Ed Asner

Three hundred and ten (310). As of this date (Feb 19, 2014) 310 is the total number of film credits that is posted in Ed Asner's Internet Movie Database (IMDB) listing. Wheew! Here I am with only 50 and I am only 6 years younger than Ed.  Where have I been?  Obviously not where I should have been.

Anyway I was privileged to have worked with Ed in 1976 in a made-for-TV Huey Long quasi-biographical script entitled “The Life and Assassination of the Kingfish”. Ed played Huey Long and I was given a great little cameo role as Senator Jack Williamson, one of Long’s more staunch and fiery adversaries.

At the time of this filming Ed was on hiatus from his role as Lou Grant in the Mary Tyler Moore series. The real Ed was nothing like this character.  The Ed Asner you've seen on the big screen and TV is usually an irascible sort if not downright villainous. But the real Ed Asner is anything but irascible and villainous.

Ed and I, though total opposites politically, quickly became great friends. Though we’ve not worked together since “Kingfish”, we’ve had several occasions to meet socially after he was elected president of the Screen Actors Guild.  He's a very warm, sociable and caring person.  To know him is to love him.

We first met shortly after I was cast in "...Kingfish". The director, Robert Collins, had scheduled a script read-through with the full cast which is a common practice in the industry. During a break in the read-through Ed came up to me and said "Jerry, I hope when we do that scene (meaning a committee room scene in which he and I get into an explosive exchange) we can get a lot of fire into it." This comment laid considerable pressure on me because I would want it to go the way he envisioned it.

 

This committee room scene was first on the shooting schedule.  I would find out later that Ed had specifically asked that this scene come first in the schedule because this was his toughest scene and he just wanted to get it out of the way.  I too was glad that it was first on the schedule.

Needless to say I worked diligently on committing that scene to memory. Our dialog was particularly difficult because we were to talk over each other and each take needed to match to insure editing integrity .. no small feat. Ed would later say he hated overlapping dialog.  And so did I.

When our first day wrapped and the committee room scene was "in the can", Ed came to me and said "Jerry, I want to thank you.  You kept me on my toes.  That scene went better than I ever would have imagined."  

He noticed that I was vacating my dressing room and said "You're not done are you?"  I said "Yes, that was my only scene."  He said "You're kidding.  Hold on, don't go yet."  He quickly caught up with Collins.  I waited.  Then Collins motioned for me to join them.  He said "Jerry, I'm going to write you into some more scenes."

I thanked Ed for his intercession and got 2 additional days work.  I was written into two senate chamber scenes.

If your political philosophy is conservative then you might tend to consider Ed irascible and villainous should you see him in any political debates.  But the man, apart from his extreme liberalism, is as good as they come. You can't help but like him. 

Hopefully he will move a little to the right as he continues to mature into old age.


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Louisiana's very own KING KONG

Let's go back some four to five decades.   Gulf South Research Institute (GSRI) was in its infancy and our Life Science operation had been established in New Iberia.  Dr. William (Bill) Greer was the Director of our Primate Center there which housed several species of monkeys including Chimpanzees and Great Apes.

Bill was recognized world-wide for his expertise in primate breeding, rearing and general care.  He became attached to many of them and admitted having a hard time when any of his “pets” were transferred to other centers and colonies or were drafted into research projects.

Bill developed a very paternal attachment to a recently newborn great ape that he named “Jimmy G” (the G for Greer).   It should be noted here that primates pound for pound are 5 times stronger than humans.   For instance if a baby chimp or gorilla weighed in at 50 pounds, he would be equal in strength to a 250 pound man.  Great Apes, when fully grown can weigh over 400 pounds (2000 pounds for a human equivalent).  The bars on its cage-enclosure would need to be 2 inches in diameter.

OK, let's get back to Jimmy G.  Several times each week Bill would make his rounds through the primate center.  When Jimmy G’s body weight had gotten up to 30 pounds, Bill would put Jimmy G on a leash and let him tag along.  

