MY SATURDAY WITH DAVID HEDISON

By Nancy and John Applehof

I didn’t know where we going, so naturally we almost got lost twice and it took forever to get there and get in. When I finally found David’s table, Diane was nowhere in sight.  So I went up to only other familiar looking person there and said, John?  John Kachmar turned around and said, “Let me guess, Applehof?”  <my AOL screen name>  Then I knew I was at the right place.  Of course, there were also two huge signs that said David Hedison and the man himself was behind the table, greeting folks and signing pictures.

A few moments after that, Diane came out carrying a plate of sandwiches, from behind some curtains at the back of the hall.  I rushed over and gave her a big hug hello and she lectured me for being late.  She introduced me to John and David and then led me behind the table, so we could talk.  The front of David’s table was way too narrow and he was too busy signing for us to stand there and block business.

I spent about 10 minutes filling Diane in on all that happened on the way there, while she was eating lunch.  I finally had enough nerve to ask David a question in between signings.   As an accomplished rider, I was curious about the bad experience he had on Son of Robin Hood, so told him I had heard he didn’t like horses.   David said yes, he had gotten a horse on the film that threw him three times and it was not a pleasant experience.  I mentioned I had watched the film and that based on my experience as a rider, they had given him the wrong horse. I said that the horse was too small for him. I could tell by the way his legs were dangling, and that makes it hard to keep your balance.  Also I could tell by the way the horse tossed his head when David dismounted and took the reins over its head that the horse was rather nervous and sensitive.  Not a good choice for new rider.  It may have been a perfectly lovely horse, but not a good match. I don't like that small, nervous, skittish type myself, but some people do.  Diane commented that whoever the wrangler or remuda boss was on the picture did a very poor job.  David actually asked me what my horse's name was!  We talked some more about when he fell off, and I told him that I've fallen off a jillion times.  I think he thinks I'm NUTS to keep on riding.  Then someone came to buy a picture, so we went back to watching David sign for a while.  My husband, John, decided I was in good hands and left to explore some of the other areas of the show.

We talked about The Young and the Restless, during the next lull. David said it was a surprise to him that they had Arthur leave.  Diane said she thought they should have gotten married, and I said no, not right away, they needed to go further with the 'did he or didn't he' murder his wife.  This, by the way, was David’s idea.  He had a chat with the producer about it, and they agreed to write it for him.  David wanted to do something very similar to what was shown in the Cary Grant Joan Fontaine movie Suspicion, but what was written for him never reached that height.  I was talking to him about one Y & R a scene where he was really angry, and VERY convincing, and David he asked if it was with Harrison. I said no, it was when he was angry with Kay when they were having breakfast at the club when he grabbed that muffin away from her. Then I said Harrison was a real TWIT and I asked him if Kin Shriner was like that for real.  David just smiled and said no, he wasn't.

David was so kind and nice when I asked him questions about the different things he had done, and when he answered, he didn't make me feel like I had asked something stupid.  I really appreciated that.  I know David MUST be aware of how handsome he still is, but he certainly doesn't show it.  He is very natural and unaffected.  He made me feel at ease right away.   Thanks, Diane, for introducing me to David, and for making me feel so welcome.  David was such a gentleman, so NICE and KIND and CARING.  Every time I spoke to him or asked him something, he listened and answered my questions so nicely and in a way that made me feel like I was not "just another fan".  He cares about people and is interested in them, and he has the ability to show it.  I watched him do it again and again with people who came up to him at the table with pictures to sign.  He made me feel like I had known him forever.  He does it all so naturally, too. That is truly a rare and precious gift.  I asked him if he minded me sitting there (in Diane’s chair) and he said no.  We didn't talk about Voyage much, except when I told how much I looked forward to it each week, and I told him "You were my hero."  And he was.  He still is, and for more reasons than the fact that he was once Lee Crane.

We did have some neat conversations about some of his films and about doing live theater as opposed to films and stuff.  When I asked which parts he liked the best, one of the one's he mentioned was The Enemy Below.  He told me that it was his first film. We talked about the different parts of the story and what we liked.  David said he liked the end where the two captains were on the deck after the funeral of the German submariner (played by Theodore Bikel), and they were standing there having a smoke together.  David said that once the play starts, you just keep on going, even if something goes awry, you don't stop and he preferred that to making movies.  Sometimes (in a movie) you do this great scene, and then it's cut.  Or you think the camera has a great close-up of what you were doing and it turns out the camera was focused on something else entirely.

