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manager showed me around and introduced me to the regular bartender, this guy, Bruno. At the time, he seemed like any regular guy, another out-of-work actor, a bit older than me, but just another bartender, another guy wearing an apron, who couldn’t wait to take it off forever. In every restaurant there is an alpha dog and it was obvious that Bruno was the alpha dog here. On my first shift with him, all he said to me was, “You work service and I’ll take the point.”
    As the crowd came in, it got busier and busier, it seemed like everyone knew Bruno. I had been there before but had never really spent any time at the bar since it wasn’t my type of scene -- too many models not enough room to move.
    It seemed like everyone came in to see Bruno. Almost every single woman had to give him a hug and a kiss -- every guy was his buddy. The bar was busy and so was he, we were really pumping. Working with Bruno went something like this; I would handle the waiters and the not-so-cool guys (another reason why I didn’t know Bruno before I worked there). Say, an un-cool guy (like myself) comes up to Bruno at the other end of the bar and says, “Hey Bruno, how ‘bout a Heinie?” Bruno responds with a, “hey,” then turns to me and yells, “Hey Bobby, how ‘bout gettin’ a Heinie for my pal here?” “It’s Bill…” I say, correcting him, but still getting the beer. He smiles, “Yeah, sure, Billy,” on his way back to the pretty end of the bar. I worked three Sunday’s with him before they told me they didn’t need me anymore. Many times in those days a restaurant like Café Central could hire people to cover for employees who went on vacation or got acting jobs and then let them go when the employee came back. I’m not sure, but I think that’s what happened -- so much for the big time but I did make good money while I was there.
    I worked with Bruno for three shifts and unfortunately I don’t remember much about him since he was just another bartender at the time, one of hundreds that I’ve worked with. Who would know he would become Bruce Willis, big movie star. The only thing I can remember; is that no matter how many times I reminded him he couldn’t get my name right -- Bill is not an uncommon name. What is funny is how much mileage I’ve got out of working with him. I’ve never claimed to be good friends with him or anything other than a passing acquaintance but whenever someone would ask me about my bartending days, I found naming the places I’ve worked would mean nothing to them and I worked at some well-known houses; Tavern on the Green, The Blue Note, Jim McMullen’s… but telling someone that I tended bar with Bruce Willis in the day makes all the difference -- suddenly I’m a real bartender. Once, after telling a woman that I worked with him a few times, she asked if ever touched his apron? I replied, no, but we did share a bar-mop. Fifteen years in the business meant nothing but three days with the Bartending Jesus, that’s something.
    Years later, after he was on Moonlighting , I ran into Bruno again. He came into another bar that I was working at and ordered a beer. I couldn’t resist, I knew he probably would never remember me but I had to ask him if he recalled my three shifts as his apostle bartender. Bruce looked at me real good and said, “Bob?” I was thrilled -- he remembered me.
    George Clooney Busts My Chops… and I Bust His Right Back

    G eorge Clooney is a big movie star and I’ve heard him tell people this. During a Q & A for his film Goodnight and Good Luck, ” George was asked by an audience member, how he could make a film a like Goodnight and get it financed. George’s answer was easy, “I’m a big star. I don’t know if you know that.”
    For many years, I worked as a stage manager for the Writers Guild of America West awards show. I last worked for the Guild in the Credits Department but it was in the Operations Department where I first began to work at the