The Mary Kay Place Place Webmaster

Mary Kay sent me this autographed photo from a "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" photo shoot way back in 1976 when I was 10 years old.

Hello, and thanks for visiting the Mary Kay Place Place.

My name is Chris Wilson, and I have been a Mary Kay Place fan since she was playing Loretta Haggers on �Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.�   Who didn�t love the senseless, tactless, but always affable Loretta? I became a lifelong fan probably because she actually wrote back to me when I sent her a fan letter. She has been a real inspiration to me because she has shown that she�s not just a talented actress, but a great writer, songwriter, singer and television director. She continues to get better with time in her movie roles.

I originally put this page up in late 1998 and I've been able to connect with many people who admire and respect her work. Ultimately, that was always a goal, so for that, I'm extremely grateful.

Several people have provided me with photos, articles, and even recollections from a couple of people who've had the opportunity to work directly with Ms. Place. I am eternally grateful to Ms. Claudia Lamb, the talented actress (and former radio personality) who played the always entertaining "Heather Hartman" on the now-classic television program, "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." Also, I can't thank Paul Marshall enough for his generosity and insight into the recording career that Mary Kay pursued in the late 1970's.
He has his own website at www.paulmarshall.net
Please visit him there.

While I treasure the opportunity to communicate with these more well known folks, I've equally enjoyed "meeting" (inasmuch as one meets using the Internet) several fans. Special thanks go out to Sascha for the photos from "My So-Called Life" and Citizen Ruth. Jen has been wonderful to send me some vintage articles and photos from the heyday of "Mary Hartman" and Mary Kay's recording career. All of the folks at the Mary Hartman Yahoo Groups e-mail list have provided wonderful memories of the show that introduced me to this incredible talent. Plus, these people are so giving and generous when it comes to trading tapes (which are unfairly rare!) of the program. I have to thank my partner Charles (more on him later) for his "Saturday Night Live" affection, because without him, I wouldn't have known about NBC's rebroadcast of Ms. Place's 1977 stint as host of that program. Most recently, I have to thank Jim for his generous offer to let me use his own negatives of photos taken at a �Mary Hartman� related event (more on that later).

So now that I've gotten the requisite thank you�s out of the way, I'll address some of the most frequently asked questions. First, I don't personally know Ms. Place. I did have the opportunity to meet her in June, 2000 at the Los Angeles Museum of Television and Radio�s �Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman-Reunion, Reunion.� I have added a page with photos and my rather lengthy discourse on the seminar on this site.
The Mary Kay Place Place "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" MTR Page
While we spoke briefly, she and I did not have the chance to go into great detail about much of anything. Regardless, she was gracious and incredibly warm. Quite often, people ask about her personal life, but from what I can tell, she would like that to remain personal. Interviews focus on her work, while her personal life remains private. I respect that completely. Other than the museum meeting, the only other contact that I�ve ever had with her was when I wrote her a fan letter when I was 10 years old, and she was polite enough to respond with a signed photo.
From an interview that she did in conjunction with The Rainmaker, it seemed unlikely that she'd even seen this site. She said in the interview that she was too busy to get on the net, and that she was not yet using the web. That was confirmed when we spoke. She said that she still didn�t use a computer, but that she would go to a friend�s house to look up my web site. Since she does not own a computer, she does not have an
e-mail address. I don't have an address that I can recommend to write to her. Although there is a published address for her in a book about celebrity addresses, it is no longer valid since she�s since moved.

I guess that beyond that, I should just apologize (mainly to my "lovely wife, Becky" ('tis but an in-joke, 'cause ain't no way I'd be married to a woman, wink, wink) for not updating this page every three days. I'd like to be able to do that, but unfortunately, I can't devote that much time to it. I might do a little bit more to update now that I've moved the site, but we'll see...

So, moving beyond this site, here's a bit of bio for me.

