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About four years ago I requested an interview with legendary actor, Robert Wagner. The idea came to mind as I was writing my “Starmaker” piece on Hollywood agent Budd Burton Moss for the September 2014 issue of ALIVE Magazine. When I finally got the call from Budd Moss recently that the long-awaited interview was granted, I knew my quest to learn things about the superstar that were heretofore unknown, was about to be realized.

Robert Wagner was very generous with his time as we spoke on the phone for nearly half an hour. “Did you know that Budd Moss and I were grammar school students together?” he asked. While I had composed my questions carefully, the conversation took on a more friendly tone. “Budd told me about you. I’m looking forward to meeting you someday,” he continued, “Do you ever get down to LA?” My heart missed a beat or two.

I was curious about Robert Wagner’s early years in Hollywood; the movies, the many television series, and his producing experiences that may make for an interesting Talese-style piece. “Could you tell me about your early successes in the industry?”

“The 50s, 60s and 70s were a different era. We’d pitch an idea and put it together. Today decisions are made by committee and large corporations,” he explained. I was in my element as being a movie aficionado most of my life I never missed a movie and I must confess I had carried a torch for the excruciatingly handsome Robert Wagner since seeing him on the big screen decades ago on the other side of the world. I asked about A Kiss Before Dying, one of his early movies in 1956.

“I enjoyed working with Joanne Woodward in her first film, A Kiss Before Dying, she was terrific. I stop and see her when I visit the East Coast,” he added.

“May I call you RJ?” I asked and explained that I had read his memoir.

Makings of A Star

Robert Wagner, known as RJ to family and friends, recently turned eighty-eight, but has not slowed down one bit. My problem was where to start to write a piece on such a giant in the world of film and television, so I read his poignant memoir, Pieces of My Heart.

I learned about his childhood, dreams, career, loves, and losses that make up the man who has been an iconic movie star and producer for nearly seven decades. In his memoir, Wagner admits to a difficult childhood; raised by a strict German-American father who moved the family from Michigan to Bel Air, California, to ease his wife’s asthma. The disciplinarian father sent young RJ to several boarding schools, including the Hollywood Military Academy, where he met many sons of the Hollywood elite.

As a teenager, Wagner decided to be an actor, and being a rebel with a cause, tenaciously pursued his dream. To earn money, he caddied at the Bel Air Country Club for the likes of Fred Astaire and Clark Gable, and the golfing friendships gave him entree to premier movie moguls. The handsome young man easily moved in the right circles which served as stepping stones towards the fulfilment of his filmdom dream. He attended school with the son of Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg, dated daughters of Alan Ladd and Gloria Swanson, and hitched rides with the likes of Errol Flynn.

Being a natural athlete, Wagner excelled as a diver, swimmer, tennis player, and horseback rider, and he was precisely situated in the perfect place to break into the business where dreams of the big screen came true.

RJ put himself front and center of the action as he hung around Catalina Island hotspots where movie stars moored their boats. He played baseball with John Ford, John Wayne, and Ward Bond. Clark Gable took him to MGM to meet producers, and he attended parties at the home of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, called Tarzana. And yes, they even named the town “Tarzana,” for the jungle tree swinger.

Wagner tells of the time he worked on the John Ford project, What Price Glory. Director Ford’s nickname for Wagner was “Boob” which he’d shout across the set. “Yes sir Mr. Ford,” he’d answer, and then listened intently for direction.

Wagner said he enjoyed working on the film with Corinne Calvert and James Cagney. “I used to jog Jimmy’s horses for him… he had Morgan’s and trotters.” In What Price Glory, as the character Private Lewisohn, Wagner had to die in Cagney’s arms.

By the time RJ was 18 he had signed with 20th Century Fox as a contract player for six months in 1948, at the behest of Darryl F. Zanuck, for $75 a week. Twelve years later, and groomed to perfection by the studio system, he was making five thousand dollars a week.
Robert Wagner soon took ownership of the word “debonair,” as the very elegant man-about-town segued to unbridled stardom.

