Stan Deen is a star.

Not in Hollywood, where he tried to "break in" back in the 1960s. Deen studied at the Pasedena Playhouse, but his only film work was back home in Lancaster County, in "Hazel's People."

"He was up for the part of TV's Dr. Kildare," said former Deen student and noted local actress Kathy Mellinger Long at the roast held to celebrate Deen's 70th birthday at Willow Valley Resort Saturday.

Instead of a star on some sidewalk, Deen had more than 200 friends and former students turn out for the Veritas Academy fundraiser in his honor. Although the longtime Garden Spot High School drama teacher was razzed for his lip gloss, his tie-straightening gestures, and his enthusiastic cry of "play to the back row," the roast was really more of a "baste," according to former Deen student Bob Hoshour.

Nothing too hot was thrown at Deen, who also worked for 15 years as a writer/producer at Sight & Sound Theatres and now teaches drama and directs plays at Veritas, a Christian school in Leola.  "Everybody he comes in contact with is changed in a good way," said Veritas headmaster Ty Fischer.

Then again, being the star of the show made the man many call "The Silver Fox" blush. "I've never been this nervous in my entire life," Deen confided. "Usually I have some control of a production, but tonight, I don't."

"Stan could never have been a Hollywood movie star," said Robin Leidy of East Lampeter Township, who worked with Deen at Sight & Sound. "Look at all the people's lives he's touched. He had to come back to us."

"He got me out of my shell," said West Chester architect Eldon Stoltzfus, who acted for Deen in the early 1970s. "I credit him with my success."

"At my wedding, I danced one father-daughter dance with my dad and another one with Stan," said Karey Getz of Akron, who acted for Deen in the early 1990s. "You get started with Stan and you never want to leave."

"He's like my father," said Nate Busko, 39, a self-described teenage "hoodlum and runaway" who became a Deen protégé. Now the creative services producer at Sight & Sound, Busko fondly remembered wearing Deen's clothes to school for "Nerd Dress-up Day," and won "Nerd of the Day."

But Saturday night, Deen was no nerd. He was dapper in a crisp dark suit, now weighing 50 pounds less than he did a decade ago. "He keeps getting younger,"  Busko insisted.

On hand to toast this master were many former students, including Long, now a guest host on the QVC shopping network; Hoshour of New York, who was one of the original stars of "Cats" on Broadway; Gerry Newswenger, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Wycomb; and Lynn Grote Briel,  1977's Miss Pennsylvania and a finalist at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City.

Briel now lives in York where she's an image consultant and often hires Deen as keynote speaker for events she manages.

"Stan is still my teacher," Briel said. "He taught me to 'sparkle,' and he changed my life. There's no one better."

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Marty Crisp is staff writer for the Sunday News. Her e-mail address is mcrisp@lnpnews.com.
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