I found D-Day, and it was better than I could have hoped.
In 2001, Billy Crystal made the fabulous movie “61*” for HBO and I was invited with other media to a premier party in New York City.
As I wandered through the crowd I ran smack into Bruce McGill, who played Yankees manager Ralph Houk in the movie.
We had a nice conversation, including a detailed discussion about the “Quantum Leap” series finale, in which McGill played the bartender who appeared to be the supreme being leaping Scott Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett on one adventure through time to another.
“So were you supposed to be God,” I asked?
“I don’t know, but I played him like I was,” McGill told me.
Before we parted, I had to bring up “Animal House.” McGill played Daniel Simpson Day, better known as D-Day. In the on-screen epilogue at the end of the movie the subtitles tell us that D-Day has long since disappeared—“Whereabouts unknown.”
“I won’t ask you do to it,” I said trying to maintain some decorum. “But can you still…” and I tapped my fingers against my Adam’s Apple. If you’ve seen the movie you know that’s D-Days signature entrance, in which he raps out “The William Tell Overture” on his voice box.
McGill didn’t bat an eye and answered, “You’re damn right I still can!”
And while he didn’t demonstrate it in the crowded room (I’m thinking now I should have just asked) he did tell me a few interesting things about the scene.
First, McGill was trained in classical guitar, so his fingers are simply making classical guitar movements against his throat while he hums out the tune.
Second, he first performed it for director John Landis during rehearsals for the toga party scene which is later in the movie. But Landis loved the bit so much he decided it would be McGill’s first scene, in which he meets Tom Hulce’s “Pinto” for the first time.
And finally, “Watch Tom Hulce’s face next time you see the scene,” McGill told me. “We didn’t tell him what I was going to do, so he’s reacting to it on camera while seeing it for the first time.”
I loved the movie “61*,” yes, and I’ve had a couple fun conversations with Crystal in the years since, but meeting McGill at the premiere made my D-Day.