Growing up, Benjamin Bratt was a great fan of "The Streets of San Francisco," starring Karl Malden as detective Mike Stone.

"I was about ten years old," Bratt recalled years later, "and they were shooting on location at a house in my neighborhood. And for about three hours me and a bunch of kids waited outside for Karl Malden and Michael Douglas to come out. Finally he emerged and we all gathered around him and I ran up to him and said, 'Mr. Malden, Mr. Malden, can I have your autograph, please?' 'Sure kid' -- and he got into his LTD and -- phhscht! -- drove right off.

"So about five years ago, I ran into an old-time makeup artist who I told this story to... And then about a year ago, I ran into him again. And he said, 'I got a funny story for you. I ran into Karl Malden and I told him that story that you told about how he jumped into the car and basically dissed you.' So I said, 'Well, what did he say? Did he have an autograph for me?' 'No. He said, Who the f--- is Benjamin Bratt?'"