Huell Howser Meets the Little Actors' Workshop

Hey, remember "Poltergeist"? Remember Zelda Rubinstein, the actress who played the psychic who helps the haunted family rid their house of ghosts? Well, Huell Howser was a friend of Rubinstein's, and he actually interviewed her in 1981, a full year before she'd rise to prominence with her role in "Poltergeist."

It happened as part of Huell's visit to the Michael Dunn Memorial Repertory Theater Company, a group created by and for little actors, and named after an actor who shunned the traditional, "cutesy" roles that typically went to short-statured performers.

Though Huell recorded this segment early in his California career, it's easy to see the beginnings of the "California's Gold" aesthetic. He was exploring a segment of the L.A. community that a lot of people might not have known about, and he's doing so while giving this group all due respect. In fact, he's treating them exactly the way he'd treat any other interview subject -- famous or not -- and that's exactly what the people in the Michael Dunn Memorial Repertory Theater Company would have wanted. And most importantly, Huell steps aside to let his subjects do the talking.

Read previous posts about Huell's long-ago meetings with Dolly Parton and George Burns, and if you haven't yet, take a moment to sign Huell's memorial page.

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