Found It! Story about Tim's Dark Secret
Bruce Rheins
Found it! Here's a good story about Timmy:
Copyright 1996 P.G. Publishing Co.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
July 15, 1996, Monday, SOONER EDITION
SECTION: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, Pg. D-1
LENGTH: 1553 words
HEADLINE: ONE FOR THE ROAD;
MTV 'RULES' SHOW MAY PUT PITTSBURGHER ON HIGHWAY TO CELEBRITY
BYLINE: ROGER LEPAGE JR.
BODY:
Timmy Beggy of Mt. Lebanon, once known as the Pittsburgh Pirate
Buccaneer,
then the infamous South Side Skinny Dipper, and soon to be an MTV
celebrity, has
stopped making faces at passing cars.
Now, he's so comfortably settled into the driver's seat of his brown
'77 AMC
Hornet, you might think he could fall asleep any minute. Even his face,
which
usually seems to contort with each word, is completely relaxed. He's
staring at
a red light on Fifth Avenue in Oakland.
''Watch the people next to us,'' he whispers, referring to a young
couple in
a blue Volvo pulled up alongside the Hornet. Keeping his eyes straight
ahead, he
slowly shifts the car into reverse and starts rolling backward. The
young couple
in the Volvo think they are rolling forward into the busy intersection.
The man
grasps at the steering wheel, his whole body lurching backward as he
slams his
foot on the break. The woman is clutching onto the dashboard. When they
realize
they aren't going anywhere, they look over at Timmy and laugh. He rolls
down his
window, yells, ''Gotch ya!'' then pulls ahead through the now green
light.
Welcome to the world of Timmy Beggy, where even a red light provides
entertainment.
''I never really pulled that gag on 'Road Rules,' he says. ''But
there's
plenty more.''
Beggy is referring to his latest adventure, co-starring in MTV's
syndicated
series ''Road Rules,'' premiering tonight at 10 p.m. The show, a
spin-off of the
popular Generation-X series ''Real World,'' involves a group of five
people, two
women and three men, ranging in age from 18 to 24, driving around the
country in
a Winnebago.
''It's pretty much a big sociology experiment,'' he explains.
''Stick five
strangers on a party bus, take away all their credit cards, MAC cards
and check
books, give them a limited cash supply and a list of adventures, then
send them
on their way and see what happens. I guess that makes us the guinea
pigs. It
gets pretty hairy at times.'' He has crinkled up his nose and is
snorting over
the steering wheel.
When asked exactly how 'hairy', Beggy answers, ''Well, I can't give
anything
away, but at least there were never any police involved.''
PAGE 3
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 15, 1996
However, it is no secret that his road to ''Road Rules'' was not
without
sirens and flashing lights. ''Let's see,'' Beggy says. ''Almost a year
ago to
the premiere day, I got two speeding tickets in the Hornet, neither of
which I
could afford to pay, then I crashed the Hornet and didn't have any
insurance,
then I got caught . . . you know . . . in the pool, got arrested, was
pretty
much embarrassed across the country, and then to top it all off, I lost
my job
as the Buccaneer. It all happened within five days.''
And about the pool incident . . .
Advised by lawyers and guided by his own conscience, Beggy, 24,
never spoke
to the press to give his side of the South Side public pool incident.
''The
lawyers thought if it got too well-publicized the court system would
make an
example of me,'' he explains, ''and besides that, I didn't feel right
exploiting
something that was such a huge mistake.''
Though he couldn't hold back the publicity - both Jay Leno and Conan
O'Brian
made use of the incident in opening monologues, USA Today ran an item
under the
heading ''Buck Naked'', and ESPN reported the incident erroneously
displaying
pictures of former Pirates Parrot Tom Mosser instead of Buccaneer
Timmy, who
still did not personally speak to the public about the ordeal.
Now, as he drives through the Liberty Tubes, having just pretended,
much to
the chagrin of other motorists, to be asleep at the wheel, he is ready
to tell
his side of the story.
There were six old friends reunited, having a night out. ''Were we
drinking?'' Timmy says. ''Not really. I was bartending full time then
and
drinking just wasn't a priority. Doing drugs?'' he continues. ''Oxygen
is too
heavy an intoxicant for me. Adrenaline puts me over the edge. I
couldn't imagine
anything else.''
It was a hot night and Tim and his friends decided they needed a
swim. ''Is
it my fault we don't live by the ocean?'' Tim asks. ''The best we could
do was
the South Side pool.'' They get to the pool and everyone jumps the
fence, then
into the water. Soon the police show up, seven of them. ''They must
have thought
there was some kind of deal going down in the deep end,'' Tim explains.
The
charges were open lewdness. ''Well, it's true all I had on was a big,
happy
smile, but there was nothing lewd going on. We were in 12 feet of
water. I'd
have to be Jacques Cousteau.''
In the end, Tim and one female companion - the only other friend not
to flee
- spent a total of 13 hours in jail. Although the actual charges were
reduced to
trespassing, for Tim Beggy the repercussions seemed not to fit the
crime.
The youngest of four in a devout Irish Catholic family, Tim found
the damage
brought on to his family name the worst punishment of all. According to
older
sister Mary Beth, ''We're a family who jokes about absolutely
everything, but
this just seemed too much for all of us. It took a long time before we
could
even talk about it, and even longer before we could laugh about it.''
The loss of his job as Pirate Buccaneer mascot also proved
difficult, Tim
says, ''mainly because I had graduated Duquesne only a few months
before and
already I was getting to perform in front of some fairly decent crowds.
My goal
was to launch myself headlong into the entertainment industry and I
seemed
PAGE 4
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 15, 1996
already to be on my way. Then . . . bang! It was all gone.''
