THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503240175
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Frank Roberts
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Monday night, about 1 billion people will watch the 67th annual Academy Awards program.
During commercial breaks, the audience in Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles will talk business - showbusiness.
Something else happens as we sit at home. Men with green flags run around for people called ``seat fillers.''
Much of what we read about the awards involves speculation about the winners or explanations of why speculations were so off-base.
A friend, Gregory Walcott, wrote to me a couple weeks ago about the movie industry's biggest night. This retired actor is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that helps decide the Oscar winners.
``The energy starts building in December, when studios begin romancing the 4,986 Academy members,'' Greg said. In recent years, videos of the productions have been mailed to members for viewing at home.
Greg said he and his wife, Barbara, watched about 50 films. They had already seen ``Ed Wood,'' which features Martin Landau, mentioned as a candidate for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi.
Wood is the '50s-'60s director of several oddball films including ``Plan 9 From Outer Space,'' which, critics agree, is moviedom's number one turkey.
Greg briefly came out of retirement to appear in the movie about his former boss.
Lugosi died before most of ``Plan 9'' was filmed, replaced by Wood's chiropractor, who walked around the rest of the movie with his face covered by a cape.
Greg portrayed an airline pilot in that one. The bulk of his credits are far more respectable. He was one of the stars of the original ``87th Precinct,'' still listed as one of television's best police dramas.
On the big screen, he usually played a bad guy. A sampling: ``Norma Rae,'' ``Sugarland Express'' and three Clint Eastwood movies. On the smaller screen, he was everywhere: ``Bonanza'' and ``CHIPS'' just to mention a couple.
Greg will, of course, be in the Shrine audience for the Oscar ceremony. He calls it ``the highlight of my professional year.''
The voting begins with the mailing of ballots in January, when directors nominate directors, actors nominate actors and so on.
The ballots are mailed to an accounting firm - yes, Price-Waterhouse - to keep everything on the up-and-up. Then, the top five nominees in each category are announced.
Next, the Academy mails the final ballots, enabling members to vote on all the categories.
The glamour stuff follows. Greg and Barbara, like most Academy members and their families, dress fit-to-kill, then go by limousine to the Shrine Auditorium, a 90-minute drive from their San Fernando Valley home.
Walcott's two daughters come to the house to help mom and dad get ready. The grandchildren watch the activities on television, between pizza bites.
The ceremony pauses several times - whenever an announcer says something about breaking away for a commercial.
``Then, as if on cue,'' Greg said, ``everybody gets out of their seats to stretch or visit. Then, the announcer does a countdown until, at the one second spot, everybody is back where they belong.''
Another during-the-commercials maneuver occurs when those celebrities who will be presenters leave their auditorium seats to go backstage.
``Men with green flags find those empty seats then wave their flags to let some selected individuals know it's time to sit,'' Greg said.
You will see no empty seats during the telecast.
After awards time and party time, Greg said, ``Barbara and I relax in the limo as we head home on the Ventura Freeway. As usual, we laugh and reflect over the interesting events of the evening.
``My own view,'' he said, ``is that these people are just regular people. They've worked hard on their projects and they hope their peers will judge them well.'' ILLUSTRATION: Barbara and Greg Walcott, dressed to the nines, will attend the
Academy Awards show.
by CNB