Page 18 June 2, 2016 EL SEGUNDO HERALD Eddie Paul from page 3 expected call. “I was told I had 30 days to move out of the Westchester house,” he said. “I informed the City of Los Angeles that I couldn’t do it in a month and had no place to move to, and that started daily negotiations between me and the airport. In order to get me to leave as quickly as possible, I talked them into helping me secure a loan for a small two-bedroom, rundown house in El Segundo over on Walnut.” Upon his arrival in El Segundo, Paul’s fortunes immediately brightened. Shortly after renting a small shop on Nevada Street, he received a call from a studio asking him to build the 48 cars for the movie Grease. “Every penny I earned was reinvested back into either the house or tools for the shop,” he said. “I knew it was the best investment I could make.” Things slowed down after Grease, but Paul worked around the clock in his shop during the day and in his garage at night. He built about 20 major vehicles out of his driveway while also adding onto the small structure between City inspections. During this period, he also began his TV stunt work. “On any given day, you’d see me building roll cages for the General Lee [the nickname for the 1969 Dodge Charger on the Dukes of Hazzard] late at night in front of my house and then going on location the next morning for stunts,” he said. “Work was long, hard and dirty and sleep was pretty much nonexistent—but adrenalin was flowing with each phone call.” Notoriety from Paul’s first “no hands” shoot led to another similar job offer, only this time it was a much longer 286-mile trek One of the two 1949-50 Mercury cars Eddie Paul built at his Nevada Street address in Smoky Hollow for the movie “Grease.” It has since been fully restored for car shows. from L.A. to Vegas. He agreed to do it even though most people thought he was off his rocker and an article about it appeared in the Herald in March 1980. Paul credits his dad with instilling into him a relentless work ethic. “He taught me one important rule in life is to never turn down a job unless you absolutely can’t do it,” he said. “Because they may never call you again and the phone calls will just stop. So grab the work while you can. He told me this over 45 years ago and I took it to heart. I didn’t turn down the jobs and my life was better for it. I’m hoping lots of other people benefited as well.” The house on Walnut will no doubt be snapped up by a hungry buyer aiming to enjoy El Segundo’s unparalleled quality of life. If they choose to delve a little deeper into the history of their new property, they’ll learn this was the home garage and birth of many famous cars and props for countless TV shows and films ranging from Mork and Mindy to Walking Tall and so many more in between. Yes, it was a very good run indeed for Eddie Paul in El Segundo. • Eddie Paul was also hired to drive in the film. The series “Mom and Dad Save the World” needed a large, weird vehicle for their movie and this was built in Eddie’s home garage over the span of two weeks. Send Us Your Father And Sons Photos! We’d love to publish them in our Father’s Day issue. We will include as many as possible. All you need to do is email us a photo as a .jpg file and we will do our best to get it in. Please submit by June 9th. E-mail them to management@ heraldpublicatons.com. Include a phone number, in case we have to reach you. Thank you! A Salute to Graduates! A Chance to Honor and Recognize your Graduating Senior Tell us what college, vocational school or other endeavor they will be embracing after graduation and highlight their accomplishments. Send a photo and 100 words, or less, and we will publish in a special section “Salute to Graduates”. The section will be published in our June 16th issue, so you have an opportunity to include a graduation photo. High School photos would work nicely too. Cost is $100.00 Please send photo and text to marketing@heraldpublications.com. by June 9th congratulations
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