I met Kris Kristofferson along with Johnny Cash when I was an extra in their 1984 film The Last Days of Jesse James. I responded to an article in the Tennessean requesting extras for the film for a scene in Edwin Warner Park. It said to dress like cowboys with little color. I showed up wearing my faded green Joe Cartwright shirt and cowboy hat with my dog Roscoe. I was told to join the crowd scene at the horse race track. I stood in front row by the rope and I could see Kris and Cash in the dirt track being directed by someone. While talking to them the director led them over to crowd close to me and left them there. I noticed that Cash was very aware of the crowd and took time to shake hands with the people close to him. Kris was more aloof. They walked off and prepared for the scene. It was a horse race and they filmed us extras as the horses flew by. Then they had us all go to the other side and they re-ran the horse race and shot us from the other side giving the appearance that there was twice as many people at the race. Then they told all of us extras to go home. As I turned to go I saw Kris and Cash standing in the middle of the dirt track talking. I figured if I was standing with them I wouldn’t have to leave with the extras. So Roscoe and I walked over to them and said hello. We exchanged greetings and I just stood there listening to them talking about the early days when they first met. The whole time Kris was looking down appreciatively at Roscoe who calming sat there thoroughly unimpressed with them. I was standing there with Kris, Cash and Roscoe who was the only one not dress as a cowboy. David Allen Coe who was also dressed like a cowboy walked up to us. He gave me the stink eye with a scowl but joined the brief conversation before we all went out ways. I hung around a bit and struck up a conversation with a friendly crew member who gave me his number and told me to come to the shoot the next day which was also in the park. I showed up the next day wearing the same clothes. My new friend got me up close for the scene which was a barn scene and involved Kris shooting at a bottles on a fence. It was late and got dark. I got to watch him act close up. He was in command of himself, loose and confident as he shot his pistol. I learned a lot watching him act and the whole process of filming. My buddy told me to call him the next morning and he would tell me where the next shooting would be. It turned out to be an isolated farmhouse out in the country. The scene involved Cash and Kris standing on the front porch. In one scene Cash read a poem out of a book about a man who went to heaven and was surprised at seeing people who he didn’t expect to be there. Then he noticed that everyone was looking at him. For no one expected him to be there. I planned to memorize it when the film came out but it didn’t make the cut along with any scenes with me in it. The director complained about too many people being there and people started to disperse. Then I got the idea to go behind the house and enter it from the back where I would wait and see who came to me. At first it was empty. I stood in the kitchen and waited. After a bit I realized I had to pee and the bathroom was sealed off. So I went out back and noticed there was a big, sharp drop off in the yard. I figured If a jumped down there I could pee and no one could see me. So I jumped straight down only to come face to face with Kris who was peeing. His back was to me but he looked at me like I was going to ask him for his autograph. I said “Hi” shyly and turned my back to him and we both peed in awkward silence and then went on our separate ways. I went back into the kitchen and waited. Sure enough…there was a break in shooting and both Kris and Cash walked into the kitchen. We exchange friendly greetings again and when the time was right I approached Cash and asked him if he would like to see my art. I handed him the small book I had with photos of my night scenes. He graciously took the book and looked intently at every page and asked me questions about them. I then asked Kris if he was an art lover. He paused for a second like he didn’t want to be labeled and said, “well, I love art.” he said cautiously. “Would you like to see my art?” I asked and I handed him my book. He too looked at every page with interest. He complimented my work and we talked about self publishing and he mentioned John Prine starting up his own record label and suggested that maybe I had the right idea of going my own way. Then Cash walked up to us and asked me to see my book again. He took it over to the window for better lighting and looked at every page and asked me questions. When he paused at a pastel I had done of a railroad track I offered it to him as a gift. He looked me in the eye and said, “I would be honored,” He asked if I had something to write on and I looked through my wallet and found a business card that was blank on the back. He wrote his name and address on it and handed to me. “Send it here,” he said and then they both took of for the next scene. I never saw Kris after that but I still hung around a bit. Then Cash approached me again and asked, “Can I see that book again? I want to show it to June.” I gave him the book and he climbed into a bus with June who was dressed as the mother of the James boys. When he got off the bus he handed me the book and offered kind words to me and everyone departed and went on their ways. Then next day I went to call my buddy for the next shoot and I realized I had lost his number and my movie days were over. So I missed out on meeting Willie Nelson who was the judge in the court scene for the trial of Frank James. Most movies on Jesse James end with Jesse’s death. But this film continued and showed what happened to Frank James. Kris played the part of Jesse and Cash played the part of Frank. A few months after Jesse’s death, Frank gave himself up. He was tried for murder in Missouri and found not guilty, tried for robbery in Alabama and found not guilty, and finally tried for armed robbery in Missouri and again released. He got away with all his crimes. I eventually got to give the painting to Cash and after he died I mysteriously got it back and it now hangs in my living room.