Jimmy G was particularly fond of Coca Colas.  Located in one of the center’s corridors was a coke machine that dispensed bottled cokes.   With each tour through the center Jimmy G would stop at the Coke machine and Bill would give him a dime.  Jimmy G would insert the dime in the machine’s coin slot, open the vertical access door, pull out a bottled coke, open it, chug-a-lug it, place the empty bottle in a recycle container, then look up at Bill with an “OK, I’m done” look and they would then complete their tour for that day.

With each weekly tour Jimmy would be weighing an additional 3-5 pounds.   He was destined to grow to 550 pounds (much heavier than the average Great Ape) with an arm-spread of over 10 feet.

Jimmy loved Bill and the feeling was definitely mutual.  The weekly leashed tours continued until Jimmy was up to 175  pounds (the human equivalent of 875 pounds).

Jimmy’s final tour was on the day that the Coke machine jammed.    Per his usual custom Jimmy gingerly inserted the dime in the coin slot, opened the coke machine’s access door, reached in to pull out a bottled coke … but to no avail.  The machine would not release the coke.  Jimmy tried 2 or 3 times, but with no success.  He then looked up at Bill with an “Are you gonna help me?” look on his cute little monkey face.  Bill, thinking that perhaps the dime had not completed its journey through the coin slot mechanism, began to pound on the machine.  After 4 or 5 strikes Bill was suddenly aware that he had pulled a boo boo, a major boo boo.  MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO.  Oh shit!!  That was Jimmy’s cue.  He began beating on the machine himself, caving in the coin slot area.  This tactic was obviously "OK" because he had seen Bill do it.  Of course Bill had not damaged the machine.  Jimmy then tried again to pull a coke from its slot, but again with no success.   Bill knew better than to try to stop him.  Since Jimmy felt permitted to take matters into his own hands, he proceeded to apply his considerable muscle power to  tear open one of the stubborn coke bottle barriers.  He succeeded. The heavy metal slot, now bent outward, permitted Jimmy to retrieve his coke.  Though he could have had more than one (at no additional charge), Jimmy was not greedy.  He chugged down his coke, discarded the empty in the recycle container and was satisfied.  He looked up at Bill with an "OK, I'm done" look.

GSRI was billed $400 by the local Coke distributor.

Jimmy, for obvious reasons, would no longer accompany Bill on his weekly colony tours.  Having no miniature Empire State building to exercise his climbing skills, Jimmy G would have to be content in a cage. 

While NOT a KING KONG, he would grow to 550 pounds (larger than the usual mature ape) and become KING of the New Iberia Primate Colony.  But don’t fret over his fate.  He occupied his time as the colony’s chief breeder.  He kept quite busy and he was quite content.  I wonder why!


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Let's go "Joy-Flying"

First there was Bill, who was hired by GSRI around 1968.  GSRI (Gulf South Research Institute) needed to staff highly pedigreed PhD economists to satisfy its institutional eligibility for issuing RFPs (requests for proposals) and conducting Louisiana-based economic feasibility studies. 

About a year after Bill was added to the staff then came Bob, another PhD economist.  Though highly qualified in their respective fields of economics, both were party animals when not on the job.

Bill had been a jet fighter pilot during the Korean War.  Bob had not.  Bill had recently purchased an 8 year old single engine Cessna and relished “joy-flying” every chance he got.  Bob was not a joy-Flyer.  Other than each having expertise in their respective fields of economics and the fact that they loved partying, they otherwise had very little in common.

Then came a major research contract and both Bill and Bob were assigned to it.  Actually it was a 2-part project and Bill and Bob each had been designated project leaders.

At one point in the course of this contract a major conference (pertinent to this research study) was scheduled to take place in Shreveport. Bob was about to book a flight to this conference when Bill said "Bob, don't book a flight.  We'll fly up in my little Cessna."  This sounded practical to Bob, so it was agreed that they would attend this conference via Bill's private Cessna.