From Films to Television

I asked Robert Wagner which picture was the most influential to his career. “In 1951 I got my first billing in Halls of Montezuma with Richard Widmark, but my first big break was With A Song in My Heart in 1952 with Susan Hayward. After that film I got 5,000 fan letters.”
With a Song in My Heart, a post-war patriotic film, was a box office hit directed by Walter Lang and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Robert Wagner’s epic two-line cameo as a young, war-wounded soldier, with Susan Hayward portraying the life-story of singer Jane Froman, brought audiences to tears.

By 1956 Wagner was highly sought after and starred as a conniving villain in the film noir thriller, A Kiss Before Dying, where he met his demise. Spencer Tracy, having worked with Wagner in Broken Lance in 1954, requested that RJ get star billing and his name above the title, and then suggested him to play his young brother in The Mountain in 1956. The action-packed film about a perilous climb to reach a crashed plane was made on location in the French Alps, thus bonding their friendship.

With his career at full throttle, he quickly became a hot property. Life was good. When Robert Wagner met the beautiful actress, Natalie Wood, he knew he had found the right person. They fell head-over-heels in love and were married in 1957. Considered to be Hollywood’s premier star couple, they were living the perfect life with perfect friends in a perfect house.

Hectic schedules, studio commitments, and factors that besiege many Hollywood people all culminated into a perfect storm of marital turmoil. By 1961 the once-perfect couple had separated and RJ moved to Europe. While living in Italy, Wagner met up with his longtime producer friend Darryl Zanuck who cast him as an Army Ranger in the cameo-studded, The Longest Day, with Richard Burton, John Wayne, and Sean Connery, which brilliantly portrayed the 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy.

By the mid-1960s, Wagner had honed his comic sense of timing in the blockbuster Pink Panther series, and later as the sinister, eye-patched

“Number 2” in the 1990s Austin Powers franchise. On the “Panther” set he became good friends with David Niven and Peter Sellers, and in his memoir, he writes of their escapades at the Cortina D’Ampezzo ski resort in the Italian Dolomites.

I asked RJ about his best film work and most difficult project. “I loved making the Pink Panther and working with David Niven,” he said. “The most difficult projects are the television series because you have to keep pounding them out.” He says in his book that the cost to produce a television series runs about $2 million per hour.

Wagner had seamlessly segued from block buster films into the small screen niche in the late 1960s with the It Takes a Thief series which garnered him an Emmy nomination. Later he starred with Stephanie Powers in the enormously successful, Hart to Hart series, and then he had a recurring role in the NCIS franchise.

Wagner shared the screen with his longtime buddies, Fred Astaire and William Holden, in the blockbuster hit disaster drama Towering Inferno in 1974. Over seven decades, Robert Wagner has starred in over 80 films, several stage plays, and has produced and starred in umpteen television series and movies.

I couldn’t resist asking him his favorite actor and actress. “There were many. That’s a tough question,” he answered. “I know, that’s why I asked you,” I chuckled. “I would say Fred Astaire and Spencer Tracy, but later I loved working with David Niven. My favorite actress… I worked with the best; Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, and of course, my very close friend, Liz Taylor. She was one of the finest actresses and we worked together in There Must Be A Pony, a film I produced that was beautifully written for Elizabeth. Stephanie Powers was also great to work with on Hart to Hart. She brought a lot to the project.”

I asked about the most challenging film he worked on and got the impression there were none except for The Mountain with Spencer Tracy, only in that there was a heart stopping case of vertigo during a cable car malfunction when the cable detached in the Chamonix Mountains near Mont Blanc. In his memoir, Wagner writes an interesting account about the terrifying incident involving Spencer Tracy.

