Selwyn Klass’ golden Oscar memories
JOBURG - Community radio host Selwyn Klass has had a lifelong love of film; something evident from his show and his involvement in the Majestic Film Society.
But not too many people know that this soft-spoken man was given a golden opportunity to report on the Academy Awards in Hollywood in 1974 and 1975.
“I wrote movie reviews as a hobby when I was in my teens. I loved movies, but wanted to know the source,” said Klass.
His quest to visit Hollywood was brought a step closer when Klass began work at Ster Films as a graphic designer.
“I started work there on my 21st birthday in 1969. One of my first assignments was to adapt the company’s logo to include an Oscar statue. Little did I know that five years later I’d be at the Oscars,” said Klass.
The wheels were set in motion when Klass wrote to Hollywood columnist Anita Weber and asked her how he could get to the centre of the film industry.
“We struck up a regular correspondence, and Weber once wrote to me that, should I find myself in Hollywood for the 1974 Oscars, I could attend as her guest.”
Klass pitched the idea of a local reporter in Hollywood to Ian Gray, publisher of Ian Gray’s Showbiz, a now-defunct entertainment industry magazine.
Gray liked what he heard, and not long after, Klass found himself in Hollywood.
“To walk up that red carpet was thrilling. The award ceremony was overwhelming… In walked Elizabeth Taylor, Jack Lemmon and Katharine Hepburn. These were real legends, something we just don’t get anymore,” he said.
That momentous occasion brought with it a moment of humour, when Klass was mistaken for a streaker who bared all as Taylor was to announce the best picture award.
“After the awards, at a local hangout called the Saloon, a woman kept staring at me, until I asked her if we had met. She said we hadn’t, and then asked if I was the streaker,” he said.
“I said it wasn’t me, but that it was an easy mistake to make, as both he and I had a moustache.”
The coverage Klass produced won him the respect of the press office, and in 1975, he received his own press invitation to the Oscars.
“I worked backstage and had the opportunity to speak to the stars as they came offstage with their awards. It was there I met Ingrid Bergman for the second time, and she remembered me from our first meeting in London a few years before,” said Klass.
“Her words brought tears to my eyes. We both got something special that night.”
Listen to Klass’ special Oscars broadcast on 4 March on Radio Today, 1485AM or DsTV channel 869, at 11.15am.
