Michael Gross Collection

[SabaSka109]

Hey guys,

I figured it was overdue for me to post this. As my buddies know, I was fortunate enough to become actual friends with Mr. Gross. Here’s a combination of the stories and photos I wanted to share.

Rewind back to May 2013. My best friends Matt, Jack, TJ, and I visited California for what still is the ultimate Ghostbusters adventure trip. The main reason we went was to see my Ecto-in-progress (I hope you have checked out my build thread…if not, please do). During that trip, Matt sent Michael a message on Facebook and asked if he would be interested in getting lunch with us while we were visiting from the east coast. He was receptive, and we drove to Oceanside and drove to this tiny sushi joint that he frequented. We had an awesome time there listening to his stories. For those of you who have met Michael, you know that what you do when you’re around him is pull up a chair, sit down, and just listen. His stories and his way of telling them were and still are unparalleled. After lunch we went back to his home and he went through his life’s scrapbooks with us. You guys have no idea how amazing these books were…photos you have not seen anywhere and never will…unreal.

After this trip, Michael was diagnosed with cancer, which I’m sure almost all of you were aware of. Matt and I returned to California in May 2014, but we did not catch up with Michael, as he was going through some difficult times coming to accept his diagnosis and the battle that lied ahead. Following the trip, I spent a lot of time telling him how regretful we were that we did not get to see him. This is where he and I started to become friends. I think a lot of it had to do with me showing him that my buddies and I cared about him…NOT just what he did within the Ghostbusters universe. I think he also appreciated that I have a medical background, and I was able to provide support and advice on a number of occasions, which he seemed to appreciate. Of course, I am not going to elaborate on any of that any further.

I continued to keep in touch with Michael on a regular basis because I felt that he was fairly lonely, and that did not sit well with me. I returned to California for the third time in May 2015 with three of my other best friends (Fernando, Jon, and Ken), and I made sure that we were able to get together with him. This photo is my favorite photo ever taken with him:


Now, about those scrapbooks that I mentioned before…well, during this second visit with him, we were sure to get some photos of what we could, and these are the first batch of the ones I am willing to share.

Warm wishes:


Every week there would be a poker night at Ivan Reitman’s place…and apparently he was really good at poker. Michael always said it was hilarious because Ivan had the most money and took all of theirs too…


Saint John’s Benefit Flyer for the word premier of Ghostbusters:



He’s an ugly little spud…



Nice doggie…cute little pooch…



Chevy Chase and Robin Williams (RIP) visiting the set…


OK, that’s enough photos for this post. I’ll be back with more…lots more. I hope people will find this thread enjoyable (I hope people notice it).

Happy new year everyone!

[Hoot]

Thanks for sharing this with us all. Michael would have loved how you shared his love with the rest of us. Thanks for being a good friend to him in his time of pain brother.

[pyhasanon]

Thanks, Adam, for sharing, and thank you for being there for him, I’m sure he truly appreciated it more than anybody could understand… And I get what you mean by interacting with him outside of his Ghostbusters fame… the more I talked with him, and the more I read his posts, I began to realize that he truly appreciated regular conversations, ones that didn’t constantly remind him that he was a celebrity… he really was a great guy, lots of wisdom, stuff that I’ll carry with me and pass to my children…

[GhostBustin_84]

Thanks for sharing Adam. I’m sure it’s still hard to go through the stuff to post, but its much appreciated that you would share these with us.

[d_osborn]

The dude certainly had a cool career. Thanks for posting the shots! The shot with Robin WIlliams is REALLY cool.

[Hasford1978]

Absolutely wonderful story looking forward to more about the late, great Michael C Gross

He seemed like a really nice down to earth kind of guy

[SabaSka109]

I have posted most of the following photos elsewhere already, but wanted to consolidate everything about Michael into this thread.

