"Is it raining in here?"

Jeff Fahey was in some of my ballet classes at Joffrey (then called American Ballet Center) in the late 1970s. I think he came in about 1978. I was about 12 or 13. Jeff was passing for about 20 though as it turned out, he was much older. (In fact, Mrs. D, the head of the school suggested to him that he shave off some years not knowing that he had, in fact, done that already.)

Anyway, he was gorgeous and unconsciously attracted everyone to him like a magnet with his Rudolf Nureyev sensuous good looks, piercing blue eyes (he accused  12 year old me once of spreading the rumor that he wore contact lenses, which I did not!), great body and fantastic rear end. An okay dancer but he moved well and was a very good partner in pas de deux class. When he was in men's class, the class was over-run with girls suddenly wanting to do tour en l'airs. Anyway . . .

I quit ballet due to injuries after a season of Nutcrackers with the Classic Ballet of New Jersey in 1980, where I was a flake and a flower. I wasn't too upset about the loss of my budding ballet career. I had discovered opera and found dance to be totally lacking emotional satisfaction. I didn't see Jeff again until 1982.

One day I came home from school to find Jeff sitting in our living room. Jeff was living around the corner from us on either 73rd or 74th Street and Dad ran into him on the street and dragged him home with him. He hung out for a bit chatting and catching up. He was in New York because he just got a gig on One Life To Live as Gary Corelli, who just happened to be the love interest of a character played by a friend of mine in high school.  So a few nights later, Jeff and Marguerite, his fiancée at the time, and Cusi came over for dinner.

Jeff sat on my right and for some reason I was extremely nervous. This was a strange thing because in spite of his extreme good looks and sex appeal, I never had a crush on him (and I've had crushes on a zillion guys starting at a young age and weird ones at that). Anyway, for some reason I was nervous and when I went to pour water from the heavy pitcher, I missed the glass. Later when I went to refill, I poured more water on the tablecloth instead. After the third or fourth time I spilled water on the table, Jeff put his hand out, palm facing up, looked up at the ceiling and teasingly said, "Is it raining in here?" Everyone laughed and of course I was mortified, but it was funny. Dessert was Mom's usual fresh fruit salad and Haagen Daz cassis sorbet (I'm still mad that they discontinued that flavor). Jeff reached over and took a scoop of sorbet which landed, plop, in the middle of the table! I put my palm out and looked at the ceiling and said, "Is it raining in here?"

Dinner was great. Jeff brought me the big blow-up of him with Bronwyn Thomas that was outside the theater when he was in Brigadoon on Broadway. I wish I knew what happened to it. I think my parents threw it out.

After that dinner, I used to run into him all the time on the street, but only when I was looking my absolute worst. His character on OLTL never really took off so he didn't stay long in NY, only a few years on the soap. He moved to L.A. and made a bunch of movies. I saw him once in the early 1990s when he came into Rizzoli where I was working at the time.

I always thought he looked better in person and live on stage than in photo or on the screen. Maybe that's why he didn't become the HUGE star I thought he would. He's a cult star though and now is on Lost which I have never watch.

But here is vintage "Love in the Afternoon":