One more comes out of hiding

I have a long history of "finding" lost celebrities. By "find", I mean long after someone essentially disappears from TV or cinema and has changed in appearance substantially, I suddenly discover the guy/gal in a TV show. Admittedly, pickings have been sparse, lately, but I found one this evening.

While watching Two and a Half Men, a very old man makes a guest appearance. His manner of speaking seems familiar. After a few minutes pass, I become almost sure I've seen the man before. I looked closely and was then sure I knew the man from somewhere, although I could not place where. Two minutes later, it struck me. He was a regular on Johnny Carson. I try to recall his name but it momentarily escapes me. I keep thinking "Barnes", but it doesn't seem quite right. Then, I realized that Barnes was one of my high school teachers who I had thought back then looked a lot like the character whose name was escaping me.

And then, the final piece fell into place. Orson Bean! my mind yelled. As soon as the program ended, I came to my PC and looked it up. I was right, but the episode turns out to be from 2005. I also discover that Orson was 77 at the time. It seems he was never really absent from show business, having had regular guest appearances on TV and movies, but was only absent to me. The last time I saw the gentleman was circa 30 years ago!

The man was a passionate, talented, story-teller with a great sense of humour. For anyone who knows him, he seems to be going strong and the world is better for it.