Who is the guy who dives through the cake in the "November Rain" video?
Okay, I spent the better part of the night researching this, and watching the video, and the result is . . . . inconclusive.
There is nobody credited with the "cake dive", even in the (somewhat) complete credits of the video.
Many people think that the miscreant is Slash himself, but that is inconsistent with the continuity of the video (on which they spent more than $1.5M). Most people seem to think that it's Riki Rachtman, of "Headbangers' Ball" fame, but in interviews he gave about the video (in which he does appear, credited as himself), he makes no reference to the cake dive, which I think would probably come up if it had, in fact, been him.
I don't see any evidence that Attila von Somogyi is the culprit, or any real confirmation that he's even in the video. In fact, his only claim to fame seems to be the head of Flamingo Features USA, a production company created by and working with Flamingo Features Japan to develop American film projects that will be of interest to the Japanese market. (One of their leading contenders is the quote much-hyped canine series 'Park Avenue Poochie' endquote.)
That Attila von Somogyi may be an entirely different Attila von Somogyi, of course. Heaven knows that's a common enough name. I'm sure there are hundreds of Attila von Somogyis running around out there.
Well, that blows. I fire up this blog, full of vim and vinegar (excuse the mixed compound noun there, this is a family blog), and promptly strike out in my second task.
My only (small) consolation is that the guy who dove through the cake in the November Rain video is one of the enduring enigmas surrounding Guns n' Roses (and they have not a few enduring enigmas). Perhaps, like the assassination of JFK and the secret ingredients in the KFC recipe, we'll never know the real answer.
UPDATE April 18:
I got this e-mail from one of my "sources":
There is nobody credited with the "cake dive", even in the (somewhat) complete credits of the video.
Many people think that the miscreant is Slash himself, but that is inconsistent with the continuity of the video (on which they spent more than $1.5M). Most people seem to think that it's Riki Rachtman, of "Headbangers' Ball" fame, but in interviews he gave about the video (in which he does appear, credited as himself), he makes no reference to the cake dive, which I think would probably come up if it had, in fact, been him.
I don't see any evidence that Attila von Somogyi is the culprit, or any real confirmation that he's even in the video. In fact, his only claim to fame seems to be the head of Flamingo Features USA, a production company created by and working with Flamingo Features Japan to develop American film projects that will be of interest to the Japanese market. (One of their leading contenders is the quote much-hyped canine series 'Park Avenue Poochie' endquote.)
That Attila von Somogyi may be an entirely different Attila von Somogyi, of course. Heaven knows that's a common enough name. I'm sure there are hundreds of Attila von Somogyis running around out there.
Well, that blows. I fire up this blog, full of vim and vinegar (excuse the mixed compound noun there, this is a family blog), and promptly strike out in my second task.
My only (small) consolation is that the guy who dove through the cake in the November Rain video is one of the enduring enigmas surrounding Guns n' Roses (and they have not a few enduring enigmas). Perhaps, like the assassination of JFK and the secret ingredients in the KFC recipe, we'll never know the real answer.
UPDATE April 18:
I got this e-mail from one of my "sources":
So . . not exactly definitive, but something else to explore. Still digging.Josh Richman either directed or produced(had something to do with) the Don't Cry video.
[Tom's note: Actually, he wrote the "Don't Cry" video. And he also directed the "Live and Let Die" video.]
I heard that he was the one who jumped through the cake in the "November Rain" video. And it does look like him. He was also in the movie "Rivers Edge" with a young Keannu Reeves.
posted by Tom at 2:10 PM
13 Comments:
Couldn't tell you if the Japanese video guy is the same guy. Gotta tell you though, he didn't really strike me as the type to be the president of a company. (Very pretty, maybe not so bright.)
You must admit, it looks a lot like him.
http://www.8r.com/main.php?
id=14&n=6303628281,&mode=video
He always went by just "Attila" and was in "Sorority House Party" (a/k/a "Rock and Roll Fantasy") and "Body Bags."
And I can't find you a better picture of him without clicking on stuff I really just don't want to see.
