THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 1, 1994 TAG: 9406290077
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: - Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Chatterbox is a not-quite-newsy look behind the scenes from City Hall to City Park.
DO I KNOW HIM? If that face looks familiar on Hardee's television commercials, it might in fact be familiar.
Wayne Thompson, a 43-year-old Portsmouth native and resident of Greenfield Farms, spent last week in front of the cameras.
An employee of Mary Jane Bakery, where he works as sales management safety coordinator, Thompson also drives Hardee's mobile kitchen that turns up at festivals around Virginia.
Last week he drove it to New York for the filming of commercials.
``It's going to be a famous truck,'' Thompson said.
Thompson said he was ``like an extra'' in the commercials.
``Three Hardee's girls are in the commercials,'' he said. ``The rest of us are sort of background.''
The two commercials featuring Thompson and the mobile kitchen truck will advertise the ``Ultimate Double Cheeseburger'' filmed in Woodbridge, N.J., and Hardee's chicken filmed in Suffern, N.Y.
``It was a real learning experience for me,'' Thompson. ``I got a lot of respect now for the people on TV. They work hard.''
The crew worked Monday through Friday on the two commercials, he said.
``It was a big production,'' Thompson said.
Mary Jane supplies rolls to Hardee's and Thompson's involvement in driving the Hardee's truck is, he said, ``a business arrangement'' between the two companies.
``I have a license to drive the truck,'' he said. ``So when Hardee's needs me, they call my boss at Mary Jane to make arrangements for me to be available.''
The commercials are scheduled to begin airing Sunday.
A FATHER'S GIFT: A portrait by Portsmouth notable Ralph W. Cowan was presented to Donald ``The Donald'' Trump on Father's Day.
The painting of Trump's four children, including baby Tiffany, was commissioned by Trump's current wife, Marla A. Maples.
Trump's former wife, Ivana, is the mother of the three oldest children in the portrait and Marla is the mother of Tiffany.
Cowan was paid $4,000 for the portrait.
MORE NOTABLE: Saxophonist Tommy Newsom of ``Tonight'' fame is planning to escape living with the threats of California earthquakes and probably will return to Hampton Roads.
Tommy and his wife are avid golfers and usually play golf several times during visits home from the West Coast. For that reason, he's expected to buy a home near a golf course.
That may mean he moves to Cedar Point, a golfing community in Suffolk but not too far from his hometown of Portsmouth. by CNB