For a short time in his late teens John caught the acting bug. He studied, he read Backstage, he went to casting calls. Since I took headshots in those days he asked for my help. If I recall correctly, he was auditioning for a supporting role whose main characteristic was that he earned "employee of the month" at the local feed store six months in a row. Michael Keaton got the part, but the money people backed out and it was never made.
John read in People Magazine that Liz Taylor had the right of refusal on all photographs, so he made that a condition of my continuing to shoot him. Since he was away in Santa Barbara we could only get together a few times a year to go over images. Here he is with Dad, Chris, and Tim, reviewing family photos from the previous Christmas. Dad liked that one, and he was trying to convince John to approve it. What you can't see here is the device John is holding in his left hand. If he didn't like a shot he'd punch a hole through his face. Just like Liz.
Family Day at St. Vincent's was in the late winter or early spring. Students and parents and siblings gathered in the auditorium to watch each class perform, before spending the rest of the day with family. In 1982 John's class did "Stop Dragging My Heart Around," which involved (among other things) one girl who pulled a big cartoon heart from one side of the stage to the other. This was shot afterward, as they walked back to their dorms to change out of costume.
