Joe Cotellessa doesn't have to leave his restaurant to gaze at Hollywood stars. Sometimes they come to him.
Cotellessa was working in the kitchen of the Gourmet Brunch in Hyannis one morning when he learned two movie stars were eating breakfast in the dining room. He quickly went to table 21 and was thrilled to meet Demi Moore; her former husband, Bruce Willis; and their three children.
Besides being drop-dead gorgeous, the actress was "absolutely delightful," Cotellessa says. "Bruce is a hot ticket. ... What a nice guy."
Moore's dropped by several times while vacationing on the Cape. Once she flew into Barnstable Municipal Airport and sent a driver by for an order of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Cotellessa sent along some cranberry bread. Moore stopped by the next day to say hello and thank him in person.
Cotellessa has proof of his close encounters with celebrities who have dined at his eatery while they've vacationed or performed on the Cape. Their autographed black-and-white photos decorate the walls of his cozy establishment, hanging on a wall by the table where they sat. It looks like a "Who's Who" of Hollywood: Pearl Bailey, Tony Bennett, Rich Little, Joel Grey, Norm Crosby, Kenny Rogers and Pat Carroll. A glossy of a sexy Demi Moore in a glamorous gown hangs above table 21.
Cotellessa isn't shy about asking celebs to send him an autographed picture. No one's ever refused.
The star photos are "nice remembrances," says the congenial Cotellessa, who likes to tell the stories behind the photos.
"Pearl Bailey was such a delight. She came by herself and was dressed in sweats and a baseball cap," he recalls.
"She said, 'You all don't know who I am.'" But everyone did.
The singer gave Cotellessa's daughter-in-law a set of drumsticks from her husband, jazz drummer Louis Bellson.
Cotellessa remembers Boston Celtics great John Havlicek having trouble fitting in the building because of his towering height.
He regrets not asking for an autographed photo of a VIP regular, John Kennedy Jr. Instead, a portrait of Kennedy signed by the artist, Thayer Layton, hangs on the wall by his favorite table.
"He was a delight," Cotellessa says of the former president's son. "He'd come in and read his paper and eat his breakfast. His wife (Carolyn Bessette) was like whipped cream, absolutely gorgeous."
Cotellessa and his staff give celebrities the star treatment.
"When they come in here, they are real people," he says. "We take care of them, but we don't hover over them. We make sure other customers don't bother them."
* * *
Around 11 on a September night in 2002, Jerry DiGiovanni called his wife and co-owner, Sandra, to check on things at the Falmouth Inn. She matter-of-factly mentioned that Julia Roberts was in the lounge for karaoke night.
DiGiovanni dropped the phone and rushed over.
Sandra was checking IDs at the door when the star walked in with her new husband, cameraman Danny Molder. When she asked to see Roberts' ID, Molder quipped, "This is my wife, and she's 35."
Sandra did a double take.
Roberts, who was filming "Mona Lisa Smile" in Wellesley, and her entourage sat in a corner booth near the stage.
"She was out to enjoy herself," says Jerry. "The lounge was jam-packed, but nobody bothered them. Molder got up and sang, and he was really good."
Roberts was reluctant to sing at first but finally was persuaded to join in on "Wild Thing."
"She sounded good," Jerry says.
The couple returned around 1:30 a.m. after the lounge was closed and spent an hour socializing with the innkeepers.
"She was a down-to-earth girl," Jerry says, "and they were madly in love."
A collage of pictures of Roberts and Molder singing at the bar are displayed on a wall in the lobby. Three photos were taken by a waitress who sold them to People magazine for $15,000. Jerry says he got offers of $30,000 for a video of the pair from "Entertainment Tonight" and "Inside Edition," but he didn't have one.
Hanging on another wall are autographed photos of performers who have been inn guests, including Charlie Daniels, B.J. Thomas, Roy Clark, Air Supply, Chuck Mangione, Juice Newton, America, Bo Diddley, Gary Puckett, Marie Wilson of the Supremes and Sha Na Na.
* * *
The partially mirrored foyer of Sew What in Hyannis is a photo gallery of celebrities, including Diana Ross, Willie Nelson, Connie Frances, Kenny Rogers, Joan Rivers, Robert Goulet, Paul Anka, Joel Grey and Ben Vereen.
Owner/seamstress Janet Cook met the performers when she was the wardrobe mistress at the Cape Cod Melody Tent from 1977 until 1997.
Her first famous customer, Jerry Vale, refused to give Cook an autographed 8-by-10 glossy. Instead, he signed the tent program. Most stars were more accommodating, but only a few of the photos are autographed.
"I was too timid to ask them," Cook says with a smile.
