Cooking For The Stars

Thanks for sticking with me. I hope my teaser last week inspired you to come back today. Cooking For the Stars is a little like Dancing With the Starts, except it’s cooking instead of dancing, and “for” instead of “with,” and there’s no audience phone-ins, or Judges scores, or a giant set, or dazzling bright lights, or microphones, or celebrity hosts, but other than that, it’s exactly the same. So, since I promised good things, let’s not waste any time.

The Baer House Inn has had several celebrity and quasi-celebrity guests over the past couple of years. It’s been hard not to go all fangirl and stay professional and all, but I managed to keep myself in check and be the consummate hostess. I think. I hope.

So, who are these past guests with a claim to fame? I’m glad you asked. Let’s get right down to it shall we?

Keith Hernandez

According to Wikipedia: Keith Hernandez is an American former Major League Baseball first baseman who played the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets. Hernandez was a five-time All-Star who shared the 1979 NL MVP award, and won two World Series titles, one each with the Cardinals and Mets.

 

Now, I did not ask for a photo because he was sort of keeping a low profile and we had other guests so I didn’t want to call attention to him if he didn’t want it. I was trying to be discreet. Nobody else seemed to recognize him so I just treated him like all the other guests. I did however get his autograph albeit in a sneaky way. I had him sign his credit card receipt. He and his female companion were very, very nice. He was wearing one of his world series rings.

Sidney Blumenthal

Again, I turn to Wikipedia: Sidney Stone Blumenthal is an American journalist, activist, writer, and political aide. He is a former aide to President Bill Clinton; a long-time confidant of Hillary Clinton, formerly employed by the Clinton Foundation; and a journalist, especially on American politics and foreign policy. He is also an author of several books (mostly of a political nature) and two movies.

He traveled here with his wife, Jacqueline, and both were very nice although a bit reserved. Perhaps that’s the DC lifestyle. Again, there were other guests here so I kept the chit chat to a minimum and included all other guests in the conversation. I don’t think anyone else recognized him. If they did, they did not comment on it.

John Miller

John is a lesser known name, but he actually has a couple of claims to fame. He played major league baseball for a couple of years back in the 1960’s. Much later in life he turned to acting. His movie credits include: Durant’s Never Closes (2016), Duel At the Mound (2014), and an early appearance in Then Came Bronson (1969).

Here’s a demo reel from Duel At the Mound.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6131330/videoplayer/vi2038413849

He was here just this past weekend with his lovely traveling companion (I think his wife, but I’m not completely sure about that) and a much more well-known actor.

Mitchell Ryan

Again, I’m going to let Wikipedia tell you about my new friend Mitch. (Yes, I call him Mitch.)

American character actor born in Cincinnati and raised in Louisville, Mitchell Ryan is a well known supporting actor in films and television. During his term in the Navy in 1951, he was assigned to the Special Services Entertainment and became hooked on acting. After his term in the Navy, he appeared in dozens of plays until he received notice as playing a regular in TV’s Dark Shadows (1966) for three years.

Here he is in Dark Shadows in the mid 1960’s.

Back to you Wikipedia:

Beginning in the 70s, he received work in motion pictures including Monte Walsh (1970), Magnum Force (1973) and in Clint Eastwood‘s High Plains Drifter (1973). He had a small part in Universal’s Midway (1976) and returned to act in numerous soaps and television series, among them included a recurring guest role in Having Babies (1978), Executive Suite (1976), The Chisholms (1979) and All My Children (1970) and a growing list of television films and TV guest appearances.

Ryan is probably best known for portraying the villain that Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are after in Lethal Weapon (1987), but his career included several supporting roles in the past ten years including Judge Dredd (1995), Michael Myers’ nemesis in Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Liar Liar (1997) with Jim Carrey and as Harrison Ford‘s chief out to get Brad Pitt in The Devil’s Own (1997).

I remember him best from the television sitcom Dharma and Greg where he played Greg’s father.

Here’s a shot from an episode of Dallas in 1978.

In an episode of Murder She Wrote in 1984.

