I was doing some research on the relationship of Bill Cosby and his wife Camille for the website I started with my sister (www.proposalmagazine.com – check it out!). I found this article from The Beaver Country Times, dated April 16, 1968.
I was just as shocked as I’m sure you are to find the origin of his famous character Fat Albert’s name!
Before I get any further, I’m sure Fat Albert was actually the name of a kid Cosby grew up with and then he named the dog after that. I’m not an idiot here. I just like to think that the beloved Albert came from a canine.
The point is, it came from real life!
I’m not surprised though. I come up with characters and situations from my real life all the time. Once when I was in college, I was working for Ticketmaster as a Phone Sales Operator. I would take calls and sell tickets to people all day long. Some of those calls stick with me to this day.
One in particular involved a guy named Louie Parma who was buying tickets to some event in San Diego. He wanted his tickets to be left at the box office under the name Louie Parmigiani.
“So the name on your credit card is Louie Parma, but your license says, Louie Parmigiani,” I asked.
“No,” he said, as though I should have understood.
Matt Taylor as Louie Parmigiani in Dine & Dash. Menu created by Jen Glaser
He explained to me that he wasn’t going to be able to attend the event, but he wanted to the tickets at will call for his friend Louie Parmigiani.
Wait, so you’re name is Louie Parma, but you have a “friend” named Louie Parmigiani?! I don’t think so, pal.
I didn’t say that, of course. Instead, I just said, “Okay, sir.”
In my mind, I imagined that he was a spy who worked under different names. Or a superhero who pelted blocks of cheese at bad guys. Or a guy with multiple personalities. The last one is probably the likeliest.
Whatever it was, the name Louie Parmigiani always stuck with me. For years, whenever I needed a restaurant or a name of an Italian storekeeper in any of my writings, Louie Parmigiani was my go-to.
Just last year, I finished a short film where I finally brought Louie Parmigiani to life.
Dine & Dash is a story that heavily revolves around a pizza and what happens after it’s ordered. My good friend, Matt Taylor (a very talented actor and improviser) plays Louie Parmigiani, owner of Louie Parmigiani’s pizza. I don’t have the film up on youtube right now because I’m sending it out to festivals.
I have included the prop menu that the very artistic and awesome Jen Glaser (one of my best friends and Art Director of the film) helped me create.
I wrote, shot, directed and edited the short. It also stars Josh Cheney and Nick Vatterott. More about that later…
[...] This is what Gash Fitzpatrick Insurance wrote about my blog “Fat Albert Was the Dog’s Name.” [...]