Which Movie Stars

… I’d like to hang out with
By Jeff Salter

I’ve actually met a few movie stars – and seen others, close-up, in real life – but this is not about casual contact.  This week we’re blogging about actually hanging out with movie stars – present or past – so these are folks who would truly have to interest me, for whatever reason(s).

Peanut Gallery

But before I reveal my own choices, let me set the stage by sharing what I learned when polling my wife and one of her first cousins, Jeff Williams (who’s visiting).  I allowed them to pick one male and one female movie star.

Cousin Jeff’s choices – of movie stars he’d like to hang out with – were Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones.  He waxed on about each individual before revealing that they’d also been in one movie together … and it was a film he really enjoyed:  Hope Springs.

Denise Salter’s choices – of movie stars she’d like to hang out with – were Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Selleck.

Well, I happen to admire the work of all four of their selections, but none of them made the top of my list.

Naturally, I was not able to limit my choices to one male and one female, so I’ll give you several of each gender.

The Girls
Of all the actresses I’ve seen in movies, I’d most love to spend some time with:

** Maureen O’Hara — gorgeous, talented, and smart, she could play comedy, drama, romance, action, western, or anything else.  Her career spanned several decades and I’m a member of her fan page — http://moharamagazine.com/ — where a friend, June Parker Beck, keeps us updated on Maureen’s comings and goings.

** Ginger Rogers — if you think Ginger’s presence on my list has to do with her dancing, you’re mistaken.  I knew her dancing was graceful, athletic, and incredibly intricate, but what I loved were her comedic films.  Like Maureen, she also worked over several decades and seemed like a down-to-earth person as well as multi-talented and fascinating individual.

** Jill St. John — Jill’s on my list because I grew up on movies in which she was beautiful, funny, intelligent … and oh, so lovely.

** Stella Stevens — Stella makes the list for some of the same reasons as Jill, though I have no idea if Stella had a brain in her head … and I didn’t care.

** Scarlett Johansson — Scarlett is here because she’s eye-candy from a new generation.

The Guys
            And there are many actors whose work I admire and whose portrayals captivated me in numerous films.

** Cary Grant — he played such a wide range of roles – from screwball comedy to intense thrillers … from romantic leads to somber dramas.  He was even in some action movies and war films.  I never saw Cary in a bad role except when he played a civilian pilot in the Pacific, and a competitor in the film about the 1960 Olympics.

** Sean Connery — though he paid his dues before the Bond films, he truly defined that role for me (among many fans).  But, in his long and varied career, Sean has certainly transcended that famous super-spy and can play nearly anything: action, drama, war, romance, comedy.  He’s played everything from knights and kings in the middle ages … to a cop in outer space.  Even did a voice-over for a dragon — terrific voice, too.

** Harrison Ford — like Cary & Sean, Harrison has proven his skill in a wide variety of roles.  And all – except for the initial Star Wars trilogy – he plays very convincingly.  In many of his roles, he conveys with an expression (or body language) what other actors might cover in three lines of dialog.

Other male actors who are among my favorites – and I would love to shoot the breeze with – are these (no particular order):  Gary Cooper, James Garner, Robert Duvall, Tom Hanks, Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman, Steve McQueen, Burt Lancaster, Robert Redford, and Donald Sutherland.

Question:  Which movie star(s) would YOU like to hang out with?