Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
I can’t believe I worked with Vince Deadrick Jr.!
Creator and Producer Peggy Lane worked with Vince for several years, and he agreed when she asked him if he wanted to appear in an episode. He is a Legendary Stuntman who has doubled Michael Douglas and Jeff Bridges among many others. Vince has worked in movies and television, appearing in Titanic, Romancing the Stone, MacGyver, Iron Man and many more. He has been nominated for 2 Emmys and he won the prestigious Stuntman Award 6 times. If you’ve ever seen Romancing The Stone, that’s him jumping off a waterfall and rolling in the mud. Yep, I’m working with him. He is also a Supervising Producer on our show. What an extensive resume!
He took time out of his busy schedule to work on our episode called Donna On The Go: NEIGHBOR. This is one of my favorite episodes.
This story is based on a true incident when the elevator in my apartment building was out of order. I was overwhelmed with fear and panic and I had no way to get to my car which was parked in the underground structure of the building. I had a Dance rehearsal that was crucial and of course I can’t use the stairs. There was no way I could get to the car using my walker. After awhile of phone calls and some more panic, one of my neighbors happened to be coming in the lobby, and with no one else to turn to and the clock ticking away, I reluctantly told him of my unfortunate situation. To my utter surprise he volunteered to move my car to the street for me.
When he did that and returned my car keys, I still needed help getting to my car and he offered to carry me down the ramp to and I accepted. As he carried me, my walker was left outside the building, so after all that he still had to run back across the street and get it for me. Who does that? My neighbor did. He came to my rescue and became my Hero.
When I told Peggy what happened later, she said it sounded like something out of An Officer And A Gentleman. So in post production, she added the song. When you see the episode you will notice another homage to the film.
How lucky am I to be able to say Vince Deadrick Jr. played my neighbor and carried me down the ramp several times. You have to trust one of the top Stuntman in the business. This is a man who is responsible for the safety of a whole stunt crew. He was such a good sport, that when Peggy suggested he toss his hair around he did it. She put it in slow motion so it’s really a funny send up of a Hero.
I also had the pleasure of working with Vince in another episode called “REALLY” but, that’s another blog.
Thank you to Peggy Lane and Vince for making the dream come true. When I was a little girl Dancing and Acting I had no idea this would be in my future. What a day, what a dream and what a ride! #DonnaOnTheGo #DonnaRusso #PeggyLane #Emmy #EmmyFYC #CraigHutchison #VinceDeadrickJr #FSH #FSHD #TurnerSyndrome #MercyhurstUniversity #IncludeUs #KMR #GailFordWilliamson #ALLin #DisabilityIsDiversity #DonnaOnTheBlog #AbilitiesExpo #AbilitiesExpoAmbassador #OfficerAndAGentleman #Neighbor #WontYouBeMyNeighbor #ABILITYMagazine #TolucanTimes #DeadlineHollywood #KMRDiversity