I love it when a joint has 8 x 10s of famous or, even better, quasi famous people on the wall.
Supposedly, this celebrity ate or drank in the establishment and loved it so much they whipped out the gloss and signed it.
It’s best when the collection is bizarre and eclectic.
Some of my favorite 8 x 10s that I’ve seen on bar walls over the years:
Andre the Giant
Jerry Vale (I believe these are issued to any place that sells anything Italian)
The lead signer from Lover Boy(sorry don’t know the name)
Bud Harrelson
Ruth Buzzy
Don Knotts
The “Where’s the Beef” lady
Evel Kneival
An Elvis Impersonator
The bass player from Three Dog Night
Joe Theisman
Yolanda Vega (The NY Lottery Announcer)
Michael Buffer (The “Let’s Get to Rumble” guy)
Charlie Calas
Gene Rayburn
The guy from Password
Jack Lord
Mayor Koch
Then there’s the nameless characters that fall into one of these categories:
Local B or C list actor
Local jock who played one game for the Houston Oilers’s kick off return team
Collection of low level politicians
The local bishop
The anchor man or woman from the local news.
I’m sure I missed some–what are your favorites?
In college my favorite hangout was a Mexican restaurant, El Azteco, and it had a photograph of Ed Asner behind the cash register.
Of course, everyone associates Ed Asner with a good burrito.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? I gather he ate there once, but why exactly he was carrying around 8X10s of himself is a bit beyond me, although maybe that’s what all celebrities do. Maybe I should start… nah!
I think you ought to carry the MT headshot and just see how many free meals it will entitle you too…
I know I’ve seen many, but they are all eluding me right now. I guess when President Obama was in N.E. Ohio and ate at a bar owned by a family friend, he signed the chair he used? I heard it second hand, so maybe the bar owner is just preserving the chair and it wasn’t signed…I don’t know…
Does Rush get a chair too?
I’m sorry…did we elect Rush when I wasn’t looking? I might need to leave the country if we did….
GAH! Perish the thought – SCARY!
When I moved to Nashville, I got a kick out of where I was seeing the celebrity photos, like a UPS Store and the local US Post Office, not just in the restaurants, etc. But the lobby in the Loveless Cafe is probably the best place I’ve run across for the glossies. It’s running out of room on the walls. Some celebrities are up there more than once – LeAnne Rimes has one from when she first came out when she was like 14 or something, then there’s her grown-up glossy. As many times as I’ve been there, I don’t think I’ve seen them all yet. (By the by, the Loveless is a Nashville institution that serves great food. I highly recommend it to anyone who comes to Nashville.)
Nashville is a headshot kinda place…the cast of Hee Haw? the Haggar Brithers?
hehe. You got it! Oh, and George Lindsay aka Goober Pyle. (I’m pretty sure it was the UPS store that I saw his.) ;0) I’m expecting to see Nicole Kidman’s at some point as she’s Mrs. Keith Urban.
Hey Now! Watch it! Chris, if you run into Joe Nichols or Phil Vassar… 😉
True, it’s not all country music. The Nashville scene is eclectic-love our new home city! I’ll keep my eye out for you, Jen!
Perfect forum for mentioning my favorite movie ever – To Wong Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Neumar.
She was cat woman – every drag queen’s favorite actress – Patrick Swayze takes her signed photo off the Wall at Wong Foo’s place and carries it around throught the rest of the movie.
I HAVE a Julie Newmar 8 x 10 in the catwoman suit!
But you are not a drag queen….at least I don’t think you are!
Only at heart…
I don’t have any good ones to share, but I do know that if I had my own establishment, I would adorn it with headshots. While I won’t bore you with an entire list, I will say that it would have to include two of may favorite Italian-American actors of all-time: Burt Young and Bruno Kirby.
And be nice to Andre the Giant. He was probably as recognizable worldwide as Ali was. Plus from what people I know around Westchester tell me, he may have been the nicest guy of all time.
This headshot stuff reminds me of the cool ones you have in your basement.
And i can’t find the one of you…just you and Hughesie together..
Bruno Kirby?
Not Deniro, Pesci, Sinatra…
BTW–gotta classic definitely unnice story about the giant
Of course those guys–perhaps the Goodfellas publicity still and The Godfather one with Vito and his four sons. Kind of like the Italian American Wallf of Fame from “Do The Right Thing.” Also Mike Piazza and others. But I said I didn’t want to bore you with a list.
I can see why you question Bruno Kirby-kind of an inside joke between me and my best friend. Glad that you didn’t question Burt Young.
I would love to hear the Andre story.
I met Burt at a fight once. I was judging and he was in the first row. He managed a fighter or something…he was friendly.
The Andre story is ugly…so ugly I don’t think I can share it on the blog.
No! Don’t share that story on the blog…that’s foul!
you remember, huh?
that’s a hard one to forget…