Flying with the Rich and Famous: True Stories from the Flight Attendant who flew with them by Patricia Reid Page A
Authors: Patricia Reid
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television projects, usually comedies. Dom had a reputation for being funny—really funny. I had read that movie shoots took longer when he was involved just because people couldn’t stop laughing. So, I was expecting this to be one hilarious flight.
Dom boarded the airplane with a huge smile on his face and introduced himself to everyone, shaking each person’s hand vigorously and thanking us before we even did anything. He was very exuberant, gregarious, and excited to be on the flight. He made me feel like we were all lucky to be alive and on this airplane together because we were going to have so much fun. While I escorted him to his seat, he linked my arm, waved the other hand with a lively gesture and said with a jovial flourish,“Show me the way!” When we got there, he gave me a bear hug, so huge it consumed my entire being. After I caught my breath, I thought,
this flight is indeed going to be memorable
.
When we settled at our cruising altitude, Dom pulled out a huge pile of paper. It was his personal stationery that read:
From the desk of Dom DeLuise
. Next to that there was a small caricature of him, with a gigantic grin, naturally. He told me that he wanted to send Burt a note to cheer him up since he wasn’t feeling well. He scribbled something on his letterhead and stuffed it into a matching envelope. He then shouted that he needed a delivery boy for his “air mail.” Singer and songwriter Paul Williams (another in this boys’ club) jumped up and ran over to Dom to volunteer.
They made a big production out of Paul delivering Dom’s “air mail,” saying how important this letter was, and that it had to be hand-delivered. It was so very funny, everyone was giggling.
Paul got down on his hands and knees while Dom“knighted” him for his role of emissary and sent him on his way to “deliver de letter.” Still on his knees with Dom’s “precious cargo” in hand, Paul began to inch his way to the back of the airplane while chanting, “Hear ye, hear ye.” Everyone was in hysterics. He was taking his role as the knighted postman seriously! When he got to Burt Reynolds, he formally announced that he had an “air mail” delivery for him but proceeded to sort of toss or drop the envelope in Burt’s lap in a lackluster way. At this point, the laughter drowned out the jet engines.
Maybe the vigorous audience around him fueled Dom, because he continued to write letters to the other celebrities onboard. It was becoming mayhem throughout the cabin because “air mail” was “flying” all over the plane.
Then Dom decided that the pilots needed a letter, too, and again jotted something down. But he’d fired Paul Williams as his delivery boy—something about delivering letters to the wrong people. He proceeded to reprimand Paul, scolding, “You’re justlike the postman delivering the wrong mail to the wrong addressee.” And guess who he wanted to replace him? Me, that’s who. He shoved me off to the cockpit with a letter for the pilots after lecturing me on how to deliver his mail correctly, then pointing to the front of the airplane and instructing me: “That’s where the pilots are.” (Ok, I’m blond but still!) When I got inside the cockpit, I opened the letter for the pilots. It read: “Do you know the way to Tampa Bay?” We all cracked up because we were in fact headed to Tampa Bay.
The comedy sketch continued as we flew across the entire country. As the mail wound down, Dom found new ways to keep us entertained. He came up to the galley where we had balls of butter out in a bowl and said, “Yum, butterballs!” He popped one into his mouth—without the help of bread or water, just a giant ball of fat—then he looked at us for a reaction and with a hearty laugh meandered back to his seat. He was constantly “on,” and never has five working hours gone by so quickly. Other thanBurt not feeling well, this charter was one of my favorites.
SYLVESTER STALLONE
We were all
Dom boarded the airplane with a huge smile on his face and introduced himself to everyone, shaking each person’s hand vigorously and thanking us before we even did anything. He was very exuberant, gregarious, and excited to be on the flight. He made me feel like we were all lucky to be alive and on this airplane together because we were going to have so much fun. While I escorted him to his seat, he linked my arm, waved the other hand with a lively gesture and said with a jovial flourish,“Show me the way!” When we got there, he gave me a bear hug, so huge it consumed my entire being. After I caught my breath, I thought,
this flight is indeed going to be memorable
.
When we settled at our cruising altitude, Dom pulled out a huge pile of paper. It was his personal stationery that read:
From the desk of Dom DeLuise
. Next to that there was a small caricature of him, with a gigantic grin, naturally. He told me that he wanted to send Burt a note to cheer him up since he wasn’t feeling well. He scribbled something on his letterhead and stuffed it into a matching envelope. He then shouted that he needed a delivery boy for his “air mail.” Singer and songwriter Paul Williams (another in this boys’ club) jumped up and ran over to Dom to volunteer.
They made a big production out of Paul delivering Dom’s “air mail,” saying how important this letter was, and that it had to be hand-delivered. It was so very funny, everyone was giggling.
Paul got down on his hands and knees while Dom“knighted” him for his role of emissary and sent him on his way to “deliver de letter.” Still on his knees with Dom’s “precious cargo” in hand, Paul began to inch his way to the back of the airplane while chanting, “Hear ye, hear ye.” Everyone was in hysterics. He was taking his role as the knighted postman seriously! When he got to Burt Reynolds, he formally announced that he had an “air mail” delivery for him but proceeded to sort of toss or drop the envelope in Burt’s lap in a lackluster way. At this point, the laughter drowned out the jet engines.
Maybe the vigorous audience around him fueled Dom, because he continued to write letters to the other celebrities onboard. It was becoming mayhem throughout the cabin because “air mail” was “flying” all over the plane.
Then Dom decided that the pilots needed a letter, too, and again jotted something down. But he’d fired Paul Williams as his delivery boy—something about delivering letters to the wrong people. He proceeded to reprimand Paul, scolding, “You’re justlike the postman delivering the wrong mail to the wrong addressee.” And guess who he wanted to replace him? Me, that’s who. He shoved me off to the cockpit with a letter for the pilots after lecturing me on how to deliver his mail correctly, then pointing to the front of the airplane and instructing me: “That’s where the pilots are.” (Ok, I’m blond but still!) When I got inside the cockpit, I opened the letter for the pilots. It read: “Do you know the way to Tampa Bay?” We all cracked up because we were in fact headed to Tampa Bay.
The comedy sketch continued as we flew across the entire country. As the mail wound down, Dom found new ways to keep us entertained. He came up to the galley where we had balls of butter out in a bowl and said, “Yum, butterballs!” He popped one into his mouth—without the help of bread or water, just a giant ball of fat—then he looked at us for a reaction and with a hearty laugh meandered back to his seat. He was constantly “on,” and never has five working hours gone by so quickly. Other thanBurt not feeling well, this charter was one of my favorites.
SYLVESTER STALLONE
We were all
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