It was the summer of 1972; I was 15 years old and had just finished my sophomore year at Novato High School. Before the school year ended, the drama class received an invitation to try out to be extras in a new movie about the ’60s. The ’60s, from our perspective, was ancient history. Many of my friends and I were enamored with the music and cars from that era. So this was mana from heaven.
Just to put the time into perspective, the movie took place in 1962. The actual filming was in 1972 (film released in 1973). So, in today’s time, it would be the difference between 2021 and 2011…weird.
We had to get waivers and permission slips signed. There were about seven of us from Novato High School who signed up. It was a one-day filming at the gym in Mill Valley, Tamalpais High School. We arrived, and there was an abundance of high school kids there anxious to start their movie careers as extras. We were instructed how to dress for the event. First, barber chairs were set up, and all us boys who had 70’s hair were reduced to 60’s hair. I even was left with a ducktail. I was wearing my father’s dark blue letterman sweater with the letter “H” (Hill Jr. High) sewn onto it by my mother. It does help identify me in the movie, besides being a 6’6″ 15-year-old.
Most of the rest of the day was dance class. The class was held outside because of the volume of kid extras and conducted by professional dancers. The lessons seemed to last all day because, well, they lasted most of the day.
We broke for lunch, which was our pay, a KFC two-piece chicken box, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, and a biscuit. To this day, I can’t eat KFC without fond memories of that day.
We did more dance training, and then it was time for the cut. Different groups were herded into the gym, and the dance-off began. The band was live, Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids. Oh, my gosh! It was the music we loved and was part of our lives. It was live, and we had gone back in time to a sock-hop!
We danced, and couples were tapped out. So sorry, maybe next time. My partner and I made the final cut, and we were in the movie! I was astonished how long it took to do each scene, and redo, and redo, etc., on and so forth.
George Lucas was the director, and at one point, my partner and I were the sole subject of the camera, dancing with close-ups. It was a boom camera, and oh, my God, we were going to be up there on the movie screen. Suddenly Mr. Lucas yelled, “Cut!” He told us that girl I was with had too modern of glasses on. Then he went on to other couples…darn it!
I can be seen as one of the many extras in the movie, which still thrills me to no end. I’m particularly recognizable in the strolling part of the dance and the scene after the cherry bomb in the bathroom.
I’ve been involved in several movies and Chevy commercials as security and traffic control, like Howard the Duck and Radio Flyer. The best part of even being traffic control, etc., was I got to eat with the folks in the movie. Talk about food. The food was always fantastic, and some of the actors chatted me up as I was in my motorcycle cop uniform, but not as good as the KFC that day in 1972.
What a thing to be able to say, I was in a movie with Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Richard Dreyfus, Harrison Ford, Paul L Mat, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Candy Clark, Suzanne Somers, and many others; directed by George Lucas and produced by Francis Ford Coppola!
The only famous people I saw were Ron Howard, which we all knew, Cindy Williams, and Richard Dreyfus, who I had no idea who they were. We never saw the others except when the movie came out, and none of them were famous yet, except Ron Howard.
I chatted with Ron Howard. What a nice guy. No pretentiousness, just a down-to-earth guy. I also got spoken to (directed) by George Lucas. In the scene you can see me in after the cherry bomb scene, Mr. Lucas directed me ( and several others) to walk behind Ron Howard and Cindy Williams. That scene was taken over and over again. The only problem was once I walked by, no one told me what to do. I was kind of lost. There are multiple other parts where you can see me and my friends in the movie.
When I turned 50, my brother’s ex-wife, and fellow Novato High School classmate, gave me a wonderful gift. She worked for George Lucas and obtained an American Graffiti poster, and got George Lucas to sign it. She advised that she could only get him to sign it because she promised him I wouldn’t sell it on eBay, and I was family. Apparently, others had done that. No, no eBay sale of my treasured poster.
Scattered Thought 