By the time
you’ll read this, I will have finished writing my 17th post… I’m writing them
in advance so I always have something for you, in case I ever get the dreaded
“writer’s block”. I almost
had it on this post. I say “almost”
because I sat and stared at the page for an hour before writing anything. It was not from a lack of words, but an
excess. There are so many things I could
say about Nana, since she is the Trek
actress I have known the longest – it’s really strange to think that I have known
her for nearly twenty years. Indeed, she
is the reason I worked on Star Trek
at all.
The
beginning seems like an appropriate place to start. While attending college and working as a
Preschool Director, I went to my first convention where Nana (the guest star) mentioned
that she was looking for a nanny for her son, Buster…. so, on a whim, I sent
her my resume. To my surprise, she
called me a few weeks later and we did several telephone interviews. Then I went down to L.A. for a face-to-face
interview. I did not really realize,
then, how unusual that was. I do now. It was one of the first events of synchronicity in my life but not the last!
I met Nana
and her (then) husband Nick at Paramount Pictures for an interview – with Nana
in full make up and wardrobe as “The Intendant” from the alternate universe. Talk about intimidating! They ended up hiring someone else, but within
a couple months I was in Los Angeles working as a nanny for a producer of ABC
family movies anyway. When the
Northridge earthquake struck the next year, my producer and his family moved to
Florida and he got me a job at Paramount.
Synchronicity again - those offices were next door to the DS9 office in the Cooper Building.
I had
stayed in distant contact with Nana, and I let her know that I was now working
on the lot. When that show was
cancelled, I interviewed for a Production Assistant position on DS9.
Apparently, the producers were leery of hiring me because during the
year I’d been living in Los Angeles (lonely out of my mind), I had joined both
Nana and Sid’s fan clubs in order to meet people. It almost cost me the job, but apparently
Nana and Sid both vouched for me. So, I
owe Nana thanks for one of the best jobs I have ever had, and certainly one of
the projects I am most proud of. I
greatly valued the opportunity to work on a show that stood for diversity,
acceptance and that had such a positive vision of the future.
(Alexander Siddig aka Sid, Buster and Nana pregnant with Django)
There are
so many stories I could share. Babysitting
her boys and being scared of her stalkers?
Trying to figure out how to command her guard dogs… in German? One evening while shooting late on the lot,
however, stands out - I asked Nana to teach me to dance the Tango. She
is a phenomenal dancer - as the daughter of a choreographer and a ballet
instructor and the niece of Cyd Charisse, she should be! I, however, have two left feet, and after an
hour or so of swishing up and down the hallway in her trailer stomping on her
toes, we gave it up as hopeless. It was
a terrible dance lesson, but one of many good memories.
If you want to see
Nana dance these days, check out this video:
She used to have a
cooking blog with her sister, Zan, but I think she’s given it up. It’s too bad, she had some amazing recipes!
These are
lighthearted videos, and they made me laugh, watching her play and goof
off. I have not seen Nana in ten years
now, since my son was born and I left Los Angeles, but I will still count her a friend.
Thanks for the great PA job, thanks for guiding me through the looking
glass to play in the Trek universe,
and for all the memories, Nana! You are
one of my heroes.
If you have any good stories of any of the actors
I showcase, please share them! J
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