I was born in Clayton, GA, in 1965, where Deliverance was filmed. I grew up in suburban Atlanta and moved to Miami in 1993. I got my journalism degree from Georgia State University in 1987, but I've rarely put it to use. After a brief stint at a news radio station, I gave up on the journalism path. I worked for years as a retail mangager for major music and book stores, with an attempt at getting a job as a National Park Service ranger (got my training, got injured, moved on). These days I work in a study abroad organization's office.

I met my partner Charles thanks to his interest in the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players era "Saturday Night Live." When NBC re-aired Mary Kay Place's "SNL" show in 1999, Charles looked her up on the Web and found my page. He
E-mailed me to let me know before it ran. I thanked him and that was the end of it, I had figured.

Instead, we began E-mailing regularly and realized that we were in the same television market (South Florida). Since both of us could write complete sentences (not always a concern when people E-mail), we really found respect for what we each had to say. That respect has grown to much more than that and we became partners in 2002. In 2005 we relocated to Maine.

Together, we've adopted three rescue cats to go along with our retired racing greyhound, Bill. I got Bill in June, 1997 from Hollydogs in Hollywood, FL. They do great work helping to adopt out retired racers. Unfortunately, Bill became ill in July, 2003 and he passed away. He had a relaxing retirement and was loved as he loved-unconditionally. Both Charles and I were heartbroken, but his death was better than his continued suffering.

Our first cat adoption was Clayton, a Flame Point Siamese (Flamer!), who was given up for adoption when his former family brought a baby into the household. We can't figure out how anyone could ever give him up, baby or no baby. He's the real personality in this house. He loves Lebanese dance music, Cubans, and "Bug-A-Boo" by Destiny's Child.

Secondly, we adopted Diana, a Seal Point Siamese, found in an abandoned building. She was a real mess when we got her. She didn't trust anyone and scratched and hissed at humans. After a month of careful attention, she finally started showing signs of trust, and now she is a regular member of the family. Diana loves Teena Marie, Prince's "Housequake," and The O'Jays.

We adopted Clayton, Evelyn, and Diana through the Miami Cat Network, who are nationally represented on the Web through Petfinder.

The last cat is a Blue Abyssinian whom we adopted through the National Abyssinian Cat Rescue. Lisa, as we renamed her, was companion to a caring family, but they could not justify their long trips while she remained in the care of others. The unfortunate thing about female Abyssinians is that they are often kept or reclaimed by unscrupulous breeders who cage them and keep them impregnated until their bodies just give out. Thankfully, her former owners cared enough for her to not let this happen to her. Lisa is a bitch, but we love her anyway.

I've been able to travel to all 50 states with my friends Rich and Sonya. Yes, we've even been to Hawaii. I said 50, not 48 or 49. I probably sound caustic, but that's always the question that we get when I tell people that. Well, it's not exactly right that we saw all 50 together, but we did see a lot in pairs or in threesomes, and we all visited our 50th (Alaska) together after over ten years of working toward that goal.

Charles and I love National Parks and recently visited nine of them in the Southwest. My favorite so far is Glacier in Montana (lots of wild animals like mountain goats and grizzly bears), but almost getting capsized by a salt-water crocodile while canoeing at Biscayne National Park was memorable. The thing was huge and scared us pretty badly.

I'm a pretty big fan of pop media. That sounds nice. Anyway, my top TV shows are "Bewitched," "All in the Family," and "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." My favorite movies are Rosemary's Baby, 9 to 5 and The Bride of Frankenstein. My favorite bands are The Doors, Art of Noise and Bananarama. My favorite albums are The Doors' Strange Days, The Doors,
and Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt. My favorite songs are "Light My Fire" by the Doors, "Someday, We'll Be Together" by the Supremes and "Respect" by Aretha Franklin. My favorite singer is Dolly Parton and my favorite actress is, well, you know. Cher is my favorite celebrity. (Can you say stereotype?)

Because of the Mary Kay Place Place, I was able to meet and befriend Claudia Lamb. She's totally cool, and is a great mom. Here's a photo we took when she was in Fort Lauderdale, June, 2002.

