Yes, there are mature high school seniors:When...

Yes, there are mature high school seniors:

When it came time to pull the senior class prank, Melissa Omansky of Windward School had just the idea: recruit the older adults in her mother’s acting class to take the kids’ places.

So, 25 real seniors--ages 60 and over--showed up for first period classes at the Mar Vista high school.

“We had no idea it was going to happen,” said Sharon Pearline, the admissions director. “I looked out my window and saw all these people dressed like students. One came as a Dodger fan with the hat and jersey and tennis shoes. Some had jeans. One had a beanie with a windmill on top. Some brought packs and lunches. It was very clever.”

The teachers went along with the stunt, said Adrienne Omansky, who teaches the free commercial-acting classes at the Claude Pepper Senior Center in L.A.

Take the case of one high-school-student-for-a-day: 80-year-old Abe Friedman. He had trouble finding the school.

“When he walked in late to the biology class,” Omansky said, “the teacher asked, ‘Where’s your excuse?’ He didn’t have one, so he got sent to the principal’s office.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Omansky says there are more than 400 people enrolled in her seniors’ acting class (Information: (213) 931-1026).

And she has found work for several of them in professional commercials, including one set of plugs for Big Slice Pizza. That company got a kick out of the brutally honest endorsements the seniors made during a taping session.

The biggest laugh-getter was: “I have a cheese tolerance problem, but it was worth it anyway.”

KNOCKING ROBERT TOWNE: Laurence Green of Rolling Hills writes: “Recently while rummaging through old artifacts, I came upon a brass door knocker inscribed with the name, ‘Louis A. Towne.’ I have lived at the above address for some 34 years, but happen to know that writer/director Robert Towne spent part of his youth there. I’d like to see that Mr. Towne gets the door knocker . . .”

Thanks, Mr. Green. In the meantime, we’ll wait for Mr. Towne to phone or knock.

ABOUT THAT NEW SWIMMING POOL, THOUGH . . . : After receiving a letter from a mortgage banking company (see excerpt), Dennis Levin of L.A. wrote us:

“I was pleased to see that I have been approved for a loan for my post office box. I have been wanting to redecorate for a long time.”

HOME OF THE V.V. DODGERS: Al Hix of Hollywood passes on a Fedco publication in which writer Gerry Keesey Hoppe revealed that in 1827 the provincial governor of California proposed changing the name of California to Montezuma.

And the guv wanted to re-christen Los Angeles as Villa Victoria.

Think of the implications.

As Hix points out: “L.A. would be called V.V. The inhabitants would be Victorians. And Montezuma’s Revenge would have moved north.”

miscelLAny

Will Harriss of Woodland Hills sent along a box of Texmati Brown Rice, which carried the proud statement: “To keep our rice select, we inspect each grain.” Harriss’ reaction: “Couldn’t they lower the price if they inspected every other grain?”