My husband John came back from wandering the show and took some pictures.  I’m the blonde in the red sweater.  My hair was doing its "Florida" thing.  I remember thinking that when John took the picture. I think I said something like, "Oh, jeez. Is my hair every which away?"  David answered that no, it was okay and put his arm around me.  But looking at the photo on the web page now, I can see it WAS doing the Florida Frizz.  Oh, well.

This is funny.  Diane was concerned I’d miss my flight back.  When we were talking about the Atlanta airport being closed, David asked me what airline we used and I told him Delta.  He had flown Delta, too, only his plane was one of the ones from the Korean airline (Song) that merged with Delta.  AHYWHO, David was saying that the seats were so narrow, and it would be better to have only TWO seats across instead of THREE.   I agreed, and said that if one could sit in an AISLE seat, it wasn't as bad, BUT...and I looked at my John pointedly, that SOMEONE ELSE always managed to get the aisle seat.  David looked at me and said "Oh, I LIKE the aisle seat."   I said that yes, I liked the aisle seat but that SOMEONE ELSE had "managed" to get the aisle seat (still looking at John) on both flights and I had to sit in the middle.  Then David said something about the middle seat being not good.  "You could each sit in an aisle seat!"  I said, "Yeah, but then I'd probably get someone weird sitting next to me in that middle seat."  Without missing a beat David looked at my husband and said, "Well, you've already got someone weird sitting next to you."  It was so funny.  So I said to David, "True, but at least I KNOW him.  Besides he is a good guy, AND I can take off my shoes and put my feet on him.”  Then when we left, David said that maybe I'd get an aisle seat this time.

My husband commented to me after the show that David's table was one of the 3 most crowded of all the celebs that were there.  John said he could tell that people really liked him, and that he was so nice.  I still can't get over the whole thing!  I had SUCH a nice time, and it was so much fun getting to meet Diane and her John in person, John Kachmar is so sweet and nice and very, very funny.  He had us all cracking up that day.  And they were celebrating the anniversary of John’s marriage proposal 19 years ago, which was really neat!

Meeting David was even better, because he is so NICE.  My husband has become a real fan of David's.  He's took our pictures of the con to a meeting that he went to on Tuesday, and to the office on Wednesday. John said a lot of people remembered David from Voyage (women and men, too) and from The Young and the Restless and were saying how much they liked him and liked his stuff.  Then the next night while I was getting dinner ready, he was watching Entertainment Tonight, and they had a thing on there about "the three sexiest men". I didn't hear to well because I was busy with the pots and pans, but John called into the kitchen and said, "These guys are supposed to be the sexiest men, well they are NOTHING compared to David."  David was certainly nice and kind to me, and I very much appreciated it.  Particularly since I had such a horrible time getting home with the Atlanta Airport closed and having to spend the night in a hotel before they could fly me out of Cincinnati and finally home.  I never did get the aisle seat.

By the way, David has a new fan. My husband John was SO IMPRESSED with how nice and kind he is, and how he handled people.  David told me he liked The Enemy Below.   I told John and he said, "Do we have it?" and I said "Of course" and now John wants to watch that AND the other videos I have of David's films.

I also reminded him that David was on The Young and the Restless and John said, "He was with that older woman that looked so...well...like she's in her 90's." I told him Jeanne Cooper was 76.  Then I told him David's age, and he said that David didn't look a day over 60.  He's right, he doesn't.   When we got home, my daughter Annie was there.  I showed her the pictures I purchased at the con.  I had both David's pictures lying side by side on the counter, and she said, "WOW! Is he HANDSOME!"  She looked at both pictures and said, "Goodness, he has certainly aged... WELL!"  Actually, my husband was impressed by the whole con. He never knew they had all that stuff.  I'm looking forward to Wonderfest in Louisville!   I mentioned Anchorage to David when we were talking about Loo-a-vul, and he asked if it was nice. It’s more like unique, and charming and quaint.   I'm looking forward to bringing my daughter Annie to Wonderfest.  She will LOVE it.