Burdizzo's thread about Cary Grant dropping acid got me wondering: what are your favorite random, or wild, or behind the scenes, or covered up stuff that actors and actresses have done. The stories can be reported on rumors (preferably not National Enquirer type rumor…) or confirmed. It might be obscure, or decently known; I'm sure some of the stuff here will be things most people that follow entertainment will know, while some might be random and outdated and most will be surprised by it.

It's about a director, not an actor, but when Guillermo del Toro was a kid, he made a short film about a serial killer potato with aspirations of world domination that murdered his family and then got run over by a car.
Here's the quote from his Reddit AMA:
"I was directing before I even realized that it was called directing, when I was about 8 years old. I was doing it with my father's super 8 camera, and my toys from the Planet of the Apes movies, and the found objects - I did one of my shorts about a serial killer potato. I don't still have it, thank God, but it was a serial killer potato that dreamt of conquering the world, that murdered my mother and my brothers, and then stepped outside and was crushed by a car."

It was Kevin Costners idea to have Whitney Houston cover "I will always love you"

Something about Richard Gere and ger…

Never mind.

Corporal Punishment said:

---

Something about Richard Gere and ger…

Never mind.

---

When I was typing out the OP I wondered how many posts it would take before this was referenced. Mentally I set the over/under at 5. I should have taken the under.

Not an actor but the story that came out in the 70s about Rod Stewart having his stomach pumped because he swallowed too much semen. Turned out to be false thankfully. I even remember Paul Harvey reporting it.

Corporal Punishment said:

---

Something about Richard Gere and ger…

Never mind.

---

Before that it was Rod Stewart getting his stomach pumped because he swallowed a bunch of sp….

The movie The Outsiders Rob Lowe reported how Patrick Swayze showed the actors how things were done in Texas. He showed them how to jump trains.

When Jimmy Stewart died, somebody called into the Mark Davis radio show and told the following story:

That he was on a "tour of the stars homes" in California and for the most part it was boring. They only saw one star (I think it was Madonna) who gave them the bird. Then they got to Jimmy Stewart's house and he and his wife were in the yard working on the garden. Unlike the other homes, their house wasn't hidden behind a monster wall or hedges. The Stewarts invited the entire bus into their home and offered them drinks and snacks. They talked a while, then they got back into the bus and left. The bus driver said, that they always go there last, because that sort of thing happened all the time at their house. It turned a ripoff into being well worth the price.

That's super cool!

I'm surprised the Richard Gere thing wasn't the first response.

chick79 said:

---

Not an actor but the story that came out in the 70s about Rod Stewart having his stomach pumped because he swallowed too much semen. Turned out to be false thankfully. I even remember Paul Harvey reporting it.

---

5 gallons of it is what I was told on the school bus in elementary school. I was also told on that same school bus that ACDC climbed to the top of the Empire State building and lit the American flag on fire. Man, I hated those guys when I heard that!

As a kid growing up in San Antonio, I was always told that Ozzy Osbourne was arrested for peeing in the Alamo. However, that not true. He was peeing in Alamo Plaza, but not on the Alamo.

The funny part is that he was arrested wearing a dress. Sharon had hidden all of his clothing to try and keep him from leaving, so he put on one of her dresses to go out and pee.

Tara Reid used to drunk dial me A LOT

Mel Gibson's antisemitic rant suprised me. I'm glad it's out in the open so I know he's complete trash, but it suprised me at the time.

uujm said:

---

Tara Reid used to drunk dial me A LOT

---

Well…. ?

uujm said:

---

Tara Reid used to drunk dial me A LOT

---

Well, did you?

Steve Buschemi went to help his fire department after 9/11.

One time in the Fall of 92 me and my cousin went to go see Cowboys headquarters at Valley Ranch. We stopped at a red light with our windows down and pulling up right next to us in his black SL500 was Michael Irvin . He had his window down too, flashed that big smile right at us, gave us the head nod acknowledgement, then soon as it went green seemingly floored it.

Steve McQueen met Martin Landau back when Steve was an auto mechanic and worked on James Dean's ride. Landau was riding with Dean at the time.

Fast forward years later when McQueen is famous. Landau "meets" McQueen for the first time and Steve reminds him of the auto shop.

Johnny Depp reportedly paid 3 million dollars to fire Hunter S Thomason's ashes out of a cannon. To be fair, it was Hunter's wishes I think, but Depp footed the bill.

After Forrest Gump, Gary Sinise started a foundation for disabled veterans which has raised over $1B.

