cattle calls

I still have memories of going to a cattle call for extras in 1961 at the
Shoreham Hotel on Ct. Ave. I got there around 9:30 and was given a number around 1100. According to the Post 1500 people showed up. Thank God I brought a book with me.
Around 3pm I figured I was half an hour from being called and went to stand outside the room to be ready when they called my number. The door opened, and a man looked out and saw me standing there. "You're next."
Unfortunately the shooting schedule coincided with the fall semester, and I missed my big opportunity. Several years later I would miss out on Lilith when the casting office called me.
A friend of mine Art Mullins who was a reporter said he was on the press bus but you couldn't see him because Cassie Mackin(?) was sitting on his lap. Back in the mid 50's he did a live man on the street interview with Robert Mitchum when he was making Thunder Road, but that's another story.