Cook has colorful memories to go with the photos.
One country star she describes as a "big, big flirt," asked her to work in his dressing room. "He had me ironing his socks and underwear to keep me busy," she says with a laugh.
"Joan Rivers was a riot. She told a lot of jokes about the Kennedy women. Connie Frances was very shy. She had the most gorgeous gowns."
Diana Ross' assistant instructed Cook not to make any eye contact with the singer when she redesigned her Oscar de la Renta gown.
The expert seamstress had a mishap when a light bulb on her sewing machine burned a spot on Ben Vereen's spandex pants.
"He was good about it," she says.
Surprisingly, a lot of celebrities are shy, Cook says. She figures it's because "they are stripping down and are practically naked" when she does their fittings.
She's received a lot of keepsakes from the stars, including an autographed tambourine from Kenny Rogers.
* * *
Cyndi Lauper created a mob scene when word spread that she was shopping at Plush & Plunder, a vintage- clothing store on Main Street, Hyannis.
People began gathering outside the store and banging on the window. Owner Ute-Barbara Gardner locked the door and asked a bouncer at the nightclub next door to keep back the crowd.
Lauper's one of many celebrities who have shopped in the store, including Lee Remick, Julie Harris, Rita Moreno, Debbie Reynolds, Carol Channing, Christopher Reeves, Jaimie Farr of "M*A*S*H," John Ritter, Lyle Lovett, Tim Robbins and Shania Twain. The star-struck shop owner is generally reluctant to ask for autographs, but she has a small collection of signed photos and autographs written on small pieces of paper from Lauper, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Adam West, Joan Baez, Emilio Estevez, and Aly and AJ.
Lauper was "very gracious, very private and very polite," Gardner ways. "She had a ball in here. She bought loads of hats in vibrant colors to take on her tour of Japan."
Gardner was thrilled to see the singer wearing one of her charm bracelets on a talk show.
"Baez was lovely. She bought a sterling fawn for a concert."
But her best star customer is Demi Moore.
Gardner walked in the shop one day and spotted a man sitting in a chair wearing one of her 1940s fedoras. It was Bruce Willis. Gardner gave Willis the fedora in exchange for his cap, which she still has.
"They were very sweet," Gardner says of the celebrity couple who were with their children and a nanny.
"Demi is beautiful without any makeup, and Bruce has a nice sense of humor."
Moore loves to buy vintage clothes and jewelry, Gardner says. Her secretary once called and asked for simulated tortoise-shell hairpins that were popular in the '30s and '40s for the actress to wear at the Academy Awards.
* * *
A black-and-white photo of a stark-naked Louis Armstrong taken from behind is signed, "Here's lookin' atcha through rose-colored asses" and autographed by the jazz legend. It has a prominent place on a wall at Harry's, a popular blues bar in Hyannis.
Dave Columbo, owner of the Roadhouse Cafe nearby, gave the photo to owner Laddie Durham as a restaurant-warming gift when Harry's moved to its new location last month. Armstrong and Columbo's father, trumpeter Lou Columbo, were good friends.
Durham has collected autographed photos and memorabilia from famous folks who have visited her club. Tom Jones signed a menu and a pair of women's knit boxer shorts when he visited the bar last summer, a couple of nights before his concert at the Cape Cod Melody Tent. When the Welsh singer asked the bartender, Durham's daughter Britney, for a bottle of their best champagne, she remarked, "I'm sorry, but my mom drank the last can," Durham says with a laugh.
Jones cracked up and ended up staying all night.
Also on display are original prints of Ray Charles and a trio of blues musicians — Son House, Skip James and John Hurt — at the 1965 Newport Blues Festival signed by photographer Dick Waterman; plus autographed photos of local and Boston musicians, blues veteran Honeyboy Edwards and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Los Lonely Boys stopped in recently after their show at the tent, sang a song and autographed a red T-shirt.
But sometimes the big fish get away.
Liza Minnelli's manager called to ask if an area could be roped off for her. Durham told him she was flattered the singer wanted to visit her club, but she wasn't able to do that. About 12:30 a.m., the star came in unexpectedly, accompanied by two big men. Unfortunately, Durham wasn't around to ask for her autograph.
But Durham didn't miss another opportunity. When she met rocker Chris Isaak after his concert at the Melody Tent, she invited him to drop by, and he did.
"He loved the music," Durham says.
Isaak, who's an artist, drew a huge dragon on her back.
"I didn't want to shower for months," she says with a laugh.
Celebrity Autographs Cape CodCelebrity Autographs Cape Cod
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When Joe Krein was 9 years old, his grandmother started his Elvis Presley collection with a Christmas gift of 3 recordings-2 albums and a 45.