On the date of departure Bill and Bob arrived at the Baton Rouge downtown airport where Bill kept his little 2-seater Cessna.  Bob helped Bill move the plane from its mooring onto a taxi strip.  Now able to better survey this mode of transportation, Bob began to harbor some misgivings.  The Cessna's landing gear was badly worn.  In fact there was no tread on the wheels.  The aileron hinges were rusty and the cockpit interior was tattered and torn and generally disheveled.  Bob said "Are you serious?" to which Bill replied "What do you mean?" Bob said "This thing can actually fly?" "Hell, Bob, if it couldn't fly why would I be bringing us out here?"  Bob gulped, then allowed his tentative and disquieting trust in Bill's judgment to impart some measure of relief on his concerns.  Surely Bill would not fly a plane that was ready for the junk yard.....WOULD HE?

Bob was further reassured when he buckled himself into the passenger seat.  At least the seat belts were not tattered.  He breathed a little easier.  He asked Bill how long he had had this plane.  Bill said he had bought it about 6 months ago for $2500.  OMG! Bob asked "Why only 2500 bucks?" to which Bill responded "Well, LOOK at it.  Do you really think its worth more than that?  I'm pretty mechanical and I felt like I could fix it up and make it air-worthy."  Gulp!!  

But now they were in flight and Bob's tension eased somewhat until SPUTTER! SPUTTER! went the engine.  Bob yelled "What's wrong?" while Bill frantically pumped something that resembled a bicycle pump.  Bill said "This plane doesn’t have a fuel pump.  On a climb I have to manually pump fuel.  Once we level off it will be OK." Realizing he was captive, Bob tried again to relax, but he vowed NOT to return home in that wreck once the conference was over.

After about an hour into the flight Bob's composure was once again shaken when suddenly the plane began severely vibrating.  Before he could express his concern to Bill, he was asked by Bill to "help me find a place to land."   SAY WHAT! Bob yelled "What do you mean 'a place to land'?" "Just what I said.  The cable to the vertical stabilizer has snapped."  SAY WHAT!  Bob was now in a state of shear panic when Bill announced "There's a spot" indicating a long, deserted stretch of cow pasture in a remote area just outside of Alexandria.  He calmly said "Just hang on till we touch down." Bob hung on alright, white knuckles and all.

The touch-down was pretty rough.  The little Cessna bounced and bobbed until Bill was able to safely bring it to a stop.  He cut the engine, then opened a toolbox.  Planning to find a stretch of barbed wire fencing, Bill pulled out a pair of wire cutters when suddenly he looked around and was not able to see Bob.   Peering out the windows, he scanned the horizon and saw Bob jogging eastward.  Bill yelled "Where the hell are you going?" to which Bob yelled back "I'm going to find a highway."

Knowing Bob was not going to find a highway, Bill shook his head and started his quest for some barbed wire fencing. Not finding a highway,

Bob found his way back to Bill and the plane. Bill quipped "What, no highway?" to which Bob responded "Hell no. Why didn't you tell me?" I knew you'd find out for yourself."  Bob said "What are you doing?" "I found a stretch of barbed wire fencing and cut out this piece which I'm splicing onto the snapped stabilizer cable."

Still not at all comfortable with this aerial misadventure, Bob asked "What happens if we can't take off?" "We'll take off" "BUT WHAT IF WE CAN'T?!"  "THEN WE'LL DO A LOT OF WALKING." Bob shook his head and patiently sat down on one of the plane's tread-bare wheels. "Shit!" Bill asked "What?"  "I said SHIT!!" Bill said "You worry too much." to which Bob replied "NO SHIT!"

Bill completed the splicing task, returned the wire-cutters to his toolbox and said "ALL ABOARD".  Bob said "It's done?" Bill said "It's done."

