Brittany Flowers was 73 years old in 1982, but the former Hollywood beauty - star of over 20 feature films back in the '30s and '40s - was still stunning.
Her piercing blue eyes and blonde locks (albeit, dyed) fully complemented her youthful and perky spirit.
She appeared in T.V. shows and movies in the '50's and '60's and by the late '70's, Ms. Flowers owned a health-food store and did various charity work.
She still had so much on her plate that she required a personal assistant.
Enter Harold Melbourne.
Harold had been bouncing around from place to place in Hollywood, trying to find steady work while he waited for his acting career to take off.
Working for Brittany was fun and easy, not too taxing.
Most of the time, he took and made a lot of phone calls, made appointments, ran errands. Brittany still entertained a lot so it was up to Harold to make sure the eight-bedroom house was clean, immaculate, and stocked with various foods and liquid refreshments.
Harold was 34 years old, Brittany 73. But she always went out of her way to prove she was still "hip."
She fiddled with a Rubik's Cube now and again, played Duran Duran, even bought an Atari for the large-screen television in the spacious living room.
***
Harold lived at the house to make things easier and provide a steadier flow.
On many evenings, the two would just hang out at the house and take in a movie, a way of coming down from the stresses of the day.
The movies spanned from PG-rated, family flicks, to more raunchy, R-rated ventures.
Harold squirmed in his seat a bit when one evening the two watched Porky's, as he wasn't used to taking in such a flick with a woman of Brittany's age. But he did get a kick out of how she thought the film was a riot, laughing at every sex-based punchline.
Over a span of six months, the two had become chummy.
Every Sunday, they met with a crew of Brittany's old pals, both male and female, at Cassandra's Diner in downtown Hollywood, not far from where Brittany's star graced the Walk of Fame.
***
Coffee kept flowing one particular Sunday morning at Cassandra's, meaning everyone was a bit more hopped up than normal.
"Hey, Britt, how is Marvin Harding these days?" asked Bert.
Brittany gave a wry smile.
"I have no earthly idea, Bert," she responded.
"I thought you would know," he kidded.
She scoffed at that suggestion.
"Maybe you should know," she fired back.
"Who are we talking about?" asked Estelle, Brittany's co-star in 'Dancing the Night Away,' many years back.
"Marvin Harding," Jimmy informed.
"Oh," Estelle said. "Ooohhhhh..."
"Yeah, that Marvin Harding," the heavy-set, chain-smoking Jimmy kidded further.
Estelle and him had a laugh.
"Jeez," Brittany said aloud, "the last time I saw Marvin was probably...the shoot of Mr. Chism, and that was..."
"19...68 I wanna say?" Bert pondered.
"I think so," Brittany added. "Yeah, yeah, because it was when the studio moved to - "
"That's right," Bert agreed.
All kinds of chitter-chatter broke out between the group, having to do with this Marvin character, but Brittany and Bert spoke loud enough that eventually their voices were the only ones heard.
"Britt, what was his official title?" asked Joan.
"How do you mean?" she said, with a teasing smile.
"I mean...he was just...always there, but he wasn't an actor was he?" Joan went on.
"Art used him as an extra quite often," Bert clarified.
Brittany chuckled.
"He was an extra extra extra," Bert kidded, as some got the joke, some didn't.
"Is that how he made his living?" Joan persisted.
Brittany shrugged.
"That and various appearances...sideshows," Bert kidded.
Brittany now gave into a more hearty chuckle. She couldn't help it.
"He was just always...THERE," Estelle laughed.
"And yet he wasn't really an actor," Peggy chimed in.
"The last I heard of Marvin," Brittany informed, having to dig a bit in her memory bank, "was when he was a blackjack dealer in Vegas, and that was maybe around '71 or '72..."
"Dealing some Seven Card STUD," Bert kidded.
Harold just sat there quietly, finishing the final few buttery bites of his pancakes.
Brittany gave him a sympathetic smile, as he was pretty clueless as to what - or moreover who - they were talking about.
"I remember when he was trying to get...uh, how do you say...validation?" Bert asked.
"He didn't get enough of it at those parties?" Brittany fired back, with a laugh.
"No, I remember he actually called - " Mark began but was cut off.
"Yeah, and they said they didn't do that," Reggie answered.
"Harold's sitting there thinking, 'what the fuck are these old farts talking about?'" interjected Bob.
That crass remark ushered in the loudest, raucous laughter yet.
Soon, the subject changed.
***
Brittany drove herself and Harold back home, casually cruising down Nixon Way.
"I love big cars," she remarked, speaking of her brand-new, gold-painted Cadillac Eldorado. "Feels like I'm in my living room."
"Britt, I have to ask, what was all the hub-ub about Marvin Harding?" he offered.
Again, the mere mention of his name prompted a giggle.
"Marvin...oh I don't even know how to start," Brittany began, with a laugh.