burger Joint. Richard was right. It was a tiny hole-in-the-wall place, but I'll be damned if it didn't have an immediate feeling of fairly private and very casual. Works for me! Short of one guy noticing who Christian and I were walking with and shaking his hand, Richard went largely unnoticed, or at least un-disturbed by anyone who DID notice and recognize him. It was a good sign that our time together was going to be OURS, and uninterrupted by people who wanted to say hello, take a picture or ask for an autograph. I was planning on your standard lunch timeframe...90 minutes to 2 hours or so, and I wanted to make sure the time was maximized! Forget what I shelled out for the auction, I didn't care about that. I just wanted to be sure that I had enough time to talk with enough importance about the things that mattered to me as well as to him: his movies of course, and his undying PASSION for politics and his Initiative to bring civic education back into the schools so the children of this and future generations can understand the governance of America, and they will know HOW the country is run before they are asked to actually RUN the country. There was, in my opinion, a lot of ground to cover, and I was figuring there wasn't a lot of time to cover it.

We sat in a corner of the restaurant, and like three new, but very comfortable friends, began to get to know one another. Richard is one of the most unpretentious, friendly, and non-moviestarish people that could possibly exist. He asked us both what we did, where we were from, and a few other of the basic initial questions. We scanned our menus and when the waitress came over, Richard ordered a cheeseburger with mashed potatoes, and Christian and I both also ordered burgers, based on Richard's initial recommendation. Richard then asked what kind of sodas they served, and as the waitress ran down the list, when she hit on Black Cherry and Root Beer, Richard almost jumped out of his chair.
"Oh!! Both!!", he exclaimed.
Christian and I looked at one another. Richard explained that in absence of pink lemonade, which when watered down slightly is, in his opinion, the "best drink ever", that a mixture of these two sodas created something this side of awesome. Well, who were we to argue with an Academy Award-winning actor? "Same all around!" I said. Christian nodded in agreement.
The sodas came and I asked Richard how did he know the proportions of one soda to the other for that perfect balance. He said, "well, you can watch how I do it, and then you'll get an idea."
So, Richard first poured the root beer (Stewart's) about a quarter of the way into the glass, then matched it equally with the black cherry (Dr. Brown's, of course!), then again and again, trading off. We both followed suit in the same manner, and I gotta tell ya'...DELISH!! From this point forward, I believe I will now call this drink the Dreyfuss Soda. Try it!
Once we had our drinks properly designed, we raised glasses and toasted to the day, and to POSSIBLE DREAMS. I then figured it was as good a time as any to ask a few questions and get the ball rolling. I said to Richard that he is, of course, forever linked to the island of Martha's Vineyard because of JAWS (he probably had been anticipating when I would bring up that film), and I wanted to know if prior to that had he ever been there, or was it solely after the movie was made that he became a more frequent visitor. Richard's reply was that he hadn't gone to the Vineyard before JAWS was made, but that after it was finished, he did return for a period of about 10 years, here and there, to visit and vacation. He made it very clear that when "Hollywood invaded the Vineyard", it was not always very well-received by the Islanders. He mentioned a few legendary stories of dead sharks being left outside the production offices, stonewalling from zoning officials, and other general obstacles that made elements of the production difficult. Richard, for one, eased his frustrations by (and I'm taking a bit of liberty here) becoming VERY friendly with MANY ladies on the island. several other crew members did the same thing, and who knows--there might be some offspring out there whose father.....welll....he didn't say it directly, but it was at the very least alluded to.
He told us the story of "one of the actors" who, late one night went to go pet a nice little kitty-cat, but instead got sprayed by a skunk...it was very funny to hear him tell the story of poor Murray Hamilton (Mayor Vaughn in the film), although I had heard it before...don't know if Christian had...it was very funny to see Richard chuckle about it. He went on to say how the production company pretty much wreaked havoc all over the island. From famous drinking binges to full-blown food fights in hotels, JAWS was one of those movies that for SURE left its mark, even before it was ever screened for a single beachgoer!
I said to Richard (keeping in mind what his assistant, Tom had told me to try and avoid: asking the already asked questions), "There have been 1,000 interviews about JAWS, and in those 1,000 interviews, there are the usually the same 1,000 questions which will produce the same 1,000 answers. I want to try and go outside the box, and I want to ask you the one question that hasn't been asked, or hear the one story that hasn't been told. What can you tell me about the production of this epic, that NO ONE knows about?"
Richard's mind went to work, and I could clearly see him go back in time to 1974 and flip through his memories. He raised a finger as if to say "A-ha! Got it!", and smiled.

