THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994 TAG: 9406280158
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Jody R. Snider
DATELINE: 940629 LENGTH: SMITHFIELD
But George E. Hamilton Jr. on the ham, he is.
{REST} And by George, that's confusing for people who don't know the difference between actor George Hamilton and newly retired Smithfield Foods president George E. Hamilton Jr., whose name and face grace a line of Smithfield Foods products.
Smithfield Packing secretary Rae Pittman said whenever she made hotel or plane reservations for her former boss, the person on the other end of the line always wanted to know: ``George with the tan?''
``I'd say, `No. George, the ham-man.' ''
About four years ago, George the ham-man almost got to meet George the tan-man, when both were booked at the same hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., said Hamilton's wife Nancy Miller Hamilton.
``But,'' Nancy Hamilton said with disappointment, ``we never saw him. When we got ready to check out of the hotel, I told my George, `You be sure and check our bill to see they didn't get the bills mixed up and we end up paying the other George's bill.''
A few years ago, the Smithfield Hamilton was mistaken again for the tan one.
After taking a cruise that ended in Los Angeles, Hamilton and his wife called for a stretch limousine to meet them at a dock.
``When we got off,'' Nancy Hamilton said, ``this woman was holding this sign that read `George Hamilton.' When we walked up to her, she said: `Boy, I'm glad to see you! These people are driving me nuts, wanting to know if George Hamilton the actor is getting off this ship.'
``I said, `Yeah, I bet they're real disappointed not to see George Hamilton walk up with Liz Taylor on his arm,' '' Nancy Hamilton said.
Last week, after retiring from 24 years as president of Smithfield Packing, the ham-man and his wife slipped away to relax at a Smithfield Foods Inc. oceanfront home in Virginia Beach.
But this time, there was no company work or briefcases accompanying the ham-man.
This time, there was just the sand, the ocean and - oh yes, a chance to finally get a tan.
by CNB