I remember how happy Al was at his wedding to Charlyn. I also remember sitting around with him one night at an event, while we bitched to each other about how the reality TV business had changed and was over-run with snot-nose kids who had no business sense.

But my favorite story happened one night at the Kahala Theater. I was waiting for my husband, Brad, to emerge from the men’s room when I saw Al wandering around outside studying the posters. I ran out to ask what movie he was going to see. “No, I saw that already. It’s an awful movie,” I told him. “Join us instead.” Eventually, he decided to do just that and we sat around the theater for about 15 minutes before the movie started, shooting the breeze. It turned out that Charlyn was at a shower or some sort of girls-only event. And as we sat there talking, I realized that while most people would see a big deal, successful television producer and friend to the stars, I just saw a regular husband – relieved to see a couple of friendly faces while he kicked around the mall waiting for his wife.

In a sense, that was sort of Al in a nutshell: a combination of smart, big deal television producer and nice, normal guy anxious to get back to the wife he loved.

Kay Lorraine
Friend