First off, excuse the photos you'll be seeing. I took them with my cell phone from my 1973 plastic paged scrapbook. It's falling apart plus it got water damaged in a storm so the pic's aren't the best but I wanted you to see who I was talking about.
I will never forget this day, in 1973. To begin the story...Barb and I were in our first year teaching and sharing a two bedroom apartment. Woody owned Shadrack's then and we still hung out there now and then. One night, in that bar, the cutest guy came up to me and introduced himself and I was entranced! I remember asking Barb, who was also there that night- "Can I bring someone from Toronto home to live with us?"!!!
It was Marcus O'Hara, lol.
He was a model in Canada and did commercials. He did come live with us for about 4 or 5 months which is another story as he was wayyyyyyyy over his visa into the US by then but we didn't know it or didn't care, can't remember which, lol. The 3 of us had a great time together as he was so funny and he cooked and cleaned. My mom called him our Canadian house boy! I was deep into a crush with him at first and then we just became good friends, same with Barb. We loved Marcus and loved having him around. Sooooooooo, here comes St. Paddy's Day and of course, with him being so Irish, he was up for a party.
That night, Marcus, I and a friend named Susie, who was adorable and who Marcus had a crush on, went drinking. Barb was smart and stayed home. The 3 of us bar hopped, having a ball until about midnight and then I said, "Take me home"...I had, had enough to drink. Marcus and Susie dropped me off and then they took off again in my little car. Fast forward to about 3 in the morning and my phone by the bed, rings. I didn't really even want to answer it as I was pretty drunk, but I did. It was Marcus and he said, "Can you come get me? I'm in jail!". I said, "no", and hung up the phone!!! I told you I was drunk....he calls again a couple hours later and tells me that the cops stopped them and got him for DWI. They let Susie go and she drove my car to her house and they took him to ST. Pete Beach jail. By the 2nd call, he had sobered up and he WANTED OUT of that jail!! The bond would be $252.00 which was wayyyy over anything we had. You can see my maiden name on it.
We were making $7100 a year and barely making our bills. To make a long story short, Barb called her WONDERFUL brother, Dennis, and he came up with the money and gave it to me so I could go get Marcus out of jail. Dennis was worried that Marcus would just leave and go back to Toronto and he'd be stuck but we assured him that Marcus would be good for it. I went to the jail and bailed him out much to his happiness. Now we had two problems...paying back Dennis and having to get a lawyer for Marcus as he was over his Visa on top of the DWI charge and actually, we were told Barb and I could have been charged with "harboring a fugutive"!!!! We found a pro bono lawyer who was our life saver and he's another whole story which I'll tell another time. Marcus got on the phone and called back to Toronto to his old girlfriend, Gilda Radner!! At that time, Gilda was in Second City as this was pre SNL days! I remember Gilda saying to Marcus, "Marcus, I can't follow you around the world, bailing you out"! but she did send the money to him so he could repay Dennis which was so nice.
The next couple of months were spent working with the attorney to get Marcus off and then he needed to leave the US and go home as they were basically, kicking him out of the courntry. So, if he had not gotten arrested that St Paddy's night, he could have been with us for a long time, lol!!!
We laugh about it all now but at the time, it was scary and you can see why I remember that night so well! Thank goodness I had gone home or I'm sure I would have been in that jail with him and probably had my teaching certificate taken away!! I've never gone out on St. Paddy's night since then!!
To fast forward the story, Marcus went home around May. He was driving a toronto tourist's caddy home for him so I went as far as Atlanta with him. We actually stopped in Gainesville first at Woody's bar up there and saw him. Then we went to Becky and David's house in Atlanta area and I stayed there for a few days while he drove home to Toronto.
In June, I flew to Toronto and stayed with him and his family for two weeks. At that time, his sister was 16 and guess who she turned out to be later on? Catherine O'Hara, the actress, from Beetlejuice, HOme Alone, etc.!! She was just a young kid then and we shared a bedroom. I also met Gilda when I was there and Dan Ackroyd too as they both were in Second City at the time, having just finished Godspell. The next year is when Gilda make the breakthrough to Saturday Night Live which Catherine ended up being on too.
For many years, Marcus' parents wintered here in my area and I always went over to see them. Sometimes Marcus was there too.
I haven't seen him now for several years but I know he's still up in Toronto and last I heard, he was running a bar owned by Dan Ackroyd.
So that's my St. Paddy's Day story from 1973!! A memorable one for sure!
