MPTF at the Reel Stories Real Lives benefit at Milk Studios

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The Motion Picture & Television Fund is 95 years old.

“Not as old as my father (Kirk Douglas),” Michael Douglas quipped on Thursday night at the annual “Reel Stories, Real Lives” event held at the Milk Studios in Hollywood.

Douglas’ cocktail of humor livened up tales of the grim realities of showbiz careers that fade to black, which epitomized the colorful case studies presented by MPTF and delivered by stars like Cuba Gooding Jr., Danny DeVito, and Bryce Dallas Howard.

“As you get older, you realize not everyone’s career is going to be autographs and sunglasses,” Douglas told TheWrap on his way in to Milk Studios.

Also Read: 'Rogue One' Trailer Breakdown: Our Star Wars Nerd Explains It All

Michael Douglas, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Julie Darmody, Matt Bomer - Getty Images

Douglas, MPTF leader Jeffrey Katzenberg (still in a cast after a car accident last fall), Julie Darmody and Matt Bomer (Getty Images)

After a cocktail hour gaze at MPTF memorabilia like Elvis’ $8,500 costume bill, the show included documentary featurettes by Academy Award winners (Morgan Neville), well-wishes from “Star Wars” overlords (J.J. Abrams) and a subconscious reminder that those who need help are “in good hands,” when the soothing Allstate insurance voice of Dennis Haysbert introduced one of the stories.

Inside MPTF’s “Reel Stories, Real Lives”. Delta Airlines and Entertainment Weekly sponsored the event. (Mikey Glazer)

Riveting stories like two octogenarians falling in love amidst the “happy hour at 3 p.m.” culture at the MPTF Campus preceded a gloomy love story of two men’s 50 year relationship where the widower missed out on mandated union pension benefits because they “could not prove the legitimacy of their relationship,” Matt Bomer relayed. The MPTF stepped in to help.

Also Read: Charlie Sheen Criminal Investigation: American Media Publications Refuse to Turn Over Audio

At the end of each story, cameras revealed one of the protagonists in the audience, earning the cheers of what Jeffrey Katzenberg and event producer Julie Darmody (talent manager by day) both referenced as the next generation of the MPTF, about 500 supporters decades youngers than many of the elderly beneficiaries.

The organization bills itself as celebrating “95 years in a supporting role.” The support tally went up by $5.2. million on the night before the Oscars this year at their signature event, the “Night Before” party.

Also Read: 'People v OJ Simpson' Stars Sarah Paulson, Sterling K Brown, John Travolta Lobby Emmy Voters at Finale Party

Beyond Darmody (who got her mother involved as a palliative nurse), the event’s other industry producers included Guymon Casady (who has a massive “Game of Thrones” premiere hitting Hollywood this Sunday night), talent manager Eric Kranzler, producer Greg Sills, studio executive Courtenay Valenti, agent Warren Zavala, producers Kevin McCormick, Karen Rosenfelt and William Gerber.

'People v OJ Simpson': 9 Weird Facts It Didn't Include (Photos)

If you're watching "The People v OJ Simpson" in light of Simpson's release from prison, get ready for some surprises. But the most amazing details in the FX miniseries were true. And the show didn't even include some of the strangest facts about Simpson's life -- although some made it into ESPN's "OJ: Made in America" (pictured). Here are nine bizarre details FX left out.
1. Marcia Clark Was Packing

"In light of her high public profile, the detectives in the Simpson case had prevailed upon Clark to start carrying a gun," Jeffrey Toobin writes in "The Run of His Life."
Clark (played by Sarah Paulson) once missed a flight because she forgot about her gun and had to fill out federal forms to carry it.
FX
2. Johnnie Cochran: Two Times a Family Man

In the 1970s, Cochran had two families, one of which he kept secret from the other.
CNN
While living with his wife Barbara, Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) also had a relationship with his secretary, Patty, who later changed her last name to Cochran. They traveled, bought property and had a child together. He also had two daughters with Barbara.
FX
3. From Witness to Ghostwriter

Screenwriter Pablo Fenjves testified against Simpson about hearing the "plaintive wail" of Nicole Brown Simpson's Akita when she was murdered. Later, he ghost-wrote Simpson's book "If I Did It."
4. Lance Ito Bashed the State Supreme Court

Toobin writes that when Ito (Kenneth Choi) was a prosecutor, he despised California's liberal Supreme Court so much that he had a custom vanity plate referring to them as "7 BOZOS."
FX
5. Ito Had Crazy Game

Ito met his future wife, Margaret York, in the most unromantic setting possible: at a homicide scene, at 4 a.m.
Getty Images
6. OJ Was Jealous of Kato

The reason Kato Kaelin was living with OJ, Toobin writes, is that he had formerly been a tenant in Nicole Brown Simpson's guest house.
Getty Images
When Nicole moved into a new home, she intended for Kato to move in and help babysit her kids. But Simpson objected to Kato living under the same roof as his ex-wife. So he let him stay at his own home.
Getty Images
"OJ's offer thus simultaneously removed a potential rival for Nicole's affections and took money out of his ex-wife's pocket," Toobin wrote.
Getty Images
7. There Was a Gross Mark Fuhrman-Nicole Brown Simpson Rumor

There were unsubstantiated reports that Mark Furhman (Steven Pasquale) bragged to other officers about having sex with Nicole Brown Simpson and complimented her "boob job." Two detectives who were said to have heard of the alleged bragging later denied they had.
YouTube
Johnnie Cochran repeatedly brought up the "boob job" talk in court on Sept. 1, 1995. Here's the transcript.
FX
8. OJ's Son v OJ

Simpson's son, Jason, once took a bat to OJ's statue of himself. Jason said in a deposition that he wasn't mad at his dad: "I wanted a party, and I was gonna throw a party, and I got busted. My dad found out that I was going to have a party that night. He said I couldn't have a party."
FX
9. The Juror Who Gave the Black Power Salute Was an Ex-Black Panther

The show accurately showed a juror giving Simpson a black power salute. What it didn't include was that the juror, Lionel (Lon) Cryer, was “a former Black Panther whom prosecutors had inexplicably left on the panel.”
If you liked this gallery, you might like this list of bizarre details "The People v OJ Simpson" got right...
FX
... and this list of what "The People v OJ Simpson" got wrong.
FX

1 of 17

As OJ Simpson walks free, here are some details that didn’t make it into FX’s devastating miniseries

If you're watching "The People v OJ Simpson" in light of Simpson's release from prison, get ready for some surprises. But the most amazing details in the FX miniseries were true. And the show didn't even include some of the strangest facts about Simpson's life -- although some made it into ESPN's "OJ: Made in America" (pictured). Here are nine bizarre details FX left out.

View In Gallery

Michael Douglas, Bryce Dallas Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr Lead Emotional MPTF ‘Story Hour’ (Photos)

'People v OJ Simpson': 9 Weird Facts It Didn't Include (Photos)

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