Chance, Choice, Change, and Connection: Melba Tolliver at Chiller Theatre
Six weeks ago, I had never heard of Chiller. Now, by chance, I’m a member of a nostalgia subculture.
According to agent Bobby Bank, who chose Melba Tolliver to join his crew of clients, this universe of celebrity fandom, where actors from classic movies and TV-shows sign photos for eager collectors, is a five-billion-dollar annual industry, with twenty-six conventions nationwide! That’s a lot of nostalgia!
Chiller Theatre (which happens twice a year, at the Hilton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey), is a leading outpost. Last weekend, I spent three days sitting with legendary ABC-TV Eyewitness newscaster Tolliver, as she tabled there, in the Gold Room, alongside Bobby’s other clients: John Ventimiglia and Susan Narducci (The Sopranos), Burton Gilliam (Blazing Saddles), Reno Wilson (Mike and Molly), Ken Lerner (Happy Days), and more. I earned this honor by publishing Melba’s book last year, Accidental Anchorwoman: a Memoir of Chance, Choice, Change, and Connection.
“My fifth-grade teacher assigned us to watch you every night.”
“You were my inspiration.”
“You were the first, right?”
To these comments, the ever-humble Melba responded with comedy (“I watched you back; I saw you in your underwear!”), compliments, (“Well, you inspire me now!”), and—ever the journalist—sincere inquiries into each fan’s life-story.
Often, Melba responded to fans’ narratives with, “What are the odds! You’re the second person this hour whose teacher assigned her students to watch us on the news!”
Or, “Have you heard of synchronicity? What you said is an incredible coincidence because….”
It’s true: the thirty-thousand fans who came to Chiller last weekend were all looking for synchronicity and finding it. Seeking out actors they’d seen in TV and movies, in youth, they found meaning, through connection.
Bobby Bank had printed out stacks of Melba-Tolliver photos from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Aged 87, Melba was there signing images of herself at 37, writing messages to fans in their 60s who were reconnecting with their teenage selves.
I’d been kind of cynical about the whole thing, before experiencing it. But the truth was, it was emotional. We’ve been through a lot, in this culture, and this celebration of life fifty years ago was lovely. Melba Tolliver and Burton Gilliam, two 87-year-olds laughing and chatting together—he celebrated for his role in a classic Mel Brooks comedy fifty years ago, she for her work as a groundbreaking nightly-news journalist, fifty years ago—what a beautiful moment.
We even sold some books!
