When she was 9-year-old, Joanne Woodward attend the premiere of Gone with the Wind in Atlanta, rushed into the parade of stars and sat on the lap of Laurence Olivier, star Vivien Leigh's partner. During rehearsals of television production of "Come Back, Little Sheba" in 1977 she mentioned this incident to him, and he told her he remembered.
In the United States, this production was aired on the NBC network on the night of December 31, 1977. NBC had heavily promoted it with a commercial that emphasized its stellar cast that included "Carrie Fisher of Star Wars." It came in dead last in the prime-time ratings for that week. On the festive holiday of New Year's Eve, few viewers were in the mood for an intense drama about alcoholism, midlife crisis, and a missing pet dog.
Whilst editing this movie a Granada TV production directed by Silvio Narizzano for the Laurence Olivier Presents series in 1977, Sir Laurence would often drop into Soho to catch up with the edit. One day, he joined Roy Beck and his edit team for lunch at the Pizza Express restaurant in Wardour Street. They were already seated in the huge round window facing out onto Carlisle Street. On his arrival, he noticed them in the window and came over and proceeded to give a fabulous impression of a goldfish with fully pouting lips for a good fifteen seconds before joining them for lunch. He said they looked like they were sitting in a goldfish bowl.
William Hootkins was in Star Wars which famously co-starred Carrie Fisher, and Bruce Boa would appear in The Empire Strikes Back.