They were soon airborne again with Bill pumping the manual fuel pump until they leveled off.  Realizing they were now some 40-50 minutes from their destination, Bob was able to settle back and endure (not enjoy, but endure) the rest of the trip.  The vibration was gone and it was smooth sailing into Shreveport. Whew!

When the conference ended, Bob, carrying his overnight bag, was seen by Bill loading into their boss's company car. Bob announced "Bill,

no hard feelings, I hope.  But Charlie is giving me a ride back to Baton Rouge."

Bob and Bill remained friends though Bob never again chanced a ride in Bill’s little Cessna or any other aerial contraption Bill might soon be toying with.  Whenever they partied after that, it was by ground transportation ONLY.


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It was not a good day .... or WAS it?

 It was a gorgeous weekday in early October 1964.    We were all recovering from the ravages of Hurricane Hilda.  Power in Baton Rouge was almost fully restored and life was getting back to normal.   And I was now back on my job with the Louisiana Division of Employment Security after being storm-closed for a week.

On this particular morning I was en route to New Roads to meet with the Point Coupee parish county agent.  The “new” Mississippi River bridge was still under construction,  therefore it was necessary that I take the ferry to cross the river.  I was still able to drive my 1958 Nash Rambler and with each out-of-town trip I kept my fingers crossed.   This car was rapidly beginning to see its last days, but I managed to keep nursing it back to health.   I had purchased it new in 1958 at a whopping $1800.    Sporting a manual transmission,  it had no AC but it did have a radio, a true traveling luxury back then.   It also had a reclining front seat, a relatively new innovation in cars at that time.  Except when it rained or when it was very cold I would always drive with the driver window open.   It didn’t have turn signal lights, so it was necessary to resort to arm signals out the window.  Some fun!

I had recently been discharged from active duty having devoted over a year of service at Fort Polk during the “Berlin Crisis” in 1961- 62.   Gloria and I and our 2 year old son, Jerry III, resided just off base in an 8’x42’ trailer in a commercial trailer park.  While not the most comfortable accommodations, this arrangement was cozy and, best of all, we were together.   Most of the enlisted guys there participated in ride-sharing to and from our assigned post headquarters units.  I ride-shared with our company cook,  First Sgt Jimmy.  When it was my turn to drive, it was quite a challenge having Jimmy as my passenger because he weighed over 400 pounds.  He also had recently injured his knee causing him considerable difficulty getting into my little 2-door Nash Rambler.  He would have to adjust the seat, then stretch.  On one occasion he stretched and the seat’s backrest reclining gear made a grinding sound.   This made me nervous and Jimmy agreed not to “stretch” anymore when he sat in my car.  I’ll have more to say about this car seat saga a little later. 

When I traveled on state business I would bring my own lunch which consisted of a TV dinner and my thermos of coffee.  To accommodate  transporting my lunches I had fashioned a little wooden tote with a handle consisting of a

2”x8”x12” wooden bed for holding the TV dinner and a wire holder for the thermos.  My wife, Gloria, hated it.  She said "You should be embarrassed being seen with that thing."  But I had to keep reminding her that it was very serviceable since most of my business travels took me to sparse areas of the 9 parishes I was in charge of.  Before each trip I would heat the TV dinner for 25 minutes in our oven (no microwave ovens back then), wrap it in several layers of insulating newspaper,  place it in my tote, then off I’d go.

OK, back to this post-Hilda morning.  Having boarded the ferry with my semi-trusty Rambler,  I found myself positioned next to a late model luxury convertible carrying 2 very attractive young ladies.  As I sneaked flirty glances at them, they would return these glances with smiles and occasional giggles.  This went on for about 5 minutes when suddenly my backrest collapsed (a symptom of my Sgt Jimmy ride-sharing).  And of course I fell back when it collapsed.   Now out of sight I heard the 2 lovelies laughingly saying “Where did he go?”  I managed to pull myself upright, daring NOT to glance in their direction.  I felt myself flushing with embarrassment.   Because my wife, Gloria, loved slap-stick comedy and slapstick reality, she cracked up when I told her about it.

