No business like show business for Mark Foley
Tags: Chuck Elderd, Mark Foley, Palm Beach International Film Festival, Yvonne Boice
| Saturday 28 February 2009 3:14 pm
He once eyed the Hollywood film industry’s top job. But when it comes to showbiz, the scandal-prone former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley will have to start at the grass-roots level.
Mark Foley
Several sources are telling Page2Live that Foley, 54, is being considered to take over the board of the Palm Beach International Film Festival.
“I met Mark at a party and we started talking about the festival,” said the current chair, Boca businesswoman Yvonne Boice. “We’re just in the talking stages right now, but Mark’s always expressed an interest in the festival. He’s got great connections in Hollywood.
“I made a five-year commitment. This is my fifth year, and it’s time for me to move on. Mark would be great as chairman.”
The move, which could happen in May after the 2009 festival, would mark Foley’s grand return to public life.
Since he was caught texting blue message to young congressional pages and resigned his House seat in 2006, Foley has kept mostly out of the public eye – except for a startling tearful TV mea culpa last year.
But in Foley, many agree, festival honchos would find The One: a figurehead with primo connections and a love of celluloid. In its current form, the job does not pay a salary. These days, Foley dabbles in real estate.
As a congressman, Foley traveled to Tinseltown several times a year to rub elbows with showbiz bigs.
And when Jack Valenti retired in 2004, Foley’s name was on the short list of candidates to succeed him at the head of the Oscar-organizing Motion Picture Association of America.
Foley didn’t return calls, but others with an interest in the festival welcomed the news at a time when the event is being criticized for never achieving the status of major national film marketplace. And now, sponsoring has become a problem, prompting organizers to cut down the 2009 edition to four days (April 23-27), from seven in 2008.
“Mark has the interest and experience,” said PBC Film Commish Chuck Elderd, whose agency is the festival’s biggest contributor, “from the time he was an extra in Body Heat (the steamy 1981 Kathleen Turner flick) until he served in Congress.” Actually, Foley also had a small role in the 2003 action flick The Librarians (Strike Force).
But what about Foley’s past as an admitted alcohol abuser who caused one of the area’s biggest political scandals ever?
Said Elderd: “The film industry usually looks forward and prides itself in giving second chances.”
Boice agreed.
“He was never charged with anything. Had he not resigned, he’d still be a congressman.”
Mark is a terrific, caring person and has paid fairly for his lapse in judgement. I hope he gets the job and the public can find it in their hearts to let him move on with best wishes. I hope to welcome him back and re-establish my friendship with him. Whatever he decides to do, he will have my continued support and personal best wishes. SGM (ret) Tom McCracken
This would be horrible.
According to online sources:
“He introduced a bill, coined the “Child Modeling Exploitation prevention Act of 2002″ to outlaw web sites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that “these websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles.”
And then he proceeds to hit-up underage, allegedly pre-teen interns with sex - sodden online chat?
Why do we make believe like these do-nothing, no-good politicians should get any respect or redemption.
This would make Palm Beach County look more corruption-tolerant than it already is.
Please….just get a job and leave us alone….we don’t need to rehabilitate perverts with events that showcase Palm Beach County.
Palm Beach International Film Festival, Wow…..
He betray Palm Beach before and again his morality is about to start experimenting again. It so refreshing to see “pay to play”
How ever had the suggestion of him, well where your principals are!! Their got to be someone with more scruples that will bring a solid attitude as to “what the festival is all about”
Mark Foley is a good guy and would be great at this. The LIBERAL DEMOCRATS and RAHM EMANUEL ran him out of town on trumped up charges. People in Barack Hussien Obamas Cabinet have done FAR WORSE than Mark Foley ever did. Mark is a great communicator and should have never resigned. The Liberals will not stop at anything and Mark was a victim of the Democrats. How about DODD and Schumer and Frank who caused the whole financial mess we are in now. GO MARK GO!
This guy is a major perv from what i have personally experienced with him.
Being gay is his choice but he does not keep it to himself and was constantly pushing himself and his perverstions on others, exploiting his elected position.
He then position himself as a protector of children from sex on the internet….and look what he turns around and does.
Disgraceful.
Please have him leave town and work at Wal Mart in Women’s Wear for a while.
What about the fact that the guy is brainless??? Wouldn’t that be a factor? He was able to fool the silly Florida electorate into putting him back into congress time after time where he couldn’t even hold his own intellectually with the pages he was trying to seduce (I was one). And now he should run the film festival?
Mark is back. Good for him.
Mark is back?
Who said we want him back? What’s next….his successor TIM FOLLEY is back too? And how about Bill Boose of the former Booses Casey Ciklin and Tony Mazillot and Ray Liberti and Mary McCarty and…..whatever!……
Why does this newspaper keep trying to make this alleged Perv Relevant? He’s not!
We have got to take a stand on these no- good politicians. So what if he’s gay…most don’t care.
Let him run around with his Gay Boyfriend/Plastic Surgeon and go to La-Tee-Da parties with brainless social people….but don’t let him near anything that represents Palm Beach County.
These people are unqualified and have wrecked this county.
We should EXILE them not welcome them back.
Who’s he trying to kid? He’s just gone from flipping “pages” to throwing them over the proverbial director’s couch.
[...] from a self-imposed media exile after his blue text messages to male pages forced him to resign, has been rumored to be taking over as chair of the film festival later this [...]