Good stories, thanks for sharing. Did Orso used to be an actor's hangout restaurant called Fred Allen's? If that's the same location, I met my wife there 24 years ago before we left the city. Good karma. And the black bean soup was pretty damn good.

I was Joe Allen's, not Fred Allen. A transplanted New York actors' bar/restaurant. Fred Allen had his own Greenwich Village follies, though.

Great stuff. This is what Cavett's column over at the "Times" strives for but never reaches. Mazursky's a ball.

I loved Paul's essay. I sort of feel like I've had my fill of Hollywood tales, but this -- a tale of unexpected love -- was wonderful.

More Paul Mazursky, please!

I just wanted to say the above but have to put more in the box here. Nothing more to say, just a huge thanks.

Hey I work on the 3rd floor here at work. Can I please join the third floorers for just one lunch? I swear I won't say a word. I'll sit quietly in the corner, basking in the stories and love of these BFFs (Best Friends Forever).

who have to suck up to these dodderages. in their minds they are back in high school. who gets to sit with the cool kids in the lunchroom. who's related to whom in this nepocracy. who cares who this lumpen lump namedrops?

...that he got his first big break working crew on Stanley Kubricks first two or three movies, which Kubrick pulled from distribution and willed never to be shown again. There's a great picture of (and a nice interview with) Mazursky in "Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures." It's on the set of "Fear and Desire", and a VERY youthful Mazursky is kneeling next to a seated Kubrick (looking not much older than 14), operating a camera.

This was a fun essay. But it's a shame that Mel can't direct anymore, and has to keep cannibalizing his own great movies to turn into mediocre musical comedies. The public? They don't know any better.

Well I don't know what this piece is doing on Salon, but I loved it to death. It's about show business over the years, but also highlights for us how important a little community can be to us. Strange to read it on Salon; I'm used to feeling guilty or depressed after an article here.

(Actually, the entertainment beat around this site is usually great - Havrilesky and Zacharek, Charles Taylor when he was here, even Paglia writes a lot about pop culture. Maybe once Bush is out of office and all my liberal progressive friends can stop thinking about him for a little while, Salon can feature more of this kind of stuff and be an enjoyable read again.)