Working at a nightclubs I met a lot of people. The good, the bad, and in-between. Famous, infamous, and nobodies. Sometimes I had no idea who was who. I tried to stop Mick Jagger from entering Hurrah. He was wearing a beard. His bodyguard Tony steered me right. I refused Meryl Strep entry to the Mudd Club on orders from the owner, Steve Maas. It wasn’t hard. I didn’t like her in THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN. In Paris at Le Reve I came to the door to find an old boxer arguing with the cashier about free admission to the dance club. I asked him why he and his two lady friends should enter without paying and he responded by insulting the land of my birth.
“Putain Amerlot.”
“Fucking Americans.” I told him to leave, “And take those two old doormats with you.”
My boss and friend approached me several seconds after the trio’s departure.
“Explain to me why you threw out Brigitte Bardot.”
“Brigitte Bardot.” I loved her in AND GOD CREATED WOMEN. I dreamed about her as a boy. Stepping out onto the sidewalk, I recognized the film goddess from behind. She was older, less blonde, and wearing a frumpy down coat. “I had no idea who she was.”
“Quais, putain Amerlot.” Serge didn’t fire me. We were friends, however a week later Mickey Rourke showed up at the club with ten friends. Mostly young junkies from the Bains-Douches. We never let them in for free,. I made an exception this tie. Serge came up to me.
“No Brigittie Bardot, but hello Mssr. Rourke.” He never let me forget this error in judgment and it remains a joke between us till this day. Serge laughed all the harder as the American actor slipped down the ranks from his heyday, although we both agreed on his best line.
“Drinks for my friends.” Mickey Rourke called out in Barbet Schroeder’s BARFLY.
It seemed to be a line he must have said in real life too. Bad movies, a worse choice for a plastic surgeon. He was banned from Hollywood, except under a mask like for SIN CITY, however Mickey Rourke appears to have resurrected his career by starring in the Golden Lion winner of the Venice Film Festival, Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler”.
“A guy like me changes hard, I didn’t want to change, but I had to change.”
Same as the rest of us.