August, 1963
Little Danny loved to watch television. His parents, Dan and Sally, had an old black and white Emerson television set that Dan had bought from his cousin, and they watched TV nightly. Old shows like Hawaiian Eye, The Untouchables....and Dan liked to watch scary shows like The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone....
One night, they were watching the Twilight Zone, Sally thought that it might be too scary for little Danny,
"Naww, let him watch it, it's only a tv show."
So Danny watched, and was terrified, it was about a guy who was on a plane, and every time he looked out the window, he would see a monster on the wing! Danny would hide his eyes whenever he saw the monster.
They also watched westerns like Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Rawhide (starring a very young Clint Eastwood) and The Virginian.
Dan heard on the radio that one of the stars on The Viginian, an actor named Clu Gulager, would be in San Jose at an auto dealership to sign autographs. It wasn't very often that TV stars visited San Jose, so Dan thought it would be fun, "Hey you wanna go meet 'Clete'? (or whatever his characters name was)
"yeaaaaaaahhh!"
So Dan took his 5 year old son to Bonded Motors in downtown San Jose. There wasn't a huge crowd, but a sizable line of about 30 or 40 people in the showroom, waiting to get his autograph. More than half of the crowd were young women, obviously fans of this young actor. If you've ever seen film clips of girls in the audience at the early Beatles shows on Ed Sullivan, that's what they looked like. Though not screaming or anything.
But there was a definite buzz among them...Dan picked his young son up and stepped away from the line to get a glimpse of this TV star, and there he was, sitting behind a table dressed in his cowboy outfit, obviously in character and clearly enjoying the attention of all these young women. At one point, he pulled out his six shooter and fired into the air, blanks of course, but the loud bang sent shrieks throughout the showroom.
Finally Dan and little Danny came up to the table,
"Well! Who have we here?"
"This is little Danny."
Clu grabbed a photo from a large stack and as he signed, he sang the old Irish tune, "oh Danny boyyyyyy..."
"Here you go buddy!"
Clu gave little Danny a wink and a salute, and Danny saluted back.
Dan said, "What do you say?"
"Thank you"
Both Dan and Clu laughed and he said to Clu, "Thanks alot!"
"You bet!"
One night, they were watching the Twilight Zone, Sally thought that it might be too scary for little Danny,
"Naww, let him watch it, it's only a tv show."
So Danny watched, and was terrified, it was about a guy who was on a plane, and every time he looked out the window, he would see a monster on the wing! Danny would hide his eyes whenever he saw the monster.
They also watched westerns like Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Rawhide (starring a very young Clint Eastwood) and The Virginian.
Dan heard on the radio that one of the stars on The Viginian, an actor named Clu Gulager, would be in San Jose at an auto dealership to sign autographs. It wasn't very often that TV stars visited San Jose, so Dan thought it would be fun, "Hey you wanna go meet 'Clete'? (or whatever his characters name was)
"yeaaaaaaahhh!"
So Dan took his 5 year old son to Bonded Motors in downtown San Jose. There wasn't a huge crowd, but a sizable line of about 30 or 40 people in the showroom, waiting to get his autograph. More than half of the crowd were young women, obviously fans of this young actor. If you've ever seen film clips of girls in the audience at the early Beatles shows on Ed Sullivan, that's what they looked like. Though not screaming or anything.
But there was a definite buzz among them...Dan picked his young son up and stepped away from the line to get a glimpse of this TV star, and there he was, sitting behind a table dressed in his cowboy outfit, obviously in character and clearly enjoying the attention of all these young women. At one point, he pulled out his six shooter and fired into the air, blanks of course, but the loud bang sent shrieks throughout the showroom.
Finally Dan and little Danny came up to the table,
"Well! Who have we here?"
"This is little Danny."
Clu grabbed a photo from a large stack and as he signed, he sang the old Irish tune, "oh Danny boyyyyyy..."
"Here you go buddy!"
Clu gave little Danny a wink and a salute, and Danny saluted back.
Dan said, "What do you say?"
"Thank you"
Both Dan and Clu laughed and he said to Clu, "Thanks alot!"
"You bet!"
posted by Olias at 10:17 PM
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