I’m very
saddened by the news of the passing of actor Joe Pilato. I’ve had the chance to
meet him on a couple of occasions and he was the nicest guy. Now I know you
hear that a lot when someone dies but with Mr. Pilato it was true. I thought
that I’d tell you my own personal story of meeting the man and the kindness that
he showed me.
Many years
ago, I attended a convention in Pittsburgh that had most of the cast from Day
of the Dead in attendance, including Mr. Pilato. It was a busy show and the
actors were doing a brisk business with autographs and pictures. I got in line
and got my poster signed by him and then asked if he would do a quick bumper
for the Podcast I was working on at the time. For everyone else that meant
something like “Hey this is <insert name here> and you are listening to
the <insert podcast name here>”. I was always super appreciative of them
doing that for us. I mean it was just neat to have and it meant a lot.
Mr. Pilato
sat there for a minute looking at me, the wheels turning in his head. I thought
to myself “uh oh” and prepared for the worst. He then grabbed a pen and scrap
paper and started asking me questions. Like the name of the show and who were
the hosts. Asking for my recorder he sat it on the table and proceeded to do “the
speech” from Day of the Dead. You know the one… monkey farm and all. Only he
customized it using the shows name and went all out. I’m standing there stunned
as he finished and look up at me saying, “Was that okay I can do it again.” He
was worried that we might be disappointed with it…
 |
| This is me right after he recorded the bump... still amazed |
That is
all you need to know about Joe Pilato and how he treated the fans right there.
Though he would double down later that weekend when he was the one looking down
from the balcony at the Monroeville Mall firing up the crowd after the zombie
walk. For those uninformed to the Romero Zombie Universe Pilato was in Day of
the Dead and while he had a small part in Dawn it was mostly cut. But he was
still the guy who was up there leading the crowd at the shooting location of
Dawn of the Dead. Every show I ever saw him at he was having a blast and because
of that so were the fans. I go to a lot of shows and many actors clearly
consider it work, which I suppose it is. But Pilato was one of those rare guys
who cared about the people showing up and walking thru the doors.
I know
that there are people out there who will be memorializing Mr. Pilato, many of
whom actually knew the man. For me I just wanted to share that one little story
where he made this horror nerd very happy. In fact, when I played it for the
other guys, we were all shocked by how cool it was. I always liked Day of the
Dead and thought Pilato was good in it, but it was that day that he made me a
real fan. There aren’t enough people in the world that understand what just a second
or two of kindness can do for others.
Let me finish
with this. If you are a fan of an actor or movie and get the chance to meet
those who worked on it do so. Not only are you likely to make a great memory
for yourself I firmly believe that it helps them to see and hear from the fans.
Let them know how much you appreciate their work and maybe we will continue to
get more. Rest in Peace Captain Rhodes and have fun running that Monkey Farm.
© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer
