I was an 'Extra' on the 1994 Forget-Me-Not Murders

I am not an actor. In 1994 I was an unemployed draftsman in Toronto, Canada, who, like many people, had always fantasized about meeting Hollywood movie stars. I just happened to meet a guy in Toronto who told me he got to meet big name stars by playing non-speaking bit parts in "made in Toronto" movies.

Toronto has been dubbed "Hollywood North" because of all the movies and TV series that have been shot here, doubling for some U.S. city.

I took this guys advice and went to a local casting agency in Yorkville, Toronto.

Turns out they had a lot of non-speaking parts available, and they asked me if I'd like to play a furniture store salesman in a made-for-TV movie called The Forget-Me-Not Murders, starring Richard Crenna. The pay would be $80 a day.
I said O.K. I'll do it.

They asked me to come back in a few days, when they would be ready to shoot the scene I would be in, and to wear a suit, so I'd look the part of the furniture store salesman, which I did.

The furniture store that was used for the exterior and interior shots was the Dynavor Furniture store at Eglinton Ave. near Dufferin St. in Toronto.
This was supposed to be Cleveland Ohio in the movie, and I recall all the parked cars outside the store had Ohio licence plates on them.

In my scene, Inspector Janek, (Richard Crenna), and his partner Lt.Greenberg, who were investigating this murder, entered the store, to speak to one of the employees of the store.

The first person they saw was me, as a salesman, in a brown suit, checking out the furniture.

Richard Crenna approached me, as I was near the door, produced his badge, and mentioned the name of the lady he wanted to see.
I pointed towards her in the store, and, although it was a non-speaking part, said "She's over there". Later, my voice would be dubbed by someone saying "She's over there" in an American accent. As I'm Scottish, you can imagine my surprise, and delight, when I saw, and "heard" myself on the completed movie on TV !

In the preceding scene, the exterior shot, Inspector Janek and Lt. Greenberg get out of their car and walk across the street, and enter the Dynavor Furnture store.

That's was my first venture into "extra" acting, in 1994, and my first and only meeting with Richard Crenna, who was wonderful to talk to later on, where I got a chance to ask him all about his long and varied career in show business. For me, it great experience to meet him.
I've just been watching his 2002 interviews on Utube, which I found extremely interesting, and was saddened to hear of his untimely death in 2003.

Len Vine
Toronto
LVINE@rogers,com