And if it makes you feel any better, I'm a trained professional researcher, and I've never been able to find the answer to this question. Thanks for trying!
I agree, it looks like him.
I just really wanted to find something definitive.
And I'm not giving up . . . yet. I have one or two more things to try, but I have to say, I'm fairly disappointed. This is just about the first time I've been completely stymied on a research, which I guess means kudos to you!
You probably don't want to ask me to play "Stump the Band," either.
In any case, I have now called in a friend who has many media contacts and writes a film trivia column. I will let you know if he has better success. I am not above trying to call Riki Rachtman.
NOOOO!
I will not be bested on my own answer-finding blog!
Even if it is by a professional researcher.
I'm hot on the trail of an answer - if there is one.
Hopefully I'll be able to report back to you in a day or two in triumph.
I'll be like one of those old-timey magicians: I have to fail once or twice, and then when I come through with the answer, it'll be all the more impressive.
OK, so "trained professional researcher" may have been stretching it a bit. However, in law school, I was forced to endure endless hours of lessons on How to Find the Answer. First we had to use -- gasp! books, and then we were allowed to graduate to the newfangled tools of Lexis and Westlaw (with a 2400 baud modem). Then boom! Google had all the answers. Except for this one, of course.
I eagerly await your march through the triumphal arch.
I've got a question (albeit maybe a bit more technical than this site may be intended for).
I drive a 1991 Pontiac Sunbird with a 4-Cylinder, Overhead Cam, Throttle-Body-Injection engine.
Something I've noticed in the past is that when the car is working, the Timing Belt Marks on my camshaft and crankshaft aren't aligned the way the manuals tell you they should be for proper timing (yet the car an for at last 15000 miles like that - hey I just bought it that way).
Recently I lost a Timing Belt Tensioner, which threw my timing all out of whack, and when I returned it to it's proper timing the way the manual suggests (by lining up the timing marks with the marks on the rear Timing Belt Covers), I find that the vehicle won't start; it just stutters and backfires.
My question is: how can I get my car back into timing if I can't use the timing marks for reference?
Take it to a mechanic is the only answer I've received thus far, but that's just a cop out, right?
Hmmm. Hard to find a good picture of this Josh Richman character. Does have similar bone structure to Attila. Could be, could be! If so, very nice work!
The "Attila" of Flamingo Features, is in-fact the former model. Their film/television production offices are at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles and Miami
I actually travelled with steve, who is the guy who jumps the cake in the video, in south east asia in 1996 or -97. He is called "Slow" among his friends, and he also appears as one of the gang in Point Break. The sad thing is that I can't remember his last name. It was something like Catrell I think. We met in Singapore, and travelled up the west coast of Malaysia together. We had good fun for one week, before we had to go seperate ways in the town of Ipoh. He has also appeared on some road billboards in LA for a jeans ad. But what he does today I don't know. I'm trying to track the guy down, but so far I haven't found him. If someone knows where he is, or how to contact him, please e-mail me: husse_gex@hotmail.com. By the way, my name is Jim and I live in Sweden.
It was just some random guy off the streets.
"Hey, you want to be in a music video?
"Nah"
"It's Gun's n Roses!!!"
"rofl, lol, lmao pftt.. no"
"you get to jump into a wedding cake"
"hell yeh!!! sign me up"
Thanks to this page, we finally got connected! 18 years later Mr Steve Cottrell and I established contact. Sometimes internet really serves a great purpose. Thank You! My wife is amazed how happy I got today. The date is September 1st 2014. I posted my request here eight years ago. The best thing is that I now live in the Pacific North West in Oregon, USA. We will soon hook up and have beers together! THANK YOU! /Jimmy
Two things here... Did you ever get a definitive answer to the question? was it Riki? and secondly, What a cool story just above! (was he really the guy in the video?) Glad to hear you guys found each other again!
Steve was the guy in the video. Just an extra. The more interesting piece is that it wasn't part of the script. He asked the director if he could dive into the cake and the director said "Why not? Go for it!"
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