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Bob Gray moved from Cleveland to L.A. a few months ago. Here on the shores of Lake Erie, he worked on national basketball broadcasts, reports L.A. Weekly, but with the Cavs in low demand across America after LeBron’s departure, so too was demand for his services. So out to California he went.

Arriving there, Gray wanted to get an L.A. phone number, ditching the 216 for some local flavor while he tried to break in as an actor, director, and screenwriter around town.

That’s when his life changed, according to the L.A. Weekly, because the number bestowed upon him by Sprint happened to be the recently discarded number of “a reasonably famous and very well connected actor-comedian.”

This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 2, 2011.

Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.

8 replies on “The Story of a Clevelander Who Moved to L.A., Inherited the Phone Number of a Hollywood Star, and Started Leading a Hollywood Life”

  5. Isn’t this the CLEVELAND Scene? Next time, tell someone who cares about what happens in Hollyweird. What happens there should stay there. Celebrities? Remind me again what we need to “celebrate” about greed, excess, and debauchery.

    Recycled phone numbers? While I lived in Chicago, I once had a phone number very similar to the main number for the Cubs ticket office. When I got calls about seats, I’d give the caller the number of one of the biggest street scalpers in Wrigleyville. If I didn’t get a finder’s fee, at least there was always an “extra” with my name on it. That’s the Chicago way.

  6. OK so you are talking about how the story should focus on Cleveland, yet in the same comment you start talking about Chicago and the “Chicago way”?

  7. I inherited Chuckles the Clown’s old number. I get calls everyday saying I’m going to get my azz beat for being dweeb.

  8. Gee whillikers True Clevelander, sorry I’m not a native like you…how long do I have to live here before I earn my stripes? Is twenty or thirty years enough? For people like you, fifty wouldn’t be enough if you didn’t grow up here. Tough noogies.

    My example of “inheriting” a phone number just happened to happen in another city. Sorry I have no examples here,because this Cleveland house has had the same number for 33 years.

    Hell, you can get a “famous” recycled phone number anywhere…and who cares about SoCal and why is it so special? Wouldn’t a True Clevelander prefer here to there? Just sayin…

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