AgRyan04 said:

---

Mel Gibson's antisemitic rant suprised me. I'm glad it's out in the open so I know he's complete trash, but it suprised me at the time.

---

My daughter and I are watching The Simpsons from the beginning and just watched the Mel Gibson episode last week. It was quite awkward.

Harrison Ford assisted the Montana Park Service by rescuing stranded hikers in his helicopter well into his 60s.

Can you imagine being stuck on the top of a mountain, and Han Solo lands his chopper next to you to give you a lift home?

I wonder how many times he hear Kessel Run jokes on the ride.

BusterAg said:

---

Harrison Ford assisted the Montana Park Service by rescuing stranded hikers in his helicopter well into his 60s.

Can you imagine being stuck on the top of a mountain, and Han Solo lands his chopper next to you to give you a lift home?

I wonder how many times he hear Kessel Run jokes on the ride.

---

I'm going to bet never

Sorry man, but if he's rescuing me, I'm going to call him Indy (or Doctor Jones), not Han.

Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd funded Monty Python and the Holy Grail, thank God!

And George Harrison funded A Life of Brian - "because he wanted to see the movie"

I'm sure a lot of people are very aware that Norm MacDonald was fired from SNL because he refused to lay off the OJ Simpson jokes. Jim Downey was his main writing partner for Weekend Update. I learned on this podcast that the network tried to fire Downey well before Norm, but Norm told them if Downey was fired he'd quit the show. The kicker is that Norm never told Downey he did that. Downey learned it second hand because Norm didn't want his friend to think he owed him anything. Norm's Weekend Update was my favorite part of SNL, the part I would stay up to watch no matter what. Just made me love him a little bit more.

Re: "ne time in the Fall of 92 me and my cousin went to go see Cowboys headquarters at Valley Ranch. We stopped at a red light with our windows down and pulling up right next to us in his black SL500 was Michael Irvin . He had his window down too, flashed that big smile right at us, gave us the head nod acknowledgement, then soon as it went green seemingly floored it."

Was driving on Preston Rd. in Plano circa 2005.. saw a black 2-dr. Merc w/ vanity license plate "PLYMKR". Yep, it was Irvin.

Also, went to a friend's music gig at a dumpy bar un Plano called Bullwinkle's (was a converted Burger King at Custer & Spring Creek).

In walks Irvin wearing sunglasses and an all-white track suit, warmup. He had a minion lackey sidekick w/ him.

Dude just shows up at this random bar... probably trolling for tail... ha.

Shades of Irvin's White House days.

Carlo4 said:

---

Steve McQueen met Martin Landau back when Steve was an auto mechanic and worked on James Deen's ride. Landau was riding with Dean at the time.

Fast forward years later when McQueen is famous. Landau "meets" McQueen for the first time and Steve reminds him of the auto shop.

---

"Interesting, Steve. What if I were to tell you the car I have now needs some work. Is that something you might be interested in?"

Dusty Hill of ZZ Top lived in a subdivision not too far from mine in Houston in the early 80s. It was just a normal suburban middle class neighborhood... although he did drive a DeLorean. (This was pre-Eliminator days)

There was a Kroger near Campbell and Kempwood in Houston, very near where I lived. I used to ride my bike to the game room in that strip center. There was a dive bar in there, too. Dusty parked the DeLorean outside and played pool there, quite often.

One of my high school buddies, let's call him David, lived in the same neighborhood with Dusty. When I met David, he was a basketball player and was in shape. But he told me he was a fat kid when he was young. That's when Dusty hired David to mow his lawn. Houston heat plus fat kid, and David passed out in the middle of Dusty's lawn. Dusty gave him a ride home (but not in the DeLorean.)

Friend of a friend taught Woody Harrelson at the Briarwood School when he was a kid and went by Tracy. He credits that school with helping him get more stable, which is understandable when you find out his dad was a convicted hitman who went to prison for murdering a judge.

I also went to school with the kids of Frank Beard - ZZ Top drummer who ironically did not have a beard. They had a little chunk of land adjacent to my neighborhood, so his twins went to school with the rest of us. When it was time to play little league baseball, his kids didn't want to be on just any team, so he made a team for just his sons' friends, and they practiced at their house. I was not one of the cool kids they wanted on their team.

BQRyno said:

---

I also went to school with the kids of Frank Beard - ZZ Top drummer who ironically did not have a beard. They had a little chunk of land adjacent to my neighborhood, so his twins went to school with the rest of us. When it was time to play little league baseball, his kids didn't want to be on just any team, so he made a team for just his sons' friends, and they practiced at their house. I was not one of the cool kids they wanted on their team.

---

Username checks out