Parents and stars (again)

Another story of a parental encounter with a star: in the 1950s, my mom and dad found themselves in a Schrafft's, being served by Kenneth Nelson. They recognized him as Willie Baxter, from the 1951 musical Seventeen, after which, as Wikipedia notes, Nelson "found little work for the remainder of the decade." My tactful parents didn't say anything. In 1960, things began looking up for Kenneth Nelson: he originated the role of the Boy in The Fantasticks.

[From the cast list in Brooks Atkinson's review of Seventeen, New York Times, June 22, 1951.]

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Parents and stars