Celebrity sightings in Durango may not be as frequent as they are in New York and Los Angeles. Nevertheless, something about this quaint town and surrounding landscapes has lured many of Hollywood’s elite. As a town, we’ve graciously welcomed them and their economic impact and provided them a film locale and a place for leisure.
Though it’s been two years since Durango’s last major celebrity sighting – Johnny Depp while filming “The Lone Ranger” – some might catch a glimpse of Quentin Tarantino and his crew late next month during the filming of “The Hateful Eight” in Telluride. The film also is expected to bring about $40 million in revenue to Colorado.
Several prominent hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions in the area have catered to a variety of celebrities as they’ve passed through. And though Durango may be well-known for hosting Western film actors of the late ’40s and ’50s, it also has appealed to modern-day luminaries.
Lisa Schwantes, coordinator of the Four Corners Film Office, said Durango is in a central location in the West, making it ideal for film crews and actors. Few places in the country are a short distance away from the desert, red-rock terrain, mountains and forests. All these sceneries provide great natural backdrops for filming, she said.
And while the star-gazing can be fun, film crews boost bottom lines.
“The film industry can have such a truly positive economic impact on our region,” she said.
The Four Corners Film Office is working with “The Hateful Eight” production team to provide services and resources, from bottled water and coffee to more esoteric items that may not be readily available in Telluride, she said. It also assisted in the production of “The Lone Ranger,” which was filmed in Creede and New Mexico.
A plethora of notable celebrities have been seen and or photographed in Durango, such as Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne and Jerry Seinfeld.
One of the more memorable celebrity visitors was Oprah Winfrey, who came here in 2006 while on a road-trip adventure with Gayle King.
Rod Barker, owner of the Strater Hotel on Main Avenue, remembers Winfrey’s visit vividly.
When she arrived, the hotel had no vacancies, he said, but Barker gave her a guided tour of the historic building.
“It was really fun to have her here, so she could see the hotel and see the town,” he said. “She was a lot of fun.”
This past January, Winfrey made news when she purchased a 60-acre lot in Mountain Village for nearly $11 million.
In November 2011, David Letterman celebrated his son Harry’s birthday on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. The party took a private train from Durango to Cascade Canyon.
Al Harper, owner of the railroad, gave Letterman and his guests a tour of the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train museum.
Harper described Letterman as “nice,” “humble” and “reserved.”
It’s difficult to forget classical Western stars who have made Durango historically popular for the genre’s enthusiasts.
Some of Barker’s most memorable guests may appeal to an older generation. Some of those meetings include the Grateful Dead, Dan Fogelberg, Gerald Ford, Louis L’Amour and the Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Stuart Roosa.
“Louis L’Amour is one who really stands out,” Barker said. “He was so much fun and so involved with the staff.”
L’Amour first visited in the early 1980s and spent many summers writing books in Durango with his wife, Kathy.
The pinnacle of Barker’s celebrity guests in Durango was when he met President Gerald Ford in the early ’80s, he said.
“Gerald Ford was the best,” he said. “He was so kind and gracious.”
Ford wrote a thank-you note when he stayed at the hotel and was always willing to have pictures taken with hotel staff, Barker said.
He believes the hotel appeals to celebrity guests because it offers high-end lodging downtown and reflects Durango’s quirky personality.
Other notable celebrities who have stayed or stopped at the Strater include Michael Keaton, Steven Spielberg, Ralph Lauren and John F. Kennedy, to name a few.
Fred Wildfang, owner of the Rochester Hotel on East Second Avenue and author of Hollywood of the Rockies, also has had a fair share of celebrity guests.
“The (celebrities) I’m most personally associated with are the ones involved with the Western Film Festival,” he said.
Actor Harry Carey Jr. is a common Western-era persona some longtime Durangoans remember from popular films in the early ’50s. He also lived in Durango for several years and died here in 2012, Wildfang said.
And we can’t forget a long list of musicians.
The Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College and the Animas City Theatre have provided venues for musical acts such as Sir Mix-A-Lot, Keller Williams and Elephant Revival, to name a few. Both also have welcomed musicians from lesser-known artists to renowned classical musicians ranging from Todo Mundo and Robert Earl Keen to Marie-Thais Levesque Oliver and Carol Wincenc.
vguthrie@durangoherald.com
