‘This is like a dream’: B.C. man who worked with Hollywood stars becomes champion pinball player

Adam finds out how a boy with autism, who worked on a Hollywood movie, grew-up to become a World Pinball Champion

BURNABY, B.C. — As Kathy Gagno looks back at pictures from when her son worked with John Travolta as a baby double on Look Who’s Talking Too, she recalls how the movie’s other star Kirstie Alley asked her a concerning question.

“She asked me if I’d ever had Robert’s hearing tested,” Kathy says.

The actor had noticed her son was acting differently than other kids on the set and thought his unique mannerisms were like people in her family who were deaf.

But rather than struggling to hear, Robert was eventually diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum.

“I tried to find out all the information I could,” Kathy says, recalling those pre-internet days.

“That’s how I coped with it.”

Instead of trying to fix a perceived problem, Kathy and her husband were compelled to support their son’s unique potential, which led Robert to discover pinball.

“Wow! Is this some real cool high-tech toy?” Robert recalls wondering after playing his first pinball machine at a local restaurant with his dad when he was five.

“It felt adventurous.”

An adventure where — after eventually learning how to make the ball go wherever he wanted it to go — Robert was the hero.

“The excitement is always fun for me,” Robert smiles. “It makes me feel in the zone.”

Over the next decade, Robert’s remarkable talent transformed the pinball-loving boy into a real-life pinball wizard.

“It was kind of like the autism would disappear, he was so focused on the machine,” Kathy says. “He would attract people, and he seemed to enjoy it.”

Robert proved so passionate about pinball, and so good at playing the games, he started amassing almost a dozen machines in his garage and started winning tournaments on both sides of the border, before entering the world championships as a contender.

“This ball could be worth like $10,000 American,” Robert recalls with a smile, thinking about how he felt at the start of the tournament.

“This is like a dream.”

A dream that, after competing against the best pinball players on the planet, Robert made a reality by winning the worlds.

“It felt really cool to be called ‘world champion,’” Robert beams. “Also, we have a beautiful trophy in the house.”

While Robert continues to win tournaments, is embraced by the pinball community, and has earned fans around the globe, Kathy is most grateful that her unique boy has grown-up to become such a happy man.

“When he smiles, his whole face lights up,” Kathy says. “And to see that, that’s what makes me most proud.”