>I have been carrying a note from actor John Schneider.
>It has been in my purse since the day I recieved it.It
>was sent to me by a ex who is also an actor in Hollywood
>and worked with John on the set of "Dr. Quinn: Medicine
>Woman". I met John in 1979. I was a runaway teen
>trespassing on the Burbank Studio lot. I mistakenly
>walked on the Hazzard County set during filming. By
>the time I got to the "Courthouse", John was taking a
>break, sipping on a cup of coffee and walking in my
>direction. Behind me was a motorcycle security guard
>fast approaching me. My stomache was in knots as I
>knew trouble was following me. John and I crossed
>paths just as the guard pulled up to me. I was so
>scared, I couldn't look in the direction of themotorcycle when
>he yelled for to me to stop.
>I'd guess the look of desperation on my face gave John
>the quick thinking idea to save me.
>John spoke fast and yelled to the guard , She's with
>me." Those were the nicest three words I'd heard in a very
>long time. I'd been in Hollywood for only two weeks.
>Left my home and family in New Orleans.
>Caught the Grayhound bus with a one way ticket and
>seven dollars in my pocket. Ofcourse if my parents
>had known this they,would never had let me go.
>My eldest sister Angie and her husband drove
> me to the Grayhound bus station thinking I'd only
>be gone for two weeks. Little did they,
>or anyone in my family know, I had no
>intentions on going homesoon. I was in search of Shaun
>Cassidy and my American dream.
>I had the crush on Shaun Cassidy that gave me the wild
>urge to plan this trip to Hollywood since I was sixteen. The Hardy
Boys was a staple on my television. I worked at a local Pizza
>resturant toafford his records and played them over
>and over again til it made the rest of my sibling
>muffle their ears with pillows or hum loudlytheir own
>favorite tunes.
>At age sixteen I also joined a "The New Orleans Police
>Law Enforcement Explorers" I, along with other teens
>volunteered and worked side by side with the Police
>Personal of their Community Relations Division. We
>assisted Police with croud control at the Superdome,
>the Mardi Gras and other City Wide functions and road
>with them to simple community calls. At age seventeen
>I won the nomination for President of Explorer Post
>560. Was award at a Police Banquet as "Explorer of the Year"
>and "Most Outstanding Explorer".
>At age eighteen I resigned my position along with my
>job to go to Hollywood. It was a very long, and scary
>three day bus ride. I was cold at night and hungry
>most of the time. Afraid to spend my money as I didn't know
>when the next time will come that I'd have any again.
>I felt alone, I missed my family, and visions of being
>homeless
>and begging for food entered my mind more than once.
>All those feeling changed when I saw the sign on the
> freeway reading "Welcome to California".
>After the guard left, John and I shook hands in an
>official
>introduction. He invited me to watch the Dukes of
>Hazzard
>being filmed. He introduced me to the cast then
>offered me his directors chair. I remember sitting in it proudly,
>like I was suddenly crowned Queen of Hazzard County.
>The chair had John Schneider monogramed on the back
>and pockets on each side that hung halfway to the ground
>which housed his script. I don't think I laughed
>as much in my life as I did watching Bo and Luke being
>chased by Roscoe in the General Lee.
>When they broke for lunch I decided to say goodbye
>to John and thank him for his kindness. John invited me
>back and said if I had any trouble at the gate justcall
>for him on the set and I'd get in, no problem.
>John, really had no clue what he had done for me.
>I was a lost soul when I walked on that studio lot.
>I had no friends, I was home sick and lonely.
>Depressed from an interview I had with Actor Cornel Wilde when I
> went on my first casting call the day before. And to
>top it off, I had a big fight with a live-in relative of my
>new boss just that morning.While waiting for the bus to
>Hollywoodlandwhere I lived as a housekeeper and nanny for the
>family of Director Robert Lieberman I met a runaway. His bed just
>happened to be the bench I was occupying. He was a teen about
>the same age as I. Eighteen or
>nineteen. He told me how to sneak on the studio lots
>without getting caught. That was how my mission
>started at Burbank Studios.Most of my day was spent watching
>television and game shows being filmed.I was a regular
>at tapings of "The Dating Game", "The Newlywed Game",
>"Hollywood Squares", "The Love Connection",
>"The John Davidson Show", "That's My Momma",
>"The Facts of Life","Sanford and Son", "Good Times".
