Frank Sinatra was originally cast to play Billy Bigelow in the movie “Carousel” filmed in Boothbay Harbor in 1956. The cast knew they had to film some scenes twice, one for regular Cinemascope and the other for Cinemascope 55. Sinatra claimed he was only paid to film one movie and walked away from the set saying, “You are not getting two Sinatras for the price of one!”
Warren Barnes, the owner of the Ocean Point Inn in 1956, had the Inn maintenance man take two leather suitcases, stencil F.S. on them and place them in front of the Inn. This caused quite a stir with the Ocean Pointers who thought the star was staying at the Inn.
Helen Hayes stayed at the Inn when she was narrator of an NBC special on Rachel Carson and her book, “A Silent Spring.” They used the lily pond as the backdrop for the credits.
Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley came to dinner at the Ocean Point Inn to escape the crush of fans in town. They were a glamor couple at the time and had good fun with our staff signing autographs and even checks. It was said they were guests of Paul McCartney on his yacht.
Local celebs who spend their summers in the area include Robert Duvall and former NFL commissioner Paul Taglibus on Squirrel Island and the Wyeths on Monhegan Island. Walter Cronkite and Charles Kuralt spent many days on their sailing yachts in Boothbay waters. Jimmy Dean’s yacht, The Big Bad John, and the Chicago Blackhawks’s owner’s yacht, Blackhawk were annual visitors to Boothbay Harbor near Ocean Point Inn.