EVENT
Sitting Next to Adam West in First Class
- During a first-class flight from Newark (EWR) to Salt Lake City (SLC) on my way home to Portland from working in Manhattan, I sat directly next to legendary actor Adam West (famed as TV's 1960s Batman).
- I was seated in 1C (first row aisle), and the seat next to me (1D) remained empty until just before the doors closed, when an older gentleman took the seat at the last minute.
- I struck up a conversation with my usual opener: "Heading out or heading home?"
- He replied: "Home, heading to Sun Valley."
- I followed up with: "Business or pleasure?"
- He mentioned he was in town doing some voice-over work (which turned out to be voicing Mayor West on Family Guy).
- I asked: "So you're in the industry? Anything I might know of?"
- He replied that he had done multiple plays, theatrical releases, and a major television series.
- He then paused, smiled, and said: "Hello, I'm Adam West."
- I profusely apologized for not recognizing him and explained a bit about my own work. We both took full advantage of the free first-class liquor for the remainder of the flight to Salt Lake City.
- Since he was heading home to Sun Valley, I asked him if he had ever bumped into Mariel Hemingway (whom I jokingly refer to as my "twin" sister because we share the exact same birth date).
- He said he had seen her from time to time at her yoga studio.
- I jokingly replied: "Next time you see her, say hi from me." We both laughed at the request, which was my humorous way of linking two random celebrity connections.
- Midway through the flight, I had been reading a book on Standup Comedy and asked him if he would autograph it.
- He jokingly signed it with the name of the book's author instead of his own.
- When I went: "No no... your name," we shared another chuckle, and he signed it.
These facts are as Randal recalls them, but much time has passed for most of this. If you find a factual error, please email realmerlyn@gmail.com.