> If there was a free ticket to be gotten, I was there.
>Bright eyed and bushy tailed. There I sat, in each of
>the shows, smiling and laughing and having a jolly old
>time.As soon as the tapings were over and the laughter
>stopped I had to go back to reality. I followed the
>crowd outside of the studio doors. My question to myself
>was always, "What am I going to do now?"
>I'd take a walk to the Farmers Market behind CBS
>Studios just to droll at all the goodies for sale to
>eat. I had no money to buy any so I convinced myself that
>the smells would suffice. Then, I'd walk to the corner
>looking left and right down the four way street on
>Sunset Boulevard, wondering which one of the four
>directions I should walk next. It really didn't matter
>which one I chose. Atleast three of them would take
>me to another new place. Left was Beverly Hills, right
>was downtown Los Angeles,behind me was the Wilshire District.
>In front of me....The fourth was the way to my Uncles
apartment on Argyle.The only home I knew
>at that time but the last place I wanted to go.
>I didn't like him and he hated me. He was a stranger,
> a cousin to my mom. I had never met him, nor spoken
> to him, nor heard my mom talk of him til I
>decided to go to California. When mom told me she
> had a cousin in California, I had a one track mind.
>He immediatly turned into my favorite relative. My
>ticket to a warm bed. My only connection to Holywood.
>So I was willing to meet him, live with him
>(after all it was only for two weeks).To him,
>I turn out to be just an intrusion. A homesick
>teenager who ate all his food and took away his privacy in his
small one bedroom apartment and ran
>up his phone bill calling long distance to New
>Orleans.
>My only solice, my only friend, was in Burbank on the
>Warner Brothers Studio lot.John showed me compassion
>that I had not had in years. I was a stranger in
>trouble and he came to my rescue. The next time I went back to
>the studio I went straight to the guard shack and
>had them call John to ok my visit. This time they were in a big
wharehouse like studio. Not outside as they were the first time.
>When John and mine eyes met he was way across on the other side of
the room finishing a taping. He
>looked at me and smiled. Then he raised up his arms and
> held them high across the room til we were face to face.
>John leaned over and gave me a hug. The tightest bear
>hug I had ever experienced. He literally lifted me off
> the floor and he said hello to me
>and how nice it was to see me.The feeling I got from
>that hug was powerful to say the least. I had awakened
>on the wrong side of the bed that day but after that
>hug I was dancing on air. When they started
>filming again, I watched them til the next cut and
>had to leave to find the bathroom.
>Walking in the bathroom I recognized actress Jane Wyman at the sink
washing her hands.
>I recognized her from the television show "Falcon
>Crest" and followed her to the set in hopes to get a
>glimpse of Lorenzo Lamas. He was more
>handsome then I ever imagined him to be. I was too scared to talk
>to him but I'll never forget the chill I felt when he
>smiled at me.
>I didn't feel comfortable inside that set so I
>quickly left.
>That day, I also watched a filming of "The Love Boat"
>and "Fantasy Island".
>Actor Mark Harmon whizzed by me on a bicycle and I
>wondered what he was doing
>there. I thought about chasing after him but decided
>not to.
>After chasing James McNichol the week prior, my
>running days were over. (Well, except for the day
>Andy Gibb recieved his star on the Hollywood Boulevard
> "Walk of Fame".
>That day I was amongst hundreds of "Shadow Dancing"
>fan sprinting down Hollywood Boulevard after Andys
>limo. I was window shopping on the boulevard when I
>saw James McNicole. "Family" was one of my favorite
>television shows back then and I had
>not long ago sat in on a live taping. Kristy
>McNichole, James' sister, was top on my list back then.
