Almost SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO I adopted the wonderful character actor David Patrick Kelly.
It started sort of a movement, well smaller than a movement, maybe a ripple, yes, a ripple, where other bloggers adopted their own actors.
If I had to guess, 90% of the links on the adoption roster are broken. Many of the bloggers who participated are now DEAD. Or more likely, they deleted their blogs or made them private. Oh man, some of them might have died. That’s a buzzkill. Sorry guys.
The whole adopt-an-actor thing was, to me at least, a few things.
- Something to do! Content!
- A way of promoting an artist you care about and perhaps is underappreciated by the larger entertainment world.
- A way of associating one’s self with a person you admire. Get some of that thespian glitter on your blog!
I’ve never met David Patrick Kelly, but from all signs I see on the Internet the guy is a gracious, grounded, delightful person.
In 2008, I (online) met another blogger, Max the Drunken Severed Head who actually interviewed DPK and allowed me to publish brief excerpts on my blog leading up to his own publishing.
Also in 2008, I invited DPK to a Feelies show I flew out from Chicago to NYC (Hoboken, to be precise).
I received a lovely email from someone who claimed to be his assistant – I don’t know why someone would pretend to be his assistant, but you never know, etc. etc.
I doubt if I will ever talk to the man or meet him, but I’m always in his corner and hope he continues to find happiness and health and all that good stuff.
Happy birthday, man.