Ever try to drive while having to hold yourself upright?  Not fun.  Thank heavens the ferry was now landing and cars began de-boarding.   Holding myself up by grasping the steering wheel, I entered highway 1 en route to highway 190.  I began to realize this wasn’t going to work … driving without a backrest.  I was about to turn around when suddenly I spotted a 4”x4”x 3’ piece of timber on the side of the road.  I pulled off, picked it up and braced it between the rear of my backrest and the backrest of the backseat.  Worked perfectly.   Was this manna from heaven?   Never before had a piece of roadside trash bestowed such relief.  I was once again upright,  not having to hang on to the steering wheel for upright support. 

I was now comfortably en route to New Roads along Hwy 1 hugging False River when BAM! A huge limb (victim of Hurricane Hilda) crashed onto my car’s hood.  I pulled over to check the damage.    When I dragged the limb from my hood, I found that I now had an ugly cave-in over my engine compartment.  Fortunately I was able to open and close the hood with no difficulty.   Relieved, I proceeded to my destination even though I was truly pissed at having to now drive a candidate for the junk yard.  

I  concluded my business with the parish agent who, by the way, showed no sympathy for my 2 earlier misadventures as he doubled over in laughter.  Nonetheless  I bade him "good day"and proceeded to my next scheduled stop.  

I was now back on hwy 190 when I looked at my watch and discovered  it was 2 pm.  I was starving.  Time to stop and eat.

Back in the early 60s Louisiana (as well as most other states) generously supplied travelers with rest stops.  Many in Louisiana simply consisted of a picnic table on a concrete pad and a trash receptacle positioned under a tree.

Such a rest stop appeared before me, so I pulled off next to it.  With my trusty lunch tote I sat at the table, unwrapped the newspaper from my TV dinner, poured myself a cup of coffee from my thermos, unwrapped my knife and fork and dove into my Salisbury steak meal.  Suddenly after 2 bites my gravy splashed onto my shirt and face.   What the hell!  Closer inspection revealed bird crap.   BIRD CRAP!!  I looked up and saw a male mockingbird proudly perching above me.  That was it!!  I was done!!  No more appointments today.   My lunch went in the garbage and I got back in the car and sped away.  If bad luck happens in threes I had had mine that day.   

I managed to get home without any further mishaps to test my nerves and patience.   

Ever have a bad day? 

A few months later I did manage to sell my Rambler after purchasing a Michoud Plant fleet vehicle.   More on this little saga in a later post.

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Hit 200,000 Sept 28,2018

Hit 170,000 June 17. 2018

Hit 150,000 on June 9, 2018

Hit 125,000 on January 24, 2018

Hit 120,000 on December 18, 2017 

Hit 100,000 @ 700pm, Nov 11, 2017

October 3, 2017: 70,000 views.

September 9, 2017 saw my total views soaring to 50,000.

It's March 6, 2017 and total views have now exceeded 40,000.  At this point the top 10 most popular of my 77 blog posts are:

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford Mar 27, 2013
Dennis Hopper May 10, 2012, 2 comments
Steve McQueen May 9, 2012, 4 comments
ESSO and the Whisk Broom May 10, 2012, 1 comment
William Holden and Richard Widmark May 9, 2012
Hit or Miss (1955 - 56) Jan 12, 2013
Bette Davis May 7, 2012
Antics at the Governor's Mansion Jan 2, 2016
Raymond Burr May 7, 2012
Clint Eastwood May 9, 2012

It's now January  14, 2017 and total views have now exceeded 35,000.  At this point the top 10 most popular of my 77 blog posts are:

Dennis Hopper May 10, 2012, 2 comments
Steve McQueen May 9, 2012, 4 comments
Hit or Miss (1955 - 56) Jan 12, 2013
ESSO and the Whisk Broom May 10, 2012, 1 comment
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford Mar 27, 2013
Raymond Burr May 7, 2012
It was not a good day .... or WAS it? Dec 29, 2013, 2 comments
Jackie Gleason and Ray Spruel May 7, 2012, 3 comments
Alfred Hitchcock May 11, 2012
Bette Davis May 7, 2012

It's July 23, 2016 and total views have now exceeded 30,000.

