Feast and famine 29 1982

We finished the back order 5 episodes and I felt I did well. CBS scheduled "Bakers Dozen" to start airing in the spring of 1982. This was not a good sign as it was not picked for the fall season . The producers said it was because there was a change in leadership at CBS, during the strike, and the new bosses at CBS favored shows that they had a hand in producing. It still had a shot to make it on the fall schedule if the ratings were exceptional. If picked for the fall would mean another 17 episodes would be made.

The day came to air the first episode on TV and I sat with my new wife and friends to watch. I was disappointed in what I saw. In my opinion, the two negative choices the producers made was to put in a phony sounding laugh track and casting a connected but untalented actress in the lead female role.

Although the show was a cop comedy, it was shot on film on the streets of New York and I thought the laugh track cheapened the show. When the ratings came out, the show did not do well and was cancelled after the 6 episodes.

That is the nature of this business, feast and famine. I went from a series regular on the brink of stardom to just another out of work actor.

That was depressing enough but I received a bill from my former manager, Lyn Kressel for 25% of the last 5 episodes. Now, I paid her 25% for the pilot but then she was accused of a conflict of interest and quit managing. I thought, why should I pay her for the last 5 episodes when she wasn't my manager anymore, which meant she wasn't trying to get me more work and advance my career.

Lyn claimed it did not matter that she wasn't working for me , the contract I signed with her stated that I had to pay her for any work I got from the pilot.

I got a lawyer and fought it and never paid her any more money. Of coarse I had to pay the lawyer which was almost as much as her bill. I didn't care as I felt I was being screwed.

Was this a mistake? It probably was as she went on to become one of the leading casting directors in New York. My new agents, The Gage Group, did not want to get involved and gave me no guidance in this matter.

Every actor I talked to, said I was crazy for going against Lyn Kressel as she would black ball me.I didn't listen to them as my experience with most actors was they are a bunch of wimps and would wash Lyn Kressel's dirty underwear if she asked them.

I still had enough money for awhile ,even with a new wife, but something had to happen soon or I would be broke again.

One day, my new agents sent me on a interview with Laury Oppendum, the casting director of Hill Street Blues, a hit cop Tv series shot in Los Angeles. When I went into the interview with Laury, she said that she and all her co-workers in La raved about my performance in Baker's Dozen.

She said I would be perfect for all sorts of guest spots on Hill St. Blues but unfortunately, she can't hire me from New York, but if I was in Los Angeles, she would not hesitate to have me in to audition.

I went home thinking about what Laury had said. I never to this point considered going to La but I was not getting any calls from the other Equity houses in New York and I had burned a few bridges.

My mind raced as I walked home. La,La, should I go?

Sag strike stops streak 28 year 1981

I completed "Baker's Dozen", a CBS pilot for a TV series, and it couldn't have went better. Everyone was pleased with my work including Ron Silver, the lead. A couple of days after we wrapped the pilot, CBS announced that "Baker's Dozen" would be picked up for another 5 episodes. This meant that in the next few weeks I would make more money than I had made my whole life up to that point.

I was nervous, it was to good to be true, something would go wrong, and it did. Screen Actors Guild picked this time to go on strike. This meant that all union film and TV projects in America had to stop production.

Why do actors strike? Yes, there must be some protection for actors, such as: safety on the set, keep track of residuals and carry the health plan. These are good things that the union does for us. But when they opt to go on strike, then it had better be a life and death situation.

The rich actors that make millions of dollars don't care, they already made it and can rest comfortably in Malibu , until the strike is over. Or they may go out of the country, away from SAG's jurisdiction, and make a couple of million doing a foreign produced film.

But what about actors like me? What we need is opportunity to show the world and the industry that we can contribute. Who cares about the nickles and dimes the union is fighting over, such as: more money for extras. I don't think serious actors, that work hard for years to develope their craft, should have to have the rug pulled out from under them so some housewife in Long Island can make extra money and have an exciting day on the set.

The strike went on for 6 months. I received a few offers for plays during that time and I turned them down until I received a offer to a play at Ensemble Studio Theater. The play was Gray Spades and I had done the play in the past. (see chapter 16).

I really didn't feel like doing a play while I was waiting for the SAG strike to end. I was having a great time around town. It was great, I would walk down the street or go into Jimmy ray's and you could see it in their faces, the respect, awe and of coarse envy, all at once.

What convinced me was the director, Risa Bramen. She was young, smart and aggressive. Risa went on to become one of the top film casting directors in the business. She picked it to do something edgy and to impress people with her versatility. A couple of other cast members were Robert Pastorelli, who went on to be a regular on Murphy Brown and Sam McMurry who also was a regular on Baker's Dozen.

When the play opened, for it's short run, the audience was filled every night with agents and casting directors. After the run I received a call from The Gage Group a top talent agent in New York and Los Angeles. I had a interview with this agent a couple of years previous and their attitude, at the time, was very dismissve. They asked me to forget about that and swore they would work for me diligently. So finally I had a agent. Not just any agent but one of the best.

Finally the actor's strike was over and I would be shooting the other 5 episodes. I was riding on cloud 9. All my life I have been broke. My father was a gambler so my family lived just above the poverty line.

Now, I would live the good life. I was so happy that I went out and got married again. I am not going to talk much about this marriage as it resulted in a beautiful daughter and her privacy should be maintained.