Just getting a glimpse of him walking in my
>path was not satisfying enough for me so I decided to follow
>him. I had never followed a famous person before, just the thought
of it excited me.
>It was as if I were in a Pink Panther movie,
>da dum, da dum, ...my adrenaline
>sky rocketed. After a half block or so he caught
>on to me. I know this because his pace doubled after he looked back
in my direction. And my ducking into a
>nearby store peaking out one eyed didn'thelp my situation.
>His doubled pace went from a fast walk to a slow
>sprint. I kept up with him alright.
>But when his sprint became a full blown Olympic
>Gold Medal chase I lost him when
>he short cutted in a alley behind one the the
>stores near Highland Boulevard.
I used my 19 year old psychology on the next star I got to see
close up. It was Willie Aames. I decided I'd do the opposite.
>Be calm, not chase, or act like I was crazy
>mad to see him. It turned out to be a pretty inmature stunt though.
I felt really bad afterwards but there was no way for me to
>appologize for my yes, stupidity. Willie Aames had a
>small concert at Disneyland. I was there, front row center.Perfect spot. I can see him, he can see me. The screaming in my ears
>were deafning.I remember the floor of the stage opening,
>girls yelling to the top of their lungs, pulling at
>their hair and dancing to the sudden beat as if there
>were at a Beatles concert. The noise of the crowd was
>at it's max by the time the stage was at it's peak.
>Willie started singing to his hearts content, girls
>pushing in every direction trying to get closer to the stage.
>They were singing along with him, beepbopping,
>swaying to the beat. Then, there I was,a stick in the
>mud. Making my own statement. I just stood there, like a bump on a log. Front row center.Not singing, not dancing,
>not even smiling. Staring straight up into
>Willies flaring nostrils. Making him uncomfortable and loving the
>moment. I knew, without a doubt he noticed me. During each song he sung, our eyes met. I could tell I was making him
>uncomfortable. That gave me power. I had his attention.Between his sweet singing words and his foot tapping he was secretly mores coding, "and what the heck is your problem?" From the start of his first note to the end of his last song I stood there.
>Like Kroptonite to Superman. Taking some of his power. He had a second concert that night,I was still in the park but I know
>he was happy he didn't see my face when he rose again.
>My high only lasted til I got in my car. It was a long drive home that night and as I replayed the
>concert in my head I felt bad for my actions.
>Mr. Cornel Wilde wasn't impressed with me during
>our interview that day and told me to go back to New Orleans. He told me, I'd never become an actress.
I decided to join an acting school. The Theatre of Performing and
Related Arts on Wilshire in Los Angeles. Within a month
>I was cast to workin a Coca Cola commercial with Ray Parker.
>Soon after I was cast to be a roller skater in the movie
>"Roller Boogie" with Linda Blair. (I had a lot of fun working in
>that movie.)Jimmy Van Pattern taught a bunch of us extras how to
>juggle) and within a few months I had a
>character role in the movie "Fullmoon High" with Adam
>Arkin and worked several episodes of the television show "Making a Living " with Actress Ann Jillian. After my last day of filming "Making a Living". I wrote a note to Mr. Cornel Wilde telling him how I had become an actress and told
>him of all my accomplishments since our interview. During the time I was cast to work in movie "Beastmaster" I recieved a letter
personally from Mr. Wilde. It was a letter of apology. He also congratuated me for jobs well done. I turned down the work in
>"Beastmaster" because I was really acting to prove a point. After Mr. Wildes letter, I did not continue my studying at Theatre
of Arts nor did go on anymore casting calls.
>In the beginning I would go to the studio to see John and the Dukes
film two or three times a week. Whenever I was feeling down
and I had a bad day. I'd go the see John.No matter where he was when he first saw me he'd hold up his arms and keep
>them raised til we were face to face and he'd again give me a big teddy bear hug lifting me off the ground.
