Of These Mountains Hollywood History

By Kendall R. Rumsey

My first job was as a busboy at Kingwood Country Club. I started during the summer between 8th and 9th grade.

Every morning, I would put on my black polyester pants, white buttondown shirt and baby blue vest, an early 80’s fashion statement that hopefully never rolls around again. My shift was breakfast and lunch. In those days, Kingwood was an active resort and people would fill the dining room throughout the day.

At that time, Kingwood was great, the architecture of the Clubhouse and Dining Room were opulent and huge iron gates were at the entrance to the resort, making it a real destination for golfers, tourists and members alike.

I wasn’t destined for a career as a busboy, I didn’t like touching food that other people had half eaten and mornings weren’t my thing, but Kingwood kept me around because I hustled, was always on time, and the guests and co-workers liked me.

The summer that I started my busboy career, a movie was being filmed in Clayton and the surrounding areas and many of the cast members were staying at the resort. The movie, “The Long Riders” starred brothers from the Keach and Carradine families, they were the equivalent of the Hemsworth’s today.

It was a heady time in Rabun during the filming of the movie and Kingwood was host for the stars and many of the crew.

As exciting as seeing the Carradine and Keach brothers around Clayton was, for me the excitement was in meeting Fran Ryan, one of the mothers in the movie and for those of us of a certain age, the Hungry Jack Lady….. “Hungry, Hungry Jack!”

The first time I met her, like a star struck schoolboy I said something like, “oh my, you are the Hungry Jack lady.” She looked at me, smiled and said, “no, I am Fran Ryan, and you are?” I told her my name is Ken and she said, “very good, that is how we will address each other from now on.”

Ms. Ryan ate her breakfast in the dining room each morning, she was friendly and very much a grandmother type. “Good morning darlin Ken” was her daily greeting, and as she sat at her table studying her lines, she would politely ask for more coffee or juice. The other actors were all young and rambunctious 20 – 30 something famous Hollywood types. They were friendly, but they especially appreciated the ability that we had to get into the beer coolers when the bars weren’t open. One day mama wanted to go and watch some of the filming. It was in Tiger and one of her students, R.B. Thrift, had a scene. We went down and when Ms. Ryan and the Carradine and Keach brothers all welcomed me and called me by name, it was a treat for me to be able to introduce mama to my “friends” from Hollywood.

As the filming schedule was coming to an end, those of us on the restaurant staff would say our good-byes to the different actors we had met over the summer. On the last morning Ms. Ryan was in the kitchen, she gave me a big hug.

As she walked out of the restaurant, she turned, looked me square in the eye and proclaimed, “Hungry, Hungry Jack” we both laughed and I said, “it was a pleasure to meet you Ms. Ryan.” She gave me a knowing grin and said, “you too darlin’ Ken” and with that she was gone.

It was fun rubbing shoulders with Hollywood but more than the “Hollywood” characters they played, it was more fun just meeting nice people and spending a summer in their brightly lit shadows.

Kendall Rumsey is a resident of Clayton, Georgia. He is owner of the lifestyle brand Of These Mountains, located at 39 East Savannah Street in Downtown Clayton. www.ofthesemountains.com