We exit the Liberty Tunnels and Beggy waves to some strangers
passing to the
right, then blows them a kiss just for fun. He has the air conditioning
in the
Hornet set for 'Desert Only,' and he announces, finally, that his goal
for the
afternoon is to find a suitcase. Not just any suitcase, however, one
with
character. Something you don't find in a department store. The carry-on
equivalent, you might say, to his brown Hornet. Timmy Beggy is
preparing for yet
another road trip, this time to Los Angeles where he will be living and
following up on a number of top secret job offers through MTV. He is
scheduled
to arrive just in time for the premiere of ''Road Rules.''
''You want to talk about another bang,'' he says, smiling, ''I'm way
down in
the dumps over the arrest and everything. I'm broke. I'm embarrassed.
Except for
some movie extra work I can't find anything satisfying to do and
there's no way
for me to get out of Pittsburgh. Then I'm sitting on the couch flipping
through
the channels and I see the 1-800 number for 'Road Rules' auditions. I
said, 'Why
not me?' and called the number. I knew right then I could get the job
if I could
just get in there.''
Beggy went to work putting together an audition tape. On it, you can
see him
orchestrating a rendition of Neil Diamond's ''Sweet Caroline'' from
behind the
bar at Jack's in the South Side, you can see him in a high school
talent show
singing the Jackson Five, you can see him lighting up a large cigar on
an
incline discussing the finer points of Pittsburgh life, and if you
really want
to, you can see Beggy's kitchen, full of dirty dishes and dried
spaghetti stuck
to nearly every surface. Before long, he was in New York for his first
interview. ''As soon as I got there,'' Beggy says, ''I knew they'd hire
me
somehow.''
And hire him they did. According to Mary Ellis Bunim, co-producer
and
co-creator of ''Road Rules,'' Beggy's engaging personality put him over
the top.
''He immediately comes across as a guy you want to spend a lot of time
with,''
she said.
Local casting agent Nancy Mosser, who originally prompted Beggy to
audition
for the Buccaneer position, and will proudly tell you she discovered
him,
recalls the same qualities in Tim the first time she met him. ''It was
on a St.
Patrick's Day,'' she explains, ''and I was in Market Square having a
pretty
low-key time. Then this guy shows up in a kilt and a huge floppy green
top-hat
and the next thing you know he's got everyone there singing and dancing
and
following him around in this sort of parade. Timmy was like the Pied
Piper. Not
many people can draw that kind of attention and I knew right away he
had
something special. I have a good feeling for Tim and this MTV job,''
she adds.
''I've always said everyone is going to know who Timmy Beggy is.''
Selected for ''Road Rules'' out of a multitude of auditioners, Beggy
began
his cross-country expedition in Miami on February and completed it in
mid-April.
He did battle with sharks (and, of course co-stars), sky-dived, hopped
on a bull
in the rodeo, sang the National Anthem at a Major League spring
training game,
and countless other adventures, all peppered with Tim-style
shenanigans. ''Wait
till you see me in a brassiere,'' he says, raising his trademark
caterpillar
eyebrows.
PAGE 5
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 15, 1996
Of the entire experience, Beggy says, ''What you realize driving
this
country, especially the way we did in such high fashion, is that
there's so much
out there to be done and we all have the ability to do it. It's more
than just a
rush to do these things, it's a blessing to have the opportunity.
That's
something I'll never forgot. I have more blessings than there are
stars. We all
do and it's our duty to take advantage of them.''
Roger LePage Jr. is a free-lance writer living in Highland Park.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (2), PHOTO: Timmy Beggy, at top left and in the center
of the
photo above,; hits the nation's highways and byways when he joins four
other
Generation-Xers; in the MTV series "Road Rules."; PHOTO: (No caption)
LOAD-DATE: July 19, 1996
****-------------------------------------------------------------------
downtown
Hey, thanks for hunting down and posting that Timmy article. We need
to get a web page for this newsgroup, so we can archive all this stuff.
Timmy friggin RULES!!
downtown
(who's now gonna try that "car going backwards at the red light "
trick)
Daniel R. Reitman
In article <51nsbh$3...@dfw-ixnews4.ix.netcom.com>,
dj...@ix.netcom.com(downtown) wrote:
>. . . .
>(who's now gonna try that "car going backwards at the red light "
>trick)
I'll pass, but Games published it about eight years ago in an article on
practical jokes.
Dan, ad nauseam
"Is there life on the far side of the bench? And why does [Judge] Bill Riggs
wear bow ties?" -- The Honorable Rick T. Haselton, From the Far Side:
Reflections of an Appeals Court Judge, Or. B. Bull., Aug./Sept. 1996, at 43,
43.
Elizabeth Anne Otwell
Daniel R. Reitman (drei...@teleport.com) wrote:
: In article <51nsbh$3...@dfw-ixnews4.ix.netcom.com>,
: dj...@ix.netcom.com(downtown) wrote:
:
: >. . . .
:
: >(who's now gonna try that "car going backwards at the red light "
: >trick)
:
: I'll pass, but Games published it about eight years ago in an article on
: practical jokes.
:
: Dan, ad nauseam
I've done it a couple of times...not as a practical joke, but just to see
if people would notice at all...they didn't (but in Atlanta, people never
notice the other people in cars).
E-
KAINE SIS2
In article <51mshi$k...@sjx-ixn4.ix.netcom.com>, rhe...@ix.netcom.com(Bruce
Rheins) writes:
>Found it! Here's a good story about Timmy:
>
>
Bruce,
Thanks so much for posting this - it's a great article.
Kathy