Name Droppin' Part 2: Meeting Mr. Peck

My most memorable brush with a celebrity during my school years was with one of my favorite film performers, Gregory Peck. I had seen him in countless movies and always was impressed by his performances and the persona he projected to audiences, a true "superstar". During my senior year in high school I read about the local premier of To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the popular Harper Lee novel. This was a charity benefit and the topping on the cake was the appearance of the film's lead, Mr. Peck.


Price is Some Object
The cost to attend the film for the least expensive seats was about double the regular price. There was also a reception afterward for an additional sum that I knew I couldn't afford. It was hard enough to get the money together for the screening, but I convinced my good friend Ray that we could both go and see this famous movie star "in person".


The Event
When we arrived at San Diego's Spreckles Theatre, one of those huge ornate theatres that also had stage facilities, we found that our seats were at the back of the balcony. The image looked slightly larger then a television screen. When the film started we were at first disappointed that it was in black and white and not color as almost all films were by the mid-sixties. But the film! It was wonderful. At the age of seventeen even I could tell that this was destined to be a classic. The powerful story was about growing up in the deep South and focused on a wrongly accused black man and the determined defense lawyer portrayed by Peck. The visuals, script and performances were all first rate. The thing that held the film together, though, was the honestly brilliant performance of Gregory Peck. I knew he was a good actor, but in this film he was great. When the film ended the audience applauded enthusiastically and as the stage lights came up Mr. Peck walked onto the stage to a well-deserved standing ovation. Even from the back of the darkened theatre he seemed bigger than life. This was a first for me, people actually applauding a movie and then having the star come onstage. After a short speech and more applause, he left the stage and the house lights came up.


High Society
This in itself was worth the price of admission. Ray and I were overwhelmed by the event and went on about how wonderful it was as we descended from the balcony into the large lobby, crowded with the elite of the city - women dressed in furs and wearing sparkling jewelry, men in tuxedos and shiny shoes. Both my friend and I had dressed in our Sunday best: sports coats, white shirts and ties. These were no match for the others, but the best we could do. As we left the building to catch the bus to our homes in suburban Lemon Grove, we noticed that we were all walking in the same direction. The downtown bus area was in a place call Horton Square and it was right opposite the U. S. Grant Hotel where the reception was being held. I then got a "brilliant" idea. Why don't we see if we can get into the reception by just following the crowd. At first my friend was reticent, but he finally agreed to give it a try.


The Ploy
We continued to walk with the group and walked right into the hotel. This was too easy. We walked across the spacious lobby and towards the ballroom and noticed a line-up at the entrance. We kept going. At the door was a table with two women collecting tickets. At this point I knew our quest had been foiled. I got a quizzical look on my face, snapped my fingers as if I had forgotten something and motioned my companion back towards the hotel entrance. The jig was up. As we walked toward the door I said it was worth a try and it was too bad we didn't get a closer view of the guest of honor.


The Payoff
Then it happened. We looked out the entrance and saw a limousine pull up to the curb and out stepped Gregory Peck, big as life! Both our jaws dropped in awe. The man we had just seen in a motion picture as Atticus Finch was standing right in front of us. We were still carrying our programs and automatically offered them to him for an autograph. He was with a small group of people and came right up to us and dutifully signed the papers. He asked us what we thought of the film and we both said we literally loved it. I said, "Mr. Peck, you deserve the Academy Award for your brilliant performance." He thanked me for the comment and was so polite and attentive to our ramblings about the film, you would have thought we were more than mere students who happened to catch him. One of those accompanying him said it was time to go inside, and after shaking both our hands, he said it was nice talking to us and turned and walked into the building.


Final Reactions
During the bus trip home we had a hard time containing our excitement. Wait till our friends heard about this. And the girls will be really impressed. They won't notice this skinny kid with thick glasses and his chunky friend, but will see us as those who had a brush with greatness. Funny how the adolescent mind operates. Come to think of it, my future wife was impressed with my depiction of this incident. And Gregory Peck went on the win the Oscar, no doubt helped by my prescient remark.