Just before my second visit with Michael Gross, he had made a post about selling a set of enlarged film “chromes” that he had kept since filming Ghostbusters. These are basically enlarged film cells used to showcase the special effects in the film. He stated that only three sets of these chromes were ever made, one of which is currently in the Columbia Pictures archive, and the other in the special effects house archives. The other set had been made for him, and he wanted to see them off to someone who would love them as much as he did (of course, I do). I’m so damn happy to have these and will keep them safe for my buddy. Here they are:

And here are the close-ups:

These are very cool and could be used to make crystal-clear photos/prints of film quality. That being said, I currently have no intentions of making these as I have way too much other projects on hand. What makes them extra special to me is that Michael had received a more lucrative offer on these compared to what I offered him. At the time I could not sacrifice too much as doing so would take funds away from my Ecto-1 project, and that is my top priority and will be until I have it finished. Michael knew this and decided to take less so that they would end up with me. I’ll never forget that…just as I won’t forget anything else he’s done for me, ever.

I literally received the chromes in the mail from Michael about a week before my buddies and I took the trip to California and visited him for that second visit. During the visit, we took him out for lunch at a fairly expensive restaurant in Oceanside and we covered his shrimp dish and Tequila (he enjoyed Tequila). The walk to the restaurant was a bit taxing on him as we had to stop various times to allow him to regain his strength, but he pushed on and apologized every time, to which we told him he never, ever had to say he was sorry. We had a great conversation over lunch and began the walk back to his home, equally taxing on him, but he overcame it as a fighter would. During the walk back he told me that he had something for me. I told him that he did not have to give me anything, and that the only thing I was there for was to visit him with some of my best buddies, but he insisted…

He gave me his workbag, which he had used for decades. It’s a vintage bag and I knew that he cared a lot about it. I was speechless and said I would keep it safe for him until the day that I die. The bag contained various treasures…

Production slides from Ghostbusters and Heavy Metal:

A really cool coloring book based off of his work:

A program from an art show dedicated specifically to his work:

An autographed print of his legendary magazine cover (this is not actually drawn, nor should something of that significance be in my hands over that of his family, whom I hope have the actual sketch):

A very cool Japanese Ghostbusters photo book:

Beethoven (the cartoon series) storyboard sketches…there were a TON of these, so of course I’m not posting them all:

All of these items will remain in his workbag, which I intend to have a special place for in a GB-themed mancave I intend to have above my garage…that I plan to have equipped with a fire-pole.

More photos will be posted soon, including more of his scrapbook photos, as well as some other things that I am honored to have in my collection…please check back.

• Adam

[d_osborn]

I’ve always thought that bag was super cool!

I wouldn’t be shocked if those chromes were used for the color images in Making Ghostbusters. Gross and Don Shay were apparently really good friends. Gross wound up with a lot of material used in producing Making Ghostbusters that he sold off throughout the years.

[IDDQD]

Thank you for sharing your experiences with Mr Gross @sabaska109. I recently watched the documentary on the National Lampoon magazine, and Michael was featured throughout. I loved his contributions as Creative Director, in many ways he brought focus to the chaos. I was choked up more than a few times.

As someone who has personally struggled with Lymphoma for the better part of 16 years, I can tell you how important your relationship was/is. Sometimes you just need to be “normal”. It sounds like your friendship did a lot to embrace that.

Thanks again for sharing, and for being another awesome member of this community I would love to come to know!

[SabaSka109]

First of all, I’m glad that some of you are enjoying the photos I am posting…thank you for your comments. Of course, I’ve got some more to share. I figured I could post a few more of his scrapbook photos…

Michael enjoyed talking about how they filmed the sequence before the guys enter Dana Barrett’s building. They build the entire mechanism on top of the ground to do it, as many of you probably know. Still, it’s cool to see photos of how they did it:


Michael loved Ghostbusters advertisements. One of his favorites was this Coke ad:


A few cool shots from the set of the Gozer temple:




Here’s a picture of most of the main cast and crew…I say most because Michael is not in this photo, as you can see by his notation. It’s fun looking through the crowd to find the recognizable faces:


I have more to come…including my two most prized pieces inherited from him (I know a lot of you have already seen them on Facebook, but I hope the rest of you enjoy seeing them).

[d_osborn]

Another cool batch of shots! I’m loving the Coke art silk screen and color shot of the Temple set! I’ve always loved the Coke art, but had no idea that Mike Ploog was the artist. Good, straight-on shots of the stone gargoyle Terror Dogs are pretty hard to find, as well. Great stuff, man!

[Troy]

Hey Adam! For some reason all the images coming up as broken links, might be a Photobucket issue - but would love to see 'em if and when you have a chance to remedy?

