Teen’s career in film industry launched by ‘Blues Brothers’ connection

Editor’s note: This story was originally published on June 21, 2005, as part of a weeklong series to commemorate the 25th anniversary of “The Blues Brothers.”

Before he was “Snack Man to the Stars,” Will Gatlin was just another poor kid on the city’s Far Southeast Side.

Gatlin, 43, now of South Holland, says filming of “The Blues Brothers” in his old impoverished neighborhood was his ticket out and into a life in the movies.

As Gatlin remembers it, he was a 16-year-old kid rolling in a tire down the street when a production assistant scouting locations near his home nearly ran him over. Gatlin said he showed the assistant around the neighborhood.

Then he watched filming outside his family’s church, Pilgrim Baptist. A year later, he ran into the assistant, working on a new movie, “Four Friends.” The assistant hired him to do security.

Gatlin has since worked on 70 films — including “Dr. Detroit,” “Home Alone II” and “Weird Science” — behind the scenes. He also carved out a niche providing munchies to celebrities and others during filming and earned the “Snack Man” nickname.

“The Blues Brothers changed my course of life,” Gatlin said.

Jean Lachat/Sun-Times