Those of you who have been at Le Mans over the last couple of years couldn't failed to have noticed the 'Patrick Dempsey Factor'. As far as the media was concerned his PR machine made sure he was everywhere and it became a nuisance! But he freely admitted he needed the money to race and would do whatever was required.
We had a go at doing a blog on famous film stars who raced at Le Mans and then expanded it to any film stars who raced anything..anywhere! There wasn't enough meat in the project so we gave up!
Dempsey now has a serious motor sport track record as well as impressive 'actoring' credentials which mean we can now begin to think of him as one of 'The Big Three'... McQueen, Newman and Dempsey.
McQueen finished 2nd in the 12hrs of Sebring. This meant that one of his dream could perhaps become viable, a run at Le Mans sharing a car with Jackie Stewart. However precious film stars need substantial insurance and nobody came up with suitable cover so it never happened. Instead he went and made 'Le Mans' which premiered in 1971. It was not a box office success but Le Mans fans loved it! (..and still do! ed.)
Paul Newman came into motorsport by a slightly different route . He starred in 'Winning' which was shot at the Indianapolis 500. He caught the bug big time and eleven years later he finished 2nd at Le Mans and went on to become a successful team owner.
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| Dempsey at WEC autograph session |
