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.

Bitter sweet success 27

The shoot, for the pilot on CBS, could not have gone better for me. I had one scene where I pick the pocket of another character and the actor playing the role didn't realize what I did and it was all caught on camera. The producers and everybody involved thought it was great and my position was secure.

There was a particular incident that I remember. We were shooting a scene inside a bar and an actor I knew from Jimmy Rays came in to do extra work. Now this particular guy would tell me that I was a fool for working for no money when I was doing Off-Off Broadway. When he saw me , he came over and congratulated me for being smart and to do some extra work. I didn't say anything but as the day went on and he saw that I was not only a principle but a regular, he asked to be excused saying he was sick.

This actor could not accept that someone he thought was inferior to him, rise to the top while he languished doing extra work which is the dregs of show business. I never saw this actor again.

Getting this job changed my life, mostly for the better but there were some negative consequences. Up to this time all my close actor friends were struggling, working as waiters or cab drivers like my self. We would comfort each other in our misery of the struggle.

Now I went from a struggling actor to the fast track of the business. Friends that I got drunk with, friends that I performed plays with me in the outer reaches of off off, shunned me and treated me with suspicion as if I had betrayed them. They assumed that I had changed so they beat me to it by not saying hello when we ran into each other, unless I acknowledged them first.

I should have been more understanding. I felt they were not happy for me so I retaliated by walking away from a lot of old friends who I felt were not true friends but jealous of me.

In looking back, I am sorry for the way I acted to their insecurity. I know how painful it can be to give everything you have to make it as an actor and get nowhere. How painful it can be to see some one that you think you are better than, all actors think they are the best, have some success while you languish in shit jobs. Laying awake at night, worried that you will end up in poverty with no children, alone and broke.

I know because I felt that way.

SCORE 25

So now I had someone in the industry representing me, Lynn Kressel at least for this project, Bakers Dozen.

A couple of days later I had another call back with the producers to read with the lead actor in the pilot, Ron Silver . Again the waiting room was full of actors auditioning and I recognized a few from the previous auditions. I nodded my head hello and received a cautious response in return. Every actor in there knew that a job like this could change their whole life and the tension in the room was thick. Strangely, I wasn't that nervous, maybe because going this far in the process was a morale victory.

I went in and again I gave a good audition and a day later Lynn's assistant called me in the state of amazement. I was going to Network, CBS to audition again. She said that the producers wanted me for the role but the network had to approve of me. She seemed astonished that I was getting a network audition being that I had no film or TV credits . This was a choice job, not only because it was a sold TV pilot for CBS, but also it was to be shot on the streets of New York.

The day came for the big network audition. When it was my turn to go in I was ushered into a small theater with about 75 seats and everyone of them was filled by different employees of CBS. This would have been a good house for most of the Off-Off Broadway shows I performed.

I read and I got some good laughs from the CBS audience.

When I left, I went over to Jimmy Ray's to unwind and check my answering service. There was a call from Nina, Lynn Kressel's assistant, to call right away. When I called Nina sounded like she had seen a ghost. " You got It" You got it" she said in amazement.I got off the phone  and mentioned to a couple of actors hanging out that I just was cast in a TV series for CBS. They looked at me with suspicion as if I was just another bullshitting actor. I didn't care and walked dreamily uptown with no destination in mind.  I was happy but not  surprised.

IMDB for Baker's dozen

Living the Dream 22

The play opened Off-Broadway to some pretty good reviews. Some of the cast received great reviews with the critic going into detail praising the dynamic comedic performances of some and saying about me that I  "evoked laughter". That's good enough for me, actors from Jimmy Ray's thought I had the best review as evoking laughter is as good as "scintillating" or" exquisitely charming".

This was a great time for me, making a living at something that I had been doing for nothing and getting some notoriety around New York. I would take a date to Studio 54 and the security ,at the door, let me in before the long line waiting out side because , hey, I was in a hit Off Broadway show.

Around this time I made some serious mistakes concerning my over all career. I still had no agent but I didn't care because as far as I was concerned , I had made it. Instead of seeking out agents or asking for recommendations from working actors that I was in contact with, I acted like a sailor who has been out to sea too long. But I was lighting up the audience every night that consisted of film directors and producers. I felt it was just a matter of time, let them come too me.

After a couple of months into the run it became apparent to me that this strategy was not working. The other cast members would be getting auditions for Tv and film and I would get nothing. It became a revolving door with actors coming and going as the original cast left to do other acting jobs in film and Tv and their parts were filled by graduates of the famous and expensive acting schools, especially Yale Drama.

The play ran for 6 months. All during that time I did 195 straight performances without missing one. I went on whether even if I was sick. In fact I had caught salmonella poisening from bad chicken during the run which lasted 2 weeks. I was afraid to miss a show, what if my Yale graduate understudy was good, they would replace me, some guy off the street.

Some thing happened thousands of miles away from the Public that affected my standing at the Public for future productions. The Iranian Hostage crisis developed during the run of the show. I'm not going to go into detail what was happening on the global stage but I felt that America was the victim.

The conflict I was having was that everyone and I mean everyone, actors, crew, directors and writers at the Public sided with Iran. I would argue with them because I felt the US was in peril and would suffer for Carter's weak response for years to came . I have been proven right .

These were the ones that had benefited the most from being American. I was all over the world when I was in the Navy and felt fortunate that my grandparents took the risk to come to America.I didn't care if they went to Harvard or Yale, they were uneducated in the ways of the world.
This gave me a some kind of a rebel reputation which I did my best to live up to.