...Strictly Cash and Carry

 ...Strictly Cash and Carry





      Living in Los Angeles you are bound to run into some genuine movie stars. They might be nice or they might show themselves to be real bastards or bitches. Going back to the beginnings of Creasons in So Cal we find BC working as a boy extra on the old Our Gang Comedies. This was not the version with Alfalfa, Spanky, and Stymie but the 1922 silent shorts with the same subject matter but different kids. In BC's day it was a chubby kid named Joe Cobb who was the ring leader and target of abuse by the street punks who populated the old sets. BC made a dollar a day and got a box lunch which was better than his Dad made working for a paint factory. The story of my Dad's life was that he went where the money was and when Our Gang changed casts with sound in 1929 he was long gone and selling newspapers around downtown LA. However, he never gave up making a few bucks as an extra and he had friends behind the scenes who would let him know when he could get paid for standing around in the background. He was part of the crowd with lead actors like Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, and Cary Grant who he seemed to know for helping the actor find things that squares could not. Miss Judy once got hm a bicycle for Stephen during the War because he was able to get her a case of Galleano liquer which was a favorite to wash down the  uppers and downers I guess. He was a wounded soldier in the classic Sam Fuller film "Steel Helmet" and once got beat up standing in for Errol Flynn. Moving forward many years to a 1970's encounter with one of the biggests stars of his day who was also known to be a very poor manager of his money. This took place in BC's grand office at Figueroa and Santa Barbara in an old Victorian mansion. It was the day of a big football game involving USC and it was nearing kickoff with BC still holding a few very valuable premium tickets for the game. Suddenly, the egotistical Mickey Rooney bounded up the steps and into the office. Rooney had been a huge star in the 30's and 40's when he made a bunch of corny movies with him starring as an energetic kid. From 1939-1941 he made more money than any actor in Tinseltown. By the date of this encounter with the Coliseum and Arena Ticket Service all that money and a lot more were gone to 8 ex-wives, bad bisiness decisions, gambling debts and bankruptcies. Yet, Mickey wanted good seats and BC had them but he also had a knowledge of the man's habit of writing bad checks and stiffing merchants. So when the Mick reached into his sports jacket pocket for his checkbook BC stopped him cold by saying "um Mister Rooney, it is strictly cash and carry here." Rooney in a huff, stuffed the book of bad paper back into his pocket and said to  his companion "let's get out of here, this place smells bad." A few minutes later BC sold his tickets, caring less about a phony actor and smiled all the way to the bank on Mondy


                                "this is not a non-profit business"- Ben Creason

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