Why Cary Grant hilariously told Rob Lowe to never eat a hot dog in public
When young actors get into showbusiness, they act like wisdom sponges, soaking up all the advice they can get from established stars who have already enjoyed thriving careers. Rob Lowe was no different when he made his first forays into television as a 16-year-old – and he had a particularly legendary actor from whom to absorb sage wisdom. You see, debonair Old Hollywood smoothie Cary Grant lived nearby, and he imparted upon the youngster a rule he’d always lived by. A rule involving where one could eat a hot dog – and where one very much shouldn’t.
On October 15th, 1980, Lowe visited the Beverly Hills home of a girl he had a crush on, Jennifer. His first TV appearance—on an ABC After School special—was about to air, and he wanted to watch it with her. After all, what would impress a teenage girl more than watching TV with someone who was actually on TV?
When her father answered the door, though, wearing a bathrobe, Lowe had a fleeting sense that he should know who this handsome old devil was. In his memoir Stories I Only Tell My Friends: An Autobiography, Lowe wrote, “I have a vague awareness that Jen’s father is an old-time movie actor, but I’m ashamed to say that I knew more about ‘Cary Granite’ from The Flintstones than Cary Grant the film icon.”
Grant invited Lowe in, gave him a glass of milk, and then let the two teens chat alone on the sofa while they waited for the show to come on. Right before it started, though, Grant reappeared and asked, “Young man, do you mind if I watch with you?” Even though it would totally derail his teen seduction mission, Lowe figured he couldn’t say no to the old man, so he agreed to let him watch.
In a 2011 interview with NPR, Lowe admitted it was a good thing he had no conception of Grant’s iconic status because otherwise, he would have been petrified to let him watch his first attempt at screen acting. However, all’s well, and that ends well. Grant was complimentary of Lowe’s performance, even telling him he reminded him of a young Warren Beatty.
Lowe recounted the tale to Conan O’Brien at one point and gushed, “He was so nice and so charming. The first time I ever saw myself on TV was with Cary Grant, and he was full of great advice.” This is where things get a little weird, though, because Grant’s main piece of advice was, to put it mildly, odd.
The salty screen veteran looked 16-year-old Lowe dead in the eyes and implored him, “Young man, don’t ever eat a hot dog on a dais.” Putting aside the incredible fact that Lowe knew what a “dais” was, it did beg the question: why should he never eat a hot dog on a raised platform for a lectern or throne? When the bemused teen simply uttered a confused, “What?” Grant explained, “Because then there will be a picture of you with a hot dog in your mouth.”
Lowe didn’t understand if this was Grant’s attempt at humour, but he also had no real idea if the man was being entirely serious. Had he previously been caught out with a salacious photo of him stuffing a long hot dog into his mouth by the lurid tabloid press, and the idea of an innocent youngster like Lowe suffering the same fate was too much to bear? Did he simply not like the visual of a man eating a hot dog, which could be construed as fellatio-esque by those with their minds in the gutter?
Ultimately, Lowe didn’t grasp the full motivation behind Grant’s advice – but you can bet your ass he’s never publicly eaten a hot dog in his adult life.