Life, Loves & Losses

In Wagner’s memoir, Pieces of My Heart, he writes fondly about his four-year love affair with Barbara Stanwyck, who was 24 years his senior when he was only 22. They had worked together on Titanic in 1953. Stanwyk and Wagner remained very close friends until she passed in 1990.

In his poignant memoir, he reminisces about some of the world’s most beautiful women that he dated, including Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Joan Collins. While he was smarting from the breakup with Natalie Wood, he found solace in making films in Italy. Director Vittorio De Sica cast him in The Condemned of Altona, where he worked with the divine, Sophia Loren.

After working in Italy, he married Marion Marshall in 1963 in New York. They returned to California and bought a ranch in Tarzana near the old Rice Burroughs place. Their daughter was born in 1964 named Kate, “for Hepburn,” he said.

But through all his ups and downs and loves and losses, there was only one woman who still owned his heart. Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood found themselves often in the same place at the same time. They were remarried in 1972 and the following year their baby daughter, Courtney, was born. Their lives again had become blissfully perfect until fate intervened.

One rainy November night in 1981, they were on their yacht, “Splendour,” off Catalina Island, when Natalie tragically drowned. President Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth sent their condolences and the world mourned.

You Must Remember This

Robert Wagner married Jill St. John in 1990. They had been longtime friends as Jill, Natalie, and Stephanie Powers were in ballet school together as young girls. Jill St. John starred in the television series, Banning, and Tony Rome, with Frank Sinatra, as well as scores of films. She is well known as one of the fabled “Bond Girls,” having starred in Diamonds Are Forever with Sean Connery. Jill, being a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, penned a popular gourmet cook book and has been a regular guest on television cooking shows.

Today the Wagners are very involved in charity work, and RJ is on the board of the Tracy Clinic of Hollywood that supports hearing-impaired children. He has penned three books including, You Must Remember This, I Loved Her in The Movies, and his most recent New York Times best seller memoir, Pieces of My Heart.

He told me he had another book in the works with the working title, Heroes, about the 1950s Hollywood blacklist period. “I knew a lot of people who were affected. It was a difficult time in America,” he said.

The Wagners live in Aspen and are busy with book signing events and personal appearances. I asked about the upcoming Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award, designed by Edwina Sandys, he will be receiving in October. “I spoke to her you know. I’ll show the sculpture to my grandchildren and say, ‘see your grandfather was highly respected’,” he laughed.

RJ to Receive the Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award

This year, the second annual Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award sculpture will be presented to Robert Wagner, at the Gold Coast International Film Festival, in New York. Last year was the first annual Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award presentation named after the man who represented some of Hollywood’s greatest stars: Bette Davis, Robert Vaughn, Tom Cruise, Cliff Robertson, Sidney Poitier, Ruth Roman, Cyd Charisse, Mia Farrow, Larry King, Constance Towers, Tippi Hendren and Rita Hayworth.

The first award, in 2017, was presented posthumously to Rita Hayworth and accepted by her daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, at the New York City home of sculptor Edwina Sandys, who is Sir Winston Churchill’s granddaughter.

The award was created to preserve the legacy of the golden age of Hollywood and shine a spotlight on those who made it great but who may not have been sufficiently honored for their lifetime bodies of work.

The award presentation coincides with the Annual Gold Coast International Film Festival, founded by its executive director, Regina Geller Gil. Among the advisory board members to nominate the recipient of the Burton Moss Golden Era Award are Larry King, Joel Grey, Richard Thomas, Tippi Hendren, Carole Shelley, Katherine Quinn, Greg Mullavey, and Edwina Sandys.

The Burton Moss Award sculpture is an original work of art created by sculptor Edwina Sandys to be presented in October at the Gold Coast International Film Festival in New York. Sandys has exhibited in London, Dublin, New York, Toronto, Washington D.C., and Rome. The United Nations has installed five of her monumental sculptures at U.N. centers around the world.