...and with that, I bid you all goodnight. It's been a long day at work, and I think I'll just stop here until tomorrow...




NOOOO!!! I'm not about to do that to you. But holy shit...I sure hope this revelation is as fresh and new to you all (especially the REAL FINatics out there, and without mentioning any names,you know who you are....Donna, Jim, Dana, Paul, John, et al...ooops!! lol!!)

Richard leaned in close and gave us this JonnyLand Exclusive (paraphrased, not verbatim, but damn close):
"You know...Robert Shaw (Quint) was a great actor. Just a great, great actor. Gone way too soon. He and I had a whole lot of interaction, and it was often pretty heated. He was a drinker. Serious drinker. He was also one HELL of a playwright, and he had written a lot. He had just finished writing a play called "The Man In The Glass Booth", and he was really proud of it. One night, Bob came by, and pulled me aside to tell me about it. He asked me if I wanted to hear any of it, so I said "sure, why not?"...so...Bob, in his full-on bravado, read me his play....he READ the whole play to me! Just stood there and did the whole thing. So, when he was finished, I looked around, and realized that the ENTIRE cast and crew...EVERYone, INCLUDING Steven (Spielberg), was just standing around, perfectly silent, and listening to Robert Shaw read his play. It was incredible. It cost the production $80,000 because no one was working! But Bob was very proud of that, and it was something very special to see and hear."

I don't know about you all, but I had never known about that. I thought that was pretty damn cool. Not just the "exclusive-ness" of it, but that Shaw actually stood there during the filming of JAWS, and read a full play to Richard and the rest of the crew.

Soon after, the food had arrived, and I had almost forgotten we were in a restaurant to eat! The conversation somehow then segued into a reference I made to MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, namely the finale (one of the most emotionally rewarding and goosebumpy scenes in a film) as well as a scene prior to that finale where Richard's character (a music teacher in a high school) is confronting a school board as they prepare to cut funding to the music program. This action will force Mr. Holland to lose his job, and he wasn't about to take that. He made a passionate argument that it wasn't about his job, but rather it was about the CHILDREN in the school who will lose out because of the lack of education. The teachers, he said, would ultimately become lazy, and the children would lose out, even so far as to lose their ability to think for themselves as they sit there and listen to the "teachings" that are formed from "cookie-cutter" curriculums.
That I brought this up to Richard as a segue into civility and politics, specifically with regard to the lack thereof of that civility and decorum in our government, as Christian illustrated with examples of how bashed our sitting president has been lately, clearly impressed and pleased him. His character of Mr. Holland from a 15 year old film was foreshadowing the passion that Richard, the man himself, not the actor, would show in his newly formed Dreyfuss Initiative (www.thedreyfussinitiative.org), a plea to the country's policy-makers and educators to bring back the teaching of civics into the classrooms. As mentioned earlier, straight from a speech of Richard's, it is crucial "...for the children to know how their government works before they are asked to run their government.". Richard went on to echo many of the recently viewed YouTube clips of him I had seen in advance of the day's get-together with passion, and totally unbridled emotion. At one point, he teared up as he said quietly but firmly, "I want my country back...I want my country back." I was humbled.
He continued on talking about how the ability to affect the changes necessary is growing more and more difficult with the passing of time. Time, he said, is the enemy, because it's not an infinite amount. Richard fears that within the lifetime of our grandchildren, there will be a sweeping change for the worse in how the country is run. He kept stressing the importance of pre-partisanship, and the need for a better understanding of what our civil liberties are. "When the Bill of Rights was hung up on the wall that day," he said, "It was a terribly naiive, ambitious and brave thing. The architects of the Bill of Rights were saying "here is how it should be, and we are going to ensure that it's done this way"."
Christian and I could do little more than sit and listen to Richard's passionate verbalization of his thoughts and ideas on the betterment of the country through renewed education ABOUT the country, and its governance. The one thing that I noticed throughout his discussion with us on this level, was that it was devoid of ALL pretentiousness, all snobbery. He mentioned his stint at Oxford for four years, studying the governments, the history of the country, and also how he gave and continues to give speeches at this location and that one...but he did it on the level of "Richard the American", not "Academy Award-winning actor, Richard Dreyfuss, who is famous so he should be listened to...". There was NONE of that bullshit that so many other "celebrities" feel they are ENTITLED to because of who or what they are. "We listen to them because of who they are and we think we NEED to listen.", Richard said. This is why he essentially retired from acting. "I heard a stronger, truer calling than acting, and it was America." It was profound, moving and entirely honest. I sat there soaking up as much of this as I possibly could, knowing I'd not be able to recall so much if it (especially here for this blog!!), but I tried desperately to retain the highlights.

