During the lunch hour on a weekday in late August 2002, two strangers, Christine and Fred, shared a table outside a health food store in Santa Monica, California. Christine, an artist, told Fred about her paintings; Fred, a writer, told Christine about his dream of finding a publisher for a biography he hoped to write for the late actor, Jeff Chandler.

Christine: "Why did you pick Jeff Chandler?"

Fred: "Would you like to hear the sugar-coated story or would you like to hear the truth?"

Christine: "The truth."

Fred: "For as far back as I can remember, whenever I saw a casual acquaintance the second time, they never called me ‘Fred’; instead, they always called me ‘Jeff.’ They never called me ‘Mike,’ or ‘Tom,’ or ‘Sam,’ or by any other name; I was always, and without fail, called ‘Jeff.’ Close friends and people who I worked with — people I saw on a regular basis — always called me ‘Fred.’ People I met only once or twice and people I met only in passing always called me ‘Jeff.’

"This happened hundreds of times and became a predicament for me because I didn’t have a clue as to why this occurred. Once in a while I’d ask a close friend or coworker for advice, but a credible answer never came my way. A coworker once suggested that maybe I reminded people of ‘Jeff,’ the comic strip character from ‘Mutt and Jeff,’ because of my height (6’4"). The nation’s first successful comic strip, ‘Mutt and Jeff’ were also the stars of many animated shorts. That coworker’s suggestion faded when I learned that ‘Mutt’ was the tall and lanky one with ‘Jeff’ the shorter of the two.

"This predicament became a kind of a private joke for me, myself and I, because it occurred so often. I’d meet or see a casual acquaintance and during the conversation he or she would hesitate as most everyone else did before saying my name. At that moment, I’d clear my mind of all thoughts, nod silently and smile inwardly because I knew what was coming, and out would come the inevitable ‘Jeff.’

"One day while working a temporary job, I placed an order for courier service. After I gave the pickup and delivery locations, the dispatcher said, ‘Okay, Jeff, I’d like to repeat the order back to you to make sure I got it right.’ I heard her call me ‘Jeff,’ we reviewed the transaction, and as we were about to complete our telephone call, I asked her if she had just called me ‘Jeff.’ After quickly reviewing her notes, she said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry about that — Fred.’

"While shopping in West Los Angeles, a fellow shopper approached me rather hesitantly and then blurted out, ‘Hi, Jeff!’ I mumbled something incoherently and moved a few feet away. Inwardly I spun as I realized that my predicament was no longer limited just to people I met in passing, because a total stranger just called me ‘Jeff’! Instead of going away, the stranger approached me and said, ‘Jeff, I know it’s you!’ Ignoring him didn’t work, because when he failed to get an answer out of me, he said, ‘Oh, I understand. Being out in public, you’re in disguise and don’t want to be recognized!’ I quickly excused myself from this most unusual encounter.

"In 1998, I realized that I need to plot a course of action in order to solve my predicament. My reasoning: perhaps other people saw something inside of me that I couldn’t see; perhaps I projected something from within that only others could see. I’ve believed in reincarnation and in past lives for many years, and perhaps in a past life, I was a well-known person named Jeff. Whoever ‘Jeff’ was in an earlier life, he was readily recognizable by more than just a majority of people in this life.

"After I got a calendar for the year of my birth and a list of well-known individuals who died nine months or so before I was born, I started my search for ‘Jeff.’ I didn’t find anyone named ‘Jeff’ around my birthday, however, so I continued looking, year by year, until I reached 1961. That’s when I came across the name of the late actor ‘Jeff Chandler,’ someone I had never heard of. I wasn’t born nine months after Jeff Chandler died, but Jeff Chandler died a horrible death the same year that I experienced an unexplainable and mysterious circumstance.

"My search continued at the local library where I began looking researching Jeff Chandler, but I didn’t find very much at first. With each page I turned, however, I found more and more about Jeff Chandler; soon, I considered authoring a biography..

"On an early Sunday in 2001, I breakfasted with a friend visiting from Arizona. We talked about my idea for a biography on Jeff Chandler, and when I mentioned that I had never been to Jeff Chandler’s crypt located in West Los Angeles, my friend surprised me when he just about jumped into his car and said, ‘Let’s go!’

"We arrived at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary, obtained a map of the grounds, and got hopelessly lost. We returned to the main office for help and learned that for almost an hour we had been searching the north wing of the mausoleum instead of the south wing.

