Sci-Fi Con Memories

Program from the DoctorWho Event 85
which I attended nearly 40 years ago

Writing up my experiences at the LIWho Doctor Who convention attended last weekend brought back memories of similar events I used to frequent in the 1980s and '90s. Apart from the occasional comic book show, this recent pop-culture gathering was the first one I had been to in about 35 years. The first one I ever attended that I can remember was a Star Trek convention in Philadelphia. Except for the Big Three-Shatner (Kirk), Nimoy (Spock) and Kelly (McCoy)--it seemed the entire Enterprise crew was there. I have no evidence or pictures from that event since I did not stand in line to get autographs, but I remember having fun which was the main purpose. In college I rented a car along with two other students and drove from Pittsburgh to NYC to attend another Star Trek con. Shatner was at this one and I asked him what it was like starring in the TV version of The Andersonville Trial and being directed by George C. Scott in a role he originated on Broadway. I don't recall the answer. I do remember seeing Forbidden Planet there for the first time.

My first Dr. Who event was in Valley Forge, PA with numerous Doctors and companions including Jon Pertwee and Nicola Bryant. There were no autographs given out and my chief memories were of watching Dr. Who episodes not yet available on our PBS stations. According to broadwcast.org, there was a Who event on Feb. 23-24, 1985 at the Valley Forge Convention Center as part of the Whovian Festival tour and the only guests listed are Colin Baker and John Nathan Turner. The website lists additional tour stops in Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida, Portland, Oregon, and San Jose, Calif. There is also a DW event called Spirit of Light in Valley Forge on Aug. 31-Sept. 2 listed so it could have been that one that I attended. Now I look further and it was probably the WhoEvent 85, held Oct. 18-20 at Valley Forge. This one lists Pertwee, Bryant, Colin Baker, Anthony Ainley (The Master), John Levene, Janet Fielding, Terry Walsh and Carol Ann Ford as participants. I do remember there being a lot of guests, so this was probably the one I attended. Upon further digging through my collection of theater programs (none of which I have thrown out), I found the program (see picture). By now DW shows with Tom Baker were being broadcast on WHYY, the local Phila. PBS station with narration by Howard Da Silva and I was hooked. 

When I moved to NYC, I started keeping better track of my pop culture-sci-fi con attendance with a list of autographs acquired. I had bought a fantastic book called Cult TV: A Viewer's Guide to the Shows America Can't Live Without by John Javna. This precious volume included entries with text and photos on Star Trek, Doctor Who, Blake's Seven, Dark Shadows, and Lost in Space. In addition, it features entries on non-sci-fi series such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Honeymooners, Taxi, Hill Street Blues, Dr. Kildare, Monty Python's Flying Circus, etc. I was able to get autographs from stars of these shows when they appeared on or Off-Broadway or at the Broadway Flea Market. 

I

The first entry in my Cult TV list was Tom Baker (my first and favorite Doctor) who appeared at Brooklyn College with Colin Baker (the event was heralded as the Baker-Baker Con) on Sept. 27-8, 1986. I lived right near by at the time and was now a member of UNYT, a NYC-based Doctor Who fan club. T. Baker was amazing and I got him to sign not only Javna's book but also The Key to Time and Doctor Who: A Celebration (both by Peter Haining). I got C. Baker's signature later. According to broadwcast.org, the Baker-Baker event also appeared in Philadelphia, Nashville, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago and Boston.

The next big event was Infinicon 86, held Oct. 25-26, 1986 at the Society for Ethical Culture in Manhattan. The guests included two Doctors--Peter Davison and Patrick Troughton--George Takei (Mr. Sulu from Star Trek), Paul Darrow of Blake's 7, British horror-film star Caroline Munro, and the legendary Isaac Asimov. My fan club, UNYT was heavily involved in organizing and promoting the event and, by accident, I became part of it. On the first morning of the event, the President of UNYT who was a friend, grabbed me and said, "George Takei's guest escort overslept. George is still at the hotel and he's furious. Can you take over the escort position for today? All you have to do is follow the schedule and get him from Point A to Point B on time." Of course, I said yes. Shepherding Takei to panels, autograph sessions, and interviews was exciting. I also got to sit with him and a small group of fans during a celebrity lunch. The event was somewhat disorganized. The evening cabaret was cancelled because the producers forget to ask the guests if they wanted to participate and most of them had nothing prepared to perform. But overall, it was great fun. George signed my Cult TV book with "To David, thanks for taking such good care of me." (I met George on the NYC subway decades later and I said hi, not expecting him to remember and of course, he didn't.) The Doctors signed my Peter Haining books.

That Thanksgiving I attended the Creation Convention with Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith of Lost in Space), Majel Barrett (Nurse Chappell of Star Trek), June Foray (the voice of Rocky on Rocky and Bullwinkle, it was weird hearing that voice come out of a human mouth), John Leeson (the voice of K-9 on Dr. Who), and Rick Moranis and Frank Oz who were promoting the film version of Little Shop of Horrors. I remember telling Jonathan Harris we would watch Lost in Space on Wednesday nights instead of Batman and he laughed. Majel Barrett performed a Nurse Chappell monologue from the new Star Trek film which had been cut. 

I-Con was an annual event held at SUNY Stony Brook on Long Island and I attended VI (March 1987) and VII (April 1988). VI's main guests were Colin Baker, Mark Lenard (Sarek, Spock's Father, plus Romulan and Klingon roles on Star Trek), and David Gerrold (Trouble with Tribbles author, Star Trek). VII featured my boyhood hero Adam West (Batman), Anthony Ainley (The Master), and Star Trek/Outer Limits/S-F author Harlan Ellison. I remember asking Adam what it was like working with Tallullah Bankhead on one of her last roles as the Black Widow. He said she was very frail but friendly. I think she chided the cast when they didn't know their lines. Adam not only signed Cult TV but also my book about the Batman series. 

Creation Conventions were another regular source of signatures. They used to hold two or three cons a year. Celebrity autographs collected there included Jan Chapell of Blake's 7 (June 87); Walter Keonig, Chekov of Star Trek (June 87); James Doohan, Scotty of Star Trek (Aug. 87); Terry Nation, writer-prod'r of Dr. Who and Blake's 7 (Aug. 87); Jane Badler of V (Nov. 87); Dawn Welles, Mary Ann of Gilligan's Island (Aug. 90); and Marta Kristen of Lost in Space (Aug. 90). I also remember Joyce Randolph of the Honeymooners; Jane Wyatt who played Spock's mother on Star Trek as well as Father's Knows Best; and DeForrest Kelley (Dr. McCoy of Star Trek) who appeared just before his cameo on Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

The cast of Dark Shadows

I only went to one Dark Shadows Convention. It was in 1987 and I took the train to Newark, New Jersey. My sister and I used to run home from school every week day in order to catch the show at 3:30PM. We used to turn off all the lights and draw the shades so it would be spooky. I had previously gotten Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins)'s autograph when he was starring on Broadway in Arsenic and Old Lace. Hollywood legend Joan Bennett, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Sharon Smythe, Terry Crawford and Donna Wandrey provided signatures. 

Once they started charging for autographs, I stopped collecting them. There was one comic book-pop culture con which was loaded with former stars like Julie Newmar (Catwoman) and David Hedison (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), each charging about $30 for an autograph. They weren't even doing panels, just collecting cash. I could have added to the collection, but I didn't want to spend the money.