Christian and I, very similarly, asked Richard at one point, "so what do we do to make that change happen? How do we get there?"
Richard replied "Well, that's the real drive of the Initiative...to get the ball rolling and get civics re-introduced while there is still time." It was just so damn impressive to see, hear and FEEL the emotion from him from two feet across a table, when up to now, all I had known was what I saw and heard in videoclips and interviews. Again, the sense of surrealism washed over me. I was sitting right HERE with Richard Dreyfuss--the PERSON, who is ALSO an actor. I felt such honor and privilege to be right here, right now...

**NOTE FROM JONNY:

It's almost 9:30 pm Monday...I want to step out of the blog for tonight, and resume it tomorrow. I think...well, I HOPE what I've begun with here has anyone who is reading it feeling even REMOTELY how I was feeling yesterday...with "excited" being right up there on the list of adjectives! Richard spoke with full-on emotion about the politics and governance of the country for quite a bit of time, and I wasn't about to cut him off with a film reference! Subtly though, we did resume talking about his film career, and some of the stories about his work in the late 70s and 80s made me raise an eyebrow a time or two. Comments he made about some of his darker days, which I had NEVER planned to bring up of course, were offered by him freely and with candor and honesty that was surprising to me given the fact that for all intents and purposes, he was talking with two strangers. It is that he opened his private and personal life, warts and all, to us without hesitation or reluctance, not knowing if WE knew any of his "secrets", so to speak, that convinces me that from the first moment we all began to share conversation, he was very comfortable with us, and felt like it was ok to let us into parts of his life, however briefly, that you might think were only accessible to his friends and closer individuals. By the time I first glanced at my watch that afternoon, almost two hours had already passed, and Richard showed no signs at all of slowing down or "summarizing" things in an effort to call it a day. I really and truly think that he was having a great time. Stimulating, entertaining, thought-provoking...and that's going him to us and us to him! Tomorrow I will continue to recall some of those moments Richard shared with us, as well as why, for a "retired" actor, we keep seeing him in movies! Some of the truly most WONDERFUL and PERSONAL moments for me are coming right up, so hang in there with me, and the next piece will be in the works tomorrow morning (and in between ambulance jobs!!). Feel free to comment on what's here already if you like. I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I am typing it out for you. To recall the afternoon (as I have been doing all day long!) so I can type it out here in the blog, allows me to re-savor the moments, and THAT is FREAKIN' SWEET!! Also, I realize I'm not interjecting a lot of my goofy, witty, trademark Jonny-isms here, but this blog is really a very personal one...more so than what I did on Day 3 of my Vineyard vacation (although if you need a refresher I can send you the blog for that!), and I want to be respectful to Richard and to his kindness, his unreserved honesty and passion. Don't get me wrong, the Dreyfuss Chuckle gave way to the full on Dreyfuss Laugh (a la the scenes in JAWS when Hooper is comparing tattoos with Quint..."wait, wait, don't tell me--Mother", and when Hooper laughs at Mayor Vaughn in front of the Amity Island sign..."...get your name in the National Geographic...") at the most perfect, and very personal moment for Richard when I was answering one of HIS questions to ME! What a payoff, and even as I recall it now, I'm laughing....

Please check back tomorrow...there's a lot more to come, and I'll let you know as soon as it's up!

'Til then..."you still got a HELLUVA fish out there......"

~ JonnyB