Scott Herwitz travels in a world of celebrity, privilege and, sometimes, drama. Wearing a dark suit and shades, he is silent and nearly invisible -- qualities that make him privy to secrets, deals and the occasional romantic liaison.
Herwitz is a limousine driver, one of thousands in Los Angeles. To those on the other side of the partition, he is simply "the driver." But he sees and hears everything.
"You're the ultimate fly on the wall," says Herwitz. "You see the best and worst of people -- on their way to the Oscars, and coming back with nothing."
The professional code is simple: What goes on in the car stays in the car. Some drivers keep their passengers' secrets. A few leave a scuttlebutt trail.
On rare occasions, the driver takes center stage. Phil Spector's driver, for example, was swept up in a celebrity homicide case last week. (After dropping off the music producer and actress Lana Clarkson at Spector's Alhambra mansion, he heard gunshots. He called the police. Arriving officers found Clarkson dead in the foyer.) During the O.J. Simpson trial, limo driver Allan Park delivered crucial testimony and became a reluctant celebrity in his own right.
There are private and company drivers, and actor-drivers moonlighting on prom nights. But there are also the journeymen, the self-described chauffeurs. On average, full-time drivers make $40,000 a year, but the elite -- who can tell you the make of bottled water currently favored by the rich and famous -- can earn close to $100,000. And driving is the least of their job.
In a dozen years as both a company driver and a private driver, Herwitz hasn't witnessed a killing, but he has seen just about everything else. "I've been in the bedrooms of the most beautiful women in the world," he says, grinning. "The only problem: I'm carrying the luggage."
The partition between the front and back seats is a symbolic reminder of the upstairs-downstairs relationship between driver and client. "The hardest thing to do," he says, is "to tell Arnold Schwarzenegger to put out his cigar and put on a seat belt."
Herwitz drives for Playboy, routinely taking centerfolds to Hugh Hefner's mansion. He has driven actor Jack Nicholson, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and billionaire oil tycoon Marvin Davis. The last "only said three words, 'Speed, speed, speed.' "
Other passengers have been more relaxed. Promoter David Gest and singer Petula Clark sang Beatles songs and ate chitterlings and black-eyed peas during one trip.
