What can I say? I'm a fan.
My name is Gene Otto. I grew up in Thousand Oaks
California. My lovely mother, Pamela Otto, was a script supervisor on various television programs
(including HONEY VICARRO) through the sixties and seventies.
I'm honored to say quite humbly, I
might add) that I am possibly the biggest fan of the show due to one key event in my childhood:
A visit to the HONEY VICARRO set when I was twelve years old. There, I was lucky enough to meet
Honey herself, Miss Kim Carlyle.
People ask me what she's like. Well, for one, she was gorgeous.
I know this sounds stupid, but it was as if the woman was luminescent. Plus she was friendly, and
down-to-earth, and not too stuffy to flirt with an awe-struck twelve-year-old boy.
And did I say she
was gorgeous?
The few photos that remain, as beautiful as they are, hardly do her justice.
I also
met The Man himself, Gavin Hurrell. He was very intent on his work, so he did little to acknowledge
me except a curt nod when my mother made (swift) introductions.
That day was heaven. I sat like a
fly on the wall--scared to make a peep for fear of being thrown off the set--and watched magic
happen. There was Kim and her rugged co-star, Cliff di Marco, trading snappy lines of dialogue as
Honey and Chad. The cast and crew seemed relaxed (though I remember Cliff's wife, actress Carol
Lynley, hovering around and staring daggers during a torrid love scene).
I watched the notorious
first and last episode (Love Me, Don't, guest-starring Sal Mineo) on that fateful night in 1966.
It was brilliant. Mother sent me to bed at 9:30, but I must confess (sorry, Mom) that I snuck down
the hall and peeked. Very steamy--especially the scene in the cloak-room!
The cancellation was a
disaster. Not only did television lose the best show ever made, but mother lost her job and was
reassigned to GUNSMOKE. Blah. Even when I was a kid, I hated cowboy shows. And that James Arness was
a real stiff!
What else can I possibly say? I am a graphic designer, single and I live in West
Hollywood with my two cats, Honey the Fourth and Chad Junior (big surpise, that). My friends all
know better than to bring up HONEY VICARRO, or I'll just bore them to tears.
Let's see... what else?
I love dim-sum and hate (in order)
Republicans, broccoli and the California Department of Motor
Vehicles. My favorite band of all time is T-Rex. And I don't own
a single CD (analogue rules!). So, there you have it, the nut in
a nutshell. You can write me about all things Honey at
gene_otto@hotmail.com
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