MARK ROLSTON

Los Angeles Convention Center

Downtown Los Angeles, CA

September 14, 2024

Photo credit: Mark Rolston

Working in the creative department of an advertising agency is lively, but it’s not all fun and games. The pursuit of artistic satisfaction is exacting work, and a dogged attention to detail was essential to my career. I loved it.

For example, one of my first projects out of college was to design an ad for baby shoes. I had to find the most perfect baby’s foot in all of Southern California to represent the fashionable LA Gear brand. I spent hours pining through stacks of photos comparing images of chubby little toes and wrinkly soles; you’d be surprised how different one precious angel’s foot can be from another.  

I didn’t know it at the time, but the hero foot I chose belonged to the daughter of an actor who had recently been in the movie The Shawshank Redemption with Tim Robbins. That was neat, but that's as far as that story went. Until…thirty years later when some friends and I planned to go to HorrorCon, a horror convention in downtown LA. I looked online to see which celebs were going to be there and noticed that Mark Rolston was listed. He is the actor who is the father of the cherub whose foot I cast. He also played a big part in the movie Aliens and was in the Saw franchise, which is probably why he was signing autographs at this creepy event.

I felt a rush of excitement at the prospect of surprising him with this blast from the past, so I dug deep into my old portfolios and sifted through folders upon folders of old creative projects looking for a reprint of that LA Gear ad until I found my only copy.

On the day of the convention, I went to his booth to introduce myself. He was sitting alone, prepared to meet yet another fan who wanted his autograph, but I came with an unanticipated approach, "Hi. I'm the only person who is ever going to say this, but do you have a daughter who is about 30?" "Yes," he said, understandably suspicious of what I was getting at. I said, "I am an art director, and in 1995 I cast a baby foot for a shoe ad and I believe this is your daughter's foot." He was so excited and delighted to see the ad. He was extremely touched and sweetly said, "Oh, my baby!" Reminiscing, he said, "When she was little we wanted to get her into stuff because she has very curly blonde hair, but this is the only ad she was ever in. It's been a family joke (of sorts) for 30 years. We tease that her most famous attribute is the bottom of her foot." 

I said he could keep this reprint and he began to strategize how he would show his wife this prize he scored at the convention. He also planned to give this ad to his daughter for Christmas. This was turning out much better than I imagined. 

I told him about My Celebrity Photo Album and though he was charging for photos at this event, Mark took a couple of pictures of us together and of me alone as well. I said, "I can send you a picture so you can show your family the person who was so taken by your daughter’s adorable toes." He said, "Yeah. Great!" He gave me his contact info and after some thought, I said, "Normally I would post this story on my website soon after I met you, but I’ll wait until after Christmas in case someone Googles you. I don’t want to ruin your Christmas surprise." He was grateful and said he’d keep me posted as to how this ad is received by his family.

A couple of months later, Mr. Rolston sent me a text letting me know that he was planning on framing this and he would send me a photo once it was presented. Then, on the evening of December 25th, another message popped up on my phone with three pictures of Mark's wife and daughter opening the framed reprint. He said, "It made our holiday. They were so surprised. Thank you so, so much!" 

Many thanks to you too, Mark, for keeping me in the loop with the evolution of this story. This experience has been a gift for everyone involved, and I'm delighted to know those darling little piggies have happily made their way back home.

Photo credit: Mark Rolston