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Johnnie BombaHe’s Milkman, Musician And Now a Movie Star...*By CALVIN C.S. YAP He's been a band leader for over 35 years; he’s cut nine record albums; he's just finished his first movie; and he used to have his own radio and television shows.Sound like a famous Hollywood celebrity9 He’s a celebrity all right, and he's home grown. He’s milk truck driver. Polka king and Oak Forest resident JohnnieBomba * * vBomba, 56, 15304 Cherry lane, recently finished his first movie. Fi.S.T, with Sylvester Stallone He plays the part of abandleader; what else?The movie was his screen debut and. much more, it has brought him back into the limelight to which he is accustomed “I’ve done it all.” Bomba said. “When 1 had my radio show back in 1948. our pulse rate (popularity scale) was only two-tenths of a point less than the Jack BennyShow“I WAS ALSO on the Polka Band parade on WGN television in 1959 and on the International Cafe show with Peter, Paul and Mary,” Bomba added.Bomba has survived many events to arrive where he is today. Before entering World War II. Bomba married his grammar school sweetheart, Janina Bochinski.He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and hit the beaches at Normandy on D-Day before returning to the States to develop his Polka specialty by playing at Polish weddings, picnics and gatherings.“I've been in the music business for 40 years now,” Bomba said, “and I think I can keep going another 20.*’“IT WAS A LOT of hard work in the beginning,” Bomba mused “I used to have to play six nights a week, go home each night, take a shower and then go to my regular job.”“I’ve always held a regular job in addition to my music engagements,” Bombaadded.Bomba does not look anywhere near his age In fact he could pass for a man 15 years younger and could possibly outlast anybody when it comes to playing before an audience.“Weddings these days are nothing,” Bomba said. “In the old days we used tostart playing at three in the afternoon and end at six or seven in the morning. Today, people are tired at 2 a m.”PEOPLE CAN tell that Bomba is anexcitable person from his movements and speech. He moves quickly and speaks articulatelyAnd when he wants to emphasize a point. Bomba will smile and wink his left eye at you.Bomba, who plays the clarinet and saxophone, said his band has been w ith him a long time.“My trumpet player has been with me since 1948, my accordian player since 1946, my piano player since 1954 and my drummer since 1957,” Bomba saidBomba explained his band can range in number from five to 15.“It depends on what the customer wants,” Bomba said. “He tells me whatkind of musicians he wants and how many•and I call them up ”FOR THE MOVIE, Bomba said, the producer, Patrick Palmer, and director. Norman Jewison, “really had mewstumped because they wanted a cymbalin player in the band and I didn't know any cymbalin players .”A cymbalin is a traditional Hungarian instrument, like a small piano, played by hitting strings with a mallet. Bomba explained.“You see they needed the cymbalin because the story is about a union movement in the *30s and a part of the story is a Hungarian guy, Stallone, marrying a Lithuanian girl, Melinda Dillon.” Bomba said.Bomba said Palmer was really adamant about the instrument.“He has this thing about authenticity.” Bomba said.‘‘ANYWAY, WE finally found one in some guy’s basement in Chicago and convinced him to play it for us in the movie.” Bomba saidBomba said Palmer and Jewison were very helpful and encouraging. He saidthey stayed with him and helped him find the cymbalin player when they could have easily hired another band“I remember Jewison telling me that it was me they wanted and nobody else,” Bomba said.Bomba said he was lucky to get his part in the movie.He said a secretary in the Shirley Hamilton Talent agency in Chicago, that did the booking for F I.S T., had heard him play in town and mentioned him to Pal-mei.APPARENTLY, PALMER remem bered the name because he called Bomba and invited him to an interviewBomba said he thought he had lost the job for sure when Palmer interrupted him in the middle of the interview and told him that he would call when they made their decision“I’ve heard that before.” Bomba said “. . . don’t call us. we’ll call you ... 1 thought it was all over then.”However, three weeks after the interview, they called Bomba and offered him the job“Naturally. I accepted immediately,” Bomba saidBomba said the shooting, which lasted a week for him and was done in Dubuque. Iowa, was very professional.“WE USUALLY shot from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Bomba said “Stallone wasn t too friendly to the people there, but you've got to take into consideration that he was under a lot of pressure.”“A lot of his fans wanted to touch him,which bothered him a great deal.” Bombaadded “In fact, one woman fan slappedhim across the face and told him she did itbecause vou have what I want.”’»Bomba said Stallone was more relaxed and friendly when the shooting was finishedBomba also said he was a little dissap-pointed when he saw the movie at the local theater“The beginning is terrific,” Bomba said. “But the last third is too dull. It’s just the same old thing ... too much of the Senate hearings.”“THEY COULD have made it better than it was,” Bomba said. “I saw some really great scenes they shot but didn’t use . . . and you know where those scenes ended up .... right on the floor (cutting room floor).”Bomba, a headliner at the Aragon and Trianon ballrooms in the early ’50s, now plays mostly at Moose lodges, proms and weddings.And because he still has to rise at 5 a m every morning to deliver milk, he plays mostly on weekends'It’s just for fun now.” he said. “But if I ever got a chance to make it big in the movies, watch out,” he added and then he winked his left eve and smiled.
Newspaper Details
Orland Park Star Herald
Orland Park, Illinois, US
Sun, May 14, 1978
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Jim P.
IL, USA 31 May 2018
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