All decked out much later in life.

2019 at the Baer-Williams House.

Patricia Rickrode and Mitchell Ryan. Photo by B. Ryan, September 2019

Mitch traveled with his lovely wife Barbara and the Millers. They spent 3 nights with us and were simply amazing and gracious guests. Unlike the other celebs, this gentleman WAS recognized and photographs were requested, which he gladly obliged with grace.

Here’s what he and his wife wrote in our guest book:

Photo by P. Rickrode, September 2019

Photo by P. Rickrode, September 2019

Here’s the really cool part – Barbara and Mitch bought both of my books and asked ME for MY autograph!! How cool is that? A celebrity asked for my autograph. Sah-weet!!!!

Here are Mitch and Barbara with my husband and again with me.

 

Mitchell and Barbara Ryan with Corey Rickrode Photo by P. Rickrode September 2019

Mitchell and Barbara Ryan with Patricia Rickrode. Photo by C. Rickrode September 2019

And so my friends, that’s how I came to be a chef for the celebrities. I can’t call myself a celebrity chef because that’s something completely different, but I can certainly say I’ve cooked for the stars.

And, here’s a bonus brush with fame. While I never cooked for her, a long time ago, BEFORE she was famous, I spent quite a bit of time with this lady:

That’s right, I performed on stage with a teen-aged Jessica Chastain. For those of you who don’t know who she is, I’ll turn you over to Wikipedia:

Jessica Michelle Chastain was born in Sacramento, California, and was raised in a middle-class household in a northern California suburb. Her mother, Jerri Chastain, is a vegan chef whose family is originally from Kansas, and her stepfather is a fireman. She discovered dance at the age of nine and was in a dance troupe by age thirteen. She began performing in Shakespearean productions all over the Bay area.

An actor in a production of “Romeo & Juliet” encouraged her to audition for Juilliard as a drama major. She became a member of “Crew 32” with the help of a scholarship from one of the school’s famous alumni, Robin Williams.

In her last year at Juilliard, she was offered a holding deal with TV writer/producer John Wells and she eventually worked in three of his TV shows. Jessica continues to do theatre, having played in “The Cherry Orchard”, “Rodney’s Wife”, “Salome” and “Othello”. She spends her time between New York and Los Angeles, working in theater, film and TV.

In 2011, she had a prolific year in film. She was nominated for and won a number of awards, including a 2012 Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for The Help (2011)

She holds the distinction of twice appearing in the top two films at the American box office in one weekend. This occurred on the weekend of 18-21 January 2013, when Zero Dark Thirty (2012) dropped to the number two position as her other film, Mama (2013), ascended to the top spot. This made Chastain the first woman in nearly 50 years to have the leading role in the top two films at the box office. This also occurred on the weekend of 2-4 September 2011, when The Help (2011) was the number one film in America, and another film starring Chastain, The Debt (2010), took the number two position, though her roles in these two films were supporting ones.

She is most notably known for her portrayals of strong-willed women in films with feminist themes. Chastain’s accolades include a Golden Globe Award and two Academy Award nominations. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012.

Here’s a blurb about the show she and I did at a community theater in Sacramento about 25 years ago:

A PIECE OF MY HEART

by  Shirley Lauro

 

This is a powerful, true drama of six women who went to Vietnam: five nurses and a country western singer booked by an unscrupulous agent to entertain the troops. 

This show was intense. We had an amazing group of talented women and a fabulous director. Here’s one of the few pictures I have from the show:

I’m the one with the bangs, Jessica is to my left (the one on the right in the photo) with her arm on her bent knee.

So there you have it. this concludes this week’s episode. I hope you enjoyed the show post. Now it’s your turn. Have you had a brush with fame? What was your favorite Mitchell Ryan or Jessica Chastain film or television show?

Word of the Day: Fyke

Fun fact about me: Jessica Chastain and I share the same birthday, me 13 years before her.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, September 2019. Images by Patricia Rickrode, Corey Rickrode, Barbara Ryan and Google Images.

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