|
Press Release
August 22, 2005
Barbershop Ventriloquist Loses Dummy
Where’s Woody?
Actor/Ventriloquist Willie Brown is conducting a
worldwide search
for his missing sidekick Woody. Brown, a recurring guest star on the
new hit TVseries “Barbershop” on Showtime, and a regular on
BET Comicview lost his dummy Woody at the United Airlines Terminal
at Washington Dulles Airport on August 16, 2005. Brown flew non
stop on United flight 925 from Washington to Los Angeles. He says
he was returning from a show in Annandale, VA and was heading home
to shoot the final episode of “Barbershop” at Paramount Studios when
he discovered that Woody never made the flight.
The flight left Washington Dulles at 9:40 PM
Eastern time and was
scheduled to arrive at LAX shortly after midnight western time.
“I waited at LAX for about two hours after my flight landed, but
Woody never came down the baggage chute. I thought for sure he
had made that flight. I knew I shouldn’t have checked him, but I
thought it was okay since I arrived at the airport in plenty enough
time, and it was a non stop flight from Washington to L.A.”.
“The sad thing was that I had to be at Paramount Studios the very
next day to shoot. I would be working on a million dollar production
and it was the opportunity that I had been waiting for my whole life.”
Luckily for Brown, Sam Tell, head of the prop
department for the new
Showtime series “Barbershop” was able to locate a very similar puppet
to Brown’s Woody which could be used for the taping. “Thank God
they found me something to use”, said Brown. “It worked for the taping
and I was able to pull it off. No one will know, but I know”.
Brown who is also a paid regular at The World
Famous Comedy Store on
Sunset and The Laugh Factory still has a continuing dilemma. He has a
calendar full of gigs and no Woody. “I’ve been on the phone with United
everyday almost every hour and nothing has turned up. I don’t know what
could have happened to Woody. He’s in a black trunk with stickers all
over it.
There are stickers from Jamaica, a sticker of Bob Marley, an American
flag,
an I love New York sticker and a few radio station stickers from around
the country. It’s a very unique case. I know someone has to find it”,
says Brown.
While at the United ticket counter Brown says that
he checked himself in
using the automated system. He printed up his boarding pass and when
it asked how many bags he was checking he selected two, but only ended
up actually checking one. The female attendant came over and asked to
see
his photo I.D. According to Brown, he showed it to her and she applied
the baggage ticket to the handle of Woody’s case and told him that he
had been selected for additional screening. He was then told to take
his luggage to the TSA security at the far end of the counter. Brown
then
took Woody down to TSA security and they ran Woody’s case through the
large x-ray machine. “The guys were real friendly with me. They asked
me what was in the trunk and I told them it was Woody and that I was a
ventriloquist. One of the guys recognized me and asked if I was on
television and I said yes. So after Woody came out of the x-ray machine
the security officer put a sticker on my baggage ticket, stamped my
boarding pass and said “he’s all set now have a nice flight”. And that
was
the last time I saw him.”
Another roadblock in the search for Woody is that
Brown was never issued
a baggage claim check receipt from the attendant so allegedly there is
no
actual record of him ever checking his baggage in according to United
Airline’s personnel. However, Brown did receive a red stamp on his
boarding pass from the TSA security officer after he ran his bag through
the xray machine.
“Woody could be anywhere in the world by now”, says Brown.
“No one knows.
I must say that the people at United have been somewhat helpful, but we
still haven’t found him yet and it’s becoming very stressful. I’m
totally
distraught.
I have shows to do. I got to feed my family”.
The very next night after taping for “Barbershop”
Willie had to perform at
the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California with rhythm and blues
vocalist Al Green. “I didn’t know what I was going to do since Woody
was gone. I have a show with Al Green tomorrow and then I’m off to
North Carolina over the weekend for another show”, says Brown.
Fortunately for him he was able to secure another vent figure from his
lifelong ventriloquist friend Joe Caffey. “If it wasn’t for Joe I don’t
know
what I would have done”, says Brown.
So overall the show was great for Willie and his
stand-in, but it’s still not
Woody.
Brown, a single parent of a fifteen year old son
just purchased a new
home and is relocating to Atlanta, Georgia. “It’s been a busy week with
the taping of “Barbershop”, the purchase of my new home, and losing
Woody” says Brown.
“I wanted Woody to see the house that he helped me
buy. I’m really sad
at this point. I feel like crying. It’s like losing a best friend.
We’ve been
together for a long time.
I hope they find him”.
If anyone finds Woody please call (310) 642-1944 or
go to
www.williebrown.net.
A reward is being offered for Woody’s safe return. |
