Ever the gentleman

As proud as Austin is of his parents, they are equally proud of him. Recently his dad gave an interview about his famous son to the medical journal Advances for Imaging & Radiation Oncology.

Dr. Nichols spoke about his famous son and when Austin went on Kimmel and gave a shout out to his dad at the hospital. It wasn't what Dad expected when he was watching it with his colleagues but took in all in good fun.

And how did Austin get his name? Well according to Papa Nichols it was this:

"He was born on April 24, 1980. Jimmy Carter was president, and he was losing public favor. The night Austin was born, someone let loose a wild turkey on the White House lawn. Also, all the Wild Turkey bourbon bottles say, 'Austin Nichols.' That's the brewery or distilling company. I went to school at the University of Texas, which is in Austin. I had very much enjoyed my time in Austin. We were thinking about the name. We did not know anyone named Austin. So when he was born, the wild turkey was let loose on the White House lawn and we accidentally saw a bottle of Wild Turkey at the same time, it was almost like an omen. I'm not sure how we saw the bottle--we weren't drinking it and we weren't drunk. It was just a few little coincidences that went together. He kind of acted like a wild turkey in the womb, and we decided, 'That's the name!' That's where the name came from. It had NOTHING to do with what he said on 'Kimmel.'"

While Papa Nichols doesn't chat with a lot of patients about his famous son, with employees it's a bit different. And it sounds like Austin stops by dad's office and the hospital to say hi.


"Most of my contact is with hospital employees--and yes, everyone knows that he is an actor. A lot of them follow it fairly closely. I try to keep them informed, because I'm proud of him. I keep pumping the information out, and they seem to legitimately enjoy it as much as I do. Employees will ask for a picture with an autograph--or when Austin comes into town, they ask if I can bring him into work to say, 'Hi.' It's been fun trying to handle those requests, and Austin's always been happy to go along with whatever I threw at him which I'm very proud of."



And what did Mama and Papa Nichols tell Austin before headed to Hollywood?

"As a matter of fact, the one piece of advice we gave to Austin when he said he wanted to go to Hollywood was, 'OK, Austin, that's fine--but the minute you turn weird on us, I'm going to come out there and whoop your you-know-what.' And he's always been a perfect gentleman."


Well weird is relative when it comes to Austin, both the place and the fella. Now the gentleman part? One question. How is the gentlemanly way to moon someone in a moving vehicle Mr. Nichols? Window up or down?

Now that Austin is finished his directorial duties, now it's time to relax and enjoy the Superbowl weekend. Might not have the time to go all the way home to LA, only if there was someone to hang out with on the East Coast this weekend. ....Wait wasn't Jake in NY last night for Three Sisters. Might have to stay indoors and nurse his fella back to good health.
Austin might have to get a jump on the weekend. ; )

Happy Austin Fridays!