Saw James Karen

[Yojimbo]

The other night ago, my wife and I were at a local Chinese restaurant here in Los Angeles and I looked up at a group of diners who were on their way out of the place and recognized one of them as none other than the legendary James Karen, the guy who was so funny as "Frank" in "Return of the Living Dead" Though he looks a little older and slightly heavier than he did 20 years ago, he still looks pretty much the same as he did in the film. He was standing right next to my table talking with his friends, and my wife did not notice so I pointed him out to her and whispered that he was the dude from "Return of the Living Dead" (she was gleeful as she too is a fan) Though Mr. Karen did not hear this, one of his friends did and shot me a look. Surely, as a recognizable celebrity in Los Angeles, I do not doubt that sometimes getting recognized in public by a fan can cause the celebrity some stress since they don't know if the fan is going to go all "Misery" on them and demand an autograph or whatever, so I did not bother the dude and instead we tried our best not to gawk at him and his group while they left the restaurant. Wish I had the balls at the time to go up and shake his hand, but I sure hate to disturb folks who are out having a good time. Had to resist the urge of shouting out "You watch your tounge, boy, if you like this job!" Not a big deal, sure, but thought that I would share this with everyone.

[Bub666]

Thats cool.I agree people should leave celebrity alone when they're eating.

[capncnut]

Good stuff, Jimbo. I love James Karen, that guy has a very cool filmography in the bag. In regards to not going all 'geeky' and rushing for an autograph, I am the same although I broke that rule when I saw Billy Corgan outside Shepherd's Bush Empire one night as I was a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan. Didn't ask him for a signature but shook his hand. But back to James Karen, I loved him in Wall Street.

[Dillinger]

The other night ago, my wife and I were at a local Chinese restaurant here in Los Angeles and I looked up at a group of diners who were on their way out of the place and recognized one of them as none other than the legendary James Karen, the guy who was so funny as "Frank" in "Return of the Living Dead" Though he looks a little older and slightly heavier than he did 20 years ago, he still looks pretty much the same as he did in the film. He was standing right next to my table talking with his friends, and my wife did not notice so I pointed him out to her and whispered that he was the dude from "Return of the Living Dead" (she was gleeful as she too is a fan) Though Mr. Karen did not hear this, one of his friends did and shot me a look. Surely, as a recognizable celebrity in Los Angeles, I do not doubt that sometimes getting recognized in public by a fan can cause the celebrity some stress since they don't know if the fan is going to go all "Misery" on them and demand an autograph or whatever, so I did not bother the dude and instead we tried our best not to gawk at him and his group while they left the restaurant. Wish I had the balls at the time to go up and shake his hand, but I sure hate to disturb folks who are out having a good time. Had to resist the urge of shouting out "You watch your tounge, boy, if you like this job!" Not a big deal, sure, but thought that I would share this with everyone. James Karen's best line in The Return of... was "Some favor. I could operate that Goddamn thing." The chemistry between Burt & Ernie, Frank & Freddy is classic. That's why The Return of... is my favorite non-Romero zombie movie.

[Bub666]

James Karen's best line in The Return of... was "Some favor. I could operate that Goddamn thing." The chemistry between Burt & Ernie, Frank & Freddy is classic. That's why The Return of... is my favorite non-Romero zombie movie. I love that line.That is a great movie.

[acealive1]

he was in TWO zombie movies, played the same character only re named and gets mad when people recognize him? WOW! why are actors so bitter towards their zombie movie fans?

[Yojimbo]

he was in TWO zombie movies, played the same character only re named and gets mad when people recognize him? WOW! why are actors so bitter towards their zombie movie fans? I haven't heard that he gets mad when he gets recognized, but I didn't disturb him when I saw him so maybe he does.

[clanglee]

Awesome Jimbo!! I would freak out, but yeah I would be aprehensive about approacing them too. I was in Athens a few years back and I saw Michael Stipe. . My friends and I noticed him at the same time and Mr. Stipe gave us all dirty looks. No approach. However, on the same trip I got to meet my hero (you'll appreciate this Jimbo) Frank Black. We were outside the club he was about to play in and he approached my friends and I to ask directions to a vegetarian restaurant. I immediately became a blubbering mongoloid, muttering something about not being from the area. My friend that lived there gave him directions and even got a picture with him(really nice guy) while I just stood there gibbering. Ah well.

[DubiousComforts]

In the NYC area, James Karen was best known for many years as the spokesman for Path Mark. Go to see Poltergeist... "hey, look it's the Path Mark guy!" Go to see Return of the Living Dead... "hey, look it's the Path Mark guy!" See Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster on the late, late, late show... "hey, look it's the Path Mark guy way before he was the Path Mark guy!"

[triste realtà]

I like the part in 2 when he chokes on his lunch. I'm gonna buy that DVD but I heard they replaced a lot of the music but there's a way to get the original track but I'll have to line it up and that is going to suck.

[Yojimbo]

Awesome Jimbo!! I would freak out, but yeah I would be aprehensive about approacing them too. I was in Athens a few years back and I saw Michael Stipe. . My friends and I noticed him at the same time and Mr. Stipe gave us all dirty looks. No approach. However, on the same trip I got to meet my hero (you'll appreciate this Jimbo) Frank Black. We were outside the club he was about to play in and he approached my friends and I to ask directions to a vegetarian restaurant. I immediately became a blubbering mongoloid, muttering something about not being from the area. My friend that lived there gave him directions and even got a picture with him(really nice guy) while I just stood there gibbering. Ah well. Dude, I would have been a nerdy freak myself if I ran into Frank Black/Black Francis. Back when my band was still playing the circuit, we did a gig with The Martini's, which was at the time Joey Santiago's side project. Rehearsed all night what I would say to him when I met him face to face and shook his hand, but my mind went blank when it happened. Instead I think I said, "Dude, you kick ass!" or something as stupid as that. Embarrassing!

[clanglee]

Dude, I would have been a nerdy freak myself if I ran into Frank Black/Black Francis. Back when my band was still playing the circuit, we did a gig with The Martini's, which was at the time Joey Santiago's side project. Rehearsed all night what I would say to him when I met him face to face and shook his hand, but my mind went blank when it happened. Instead I think I said, "Dude, you kick ass!" or something as stupid as that. Embarrassing! That's awesome tho man. Joey Santiago does indeed kick ass!!

[zombie04]

But back to James Karen, I loved him in Wall Street. I couldn't help but think of this...

[Yojimbo]

I couldn't help but think of this... Perfectly executed, zombie. That's awesome tho man. Joey Santiago does indeed kick ass!! Just wished I hadn't gone all fanboy and instead had said what I wanted to say. Instead, I sounded like your usual stoned fan, which truth be told, I was all that I really was.