Blue Buffalo Productions: A Sad Goodbye to Bill Walton

Years ago when we did work for the United Way we had a shoot with Bill Walton. Prior to the shoot people warned me; ‘watch out for Bill…. he can be difficult to work with.’ Beyond the usual pre-shoot jitters I also had these warnings going off in my head.

Bill was late. He slowly walked out to our crew apologizing for his tardiness. He was just at a funeral for a friend and in addition he was in a lot of discomfort due to a recent back surgery.

Cameras were rolling and Bill had to bring a basketball behind his back and throw the ball off camera while delivering his lines. Bill said; ‘let’s just do this until we get it right.’ And he did. He delivered his lines like the ultimate pro and all warnings for imminent destruction were silenced. The crew also got to take a quick tour through Bill’s house and look at all the memorabilia.

I worked with Bill a couple of times after that and each time he would greet me with a smile and a handshake. From the little I knew of the man I can say he was a true gentleman and a nice person.

We’ll miss you, Bill.

Here’s that spot: