"Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on
average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any
other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set out by Frigyes Karinthy and popularized by a play written by John Guare. " More on this statistical premise can be found here.
Grannieannie posted that her Goddaughter was once again attending the Oscar ceremony and that she would be watching TV to see her. This got me thinking about the 6 degrees theory.
I live in the woods. Just outside my woods about a mile away is a small shopping center that has the name of my town because it has the Post Office. Just 4 miles from there is a little seaside tourist town...very little. Across the river is another town supported by a large military base, but consisting mostly of strip malls and chain restaurants. None of this area suggests a sophisticated community.
Two days ago while getting my hair cut in a walk-in shop my young white hairdresser was talking about the death of Whitney Houston. She said that she had cried for the entire day. While I was a little concerned about her stability she went on to explain that she was a high school friend of Toni Braxton and still emailed her on a regular basis. She said that Toni had her issues with fame and fortune and that my hairdresser was concerned about her sometimes. When I went home and did some research, I found that Braxton had indeed lived in a small town not too far from here.
Last month I ate dinner at a friend's house and while we were enjoying his grilled oysters he asked us if we had seen the movie with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock titled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I explained that since it was about 9/11 I still could not see movies on this quite yet (if ever). He then went on to explain that the young boy with the major roll in the movie was the son of a close friend of his in California and had literally fallen into the role, and therefore, they felt some obligation to see it.
This next is not a true 6 degrees because I did not know someone who knew someone...but a few decades ago I spent an hour with Morgan Freeman watching a street show in Bermuda. We did not talk to each other but did smile and enjoy the music together and did stand "incredibly close." I recognized him from the Public Television show Electric Company...and although he had started acting he was not nearly as famous as he is today.
Here is a true 6 degrees and only two degrees. My daughter and her husband did have a leisure dinner with Rob Lowe and his assistant about a year ago.
Do you have a 6 degree's anecdote from the entertainment industry that you would like to share?
Grannieannie posted that her Goddaughter was once again attending the Oscar ceremony and that she would be watching TV to see her. This got me thinking about the 6 degrees theory.
I live in the woods. Just outside my woods about a mile away is a small shopping center that has the name of my town because it has the Post Office. Just 4 miles from there is a little seaside tourist town...very little. Across the river is another town supported by a large military base, but consisting mostly of strip malls and chain restaurants. None of this area suggests a sophisticated community.
Two days ago while getting my hair cut in a walk-in shop my young white hairdresser was talking about the death of Whitney Houston. She said that she had cried for the entire day. While I was a little concerned about her stability she went on to explain that she was a high school friend of Toni Braxton and still emailed her on a regular basis. She said that Toni had her issues with fame and fortune and that my hairdresser was concerned about her sometimes. When I went home and did some research, I found that Braxton had indeed lived in a small town not too far from here.
Last month I ate dinner at a friend's house and while we were enjoying his grilled oysters he asked us if we had seen the movie with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock titled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I explained that since it was about 9/11 I still could not see movies on this quite yet (if ever). He then went on to explain that the young boy with the major roll in the movie was the son of a close friend of his in California and had literally fallen into the role, and therefore, they felt some obligation to see it.
This next is not a true 6 degrees because I did not know someone who knew someone...but a few decades ago I spent an hour with Morgan Freeman watching a street show in Bermuda. We did not talk to each other but did smile and enjoy the music together and did stand "incredibly close." I recognized him from the Public Television show Electric Company...and although he had started acting he was not nearly as famous as he is today.
Here is a true 6 degrees and only two degrees. My daughter and her husband did have a leisure dinner with Rob Lowe and his assistant about a year ago.
Do you have a 6 degree's anecdote from the entertainment industry that you would like to share?
I was in the army with a young man named John Carradine. My first husband went to school with two of his brothers. He changed his name to David Carradine so his work would stand alone. I once, while drunk, kissed the head of the 60 minutes producer at a party. I have more stories from the Hollywood years, but those two amuse me.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the box drawings, including the crab boat that I didn't show, are worth millions. Would you like me to ship the box back to the gramma?
:)
Hmmm, I've met some famous people, but I don't know if that fits with your post. Toady, there were some men here with mr. kenju and they were talking about who they had dated. One of them used to date Liza Minelli and one knew Jayne Mansfield, so I suppose that fits....lol
ReplyDeleteI was in ballet school and high school with Goldie Hawn.
ReplyDeleteI met a few entertainment types from my Midwest TV days including Phyllis Diller, George Shearing to name a couple. There are other 6 degree connections, including 2 degrees to Bill Clinton and some current degrees since moving here to So Cal. We all put our pants on one leg at a time.
