It’s Garry Shandling’s Show; TV Comedian Stars in Film

It’s Garry Shandling’s Show

Probably the most fun I ever had was as a stand-in for Garry Shandling on Love Affair, the Warren Beatty Annette Bening remake of An Affair to Remember. It also featured Katharine Hepburn and was directed by Glenn Gordon Caron, who was then best known for the Cybill Shepherd Bruce Willis hit series Moonlighting.

Garry had success with a Showtime sitcom in the mid-1980s simply called It’s Garry Shandling’s Show. He was breaking into film before his life was cut short, and the world of comedy will never get to fully appreciate him. I’m attaching two photos of Garry and two of me to showcasing similarities that astounded the casting director.

This film Love Affair was a remake of An Affair to Remember. It starred Annette Bening and Warren Beatty. And it’s funny the reviews for their work together on Bugsy spoke of their amazing chemistry as lovers, and yet once they were married and did Love Affair, the critics found less chemistry between the two. Yet both were trophies. Annette was rumored to have been the model for the classic Columbia Pictures torch-bearing logo. I, of course, love her best as the real estate “I will sell this house today” agent in American Beauty. And of course, Warren will forever be seen as a playboy, especially after his performance in Shampoo. He was curiously linked to pop star Madonna and included in her Truth or Dare Tour documentary. His sister is Shirley MacLaine, so stir that into the pot and the tabloid media and paparazzi will keep them in the spotlight.

It was Halloween night, and for some reason I always worked every Halloween. I always wanted to see the Village Halloween Parade, and all my film shoots broke just before the parade or hashtag started til later with overnight shoots. So I never missed it. It’s a wonderful eclectic parade of people with oversized character heads and giant puppets. Spectators would even get dressed up.

My time on the film was working with the director, cameraman, and lighting designer. I’d walk paces as Garry’s character, and the team would note the action. There was a particular tight spot, and they were having trouble with establishing camera angles. After direction, I walked into the scene with a female character stand-in, held her hand as I spun her around, and effortlessly slid into the restaurant banquet beside her. The director said; “that’s it!” and asked me to do it again. The camera operator agreed. So the principal actors then came onto the set. The director Glen told Garry he thought he got the turnaround placement in the booth seating and asked us to run the steps again. Glen complimented me, and Garry agreed but added in true dry humor he does best, “Why don’t we let him just go ahead and do the scene.”

I was beaming for having had direction from someone I respected and admired. I had heard all the stories about actors misbehaving on the Moonlighting set and knew Glen had to be a master at working with actors. At one point I was sitting behind the camera watching a take and must have had a deep thought. Glen must have seen something on my face and asked if I was okay. I thought wow, here is a director who’s in tune with his entire cast and crew.

Have you ever had a boss or someone you wanted to work for as a mentor? Did you ever tell them? What’s your favorite story about an intuitive role model?