Nicol Williamson and Frankie Bradley's restaurant

I was sad to read that Nicol Williamson died. It brought back memories of Frankie
Bradley's restaurant. It was 1965, and we saw Inadmissible Evidence which
starred Nicol Williamson in his first major performance at the Forrest Theater
in Philadelphia. We were young, and went to Frankie Bradley's restaurant after
the show for a late night corned beef special. (We would never do that
now.)

On the way out of the restaurant, we ran into Nicol Williamson with an attractive lady on his arm. He was dressed all in white - pants, jacket, shirt, shoes. I can see him as vividly now as I did 47 years ago. We told him how much we enjoyed his performance. It was truly a tour de force. He graciously thanked us, signed our programs, and went into Frankie Bradley's restaurant.

Many stage performers frequented this restaurant after their performances in Philadelphia. Not to name drop, but, we saw Robert Preston, Tony Randall, Lucille Ball, Jose Ferrer, Charles Nelson Reilly, and others whose names are lost in our memories.

Frankie Bradley, a retired boxer, had a small restaurant around 13th and Juniper Streets in Center City Philadelphia. He always made us feel at home and greeted us at the door on our way in. One night, before we even sat down, the waiter told us that our order has already been placed and the kitchen should have it momentarily. One of the other patrons, a business acquaintance, had seen us when we entered and asked the staff to prepare our "usual."

We old folks have wonderful memories of the people and places that we visited, saw, and photographed. Hard to believe that the vibrant and talented young man that we saw 47 years ago is no longer here. In our minds, we still remember him as he was.