So, after my four year wait to interview the most auspicious and enduring actor, Robert Wagner himself, here is my story on one of Hollywood’s most accomplished performers who not only brought elegance and savior faire to the Big Screen, but also represented the Golden Age of Movies that not only made people cry and laugh, but fall in love.

It’s Not That Far Away…
I am of course talking about some wonderful places to visit, right here, in Northern California, within two to two and a half hours of driving, that will take you back in time to the days of cowboys, outlaws, and gold fever; the Mother Lode country. This is the place where gold was discovered, back in 1848 and caused the California Gold Rush, on January 24 of that year, when James Marshall stumbled on some gold nuggets at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma. Marshall’s discovery brought over 300,000 folks to the Sierras, mostly gold hungry miners. But of course, along with them, came some not-so-nice folks, like outlaws, gamblers, and shady ladies of questionable repute, to relieve the poor miners of their new-found wealth.

A hundred and seventy years later, a number of these little old towns have survived the gold rush and remained on the map and in business, as weekend gateway destinations, where you can pan for gold flakes, visit museums, take pictures of old barns, and sample anything from shi-shi Haute-cuisine to good old-fashioned California cooking. And, if you like the taste of wine, there are more than enough vineyards in the Mother Lode country, to satisfy your oenophilic curiosity (from Greek oinos = wine + phile or lover of).

I’m certain that most of you have heard of spelunking. But, just in case you haven’t, it means “exploring caves.” And, there are several caves to explore in the area. Guided tours are offered at some of the most fascinating caves you’ll ever get to see, and all within driving distance. If you’ve never been underground to see what Mother Nature has created below the surface of our planet, you are really missing something.

Then, there are the big trees, the Giant Sequoias. Oh, before I go on any further, let me tell you about a recent trip we took to the Mother Lode and all the fun and interesting things I was able to squeeze into four days and three nights; with the family, of course.

There are a number of charming little towns in gold rush country, with names like Copperopolis, Jamestown, Sonora, Angels camp, Pioneer, Volcano, Sutter Creek, and too many others to name them all. For our trip, we drove to Murphys. It’s a rather simple drive—so long as you pay attention to road signs. As far as the map goes, it’s almost a straight shot from Contra Costa County along State Route or Highway 4, all the way to Murphys. The reason I said to pay attention to road signs is that on the map, the route looks almost straight, but it’s actually a winding, twisting, and turning road in places; but it will get you to Murphys or any other destination along Highway 49, aka the Mother Lode Highway.

According to the 2010 census, Murphys has a population of 2,213. The downtown district, running along Main Street, is roughly one mile and a quarter long, from the Highway 4 turnoff to the very last business on the street, the Val de Vino Winery. We stayed in Murphy’s at rather nice, three-bedroom vacation rental, with a shaded backyard and a small swimming pool. So, this was our base of operation. From there, we took several day trips.

One day, half of our crew took a short drive down to the New Melones Reservoir and rented a speed boat to race around the lake and get cooled off in some shady cove. They took a picnic basket with sandwiches and beer and had a jolly time getting some sun and splashing in the lake until they had to get back to meet the rest of us for dinner.

We ate dinner at a shi-shi haute-cuisine restaurant where reservations were required, even on a Tuesday evening. There was, however, live entertainment, and the dishes were truly unique. It was so different, it was almost like Alchemy. There are, of course, a number of great restaurants in Murphys that we’ve tried before, catering to a variety of tastes. There’s even one called Hillbillies.

One day, we all took a short drive and visited the Ironstone Winery, just a few miles from Murphys, to sample some of their special creations and buy a few bottles for later enjoyment. Of course, since I’m not a real oenophile; I was more interested in the winery’s old west museum, which also happens to exhibit the world’s largest crystalline leaf gold sample, weighing in at an impressive 44 pounds. You can view this amazing creation of mother nature in a special vault, inside the museum. I was told that since crystalline specimens are extremely rare, they have been sold for as much as $6,000.00 per ounce. You can understand why this chunk of yellow stuff is kept in a vault.

