David Winters, part 2

            The Camelot is rife with good buzz as we make a dramatic entrance. Jonathan is the star of the show. The girls cannot believe their good fortune in having the young handsome hip-hop dude in their midst. David settles at a table and entertains two ladies. I grab a vodka tonic as David waxes eloquent. 

            “I went to LODGE SCHOOL with Sal Mineo. It was a theatre-performance arts academy in New York. After West Side Story I made my way to the West Coast. Sal let me crash in his pad in Los Angeles.” 

            Mineo was an actor who specialized in portraying troubled youth. He was Plato in Rebel Without A Cause, starring James Dean and Natalie Wood. Sal portrayed the immigrant Italian teenager in Dino. Mineo was a Mexican peasant in Giant with Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. Sal played jazz drummer Gene Krupa in The Gene Krupa Story, exposing the high-octane vices of the jazz world. He was the violated youth in Exodus.

            David smiles over his orange juice as he reminisces: “Sal lent me his ‘57 Thunderbirdto drive. I cracked it up. Sal was way cool about it. He was a good guy and an under-rated actor.”

            In Hollywood David worked and partied with the crème de la crème of the gods and goddesses of the silver screen. He hung out with James Dean, Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood. He romanced love goddesses Linda Lovelace and Toni Basil. He learned to choreograph, write and direct films.

            In Las Vegas he gave Ann Margaret jazz dance lessons and introduced her to Elvis Presley. David choreographed four Elvis movies. Alice Cooper asked him to be introduced to Elvis and David obliged. Ann Margaret and Elvis enjoyed a torrid affair. David went on to direct Ann Margaret and Kirk Douglas. He worked and hung out with Paul Newman. David has been nominated for six Emmys without capturing one. His body of work is now subject to clinical retrospectives in film schools.

            The atmosphere at Camelot is electric. A girl named Ploy gives me her phone number. This is good. Giving phone numbers to customers is verboten as it is bad for biz. David lives in a culture of beauty. Music, literature and painting are important. He lives in Bangkok and is passionate about creating a new international cinema with high standards. He embodies a work ethic that dominates his life.

            David produced The Kingmaker, shot in its entirety on location in Thailand. Directed by Lek Kittapataporn and starring the redoubtable John Rhys Davies who worked in The Lords of The Ring and Indiana Jones John is an elegant Welshman who attended RADA and exemplifies the British tradition of theatre and film.

The film featured the beauty and talent of Cindy Burbridge, the former Miss Thailand World as the romantic lead.Fresh from his role as Cletus in Oliver Stone’s Alexander, Gary Stretch played the romantic male lead. Gary was in his pomp a champion boxer in England who fought for and held the WBC middleweight title. He modeled and romanced Racquel Welch before turning his pugilist charms to acting onscreen.

Cindy met her future husband Bryon Bishop on the set. Romance blossomed as Bryon and Cindy celebrated the premiere by announcing their engagement and marriage.

            At midnight we all turn into pumpkins. David picks up the check and we stroll outside into the cracking Pat Pong atmosphere. David and Jonathan bid me adieu and hail a taxi. I am feeling warm and fuzzy from the vodka and wine. I muse on the events of the evening. It has been a strangely PG-17 night. It has been all good fun and it all comes off with soap and water. A very David Winters kind of night.