Celebrities key to making 'Streetwise' dream come true

For two months in 1984, reporter Cheryl McCall traded in her press pass for a warm bed in a cheap motel just blocks from Seattle's popular Pike Place outdoor market.

Out on the street, in the rain, she met kids named Tiny, Rat, Buddha, Munchkin and Peehole who told a story of incessant fear amidst the Emerald City's most popular tourist corridor.

The teens and their struggle formed the backdrop for the documentary "Streetwise," a film written and produced by Ms. McCall that earned an Academy Award nomination as best documentary in 1985.

For Ms. McCall and some of her more famous Hollywood friends who provided financial backing for the film, "Streetwise" was groundbreaking work with a timeless cautionary tale.

A story for LIFE magazine written by Ms. McCall, "Streets of the Lost," formed the basis for the 90-minute documentary.

The documentary was a necessary next step in telling the teens' story, Ms. McCall said.

"People saw these children as wallpaper and not real people," said Ms. McCall, who was 33 when the documentary was made. To get close to the children, Ms. McCall dressed down and asked them if they wanted money. For a group of youths accustomed to being hustled for sex or drugs, the "street kids" eventually took Ms. McCall seriously.

"I think they were generally amazed that I wanted to talk to them and not use them. ... Most people treated them like garbage, and I didn't. I wanted to respect them."

Making the movie required more than $150,000, which was money Ms. McCall didn't have on hand. Looking into a golden Rolodex of celebrities who long ago became friends, Ms. McCall dialed Willie Nelson, a longtime friend dating to the mid-1970s.

Nelson, an executive producer of the film, said he's proud the documentary will be shown again to a new crop of young people.

"That movie will always be new because the same story goes on every day," said Nelson, on the road in Lawton, Okla. "The movie was all done by Cheryl. I just showed up. I give her all the credit," he said.

"I'm very happy and I hope a lot of people get to see it."

Know & Go <B>What:</B> Showing of the 1985 documentary "Streetwise" to benefit Court Appointed Special Advocates, Sierra Nevada Children's Services and Cheryl McCall Scholarship Fund. <B>When:</B> 7 p.m. Tuesday <B>Where:</B> Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad St., Nevada City. <B>Tickets:</B> $25 adults, students 18-under $5 for balcony seating. <B>Information:</B> 265-6008

Tennis great Billie Jean King, who hired Ms. McCall to write for King's new WomenSports magazine in the early 1973, also signed on as a financial backer of the film.

"I'd never seen kids followed that deeply and thoroughly," said King, who was vacationing on Cape Cod. "I'll never forget her coming to me and asking for help. I thought the idea was so extraordinary at the time," King said.

Though the cars are older in the film, the hairstyles outdated and the clothes passe, King said the "period piece" would do well to educate today's youth.

"It's important that people acknowledge her creativity and her courage," said King, who remained in Ms. McCall's golden Rolodex until the end. "The legacy that she's leaving will help future generations."


<I>To contact staff writer David Mirhadi, e-mail davidm@the union.com or call 477-4229.</I>