Following our visit, I went down to Murphys Creek and kicked some sand around, hoping to stumble on some golden nuggets; alas all I came up with is handful of plain old rocks. According to an article I read several years ago about gold mining in the Mother Lode, all the digging, panning, sluicing and hydraulic mining have only recovered about 10 to 15% of the gold in them, there hills.

Speaking of hills, there are caves in them there hills as well. There are several in the area, with guided tours that last for about an hour. There is the Moaning Cavern at Vallecito, the Sutter Gold Mine at Sutter Creek, The California Cavern at Mountain ranch, the Boyden Cavern at King’s Canyon National Park, the Mercer cavern at Murphys and the Black Chasm Cavern, which we explored, at Volcano. We took the guided tour along with about twenty curious tourists and were treated to a visual extravaganza. A series of sturdy stairs take you down and twist around formation-covered walls. You’ll see stalactites and helictites share space with flowstones, and even catch a glimpse of a bright, turquoise lake at the bottom of the chasm, from a platform suspended about 70 feet above. Everything is well lit, and the tour moves through at a safe and leisurely pace. There are a few spots where you have to actually duck to get through a tight opening or even lean back to negotiate the oddly-shaped passages. If you’re claustrophobic, this may be an experience you may wish to avoid. And, although I’m not too crazy about tight places myself, I truly I enjoyed the visual experience. And, I’ve got a few great shots to prove it.

My favorite side-trip of all was to the Calaveras Big Trees. That day, when half of our crew went boating, the rest of us went up to walk among the giants—giant Sequoias, that is. Until you’ve seen them up close, you wouldn’t believe that trees of this size truly exist. It’s like coming face to face with a dinosaur. The first time I ever saw a Sequoiadendron giganteum or Giant Sequoia, I couldn’t believe my eyes; that something that huge was possible. They grow to almost 300 feet tall. Some of the oldest, which would make them between 1800 and 2700 years old—yes, you read that right—are as wide at the base as a two-lane highway. There is even one that had a tunnel cut through it way back in the early 1900s, that you could drive a car through (although they no longer allow visitors to actually drive through).

We wandered around the gentle slope of the North Grove, where there are about a mile and a half of paths that allow you to check out about 150 of these giants, up close and at a leisurely pace. Since our time was a bit limited, we went for the easier route. But, my recommendation is, if you want to see more of these wonderful giants, spend at least four hours there and walk around the trails of both the North Grove and the South Grove, and check out the famous names some of these giants have been given. I would also recommend that you make the visit when the weather is a bit cooler, like in September, or next spring. We were there recently, when the temperature rarely dropped below one hundred degrees.

You can also camp and picnic at the Calaveras Big Trees State Park, which is located right on Highway 4, just a couple miles past Arnold, California—not named after the former governor.

I thought I’d throw in an extra bit of eye-opening information for you, these giant trees can only be found in one place on all of planet earth, and that is, on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada’s California side at elevations of between 5000 and 8000 feet. How about that?

You would think that after all the stuff we did, we never had a chance to relax, but some of us even got into the pool, and moi, I had time for a couple of naps. We took a couple of walks down Main street and checked out some of the little shops along the way, as well as Murphys Old Timers Museum and a couple of winery tasting rooms, right there on Main street. One day, we even stopped off at the Murphys Hotel for lunch. However, dressed like spelunkers in shorts and t-shirts, we decided to eat in the bar instead of the white table cloth dining room. We had some yummy sandwiches and cold beer. There’s nothing quite like ice cold beer on a very hot day!

This was one fun trip—one even made on just one tank of gas; no planes, no trains, just automobiles!

