Driver To The Stars

His experience as a driver to Hollywood stars prepared him to be a driver to the stars of Friendship Village.  Fred Garcia, who has been working at Friendship Village as a security officer and driver for the past two years, was formerly a chauffeur in New York. There, he said, he drove the stars of virtually every big film from 1985-1990. “They’d come in from California for a week to ten days to promote the movie.  We’d do ‘Good Morning America’, ‘The Today Show,’ ‘David Letterman’, and more.  I’d stay with the star, producer or director for the entire time.  We’d do the red carpet and the premiere at the end of the week.  I worked 18 hour days, six days a week,” Fred said.

Fred first started chauffeuring when he was 16. “I parked cars for a country club and one night, someone asked me I would take him and his wife to the Lincoln Center that weekend.  I was a junior in high school. By the end of the season the following year, I had four other couples that I was driving on a regular basis,” he said.  Eventually he became a corporate chauffeur and worked in that role for seven years until the company moved overseas.

Having developed a great resume, Fred responded to an advertisement in the paper for a chauffeur, and during the subsequent interview, learned that the company catered to Hollywood stars. He got the job, and several weeks later was assigned to drive a new young actor who sported a ponytail, ripped jeans and a T-shirt.  “He told me he was in town for his first movie and he didn’t know whether or not it was good or if people were going to like him,” said Fred.  “The unknown star was Kevin Costner. He was in town for the movie ‘Silverado’. Needless to say, Kevin took off.  He called me every time he was in town after that.” 

Fred said that he quickly rose to the top of the driver A list. “Hollywood is a copycat society. So once I was Kevin Costner’s regular driver, Tom Hanks wanted me.  And I drove Mel Gibson for ‘Lethal Weapon,’ Sean Connery for  ‘The Untouchables’, Julia Roberts for ‘Pretty Woman’ and comedians Steve Martin and Billy Crystal. I drove the brat pack…Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, all of them,” he said.  

Fred moved to the Chicagoland area two years ago to be closer to family and is delighted to be at Friendship Village.  The best part he said, is that he met his new bride, the former Terri Ann Johnson who is the daughter of one of the residents.  They married in September of 2013.  Additionally, he loves driving residents to where they want to go. “This is a great community full of friendly, kind and interesting people.  I couldn’t hope for a better place to work,” he said. “These are the real stars!”

Friendship Village is a leading Chicago continuing care retirement community offering a complete continuum of care including independent living garden homes and apartment homes, as well as assisted living, memory support, skilled care, and short- and long-term rehabilitation services. For more than 35 years, Friendship Village has been providing Chicago area seniors with exceptional retirement living options. For additional information visit www.FriendshipVillage.org