'It's temporary:' Steve Guttenberg talks about the fleeing nature of fame and the importance of being a good person at Calgary Exoat Calgary Expo
Article content
Article content
But only up to a point. On Saturday afternoon, the star of the Police Academy franchise, Short Circuit, Cocoon and Three Men and a Baby told an audience at Calgary Expo that he made a deal with his mom and dad when he left New York for Hollywood at the age of 17.
Article content
Inspired by the success of family friend Michael Bell, a successful voice-over actor who had a mansion in L.A., a Cadillac and beautiful girlfriends, Guttenberg had decided he wanted to be a movie star. He took some acting classes in New York and set off for Hollywood after graduating from high school.
Article content
Article content
'My parents gave me two weeks,' Guttenberg said. 'They said I could stay with Michael Bell . He had a big mansion on Mulholland Drive so I had somewhere to stay and somewhere safe to stay. My parents said 'you've got two weeks. So go to Los Angeles and become a movie star. But if you don't in two weeks, come back and you'll go to Albany State University, which I got accepted to.'
Article content
Article content
Before the two weeks were up, he landed a commercial. It was for Kentucky Fried Chicken. He had no lines, but he was in scenes opposite Col. Sanders himself.
Article content
'So I called up my parents and said 'I'm a movie star!'' Guttenberg said.
Article content
His first film, which Bell helped him get, was a tiny role in the 1977 action thriller Roller Coaster opposite George Segal (Fun Calgary Expo overlap: Rollercoaster was also the first film of guest Helen Hunt, who played Segal's daughter, and was also featured at this year's Expo.)
Article content
Article content
Guttenberg eventually landed his first breakout performance in 1982's Diner, a cult comedy that also featured early appearances by Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Paul Reiser, Daniel Stern and Ellen Barkin.
Article content
But he became a household name after playing Carey Mahoney, the smart-alecky new recruit in 1984's Police Academy and its three sequels. Guttenberg said he was certain the film would be a success. But he was also certain he had lost the role after producers narrowed it down to him and another actor.
Article content
'It was between me and another guy,' Guttenberg said. 'I don't want to say his name, but he was really a super talented gu. 'I was able to listen to his audition. The crew was laughing and clapping. This guy could sing and dance. He could do acrobatics and he was handsome. The crew was just laughing and cheering and when he left they were clapping.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Calgary Herald
27-04-2025
- Calgary Herald
'It's temporary:' Steve Guttenberg talks about the fleeing nature of fame and the importance of being a good person at Calgary Exoat Calgary Expo
Article content Article content But only up to a point. On Saturday afternoon, the star of the Police Academy franchise, Short Circuit, Cocoon and Three Men and a Baby told an audience at Calgary Expo that he made a deal with his mom and dad when he left New York for Hollywood at the age of 17. Article content Inspired by the success of family friend Michael Bell, a successful voice-over actor who had a mansion in L.A., a Cadillac and beautiful girlfriends, Guttenberg had decided he wanted to be a movie star. He took some acting classes in New York and set off for Hollywood after graduating from high school. Article content Article content 'My parents gave me two weeks,' Guttenberg said. 'They said I could stay with Michael Bell . He had a big mansion on Mulholland Drive so I had somewhere to stay and somewhere safe to stay. My parents said 'you've got two weeks. So go to Los Angeles and become a movie star. But if you don't in two weeks, come back and you'll go to Albany State University, which I got accepted to.' Article content Article content Before the two weeks were up, he landed a commercial. It was for Kentucky Fried Chicken. He had no lines, but he was in scenes opposite Col. Sanders himself. Article content 'So I called up my parents and said 'I'm a movie star!'' Guttenberg said. Article content His first film, which Bell helped him get, was a tiny role in the 1977 action thriller Roller Coaster opposite George Segal (Fun Calgary Expo overlap: Rollercoaster was also the first film of guest Helen Hunt, who played Segal's daughter, and was also featured at this year's Expo.) Article content Article content Guttenberg eventually landed his first breakout performance in 1982's Diner, a cult comedy that also featured early appearances by Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Paul Reiser, Daniel Stern and Ellen Barkin. Article content But he became a household name after playing Carey Mahoney, the smart-alecky new recruit in 1984's Police Academy and its three sequels. Guttenberg said he was certain the film would be a success. But he was also certain he had lost the role after producers narrowed it down to him and another actor. Article content 'It was between me and another guy,' Guttenberg said. 'I don't want to say his name, but he was really a super talented gu. 'I was able to listen to his audition. The crew was laughing and clapping. This guy could sing and dance. He could do acrobatics and he was handsome. The crew was just laughing and cheering and when he left they were clapping.'
Calgary Herald
26-04-2025
- Calgary Herald
'A mythology for a generation': Actors, stunt people discuss lasting legacy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Calgary Expo
Article content It's was not the response most people get at the Calgary Expo. Article content Article content On Saturday morning during a panel featuring stars from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle film franchise, actor Francois Chau was the last to come on stage after being announced as the 'villain' Shredder. Article content Although not the original actor to play the supervillain — the part was played by James Saito in the first film — he was apparently convincing enough in the role to earn a smattering of presumably good-natured boos, a response generally reserved for villains in pantomimes and puppet shows. Article content Article content Chau, who is also known for playing Dr. Pierre Chang on J.J. Abrams sci-fi series Lost, seemed to encourage the reaction at first. He was also among the panelists who in the Parade of Wonders Friday morning, although he was not seated in the boisterous turtle car that featured cast mates Ernie Reyes Jr., Brian Tochi, Kenn Scott, and Robbie Rist. He was by his lonesome in his own 'Shredder car.' Article content Article content 'It felt a little lonely,' Chau said. 'There was a little boy who was dressed as Shredder. I tired to get him to get into this car but he was a little too shy. I wouldn't get in the car with me either.' Article content Saturday's panel was the second of two celebrating the 35th anniversary of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, just one aspect of what has become a pop-culture juggernaut of film, television, toys. comics books and inventive marketing. Originally created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird as a comic book in 1984, the sewer-dwelling turtle brothers Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo had already been featured in an animated series and line of action figures before Irish filmmaker and music video director Steve Barron took the reins for the cinematic debut of the franchise in 1990. Article content Article content Shredder's lonely parade route notwithstanding, the main thrust of the panel discussion on Saturday was camaraderie and mutual admiration and plenty of deeply serious discussion about why a strange story of anthropomorphic turtles fighting evil in New York became such a sensation for so many decades. Article content 'This room is full of people who love this stuff, including us,' said Rist, who voiced Michelangelo in the first film, its 1991 sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and 1993's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. 'I don't see people doing this — and I'm not denigrating anybody 'else's art — but I don't see people doing this with Spy Kids, I don't see people doing this for the Emoji Movie. I wonder why, 35 years later, I have 40-year-old people coming up and wanting to talk about this thing.'
Edmonton Journal
26-04-2025
- Edmonton Journal
Forty years later, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd revisit Back to the Future at Calgary Expo: 'It's the best thing that ever happened to me'
Article content At first, he said no. 'Things were going kind of good for me in the theatre,' Lloyd told the audience at Calgary Expo Friday evening. 'I'm getting to think that not much is happening here in L.A. So I figured I should go back to New York and continue doing what I was doing. About that moment, I got a script from this new agent. I go through it and I read it and (I said) I don't want to do this. I'm going back to New York, I had the opportunity to do a play. So I took the script to Back to the Future and I put it in the waste-paper basket. That's a seriously ill-thought career choice. I retrieved it and looked at it a second time a little more seriously and I went back to L.A. and met (director) Bob Zemeckis and that was it.'
