Six Degrees of Separation

You know how degrees-of-separation works, don't you. You know someone who knows someone who knows someone. In theory, each of us is linked to everyone else on the planet by no more than six degrees of separation. It's always more interesting if the last person in the chain is someone famous. Here are some examples that begin with you:

1. You know me. I once told a joke to actor Eddie Albert, star of the 60's TV show Green Acres. You have two degrees of separation from Eddie Albert. [Here's the "joke" I told while serving him coffee: "This coffee tastes like mud. It should, it was ground this morning."]
   
2. You know me. My ex-wife, Judy, taught with and was friends with Judy Nabors, the first cousin of Jim Nabors, the actor-singer featured on The Andy Griffith Show and star of Gomer Pyle, USMC. You have four degrees of separation from Jim Nabors.
   
3. You know me. A one time co-worker is the son-in-law of Alistair Cooke, journalist, broadcaster, and former host of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. You have three degrees of separation from Alistair Cooke.
   
4. You know me. My manager was Richard Hunter, the son of Evan Hunter, the novelist who wrote The Blackboard Jungle and the screenplay for The Birds. You have three degrees of separation from Evan Hunter.

If you've been paying attention, you'll have noticed that you also have close connections to Eva Gabor, Andy Griffith, Alfred Hitchcock, and Sesame Street's Alistair Cookie. But I digress. In fact this entire post is a digression. I had intended to write about a recent experience that involves degrees of separation, but I got caught up in these examples. Tomorrow I'll tell you about the links in that experience, which include a movie, a director, an actor, a short story, an author, and a book.

If you have some close connection to a celebrity, send a comment and share it with all of us. It will bring us all closer together.