Over the past several months I have explored stories relating to how the arts have contributed to or enhanced the lives of so many people in our communities. This time I will share something old and something new in San Francisco Bay Area performance theater that I like to call “Total Immersive Theater.” The old part of this tale is about a gentleman I met fifteen or more years ago by the name of John Hale, who came to my home as a computer specialist to assist me with some software problems I was having. In the course of that repair job, a discussion took place where I learned that he was not only a highly trained certified professional technician for Microsoft, but he also had a passionate love for live theater and had been performing in the local community theaters that I regularly reviewed in my role of theater critic for the Rossmoor News. He admitted that it took about 15 years after his college days before he risked taking a small part in The Girl of the Golden West, at the Masquers community theatre in Point Richmond.

Now, the new part of this story took place when Hale called me and suggested that I investigate the new Speakeasy Theater in San Francisco. It was at this point that I learned about what he called his first experience with “Truly Immersive” theater. I knew he had at one time worked with the East Bay Entrée to Murder Dinner Theater in which the actors served the meals to patrons and at the same time performed as characters in a murder mystery that occurs during the dinner meal. I told him that I thought that was pretty immersive theater, but he argued that that was nothing compared to this new type of theater he was currently performing in. This past month my friend and fellow theater critic, Sally Hogarty, called me and invited me to join with her and her friends to celebrate her birthday, at of all places, The Speakeasy in San Francisco!

The reason I believe this new theatre concept is truly evolutionary, different and bound to be one of the most sought out venues in San Francisco’s theatrical future, is the audience has to attend in costume and in essence, be part of the show. No, this is not your initiation into a secret society, but hopefully this article will be your personal invitation to an exotic evening of innovative and immersive entertainment; an evening rife with the mystery and allure of the naughty 1920s with all its sensuous, suggestive, and seductive intrigues.

The question is: Are you fearless enough to secure tickets on their website and cloak yourselves in garments of this time period, follow the secretive instructions you will receive, deliver the “code words and phrases” to secretive emissaries, and bravely walk the back alleys and find the secret entrances to The Speakeasy? If you are and you follow your carefully-detailed instructions, you will find an absolutely wonderful and engaging theater of pleasure. After arriving at the special meeting place (a street corner in the city near the hidden venue) and identifying who you are, or who you are sponsored by (ie: “CJ sent me or I’m with Jarrett”), you will be quietly checked out and approved. In addition, you will be slipped an antique-looking prescription form allowing you to purchase medicinal liquor. You then will be quickly guided down an alley or through a mysterious doorway and delivered in short order and in surreptitious fashion, into the dark abyss of prohibition excess. There you will be admitted into a secret cabaret, that is a colorful, beautifully designed, period-specific venue, where the beginnings of an exciting and ribald evening in The Speakeasy awaits.

What took place over the next two to three hours (I lost track of time) is a theatrical experience I believe it is unequaled today in San Francisco. Over the course of the evening, we became part of a 1500 page script in which we journeyed through numerous different rooms of varying sizes (some large, some small) throughout, allowing us to share a variety of complex intrigues in what seemed to be the very real lives and personal situations of this production’s characters. The audience has the freedom to explore as they wish. There are 35 actors who performed various roles as Speakeasy workers, dancers, lovers, musicians, adversaries, missionaries, union members, charlatans and the sorely inebriated, sadly in need of salvation.

Each character actor eventually reveals their own personal stories and experiences as though in real life. As you meander on your own through the various rooms, hallways, and secret doors, you will, in effect, be “choosing-your-own-adventure,” all of which takes place in complete replicas of prohibition-era cabarets, casinos, dressing rooms, cocktail lounges and bars where the actors, can be difficult at first to ferret out. It is virtually impossible for anyone to see the entire show in one evening.

I could go on and on describing the delightful variety of shows and stories taking place throughout The Speakeasy, but that would be giving way too much away. Each show within the show is brilliantly written, conceived, and executed by superbly talented actors and actresses. Many in this diverse cast are also fine dancers, excellent storytellers, vocalists, musicians, and even delightful vaudeville-type comedic talents.

