Shortly after moving into our house in 1996, our next door neighbor moved out. The house remained empty for a number of months. And then, Dick and Lynne Smith moved in. They were quiet and incredibly nice people. We immediately became friendly with them. We could tell from the beginning how much they loved each other.
I forget how or who told me, but we learned that Dick was a well-known/famous Hollywood makeup artist. I was quite intrigued and asked him about that when he stopped over one afternoon.
Dick Smith was definitely all that, and then some. Dick did the makeup work for movies such as The Exorcist, The Godfather Trilogy and Amadeus (where he won an Oscar) and many many more movies.
One of our best memories was the night that Dick and some of my friends came over (all Godfather lovers). We ate pizza from the famous New Haven pizzeria, Pepe’s and watched The Godfather on my back deck under the stars. We paused the video many times for Dick to give us some “Inside” information about the filming and all of the stars. That information will stay on a QT for now.
It was a truly awesome night that none of us will ever forget. We told ourselves that we would do this again as many times as possible.
Our next movie night was inside because it was wintertime. This time, we watched Amadeus. Once again, we paused many times for commentary. Unlike the first movie night, this time Dick brought his Oscar. Each of us had to hold it. He also brought the mold used on F. Murray Abraham’s face for making his character, Saliere, age in a natural way. It was an awesome night once again.
Our next movie night included another friend and we watched The Exorcist. Again, a whole pile of insider information was passed. Nothing was gossipy, just very technical “How did you do that?” kind of stuff.
Dick is an incredibly detailed artist and a really nice guy. Almost everyone on our street looks out for him.
You just never know who your new neighbor is.
Type Dick Smith on YouTube and you get…
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