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Spring 2025 – LOCAL695.COM 7 Ric Rambles Encounters. So many encounters. We're lousy with the famous and infamous on every talk show, awards show, and special, just ask Craig. Working in the entertainment side of television, you might meet anyone from the Beatles to Bette Davis. In fact, some Beatles and Bette might both show up later in this ramble. I love when every once in a while, on the set, on location, or even in everyday life, I get surprised by an unexpected encounter. When you watched Star Search, and don't deny it, I know you watched. The host, Ed McMahon, made an entrance, walked downstage, and at some point, an arm raised from the audience to hand him a microphone. Sometimes that arm belonged to Val Valentin, a top recording engineer, and a friend of mixer Ed Greene. His list of album credits is stunning. An unlikely A2, Val would come and regale us with tales of his days as Director of Engineering for MGM and Verve Records, being in the studio with Frank Sinatra, and much more. It was always great to see him, perhaps never more so than at a show for Sinatra's 75th birthday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where Val was escorting Ella Fitzgerald. Ever the gentleman, Val properly introduced us, and I tried not to gush like a fanboy. But Ella Fitzgerald! She and Frank closed the show together, singing a Rodgers and Hart number with the Henry Mancini Orchestra. It was terrific! That show was also where I met Ray Charles. No, not the one you are thinking of. The "other" Ray Charles. Go ahead, look him up. I'll wait… As with Val, Ray was a true gentleman. It was a great pleasure to work with him, most often on the Kennedy Center Honors. I met Scott Ostler recently. You may ask, who is that? I'll tell you. He is a revered newspaper sports columnist. One of the best and funniest. His son was a contestant on America's favorite quiz show. I work there. Scott was in the audience. I first read his work in the Los Angeles Times back when the sports section by Ric Teller had Jim Murray and baseball box scores. He was recruited by editor Frank Deford to write for The National Sports Daily, a short-lived, tabloid-format newspaper that lasted just under eighteen months in 1990-91. For sports fans, it was terrific. Since then, Scott has written for the San Francisco Examiner. I really admire his work. It was nice to be able to tell him. Did you ever go to The Reseda Country Club? Honestly, I don't remember attending a show there but did work on an episode of a popular sitcom that featured the Beach Boys playing live. Well, I believe it was live-ish. At lunch, I picked up a tray with the requisite chicken-like substance from catering and took a seat in a quiet area. About thirty seconds later, a man sat down across from me. I looked up and realized that I was having lunch with Carl Wilson. We talked about baseball and other stuff, not music so much. But the whole time, I was silently shouting to myself, "You sang, 'God Only Knows'!!!" The first time I saw a motion picture being made, it was Stagecoach. No, not the John Wayne version. Sheesh. It was the 1966 remake, starring Ann-Margret and Red Buttons. We saw them shooting an action sequence at the very scenic Caribou Ranch on the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Later in life, I got to tell both of them about seeing the stagecoach being attacked. Ann-Margret remembered how beautiful the location was. Red Buttons tried to go to catering but never got a dinner. A couple of years later, in New York City, I saw another film shooting on location. I was with my family. We were walking back to the Americana Hotel after dinner at Mamma Leone's and saw a crew out on the street shooting Midnight Cowboy. About ten years later, I got a ticket while driving in Los Angeles. I don't remember the specifics, but I was allowed to go to traffic school back when you attended in person. Jon Voight was also in that class, and I told him about watching them film. We were both in an eight-hour class that included a meal break. I took John to lunch at Café Tel Aviv on Fairfax, an easy walk from the class location. It was a nice break from school, a good memory, and a tasty falafel. In keeping with the theme of unexpected lunch encounters, I was traveling somewhere in some airport to work on some show some time ago. The layover was long enough to sit and have a bite of lunch. I ordered a nondescript chicken sandwich and moments later, a very attractive woman walked up and asked if she could join me for lunch. Yes, of course. We chatted and laughed and agreed about how interesting life can be. After lunch, we said a cordial goodbye and headed in opposite directions to make our next flights. I did a lot of shows with Naomi Judd over the years. She was a sweet person, a talented artist, and a lovely lunch companion.