ReplyDeleteGary Busey is a B list movie star now, but he was an Academy Award Nominee for his role as Buddy Holley. Gary Busey is from Tulsa, OK and we used to watch him on a local access show before he hit the big time. He was a hometown boy. Therefore I follow all his work to this day. My goddaughter was watching her school, OU (Oklahoma University)play football in a sports bar in LA when Gary Busey walked in. (He was also an OU Alum) She called me and I was so excited I insisted she meet him. She did just that and told him what a fan of his her godmother is. He welcomed a Tulsa friend chat. However she did learn that he is as big a pain in the butt as he appears to be. He is her parent's age but he was hitting on her and her girlfriend. LOL I still follow him as a hometown hit. If this wasn't a question on celebrity sightings, I could tell a doozy of a tale about meeting my Ron.
ReplyDeleteOther than walking down the street at Disneyland years ago with Peter Lynn Hayes and almost bumping into Captain and Tenille at a hotel many years ago; I don't have much to match up with the other comments. However, I was told that a female relative by marriage was on a tv comedy show years ago....CHARLES IN CHARGE....and had a major part in it.
ReplyDeleteOther than walking down the street at Disneyland years ago with Peter Lynn Hayes and almost bumping into Captain and Tenille at a hotel many years ago; I don't have much to match up with the other comments. However, I was told that a female relative by marriage was on a tv comedy show years ago....CHARLES IN CHARGE....and had a major part in it.
ReplyDeleteWhile in college my sister and I spent one quarter having breakfast with a group of friends that sometimes included a pre-fame Bruce Lee. Fantastic man.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly a megastar but my dad used to be on the same darts team as former World Champion, John Lowe.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lowe
I used to attend plays at the Weston Playhouse where one of the actors was Sam Lloyd. His brother, Christopher, was acting in a TV show called "Taxi" at the time. (Does that even count?)
ReplyDeleteBack in the late 60s, my dad had a variety store on a busy corner in Montreal. The live theater across the street had a Vegas style follies show going on for a few months and most of the performers were living in the highrise above my dad's store.
ReplyDeleteOne of the woman whose first name I've forgotten, had her young teenaged sister living with her. She became somewhat friendly with my older sister, and my dad became quite fond of her visits to his store.
She was a nice girl who liked writing the lyrics to songs, and I remember her well. She has since become a singer/actress of moderate fame. I should try sending her an email... I suspect she'd remember my father who was quite a character.
http://www.lonettemckee.com/
We just THOUGHT we saw Morgan Freeman, but he was wax! Neil Young's brother was at the Pine Tavern in Floyd and Richie Havens played here.
ReplyDeleteI've see Phil Donahue, Lisa Kudrow, and Steven Tyler and briefly spoke to Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore.
I dated a guy in college whose aunt dated one of the Beach Boys when they were both in high school. Can't remember which Beach Boy, though.
ReplyDeletePerhaps six floors? When I lived in Salt Lake City for a couple of years (long ago) my office overlooked the Salt Palace. I used to see all the professional basketball players come in and out. Larry Bird/Magic Johnson days. Sometimes at lunch, they might be eating at a nearby table.
ReplyDeleteDoes that count?
RYN: No usually short essays use the compare and contrast tool. It's a handy way of writing, and as I often belabor Fascist architecture, it enables me to get a dash of American architecture in there too. Another friend asked if they were all much the same, was creativity stifled? Yes, it was in Europe as well as here by the WPA folks. They wanted only cheerful realism, so that;'s what they got.
ReplyDeleteI meet a lot of Virginia politicians and government celebs through my husband because of the nature of his work. I used to be excited about it, but now I often pass on these opportunities, which can be time consuming.
ReplyDeleteBut, I'm having a 6 degree moment now...sort of.
I was reading some of the comments and see that Hilary has a connection with a singer/writer named Lonette McKee. I have had a scrap of paper on my bulletin board for 15 or 20 years with her name on it and a song that I heard and really liked. I'm now inspired to email her to find out how I can listen to it again. I tried You Tube, but to no avail.
I'll have to let Hilary know. :)
Fun post!
My girls got Gina Davis' old stuffed animals when they were little. Her parents lived next door to one of my daughters best friends growing up.
ReplyDeleteBefore I moved to the village here I rented a house from the Director of the Cosby show. He liked my guitar playing. I worked on Kenny Rodgers little motor boat when I lived there. (I was an outboard mechanic for 6 years.)
I once helped carry Jeff Healy's stage equiptment up a huge staircase at the Casino in Hampton Beach NH (famous blind guitarist, now deseased). I was a roadie for Bruce Marshall for about a decade, n also met James Montgomery thru him (local NE musicians). Of course they played with BB King too-
My dad used to take Roy Rogers duck hunting, a very nice man, as I remember...but then I was very young...
ReplyDeleteI love the movie "Six Degrees of Seperation" It is and oldie but goodie. It stars a young Will Smith and also Stoddard Channing and Donald Sutherland. Will Smith plays a charming and sophisticated "friend" of Channing and Sutherland's son who is away at prep school. They live in a posh New York apartment and Sutherland is a fine art dealer. Will Smith shows up at their front door needing help and claiming he is the son of Harry Belafonte.
ReplyDeleteTry it if you haven't seen it.