By popular demand from another thread about the 75th anniversary of the premier of the Wizard of Oz, I tell the story of my munchkin friend Karl Slover and his meeting with David Copperfield. Copperfield was in Tampa and caught wind that I knew Slover, who at 19 became one of the 119 munchkins in Oz, and called to ask if I would bring him to the performing arts center so they could chat. Sure, Cop! So next evening we spent two hours in Copperfields dressing room talking about the movie, which had always been the illusionists favorite. All went well, Karl answered all his questions, and we left. At the time, Copperfield was dating Claudia Schiffer, a supermodel who had come to Tampa to join him during his week here while taping a one-hour TV special for CBS at what is now the Straz Center. This was in the mid nineties. Schiffer was at the gym at Harbour Island working out at the time of our meeting with Copperfield and was not aware it was happening. When she got to the performing arts center later that evening, Copperfield proudly told her of who he had met (not me, the munchkin) and she became pissed, very pissed, that she had missed things. I theorize she threatened to cut him off if he didnt arrange another meeting. The next day, around noon, Copperfield called to ask if I would be so kind as to bring Karl back for an encore. He explained that he was in the doghouse big time and bringing Karl back would ease his pain. So the next evening we spent two hours with Copperfield and Schiffer in his dressing room, once again talking about life in the land of Oz....and we got Copperfield off the hook. My friends Tina Cournoyer and Christina Kirby can vouch for this story....they waited outside during the visits and also were paid to sit in the first dozen rows of the audience during taping sessions. So now you know the rest of the story. Even stars have their problems too. Oh, Schiffer broke up with Cop a year later and is now married to somebody else and has a few kids.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 22:37:38 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015