Actor John Hale confirms, “As opposed to watching something on the stage, you get to feel like you’ve really gone into another world, a world in which you become part of the play and even contribute to its artful disposition.” In recent weeks, for a short time, Mr. Hale has become Sal, the owner of the Speakeasy, and in September, he will become the bartender, Mac, and a few months after that, he will be another character in this constantly changing script. Mr. Hale says, “As an actor, one of the best parts for me being a member of the Speakeasy production, is that everyone in it, including the front of house and service people, is that not just the performers, but the entire production crew, are so darn good, that I’m just real happy and proud to be a part of it. It’s so good to be on a team where you have to run to keep up! If you want to be better at anything, you have to play with people who are just a little bit better than you, better enough that you’ve got to stretch to be satisfied.”

The facility was conceived by the Boxcar Theatre Company in 2005 and co-founded by Nick A. Olivero, who is the creator and managing producer of this production. The company has produced over 60 plays and musicals. In 2000 they opened their second theatrical space called the Boxcar Studios in the tenderloin. In 2015, the company signed a lease on a new and much larger space in San Francisco’s North Beach / Chinatown district, now known as The Speakeasy since August 2016. This theater company required a sizable initial investment of about $3.5 million just to create this new show and unique theater space.

Every show requires a cast and crew of approximately 81 people. Everything in this theater is reminiscent of the 1920s time period, including the candlestick phones, custom gaming chips, custom-built vintage reproduction gaming tables, furniture, vintage ceiling tiles and even down to the three 1920 vintage urinals. Since you are not allowed to have cell phones, in keeping with the time period, there is a photo booth where you, your significant other or lover, and guests, may have a group photograph taken, showing all of you in your splendid costumes.

Some people apparently join the experience just to be a part of this unique immersive theater; people who love to dress up and go back in time to have an authentic experience. Others see this as a romantic rendezvous for an anniversary or unique date, while others may celebrate special occasions such as birthdays or bachelorette parties.

I would suggest that everyone go to the company’s website, https://thespeakeasysf.com, to see brief videos of what you’re in for, and to obtain the information as to how you too may become part of this incredible show, and how you can pay for and schedule your participation. Perhaps I will see you there in September!

Photos courtesy Peter Liu

Dan Donnelly loves college football. He loves the collegiate school spirit, the pageantry, the rivalries, the marching bands, and the buzz around campus leading up to a Saturday afternoon kick-off. He loves rankings and bowl match-ups, cheer squads, and mascots, but he especially loves a good tailgate.

I found his passion and enthusiasm infectious when talking with him over a cup of coffee, one morning in late July. As the founder of Tailgate Connect, Dan is setting out to connect like-minded people in parking lots across America, to share food and drink, stories and traditions, in an all-inclusive, hassle-free tailgating environment through his innovative website. You had me at football, Dan. Sign me up!

Originally from Rockville, Maryland, Dan (55) played college rugby at Frostburg State University in Maryland, but he grew up an avid college football fan. In 2004, he set out on a quest to take in a game and tailgate party at every college FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and many of the major rivalries in the lower divisions. “In 2008, I created Dan from the Tailgate, a blog to document my journeys, allowing like-minded fans and folks I’ve met along the way to join me in celebrating the greatest game experience on earth,” Dan proudly states. “Along the way, some of my best experiences were when I was introduced to a local tailgate host, usually through a mutual friend, and I got a chance to soak up the local flavor and atmosphere with passionate college football fans. I always had a great experience and have made some life-long friends,” he proclaims.

Dan says it was not unusual to see groups of people, usually visiting fans, wandering aimlessly on campus, carrying an open 12-pack of beer and bag of chips, with no set pre-game destination. Dan candidly admits, “I’ve even been that guy more times than I care to admit.” While attending the USC vs. Penn State Rose Bowl in 2017, he invited a group of “nomadic” Penn State fans he had never met to join his tailgate and the concept to connect fans with experienced tailgater hosts was born.

