Meeting Michael

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A drawing of Michael by Lorene Thomas....
on the back of a small envelope!

I want to write about the first time I met Michael Zaslow, but I can't. As funny as it sounds, I don't really remember our "first time". I had been invited to the GL studios by Scott Hoxby, who was playing Detective Cutter at the time. Notorious for being a drawer (one who pencils art, not one who fits in a cupboard :) ), I had had a drawing I wanted to give to Michael's co-star, Maureen Garrett. Scott graciously introduced us. Now here's where things get fuzzy ...

Michael came along but I don't believe I was introduced. I vaguely recall Maureen just previously saying that Michael was in a "low mood". (I guess it wasn't just the fans who were up in arms regarding his storyline at that time -- it was late 1994.) This I do remember: I was in complete awe when I met him (hence my subsequent brain lock!) It would be easy to dismiss that moment of dumbness by saying it was because I had been a Roger fan for quite some time and now I got to meet "him", but it was more than that; I got to meet the actor, I got to meet THE MAN. I stood there in muted silence because I had rarely met such a person whose presence was so magnetic. And that's all I remember about that moment... oh yeah, and the fact that he was really tall! :)

Fortunately, I must have been a really good girl that year because I had the good fortune of meeting Michael twice more that week. (Thank you Scott Hoxby!!) I was walking down the hall of the studio with Scott when Michael approached. (It was my understanding that he and Scott would occasionally bike to work together.) Michael looked down at me and said, "Hi, I'm Michael Zaslow," and put out his hand. I shook it and said, "Hi, I'm Lorene Thomas." "Ah," he said in some recognition of my name, "the girl who draws me!" (Long story condensed into: I sent him drawings in the past, he reciprocated with some wonderful thank you notes.) We talked about how he had missed the GL gathering that year (his daughter's birthday), where I was from, the show, etc.

Later on that day I got to watch a scene being shot; a Thanksgiving scene with Michael, Maureen Garrett, Jerry ver Dorn, and Liz Keifer. I remember what a consummate professional he was when the cameras were on, how you couldn't take your eyes off of him; and when the cameras were off, the comraderie he had with his fellow actors. Oh yes... and I remember how he was always snacking on the set food in between takes- I believe the set girl admonished him more than once for eating the props! When the scene was over, he walked by and smiled in recognition. I approached him with a request: could I have his script? He gave me a sideways look and asked, "Why? Are you going to sell it?" I responded with a smart-assed comment I would have given anyone whose company I felt comfortable in: "I don't know.. depends how much I can get for it!" With that he broke into a fantastic smile and laughed, "OK then, here you go!"

With the exception of a very brief meeting the next year -- in which I spent the entire time picking up my swooning friend off the ground! -- that was the last time I saw Michael. And I have to think it was a very fitting image of him which was left in my memory: that of Michael smiling.

Oh, that smile! That laughter! That hair!! Did I mention that hair?? :) The movie critic Pauline Kael once wrote, "You smiled when you saw him, it made you happy just to look at him." That was her description of Cary Grant, but is it not simply the most wonderful characterization of Michael as well? In fact, even as I write this about him, I cannot help but smile. That was his gift; that was his charm; that was just who he was.

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