NOTES FROM GREGS IMDB BIO-TRIVIA His first college acting teacher was Robin Humphrey, one of the New York Actors Studios first class of 13 students (one of her classmates was Marlon Brando). His son was U.S. Senator and future presidential candidate John McCains principal appointment to the United States Naval Academy, graduated near the top of his class and became a Navy pilot who fought with distinction in the opening stages of the war in Iraq while stationed aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. At the age of 14, met then-Sen. John F. Kennedy during a campaign rally in October of 1960 at a shopping center near Gregs home in Kansas City, Missouri. Greg had been in Hollywood less than an hour when an actor friend invited him to the set of a TV movie in which he was working Wild Women (1970) (TV). Greg was immediately introduced to the star -- his boyhood idol, Wyatt Earp, aka Hugh OBrian (I). His mother was a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, where she studied with artist Thomas Hart Benton - whose murals adorn The Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. His father left Cleveland at age 19 and headed for Hollywood to become an actor. But he stopped in Kansas City, Missouri, met Gregs mother, married her and stayed there instead, making his livelihood as a jeweler. Greg didnt know the story until he himself headed for Hollywood as a young actor in 1970. His parents named him after their favorite actor, Gregory Peck -- whom Greg wound up profiling at the stars Los Angeles home in 1984, and the two stayed in touch over the years, with the screen legend serving as a mentor and news source. Taught Speech and Drama at The Barstow School, a private school in Kansas City, Missouri, on an assistantship through the University of Missouri. Among his students: the granddaughter of Joyce Hall, patriarch of the Hallmark card empire. When Greg was living in Hollywood, his best friend was engaged to one of Dean Martins Golddiggers, a group of young dancers and actresses who appeared on the singers classic series. Since Greg had a piano, his friend asked if the Golddiggers could rehearse in his apartment occasionally. Greg said yes - and they did. As a struggling young actor in Hollywood, he took a variety of odd jobs to make ends meet. He ushered at the Hollywood Pacific Theater on Hollywood Boulevard - tearing the tickets of, among others, Mary Tyler Moore and a very young Melanie Griffith and her mother, Tippi Hedren. As a clothing salesman at the Robinsons department store in downtown Los Angeles, he sold Bela Lugosi Jr. a suit. In 1971, Elinor Karpf, who co-wrote Adam at 6 A.M. - Gregs first feature, in which he played a young pharmacist - asked him to audition for a two-hour series pilot starring Sally Field, Marriage: Year One, for the role of a young doctor and best friend of the Field characters husband. Conducted one of the last newspaper interviews with Cary Grant. His maternal grandparents were married 72 years. As an out-of-work actor writing to make ends meet, he went to MGM to profile legendary casting director Joyce Selznick -- the niece of Gone with the Wind (1939) producer David O. Selznick. She told him to stick with writing -- he was too shy to be an actor. Actor Richard Dean Andersons (MacGyver) grandmother was a long-time family friend and attended Gregs wedding. Interviewed Bob Hope a number of times between 1973 and the comedians death, and was invited to take a trip overseas with him when Hope entertained the troops. Met and profiled Sally Forrest, star of the first movie he ever saw - 1950s Mystery Street - 30 years later when she was starring in a stage show. Met Johnny Carson during his Las Vegas act, and became his unwitting foil for the show. An editor asked Greg whom he would most like to interview for a story, and he answered the heroes of his baby-boom generation. And so he did: Fess Parker (Davy Crockett), Robert Young (Jim Anderson of Father Knows Best), Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver of Leave It to Beaver) and baseball great Willie Mays.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 15:40:21 +0000
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