March 1, 2012 @ 4:56 pm › Mark Stachiew – Canada.com
The story about a traveller who met a guide in Cambodia who was a dead ringer for Elton Johnreminded me of my own encounter with a Hollywood double while travelling in North Africa.
Many years ago, I was in Morocco visiting the town of Fez. At the time, the number of touts that would harass you in the North African country was ridiculous. It was like you were a piece of rotting meat and they were flies buzzing around you for a piece of flesh. Did you want to buy a carpet? Come visit my friend’s shop. Do you need a guide? My friend, would you like some mint tea? It was draining.
The last time I was there it was a lot better so I am thankful that they have done something to correct the problem. But at this time, I was so disgusted with Fez, that I left the medina to journey to the hills overlooking the old city. It was a pretty sight and I was enjoying the solitude when a smiling fellow approached me. Disgusted, I figured this was another attempt to separate me from my money.
The young man engaged me in conversation and insisted he wasn’t trying to sell me anything. I was skeptical. He invited me into his house for tea. I couldn’t decline his hospitality so I accepted.
We talked and he spoke of how tourists are harassed at all turns and recognized that I was annoyed by it. He just wanted to show that not all Moroccans were like that and I shouldn’t let them get me down. I thanked him and returned to the old city with a new outlook on the country and my own attitudes towards the people living there.
Apart from the namesake hats, Fez is famous for leather and as I had lost a bit of weight while travelling, I needed a belt so I stepped into a leather shop of my own accord and not with the aid of an inistent tout.
The owner of the shop was the actor Danny DeVito. Okay, it really wasn’t him, but it could have been his twin brother.
As I tried on some belts, he asked me if I knew of the actor Danny DeVito. “Of course,” I replied.
“I was in a movie with him,” he told me.
I rolled my eyes. “Which one,” I asked.
“You have heard of The Jewel of the Nile?”
“Yes, I have seen it. It stars Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito and is set in Egypt.”
“Yes, but it was filmed here in Morocco,” he informed me.
It’s then that he pulls out a photo album that contains photos of him with … Danny DeVito, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
“I was his double in the movie.”
I am no longer rolling my eyes, but am amazed that a man in a tiny leather shop in the old city of Fez had rubbed shoulders with these Hollywood stars and filmed a movie with them.
In the end, I bought a belt from him, a couple of fezzes for good measure and even some black-market Algerian dinars for my further journeys in the Maghreb. More lasting than any of those purchases was the remarkable story he told me that day. I only wish I had taken his photo so you don’t think I am making it up!