And here we are 10 days before Christmas (December 15, 2015) and my blog has now been viewed 25,000 times.....Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

And once again I owe you  and hundreds of other blog viewers a humble vote of thanks.   And this number does not include my own views or blog maintenance activities.

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And today is September 6, 2015 and totals views are at 22,222

Here it is May 24, 2015 and the number of views appearing on my blog now numbers just over 20,000.  I now ditto the gratitude I expressed when I hit 15,000 back in September 2014.  And out of 67 posts to date the following 10 since last September have been the most popular:

                    1. Dennis Hopper

                    2. QUANTUM APOCALYPSE

                    3. It was not a good day

                    4. Raymond Burr

                    5. ESSO and the Whisk Broom

                    6. My Kidnapper, My Love

                    7. Steve McQueen

                    8. SUPERDOME

                    9. Hit or Miss (1955 - 56)

                  10. Alfred Hitchcock

Why 15,000 you may ask?   Well believe it or not 15,000 is my way of saying thank you.  On Nov 13, 2013 my blog views totaled 10,000.   And now  on September 15, 2014 the total is up to 15,000.  And I owe you  and hundreds of other blog viewers a humble vote of thanks.   And this number does not include my own views or blog maintenance activities.

So gang many many thanks.  And I especially appreciate those of you who have  expressed your feelings with "Likes" and comments (both negative and positive).  Thank heavens 99.99% of your comments have been positive. 

I first launched this blog just over 2 years ago.  I named it MUSTARD SANDWICHES and  I owe my blog inspiration to 4 people:  Bill LaVallee (Read the blog Forward), Peggy Sweeney McDonald (Read the MUSTARD SANDWICHES story), Raymond Cothern and Carol Spruell.  The latter 2, Raymond and Carol, provided the "How to" information and the "push" I needed.   

Two years prior to this blog launch I was posting my stories directly on Facebook.  The only drawback with FB posting was that there was no rich text formatting.  Being able to choose font sizing, italics, bold face and underscoring gives the stories more color, depth and readability.


And after 2 years of blogging I am still a neophyte.  I've not figured out yet how to enable viewers to make comments with each post or why "My blogs" would lend strength to the process.  Or why Google+ would be of value.  I guess I'm just impatient.  Maybe I'll discover value as I go along.

In any event I have discovered value in knowing I have a significant number of MUSTARD SANDWICHES followers to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude.

**********

Today is September 16, 2014 and with a total of 62 stories we are now at 15000 views and the top ten most popular as of this date are:

                                        

Today is March 29th 2014 and the total number of views is now at 12,345.

Today is January 22, 2014 and the total views have now reached 11,111.  

                     ****************

As of this date (Nov 13, 2013) there are 52 blog stories and my blog has enjoyed 10,000 views (NOT including my own views and maintenance actions).   The following 10 stories have been the most popular up to this date:

                                        


                   ******************

 As of April 1, 2013 my blog a reached 5000 views (NOT including my own views and maintenance actions).  As of this date the following constituted the top 10 most viewed stories*:

                         1. QUANTUM APOCALYPSE
                                                 2. Raymond Burr
                                                 3. Alfred Hitchcock
                                                 4. ESSO and the Whisk broom
                                                 5. Clint Eastwood
                                                 6. Steve McQueen
                                                 7. Mustard Sandwiches
                                                 8. Mothman
                                                 9. SUPERDOME
                                               10. Wm Holden/Richard Widmark

      *It must be noted here that as of April 2013 there were 20 fewer stories posted/





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