"Once we found the south wing, my friend looked in the Hall of Graciousness while I, just a few feet away, looked in the Sanctuary of Faith. We were, it seemed, still hopelessly lost. My friend said that he thought Jeff Chandler’s crypt was in the Hall of Graciousness and I just knew that it had to be nearby. Suddenly and with my back to the Hall of Graciousness, I extended my right index finger as my right arm stretched out to the right of me, and I watched my body swing 180 degrees. Without looking, I pointed at a crypt a number of rows up from the floor, and declared with certainty and precision: ‘Jeff — Chandler — is — buried — right — there!’ I had never been to Jeff Chandler’s crypt and although I had seen a small picture of it, I had no idea as to its exact location (that is, how many columns from the door and the number of rows up from the floor).

"My friend and I stared quietly at Jeff Chandler’s crypt for a few minutes and then we heard: ‘Are you here to see Jeff Chandler’s crypt?’ My friend and I turned towards the Sanctuary of Faith and there we saw the stranger, a rugged, tall, good-looking man with shoulder-length hair. He said that he was Jeff Chandler’s cousin and was a pallbearer at Jeff’s funeral. The stranger was there paying respect to his (not Jeff Chandler’s) mother, interred nearby. When I asked the stranger to describe to me what Jeff Chandler was like, he burst into tears and ran from the room, never to be seen again.

"I’ve found out a great deal about Jeff Chandler and his very productive years in radio and in film as well as his vocal recordings, musical scores and compositions as well as his appearances on stage and in television.

"And no one has called me ‘Jeff’ ever since."

At the end of their conversation, Christine gave Fred a had-written note with her name, telephone number and a short note: "Call me when the book comes out."

When Fred and Christine met in that day in late August 2002, Fred had completed his research on Jeff Chandler, but the book hadn’t been written; in fact, Fred submitted a book proposal to four publishers two weeks before he met Christine. As a result of their conversation, Christine ‘knew’ that a book would be forthcoming eight months before Fred found a publisher; eight months before he signed a book contract for "Jeff Chandler: Film, Record, Radio, and Television Performances," available November 2004 from McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. The name "Jeff Wells," incidentally, is Fred’s business name.

This is interesting. I recently saw an old movie with a familier actor, but just could not remember his name. It stuck with me because I am good at actor identification, yet his just kept hidden from me. Usually the spirit of the particular actor or actress will come to me and remind me their name. This one would not, so I figured it would just come to me eventually.
It did, when I read it right here.
"Jeff Chandler"
With all my heart I truly believe it's you Jeff!
Love, Michael, The Valkyrie.

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Love, Michael, The Valkyrie

Dear Michael, the Valkyrie:
Greetings. I'm glad that my first posting of the third of August came at such an opportune time. What was the name of the movie featuring Jeff Chandler?
Kindest Regards,
Jeff Wells

I think it was "Young King David" It was on CBN. obviously late 50's it was more like a tv show then a movie, But Jeff was playing David after he killed goliath, before he became king.
Chandler always impressed me as an actor.
As far as parralell existances of the same conciousness................
I was a certain actress, who I shall not name at this time, out of respect for loved ones.
I have already named and spoken of her here, about a year back. At first I thought she was one of my sisters, then it became clear to me, that I was her, and she is me.
Love, Michael, The Valkyrie.

__________________
Love, Michael, The Valkyrie

Totally fascinating story!

Enough so, that I checked out your book at
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?isbn=0-7864-2001-4.

What do you do in addition to writing?

Linda

__________________
Love,
Linda

Dear Michael, the Valkyrie:
Greetings. The movie "A Story of David" went into release theatrically abroad in April 1961; domestically on television in November 1962. Here is a segment from the manuscript for the biography, "Jeff Chandler":

"Other Biblical dramas started at the time included 'King of Kings' (1961) filmed in Spain and starred Jeffrey Hunter. 'A Story of David' followed a similar pattern to that of 'Macbeth' (1960), filmed in Scotland and London by director George Schaefer for NBC-TV’s Hallmark Hall of Fame. Director Bob McNaught filmed 'A Story of David' so that it could be released domestically on television and abroad on the wide-screen in theaters."

I got what you wrote about the parallel existances of the same consciousness as regards that certain actress and yourself.
Regards,
Jeff Wells

Dear Linda,
Greetings. Thank you for reading my story as well as for your visit to my publisher's web site to see the book. It's nice to see the address for that web site here.

I work temporary jobs, full time, while I research the subject for my next book.
Regards,
Jeff Wells