By Eric Sharp
Autumn 2008 – As we roll into our busiest season ever, I have been thinking of the fantastic celebrities who have been in attendance over the years to see me play detective in murder mystery.
One night, several years ago, I played the Academy Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. This was also the venue where the very first Oscars ceremony was held in 1928.
I played there a couple of times. One night in – Nineteen Ninety Something – there were several legends in the house. Red Buttons was there. I asked him to stand and I interrogated him. I said, “Mr. Buttons, if that is your real name…” and he said his real name was “Blue Zipper” but “you can’t open with that”. Wonderful smile. A gentle soul. He made me realize that the bigger the star, the smaller the ego. Gene Barry was there too. I remembered that Gene was the first ever Columbo Villain in “Prescription Murder” back in the 60s. I interrogated him. He never smiled. I was upset but I realize now he was just playing along - acting cagey like a good suspect should.
You know who was there that night? Jack Klugman who played Oscar Madison on the TV version of the ODD COUPLE. He later achieved critical acclaim as QUINCY, the crime solving medical examiner. I asked him to attend to the body of the murder victim. Mr. Klugman had just had throat surgery and couldn’t speak but he grinned from ear to ear in his inimitable style. I always loved Klugman. Tom Bosley was there that evening – Yes Mr. C from Happy days and Father Dowling from his own TV Mystery show. I grilled him and said “Clever Boy” — I felt like the Fonz. That night, Mr. Blackwell signed a dollar bill for me as a handwriting sample. I think that was the night that Jennifer Love Hewitt came in a green wig for her 18th birthday party dinner with her folks. Not sure.. That might have been a different night. Whatever night that was, she was lovely then and lovelier now. Just this year in 2008 I met Scott Wolf – Jennifer’s co-star on Party Of Five. I had the privilege to play for a private audience made up of his family and friends. I went undercover that night. I was a sheep in wolf’s clothing. That’s right. Those Wolf boys are not only impossibly handsome TV and Movie Stars but they are also really nice guys. That really burns me up.
Once, when I played a Murder Mystery Dinner at Yamashiro’s in the Hollywood Hills, I had David Faustino in the house. He played Bud Bundy on Married With Children. He was there with a group of 10 or so from his family. I put him in a police line up and called him Bundy all night. He was a fantastic sport. He kept pulling me aside and asking me to interrogate his family members. Nice guy.
Oh there are so many moments… I’ll write some more soon. It just goes to show you that Hollywood’s elite has the same thirst for Murder and Mystery as everyone else Who knew?
Tags: Murder Mystery, Sharpo
