Alan Arkin Argo - H 2012
Warner Bros. Pictures- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Tumblr
This story first appeared in the Oct. 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
In 1980, THR ran an ad promoting the “original” faux film Argo — so perhaps it’s only natural that THR helped Ben Affleck find the original “producer” of it.
PHOTOS: Ben Affleck at 40: Portraits of ‘Argo’s’ Leading Man, Director and Oscar-Baiting Auteur
THR‘s own Bill Higgins recently located makeup artist Robert Sidell (E.T., The Waltons) — now 75 and living in Vegas — who had posed as the fake film’s producer.
When Higgins ran into Affleck at a dinner and told him about it, the actor-director said that he’d never tracked down Sidell, thinking he was dead.
Subsequently, Warner Bros. flew Sidell to L.A. for the premiere, and Affleck referred to him from the stage.
STORY: ‘Argo’ Screenwriter Explains the CIA Secrets and Surprises Behind the Film
“It was surreal,” says Sidell. “I suddenly had closure to a story that started in 1980. And I think the movie’s going to get four or five Oscar nominations.”
A Hollywood veteran, through and through.
Related Stories
Related Stories
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day