For a reasonable cost (±$40), guests can enjoy food and libations in a high-quality environment, while gaining inside knowledge of the history and tradition of the host school, student body, and alumni. Hosts, on the other hand, could defray sunk costs, meet new friends, learn a little something about the visiting team, and make some easy cash by welcoming newcomers to the pre and post-game activities.
Shortly after that Rose Bowl experience, Dan tightened up his business plan, incorporated and with the help of Joe Rogers, VP of operations, incorporated, secured domain names and submitted a trademark application. “A friend for eight years, it was Joe’s idea to monetize the concept and he began the early work on the website and social media campaign,” Dan says. Since then, the company has added Dan’s college rugby teammate, Jim Devine, as controller and Theresa Baumgartner as Chief Legal Counsel. “Once the train left the station, we started recruiting top tier hosts from across the nation who would be interested in hosting guests,” Dan says. Many of these tailgaters are well known in college football circles and have been featured on national TV or ranked in nationwide tailgate competitions.

So far they have over 40 hosts signed up around the country including 38 Division 1 and two Division 2 schools such as; the University of Texas, Nebraska, LSU, Michigan, Arkansas, Stanford, Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, Ole Miss, Minnesota, Tennessee, Arkansas, Penn State, Iowa State and Kentucky, to name just a few.

The next step was to reach out to the actual colleges that traveled large groups of fans for away games. Dan and his team have connected with travel coordinators for Gridiron Clubs across the country knowing those group’s members often like to mix with the home team crowds prior to a game.

The concept lays out something like this: A local or traveling fan planning to attend a game visits the Tailgate Connect website, plugs in the date and location and for $40.00 per guest is provided with a host contact (email and mobile phone number) along with a pinpoint locator map identifying the tailgate location. “Some of our smallest hosts (Boston College) have room for 2-4 guests and some of our largest hosts (University of Texas, Austin) have room for 100. Zero week “kicks-off” August 26th with four D1 games, however, Labor Day, is the official start to the college football season.

As a VP of Sales for a tech company, Dan travels a lot for business which affords him the ability to attend a lot of games on the road. He’s been known catch two, occasionally three games, if geography and schedules cooperate. With one daughter graduated from Boise State (Rachel) and one who just graduated from the University of Oklahoma (Erin), it also allowed Dan the chance to visit his girls while still promoting the Dan from the Tailgate brand. His youngest (Grace) is now a sophomore on the Pom team at Monte Vista High School and dad has promised to work a little closer to home this upcoming season in order to see her perform at a majority of the Friday night home games. His wife, Amy, has always been a big supporter of Dan’s passion and attends a couple of games a year with her man.

To no surprise, Dan is commonly asked where’s his favorite place to tailgate and watch a game? Without any hesitation, Donnelly proclaims, The Grove at Ole Miss. The Grove has been called “The Holy Grail of Tailgating.” Located on the Oxford, Mississippi campus, the ±10 acre site regularly attracts upwards of 100,000 of the most loyal college football fans, tailgating on any given game day. Steeped in tradition and revelry, The Grove opens on Friday night and closes three hours after an exciting SEC game played in front of 64,000 people at Vaught-Hemingway stadium. Second to Ole Miss would be LSU at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, followed by, in no particular order, University of Oklahoma, Army, Clemson, Arkansas, Auburn and University of Washington. At last count, Dan has been to over 100 different venues and experienced over 150 tailgate events.

Using football vernacular, Dan hopes Tailgate Connect scores a touchdown this upcoming season. Dan shares, “Tailgating has become a personal space sharing experience, much like Uber or Airbnb. It’s an added element to just attending a game and a win-win for the host and their guests.”

For more information on Tailgate Connect check out their website at www.tailgateconnect.com or visit Dan’s Blog at dantailgate.blogspot.com. Personally, I can’t wait to experience the tailgating phenomenon through Tailgate Connect while visiting my daughters at their respective colleges or attending a local game this fall.