He really is. I remember when I met him at the Knoxville Fanboy Expo a couple of years ago with the rest of the SS cast, he was the first one I spoke to at their tables, he said he could tell by the look on my face as I was approaching his table that I was a real fan . . . and later still, when it was my turn in line for the photo-op with them, he said, "Hey, it's like seeing an old friend again!"
Really, all of them are every bit the warm, neighborly people we've grown up with all these years.