Fred Astaire was not only a star of Hollywood musicals but also an impeccable dresser. His custom tailcoats were so well tailored they remained perfectly placed throughout the most exuberant of dance routines. One of his most popular films was in the 1935 smash hit Top Hat which featured the Irving Berlin song "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails"
I can't complain... it's been a banner year for showbiz gigs in 2015. The list for me alone so far has been:
| Odyssey |
| Elementary |
| The Knick |
| Gotham |
| SPRINT commercial |
| Billions |
| The Following |
| The Knick |
| Elementary |
| Americans |
| The Knick |
| The Knick |
| Crime |
| Crime |
| The Americans |
| Violet |
| Blue Bloods |
| Person of Interest |
| Person of Interest |
| The Knick |
| The Knick |
| The Knick |
| The Americans |
| The Knick |
| Crime |
| Happyish |
| Elementary |
| Jim Gaffigan Show |
| The Knick |
| The Knick |
| The Knick |
| Money Monster |
| The Affair |
| Madoff-miniseries |
| Red Oaks |
| Red Oaks |
| Red Oaks |
| Red Oaks |
| Wolves |
| Red Oaks |
| Red Oaks |
| Red Oaks |
| DareDevil2-Ringside |
| Rock and Roll Project |
| Rock and Roll Project |
| Madam Secretary |
| Blue Bloods |
| Billions |
| The Affair |
| Blue Bloods |
| Elementary |
| Mozart in the Jungle |
| Blue Bloods |
| Blacklist |
| Blacklist |
| Blacklist |
| Rock and Roll Project |
| Blindspot |
| Going In Style |
| DareDevil2-Ringside |
| Crime To Remember |
And there's still the rest of the year... BUT, the one most coveted gig that I missed out on was an upcoming Woody film where an internet post in early August gave me a chance to submit my stats. And upon my returning from my California trip the past month, I received a response. I WAS SELECTED... for a fitting. So I sent in my stats and photo, spoke to the wardrobe department about the specifics of my sizes -and received a firm date for the "clothing of my bod". All of my extras buddies were jealous -none of them got this far. My wife was elated and surprised at the uniqueness of the situation. "YOU... in a Woody film?"
And so, at the appointed time I was ready to get on the train, grinning internally with glee... for the fitting, when I got the message from the casting agency. "It's not going to work... I'm sorry but Woody is very specific about the waist size: NO ONE LARGER THAN 35! Very sorry... have to cancel your fitting...make it up to you next time..." Whereupon my personal-manhood shrank to subatomic proportions.
So be it. There wasn't much I could do about my larger waist size. I'll just have to rationalize it this way: "At least I was almost in a Woody film! Few others have done even that... mope, mope, mope..."
Epilogue:
In the summer of 2016, I was selected to be a beachgoer in Woody's new movie: Wonder Wheel. Got to see the principals passing by me (and so did hundreds of other extras). But watching Woody do his slo-mo walk around the sand, giving instructions to his director of photography, discussing the scene with Juno Temple and Justin Timberlake was terrific. In fact, the whole experience was life-time-memorable... and worth the wait!
In the summer of 2016, I was selected to be a beachgoer in Woody's new movie: Wonder Wheel. Got to see the principals passing by me (and so did hundreds of other extras). But watching Woody do his slo-mo walk around the sand, giving instructions to his director of photography, discussing the scene with Juno Temple and Justin Timberlake was terrific. In fact, the whole experience was life-time-memorable... and worth the wait!