[kingpin]

Photobucket’s been acting screwy today, my avatar isn’t showing up, but some of my uploads from a few days ago are here.

Hopefully they’ll get the problem fixed soon.

[Troy]

Ah ha, that explains a lot of the question marks all over the forum. Thanks, Ben!

[SabaSka109]

Hey guys,

I figured I would make another post. First, a story that Michael loved to tell…

During the days of filming Ghostbusters II things were very busy for him. He often times had to fly back and forth between Los Angeles and New York City. A lot of other people in the movie industry had to do the same, so at the time there was actually an airline that flew between the two cities specifically for movie folks. At one point Michael was in Los Angeles but had an obligation in New York City. Unfortunately, his limo driver showed up very late. He was calling his crew in New York City to tell them he was not going to be able to make it to the airport in time. Well, his driver eventually showed up and sped him to the airport. As they were closing in on the airport he was certain he couldn’t possibly get to the plane.

When his drive arrived and dropped him off, the airline’s receptionist (in a small check in private from the airport) asked him if he was Michael Gross, to which he confirmed and asked if the plane had already taken off. The receptionist said ‘no, it’s right there’, pointing to the plane as it was literally driving down the runway. Another gentleman told Michael to get on his cart, and he sped Michael out to the plane. The plane stopped, and crew opened a door and asked if he was Michael Gross, to which he again confirmed. They lowered a ramp and let him on the plane.

They said they had delayed the flight as long as they could waiting for him…a flight consisting of various celebrities, producers, and other movie business folks. He couldn’t believe they had done that for him and he told the pilots and flight crew he would repay them in Real Ghostbusters toys…whatever they wanted he would make sure they would get it. FYI: Michael had a lot of influence on all of the Real Ghostbusters toys that were released as he often times had to approve of the toys before production was green-lit.

Not long after that, Rick Moranis had taken the same flight from Los Angeles to NYC and apparently had come up to Michael and said he had heard about how he had held up a plane and made a pretty fun scene about it. Pretty badass if you ask me.

Anyway, now for some pictures…

As many of you are aware, there’s this documentary in production called ‘Ghostheads’. I’m sure a lot of you are going to be a part of it. Well, I was fortunate enough to be approached to be in the documentary and to do something very important: get Michael Gross in the film. I made a special trip in September (not even 2 months before he passed away). By that time Michael’s health was far more deteriorated than it was when I had seen him in May 2015. This time I had Borzou pick me up at the airport and we headed to legendary ghosthead Sean Bishop’s place, where we were staying (Sean is such a freaking stand-up guy). The next day Borzou and I headed to Michael Gross’s place and we took him to see my Ecto-1 project car. Here are some pictures of the visit. The only reason I’ve attached the first photo is because you can see part of Michael in it. He really wasn’t feeling well, but it meant so much to me to have him there checking out the car with us.




After our visit with the car we took Michael back home. The stories he told in the car were unreal…I can’t share them as they involve other celebrities and they’re classified. The next day we went back to Michael’s with Sean and our other buddy Doug. This day was the day of filming. We got as much footage as we could and I hope you all enjoy it when you do get to see it. I would’ve loved to get more, but again, Michael was not feeling very well.

After we finished filming, Michael said he had something it was time to pass on to loving hands. I knew he was going to be giving me something again and again I insisted he did not have to…I was only there to make sure he was part of our documentary. Well, pulled out something awesome and wouldn’t let me leave without it:




It is an AWESOME sweater that fans bought for him and gave to him during a visit to Japan. He said he had never seen another one and doubts they were mass produced. I don’t know if that is true, but I know I have never seen another, so it’s extraordinarily rare regardless. As you can see in the pictures, he wore the sweater a lot during the days of filming Ghostbusters II. What makes this sweater even more special to me is that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer sometime not long before production, and he was treated and beat that cancer during this time…he was beating cancer while often wearing the sweater. I LOVE IT.

I’ll have another post soon…with a few scrapbook photos from Ghostbusters II, as well as pictures of my last major treasure from Michael.

[IDDQD]

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Im so enthralled by your stories and tales of friendship with Mr Gross. Something special that I’m sure is unsurpassable. Thank you for sharing.

