Crown Jules, This is Your Life; 'Criss Cross' Screens Oct. 8

In this year’s heating up and always hilarious race for the honor of being Fantasy Fest’s top royalty is a woman who first came to Key West in 1976 and had a brush, of sorts, with Hollywood (the one in California), the motion picture industry and Goldie Hawn.

Julie Hanson, born in Montgomery, Alabama, has worked mostly in restaurant management or hairdressing; in the late 1970s, after a stint at the Esquire Lounge, she “worked parttime at the Eden House, at Rich’s Cafe in the back,” she said. During this time a “writer, Scott Somer, was a guest at the Eden House for a few months. He became a friend to all of us” staffers, she remembered. Somer, it turned out, wrote a book based on Julie as the main character which eventually became a screenplay and finally the motion picture “Criss Cross.”

“I was living in Illinois when the movie was filmed, I had no idea of it at all,” Hanson remembered. “Mike Eden spoke with my husband and told him about the movie, I found Scott via phone and he confirmed (the) Goldie (character) was based on me.” The error was in not including her in the financial benefits of the deal. But there was a happy ending. “I received a settlement from MGM and Goldie after I filed a lawsuit in 1992,” she said.

All folks interested in seeing (or again seeing) this entertaining film are invited to a screening on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at the Eaton Street Theater (behind St. Paul’s), to benefit the Crown Jules campaign for FF queen. VIP tickets are $ 50 and include hors d’ourves and cocktails at 6 p.m. and  advance viewing of memoribilia and documents, some of which are for sale. General admission is $ 25 and doors open at 7 p.m. There will also be a Q & A after the show with Jules and Bud Brewer, who was the owner of the Esquire Lounge, where part of the movie was filmed.

In the 1990s, the candidate continued, “I moved back to Florida, worked as a general manager of a restaurant for 10 years, eventually back to Key West and resumed a career as a hairdresser at Hot Cuts Salon. Sister Season Fund helped me when I became sick with pneumonia and in return I began to volunteer for them and soon joined their Board of Directors.” This board has been a major focus of Hanson’s life for the past three years.

“I enjoy being in involved with SSF, helping (people) in our community, and I want to further my mission by helping AIDS Help, by running for Fantasy Fest Queen,” she said. It is in this spirit of expanding volunteerism and communiuty service that she decided to participate in Key West’s most notorious festival. And since she often answers to the affectionate nickname “Jules,” her clever play-on-words theme/motto, “Crown Jules,” was created.

But, she said, there’s yet another reason to run: to “be an example for my grandchildren, so that they too will step up and help in their community as well.”  Daughter Beverly Hanks lives in Key West, and has already volunteered for SSF; there are also sons Brian Broom and Christopher Broom in Punta Gorda and Nicholas Hanson in Sarasota. “The grandkids are Allan, Serrena & Trinity,” she said.

Among “Crown Jules” additional upcoming events are Traveling Tapas, a Smurf Bike Stroll (kids are free), an Art Affair to Remember, Royal Jewels to Crown Jules, a Painted Chair Auction, a Sunset Sail and Coconut Races. All dates and ticket prices can be found at AIDSHELP.cc.

For additional details, please phone Campaign Manager and former FF Queen Ginger King at (305) 849-0991.