The night Rexburg didn’t have a bottle of wine for Gene Hackman
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REXBURG — With the news of Gene Hackman’s recent passing, memories of the legendary actor are surfacing everywhere — even in the most unexpected places, like Rexburg, where he once quietly dined in the 1980s.
In a conversation with SpotlightWriter.com, long-time Rigby resident Jody Cottle remembers the night their paths crossed when she was working as a hostess at the Raintree Restaurant.
Looking out the window for arriving patrons, Cottle, a Ricks College student, didn’t recognize the figure approaching from the direction of the Best Western Cottontree Inn in the dark.
It wasn’t until Hackman, wearing a turtleneck and jacket, walked through the door and stood right in front of Cottle that she recognized the Hollywood star, who was still riding high on the box-office success of the first two “Superman” movies.
“My first thought was, ‘I know who this guy is,’” Cottle says. “‘You’re Lex Luthor.’”
A two-time Oscar winner, Hackman’s performances as the greatest criminal mind of his time had become one of his most memorable roles, solidifying his status as a prominent figure in Hollywood. It’s no surprise that when Cottle, a movie junkie, saw him, the first thing that came to mind was Hackman’s famous turn as the Superman franchise’s archvillain.
On this slow night, Raintree’s staff was small, and besides Cottle, Doyle Walker, the general manager and fill-in cook; his son Trent; and a server were working. In the evenings, Raintree roped off the dining room side of the restaurant, so patrons had to sit on the coffee shop side.
“He asked me if he could have a table in the dining room,” Cottle remembers. “I wasn’t about to tell him no.”
Built at 460 West 4th South after the Teton Dam Flood, Raintree, which later became Frontier Pies Restaurant, was modern for its day. Its unique octagon shape and large, panoramic windows made it well-suited for a Hollywood movie star visiting Idaho. Hackman opted for a four-top table in the corner with a clear view of Yellowstone Highway.
Cottle provided Hackman with a menu and alerted her supervisor that he was in the restaurant. Trent immediately greeted the actor, who asked to see the wine list.
Trent explained they didn’t have one because Rexburg was a dry town. When Hackman asked where he could find the nearest bottle of wine, Trent answered Idaho Falls. Hackman then inquired how long the trip would take, and Trent told him one hour.
“Mr. Hackman said he’d be glad to wait,” Cottle says.
Knowing Hackman had requested a bottle of wine, Doyle didn’t hesitate to act. He quickly telephoned his manager friend at the Peppertree Restaurant & Lounge in Idaho Falls across from the Pinecrest Golf Course, to arrange a bottle for pickup. Trent jumped in his sports car and raced to Idaho Falls.
Meanwhile, Cottle kept Hackman’s coffee and water filled.
“We all went over to talk to him,” Cottle says. “He was very relaxed and not at all impatient, even though he wasn’t going to have dinner for an hour.”
“We all were just people to Hackman, not servers.”
Cottle recalls Hackman asking about the area. Doyle came over and sat with him for a moment and shared what he knew.
Doyle and his wife, Lola, moved from Rigby to Rexburg in 1968. There, they opened Walker’s Café and operated it for several years.
Long-time Rexburg resident John Steiner fondly remembers Doyle: “When you went into his establishment, you were always taken care of. People loved him. His scones were always good.”
One might say Hackman couldn’t have found a better restaurant in the area to dine that night. Star-struck at first, the staff earned Hackman’s respect and gratitude. He later graciously thanked Trent for his effort.
“We all were just people to Hackman, not servers,” Cottle says.
Trent later returned with the wine, and Doyle put a steak on the grill.
“Hackman was the only one in the dining room the whole night,” Cottle says. “We kept it roped off.”
Earlier, when Cottle seated Hackman, she turned on one row of lights near the dining room’s perimeter, only illuminating him and a few other tables.
Why Hackman was in the area never came up in conversation that Cottle recalls. She speculates that perhaps he had visited Yellowstone National Park or Jackson Hole or was about to see one of these locations.
Looking back on his role as Lex Luthor, Cottle says she thought Hackman was the perfect villain. But at the Raintree, there was no trace of that calculating mastermind. Instead, Hackman was calm, down-to-earth, and approachable, far from the cold, power-hungry villain he portrayed on screen. Cottle estimates Hackman’s visit lasted two hours.
“How was dinner?” she asked Hackman, when he approached the counter with his bill.
“Very good,” he answered.
“Would you sign our guest book?”
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Walker liked to know where our guests were traveling from,” says Cottle. “Hackman took a couple of spaces in the book.”
Jeremiah Kalb is a local biographer. You can find him online at www.SpotlightWriter.com.
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