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Lary Crews ®

@larycrews.bsky.social

11K followers 15K following 17K posts

79-year-old Navy Veteran kept alive by Reno VA so he can care for his college-educated cat, Stanford. Bluesky content creator. Atheist. Widower. Democrat. Retired journalist and writer with 8 published books. Actor in horror film INSIDIOUS 2011.

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Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 9d

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Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

My second Veronica Slate mystery novel, Extreme Closeup, was set at the Don Cesar Resort Hotel in St. Petersburg Beach. I based it on my preproduction work on Health, except that, of course, no one died in Health. Health is on YouTube.
tinyurl.com/HealthAltman

Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

Altman's next movie was going to be Popeye to be shot in Malta. Shelley Duval's first film had been Brewster McCloud, a film by Altman.
Jules Feiffer had written the Popeye script. Altman hired Robin Williams for Popeye. He hired Shelley for Olive Oyl. As Bob said, "She was born to play her."

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Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

Among my jobs on Health in 1979 was to provide security for TV star Dick Cavett as he ran on St. Petersburg Beach behind the Don CeSar Resort Hotel. Cavett's instructions to me: "If a mob of teenage girls starts to surround me," he said, with impeccable timing, "Let them.” He was a cool guy.

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Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

Altman gave me a bottle of California Petite Sirah and a note. "For Glenda Jackson."
She was in a black blouse, red slacks and barefoot. She read the note. "Good news. You can wear trousers for the role." "I hate my legs on screen," she said. She grabbed a Sharpie and signed a picture for me.

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Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

As I worked in the office one day, Altman said, "Lary, got someone I want you to meet." I turned, expecting a crew member. Instead, a petite woman with a smile on her face shook my hand and said, "Hi. I'm Carol.' It was! Carol Burnett. We talked for a half-hour, and she was nice as a neighbor.

Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

Sadly, the script, written by Altman, Frank Barhydt and Paul Dooley, was very weird. I know because I typed the screenplay on an IBM Selectric typewriter in one of the two penthouses. Many years later, President Ronald Reagan saw it at Camp David and called it "the world's worse movie."

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Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

Filming was about to begin on Health, a movie about a health food conference. A gorgeous setting, the historic Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach. A pink palace that was built during the Jazz Age. Great cast. Carol Burnett, Glenda Jackson, Lauren Bacall, and James Garner.

Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

Our paths crossed again in 1978; when director Robert Altman came to St. Petersburg Beach to make a feature film at the Don Cesar Resort Hotel. He asked me to be Assistant to the Director of a film called Health. I was a production assistant, but I reported directly to Bob.

Lary Crews ® @larycrews.bsky.social · 1h

I had a sort of movie career in 1978 in Florida and again in 2010 in Hollywood. I first met Robert Altman, director of hit movies like MASH, at a press conference in Houston for a lesser-known film, Brewster McCloud. He introduced me to actors Bud Cort and Shelley Duvall. It was her first movie.