>The more I started liking myself, the less I was going
>to the studio. The more love I felt, the less I needed that hug.The one hundred plus stairs
>that led from the bottom of Beachwood Drive to the topwhich was Hollyridge.
>One day after visiting John and having my (Last bear
>hug therapy session) I decided to
>take the steps. The only view up the long steps
>were the wooded back yards of the homes on Hollyridge.
>I was half way up the steps and heard someone
>crying further up in a yard near me. When I looked
>through the trees I could see a figure of a man
>kneeling, crying near a newly covered patch in the ground.
>It was getting dark so We could see eachother .
I asked him what was wrong? He told me that hisfavorite cat just died. I told him that I was sorry to hear it and went on my way.
>By the time I was almost to the top of the steps I was still
thinking about the crying man and started to cry myself. I had held back tears for a long time, trying to be stronger than I was, but that really set me off.
> I started crying so hard I couldn't seeing
>the steps in front of me. So I just sat there, balling my eyes out for the stranger and his cat.
>Then I started thinking about my parents and sisters and brothers and started crying even harder
because I had missed them so much. My "poor homesick
>me" cries soon turned into cries of guilt and I cryed
>out loud for all the people I had hurt in my life and
>all the people I was mean to.I cried about chasing
Jimmy McNichol and playing the staring game with
>Willie Aames at his concert at Disneyland. I cried
>so much my eyes hurt and my nose was running
>with no tissue at hand. I can imagine I was a sore
>sight to see. By the time I regained my composure and
>made it to the top of the steps I felt so many burdens were lifted from my shoulders during that cry. I felt, to say the
>least, reborn. I felt an incredible happiness come over me.
>I sat at the top of the steps I found myself thinking
>about the guy again crying for his cat. Out of the
>clear blue I heard myself say, "Why can't he be as happy as
>I am?" Those words really shocked me. I never
>though of my self as being really happy.I remember the last time I went to see John and the Dukes being filmed Enos was getting
ready to film his own show. He invited me to watch
>his show being filmed as well. An entire year had past and
>what a diffence a year made for me. The first time I
>walked on that lot I was lonely, alone, depressed and
>homesick.
>The last time I saw John and the Dukes film I was
>happy, still working for the Liebermans, seperately this time. I was still living in Hollywoodland with
Mrs. Lieberman and her two kids and working as a
>housekeeper for Robert and his partner Ed Shapiro.
I was also working for Director John McTiernan at the
time as a housekeeper for he and his wife and
>volunteering atOptions House, a home for runaways and kids in crisis, helping the
>poor, sick, elderly and.
On my last day
>at the studio as I was about to enter the exit gates
>I recongized actor Sidney Poitier walking across my
>path.
When I stopped to say hello he invited me to
>watch him direct the movie
>"Stir Crazy" with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
>What an adventure I had that year. I also met Greg Evigan and
>Jack Klugman at the Universal Studios and watched B.J
>and the Bear and "Quincy" being filmed.
>I met Richardo Montalban and many, many famous people in that industry. I went to Hollywood right after high school in 1978.
I was working for actor LeVar Burton in 1984 when I quit my job to elope in Las Vegas with my now husband . Steven was
>a diver in the Canadian Navy when we met.It
>was definately love at first sight. We got married
>on our third date.It will be thirteen years this
>August.
>After we married he joined the United States Army.
>He has served our country in Bosnia, Aphganistan,
>Korea and is now serving his second fifteen month
>deployment in Iraq. We live on a military base and have
>four beautiful children.
>Ages 20, 12, 09, 1nd 02 our 09 year old was named
>after LeVars wife Stephanie and daughter Michaela.
>Living in Hollywood was a one in a life time
>experience for me.
I loved going to the studios and watching the shows
>being filmed.
>But..............
>Nomatter what show I watched or what actor I met. Nothing or no one compared to watching
>Boss Hogg, Crazy Cooter, Uncle Jessy, Enos, Daisy,
>and the Duke boys and getting bear hugs
>from John Schneider.