20 Things You Somehow Missed In Apocalypse Now
9. The M.C. Of The Playboy Bunnies Concert Was Music Promoter Bill Graham
In the Playboy Bunnies concert scene, the master of ceremonies is music promoter Bill Graham, who was a friend of Francis Ford Coppola. While Bill Graham may not be a household name, his influence on rock and roll music was significant, notably during the 1960s, when he helped organize free concerts in San Francisco. He also ran the Filmore and Winterland Ballroom, venues that helped establish San Francisco as the epicenter of the psychedelic musical revolution, and acted as home base to bands such as the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. He was a legendary promoter, setting up an outdoor rock concert in 1973 attended by 600,000 fans, promoting stadium shows by Led Zeppelin, and producing massive benefit concerts, including the U.S. portion of Live Aid.
In Apocalypse Now, Graham arrives with the Bunnies in a helicopter. He introduces the three costumed women to the crowd of horny soldiers, and when he sees the situation is getting out of hand, he tosses a smoke grenade, gets the ladies back on board the chopper, and departs. The scene sadly predicts Graham's eventual departure from this world, however-- in 1991, Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash.