Today was seemingly just another day at the slicer, but ended up being somewhat of a turning point in my life. I have always listened to a lot of AM Talk radio. On this particular day the host was interviewing a state politician. Somehow they got on the subject of his son who is an actor. They were saying that he had a part in a Sissy Spacek movie, sounds good to me. For whatever reason, they mentioned who the young actor was represented by. I wrote it down and said to myself "I have to call them, TODAY!!!!!!" I looked it up in the phonebook and 20 minutes later I found the courage to cold call.

A very distinguished sounding man answered the phone. I asked how I could find out about auditions for movies or commercials. He replied "If you are not a professional you wouldn't know". Not what I wanted to hear, but it kinda made sense. We continued to make small talk and were about to end the conversation when somehow, in a very natural way, it came up that I was Black. HUH??????? When he found that out, he immediately set up an appointment for me to come in and read. He didn't think I sounded "Black", whatever that means. He said the agency needed black actors who weren't too ethnic sounding. Okay??? The appointment was set for 3 weeks later.

I have always been interested in photography, so I am taking a summer photography course at local community college. It was a fun class, I even got to develop and print my own photos. About 2 weeks from the end of the course I told my instructor that I was going to start taking acting classes. Of course he laughed and didn't think I was serious. I still hadn't made any real plans as far contacting that teacher or anything.

The Intro.........

What follows is a step-by-step account of my continuing journey to fulfill my dreams of being successful in the entertainment business. Obviously it is not finished and it won't be. It will remain a work in progress.

I was born in Lemoore, California @ 5:15 on a Monday morning. Being a military family, we moved around a lot, but by the time I was five our family settled in Virginia Beach, VA.
I was the third of six kids. After my father retired from the Navy he bought a small deli and the family business was born. Actually, it was born two years prior in our own kitchen with my mom making Philly-style hoagies for my father's lunch. He, we the help of the family, turned it into a very successful business. I worked in the establishment for many years, but I knew early on it wasn't my calling. My father and I were never able to see eye-to-eye on anything it seemed, so I made other plans.

I always wanted to work in the entertainment field, it was fascinating to me. Not only the performers, but the business side as well. It didn't matter if it was a new studio deal, an Oscar winning performance, a Hip-Hop star crossing over into TV/Film and especially the whole "smoke & mirrors" aspect of the business. I loved it all. Since I lived in Virginia Beach I figured I would have to move to LA or NYC first. I had no idea how to get "in", but I was determined to figure it out.

Working in the deli I spent a lot of time looking out that front window while slicing turkey, onions or pastrami. My family's business is quite successful, but it was clear to me that I couldn't stay there. The question was how was this going to materialize. I have always been a result-oriented thinker, so I already pictured myself in the big cities of LA or NYC making big moves. A friend of mine, Jonathan Julian, had told me about this acting teacher in town that was really good. I had never taken an acting class in my life. I set up an appointment with "procrastination". I sat on the info for a time.