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My favorite painter is Juan Gris, whose work could easily be confused with Braque or Picasso. My favorite book is Alice in Wonderland but I'm also quite fond of Barrel Fever by David Sedaris. David turned me on to the Reinhart trilogy (Crazy in Berlin, Reinhart in Love, and Vital Parts) by Thomas Berger. They're out of print, but libraries and used book stores have them.

To continue the idiocy that is this portion of the Website, my favorite car is the 1971-73 Buick Riviera (I wouldn't own one since they are gas guzzlers), my favorite food is bananas, and my favorite color is obviously green.

If you've read this far, then, "Bless your heart," as they say back in my hometown.

I like to hear from Mary Kay Place fans and those who may have an interest in her career. Please feel free to E-Mail me at:

[email protected]

Thanks for keeping this site fun.

                                      Chris Wilson
                             Portland, ME, 9/05

           Visitors Since August, 2003

I was able to meet
Mary Kay Place
once at the Museum of
Television and Radio's
"MH2" Seminar

Three Months Old

Charles is on the left. This is from the day he received his Master's Degree in English, December, 2002. He really helps me maintain the integrity of my self-imposed stylebook and the look and feel of the Website.

Bill and Clayton. Clayton is nowhere as large as this illusion makes him seem.

Charles surprised me one day when he presented this adorable and rare moment of Claytonius repose.

Dianacus

Lisacus, or as we have discovered her non-Roman, but still Italian name is Biccilisa.

A beautiful photo that I took at Glacier National Park in Montana.

Pointless photos below.

I Insisted on including some sort of visual representation of my favorite things. If you haven't figured it out by now, just click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image.

I met Cher in 1999 and she signed my license plate.

I met Dolly Parton
with my
"lovely wife"
Becky in 1992.

Charles pretending to be composed after the croc attack.

Sonya, Rich and I had breakfast in Anchorage, AK, our 50th state.

Violin and Guitar by Juan Gris

The famous Tenniel artwork from Alice in Wonderland with my favorite character, the Duchess.

The cover of Barrel Fever

I'm looking contemplative at Saguaro National Park near Tucson, AZ

Mildly surreal moment at White Sands National Monument, NM,
Mennonites in the background

A later letter to Mary Kay went unanswered. I have a "rough draft" of it that I had saved. Upon a recent review of the letter, I found it rather demanding, but in a child-like sort of way.

Here's what I typed on my 1913 Royal typewriter in as close a facsimilie as I can reproduce here:

                                   August 25, 1977

Dear Mary Kay,

     Thank you for the picture of yourself. I love it. But I haven't received a letter from you. When you write I would like to know what your zodiac sign is. Mine is Libra. I would also like to know when your birthday is. How many of my letters have you received? I have written 3.

     Do you like animals? I love them. I plan to be a veterinarian. What did you want to be when you were my age ( I'm 11 )?

     I sure am sorry about M.H.M.H. being taken off the air. That was my favorite T.V. show. You were really great.

     Do you like art? I hope you do because I have enclosed a sketch of 2 cardinals. Do you ever draw?

                                              Love,

                                              Chris

P.S. Write Soon!

I still like to think that she got my drawing and hung it on a dressing room wall. I did work for a vet as an aide, but after doing that for six months, I knew that I didn't have the fortitude to actually be a doctor and make such difficult decisions about animal welfare.

We nicknamed all of our cats with Roman sounding names. We're on our way to being crazy cat people, but we're not quite there yet.

Sonya took this cool picture of me in a Hawaii sugar cane field.

We adopted our 4th cat, Evelyn, in October of 2003. She's appropriately staged here for Halloween. She loves to play Fetch, and has the sweetest meow of the bunch.

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Charles and I had our honeymoon in Maine, September, 2003. This photo was taken on a bridge near the end of the Appalachian Trail at Baxter State Park.

Our last adoption, Karen, was in November of 2003. She was our "unplanned pregnancy." We did not want more than four, but she was in need of a home. Karen likes Davy Jones of The Monkees.

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