Above is the free audio-book of McKnight's Memory with 11 name actors. The largest production in audio-book history. No ads. Listen anytime.
The below story happened during its production.
A shy, middle-age woman from Italy arrives in America, for the first time. Her husband, working as a waiter, picks her up at the Los Angeles airport. She has no show-business experience and does not speak a word of English.
The NEXT DAY, her first full day in America, she's in a recording booth with a movie star, working on a Sinatra project. How is that possible?
During the sound-effect stage of my audio-book McKnight's Memory, narrated by Frank Sinatra Jr, I realized that for a party scene with Henry Silva and Robert Culp, I needed Henry to speak some lines in Italian, which he spoke. I also needed some background voices in Italian. Henry said he knew a waiter at a restaurant that spoke Italian and would bring him.
The man showed up with his aforementioned wife. I got the idea to use her as one of the female party goers, even though she seemed extremely shy. I asked the husband privately, and he was excited to say yes. Henry got her into the booth and started speaking Italian like they were at a party.
Henry was a big star in Italy, so she had seen him on the big screen. At one point, Henry made her laugh. It was just what I needed to make the scene work. I gave her husband the thumbs up and he smiled. She came out of the booth, signed the release and got a $100 bill handed to her for the 10 minutes. I wonder what her next day in America was like.
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