Oscar Who? How About Jackie

Oscar winner Timothy Hutton (left) and actor Saul Rubinek (right) co-starred in Nero Wolfe in 2001 and were reunited on Leverage a decade later.

Celebrities, they’re just like you and me.

I had the opportunity to test that aphorism while making appearances on the Howard Stern Superfan Roundtable (SFRT) from 2005–2014. The one-hour radio programs were recorded at SiriusXM’s studios in New York City’s Rockefeller Center. Panelists cooled their jets in the waiting area, where actors, politicians, comedians, athletes, and musicians also cycled through.

A few random people who exchanged greetings include Gallagher (the watermelon-smashing prop comic) and Marky Ramone, lugging a huge bag of vinyl records to record his weekly show on the First Wave channel. Casual glances at discarded ID badges revealed Duncan Sheik (musician/composer) and Danica McKellar (actress/mathematics writer) had also recently visited the broadcasting center.

On one occasion, while walking to the SFRT studio with host “Mutt,” we encountered the legendary Jay Thomas and spoke for a few minutes about a current political issue he wanted to discuss on his show.

“What do you think?” he asked.

I shrugged and remarked that whatever happened wouldn’t be remembered in 10 years (the fact that I can’t recall the topic demonstrates I was correct). Thomas grinned, jabbed his forefinger in my direction, and replied, “Exactly. Who gives a shit!”