How I Met Shelley Winters and Deborah Harry

Over the years I have come into contact with several famous Hollywood celebrities. One such instance occurred in 1995 during the filming of the independent movie, Heavy.

What follows is a brief overview of both the movie and my conversation with two of the movie's stars.

Overview of the Movie Heavy

Directed by James Mangold, Heavy starred Liv Tyler, Shelley Winters, Deborah Harry, Joe Grifasi and Pruitt Taylor.

The film's storyline delved into issues about obesity, self-esteem and mankind's incessant need to belong.

Topics that actress Shelley Winters would humorously address throughout her life with such self-depreciating comments as "Where do I go to get anorexia?"

The movie received critical acclaim; first premiering at Sundance, followed by Cannes, the United Kingdom and eventually the United States.

Details of My Conversation with Shelley Winters and Deborah Harry

Many members of the movie's cast and crew stayed at the hotel I was working for at the time. This was, in part, because portions of the movie were being filmed in nearby Barryville, Highland Lake and Hyde Park.

It was this set of fortuitous circumstances that was to lead up to my conversation with the affable and witty, Shelley Winters and actress - singer Deborah Harry.

On the day of our meeting I was working behind the hotel desk and both Shelley Winters and Deborah Harry were sitting on the lobby couch waiting to be picked up and transported to the nearby movie set. Deborah Harry had her dog with her. It was an adorable lap size dog whose breed I cannot recall.

It was close to the end of my shift and I was waiting on the babysitter to stop by with my children, who at the time were 3 and 6 years old. As the sitter brought the children inside the lobby they took one look at the dog and broke free from the sitter's grasp.

Once free of her they made a jubilant, bee line run right to the couch and jumped up beside the two actresses. A rapid fire series of questions like "Can I give the dog my candy?", "What is the dog's name?"and "Can I sit on your lap?"quickly followed their full frontal leap onto the couch.

I must admit that I was initially mortified, not knowing how the celebrities would feel about my children crawling all over them like pint sized paparazzi.

I rushed out from behind the hotel desk with the sole intention of scooping the children up, apologizing profusely and trying to make an inconspicuous exit.

That may have been the plan, but it wasn't what happened. Both Winters and Harry were incredibly gracious and more than happy to talk with the children. They invited me to sit on the couch with them so the children could finish petting the dog and asking their questions.

While I was there sitting on the couch with them we even briefly managed a little impromptu "girl talk" about children, husbands, pets and dieting.

I found both women to be very intelligent, patient, humorous and engaging. Eventually the conversation ended. The children and I went home and they continued on to the set to film.

Additional Information

The venerable Shelley Winters passed away on a cold January day in 2006. After the film, "Heavy" she went on to star in several more films including "Jury Duty" with Pauley Shore and "Portrait of a Lady" with Nicole Kidman.

As for actress and singer Deborah Harry, she continues to delight her fans with her music to this day.

Sources:
Quote Garden, "Quotations about Dieting" quotegarden.com/dieting.html
Wikipedia Encyclopedia, "Heavy" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy
Wikipedia Encyclopedia, "Shelley Winters" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelley_Winters
Yahoo! Movies, "Shelley Winters" movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800014835/bio
Deborah Harry.com, "Home" deborahharry.com
Wikipedia Encyclopedia, "Debbie Harry" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Harry