[fritz]

These stories are all awesome, though I gotta admit when I read this part:

When his drive arrived and dropped him off, the airline’s receptionist (in a small check in private from the airport) asked him if he was Michael Gross, to which he confirmed and asked if the plane had already taken off. The receptionist said ‘no, it’s right there’, pointing to the plane as it was literally driving down the runway. Another gentleman told Michael to get on his cart, and he sped Michael out to the plane. The plane stopped, and crew opened a door and asked if he was Michael Gross, to which he again confirmed. They lowered a ramp and let him on the plane.

They said they had delayed the flight as long as they could waiting for him…a flight consisting of various celebrities, producers, and other movie business folks.

…I was half expecting it to turn into a funny anecdote about them confusing him with the other Micheal Gross who was on Family Ties, or something like that. :lol:

[SabaSka109]

I’m back with my final batch of photos to share.

First, here are some GBII related photos from Michael’s scrapbooks:

Michael always talked about how much of a “doll” Sigourney Weaver was. She was always so pleasant to everyone and she actually visited all of the crew members during filming when a lot of the other stars don’t take time to do things like that. Sigourney also sent Michael a very heart-felt email when she had learned of his illness. He shared that email with my buddies and I and I was very impressed that she did that. The benefit of talking about Sigourney was that ‘Alien’ and ‘Aliens’ often came up, of which Michael was a huge fan of both films (as I am). He actually had a private viewing of ‘Alien’ before the final editing and said it was far scarier and had excessive gore (I’m jealous that I’ll never get to see that version).

Anyway, more scrapbook photos:

While we’re on the subject of Ghostbusters II, I figured I’d reveal my final acquisition from Mr. Gross. When GBII completed filming, Michael took three things with him: a Stantz jumpsuit, a stunt trap (Ernie Hudson’s), and the Statue of Liberty torch lamp seen in Peter’s apartment.

Over the years, Michael had sold off the Stantz jumpsuit and stunt trap (for $600 each, I may add…he didn’t care about the money so much), but he kept the lamp for decades. He had moved to Italy for a time and traveled, and the lamp always stayed with him. He loved it. He said he loved it the moment he saw it and immediately told the crew that he wanted to take it when they finished filming. As you’ve probably guessed by now, I have obtained the lamp and it is safe and sound.

Knowing that Michael’s health was declining, I didn’t expect anyone that knew Michael to actually know that the lamp was a screen-used piece, and I worried it would simply vanish. I told him how a lot of GB fans loved the lamp and I asked if his family had planned to take it. He said they didn’t want it, and at this point I said I’d love to pair it with his workbag and chromes (I had not yet been gifted his amazing sweater). At this point he said he had been hoping I would show interest in it, because again, he wanted it “in good hands”. He did not give this to me (I wouldn’t have allowed him to), but all he asked was for enough money for a month of his rent and some tequila, which I was way more than happy to pay for it.

A lot of you saw this when I posted it on Facebook I’m sure. No, it’s not for sale, and it never will be. Someone did offer a significant amount for the lamp after I shared it on the movie props page on Facebook, and my response was that the lamp is priceless to me. I am also not going to take measurements etc. to help replicate it, which I hope you all understand (people have inquired about that too). The lamp itself is not nearly as pretty as it was in 1988-89 when they filmed as it has weathered from the Oceanside air, but it’s still awesome, and I actually like that it looks truly vintage at this point.

My plan is to have a dedicated display to Michael in my future Ghostbusters gameroom. A lot of you will be invited to come enjoy these things with me. I’m just honored that Michael appreciated my passion and love for Ghostbusters, and that he trusted me with these things. Getting to capture him shortly before his death for the Ghostheads documentary is probably the most important thing I’ve ever done.

R.I.P. Michael Gross

[Venkmans_Swagger]

Honestly heartwarming and humbling. This thread really brought a tear to my eye.

RIP Mr Gross

[pyhasanon]

Again, thank you so much for sharing these, Adam!

And especially for doing this for me…

For those who don’t know, I have a copy of Don Shay’s “Making Ghostbusters” book that was once owned by GB2’s Tim Lawrence, and I have since made it my autograph book for everything Ghostbusters related (currently signed by Tim, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton, Steven Tash, and now Michael)… I handed the book to Adam on his last trip up to see Michael to get his blessing on it… I am eternally grateful to Adam for doing this for me… Thanks, bro, it meant the world to me…