There is a story in the WSJ’s Weekend Style & Fashion section. Men dying their hair every conceivable color from gray to aqua. In the article it’s reported that Tutankhamun’s tomb is decorated with engravings of men with cerulean wigs. Also, the Romans used natural recipes to prettify their locks, grinding up bugs to achieve and iridescent shimmer or applying gold dust to see if life is better as a blond. Throughout history, men have been dying their hair, but maybe not to this extent.
I have to admit that I have done it several times, when the gray was coming in. A friend advised me that as a freelance designer in advertising, that a younger look was preferred. So, I used a “dirty blonde” rinse to see if it was going to help my business. I didn’t see any change, either positive or negative, and decided to let the gray come in. Of course, when I transitioned to “show business, I was told it was mandatory. And so, I did it for a while, especially when I moved to Los Angeles.
During the time I was working on post-production gigs, going to screenings at studios, and the Television Academy, a friend said I should sign with Central Casting, and get some acting jobs, during my down time. I did, had a head shot made, and did land several television series, and one feature film, “The Body Guard,” as an extra. But, when I started getting regular jobs, in advertising besides film and television, I let the hair dye slide. I thought that was going to be the end of that. But I was mistaken.
I met Kim McGuire in LA, and after several years in LA, we decided to come back to New York. 2000 found us living in Manhattan. Kim wanted to go back to the theatre, her original love. The freelance job market was booming. The once “head hunters” for staff positions changed, and now they were specializing in freelance positions. After the first week we were in the city, I was working steady, five days a week in both, television and advertising design.
Kim was making some headway in the theatre, and was able to get an audition to the “Actor’s Studio.” The piece she decided to do was from the “Glass Menagerie,” with a friend from the theatre group she had joined. Unfortunately, he had to back out one week before the audition. She begged me to do the scene with her. I knew it was very important for her career. But, I’M NOT AN ACTOR!! I’ve always felt very uncomfortable on stage, my only play in the third grade, I was a fish monger, my only line holding a basket with a rubber fish was, “fresh fish.”
The extra jobs in LA didn’t matter, just sitting in the background. I did one television commercial for a friend who was producing it. It was for the NYC Transit Authority, take the train, subway, to the plane at JFK. She hired two actors who were portraying business executives. The rest of us were extras. I had just spent a week diving in the Caribbean. I was very tan, so I decided dress as a tennis player, blue shirt, tan slacks, and a bright yellow V-neck sweater. All we had to do was get off the bus, walk in front of it, and into the terminal. Simple! We all lined up for the director. The two actors in business attire, a house wife on vacation, me, and several other extras. Then the director changed the entire concept. I was to be the lead person, which pissed off the actors. I didn’t want to be the lead, just in the background. We shot the scene several times, and every time I was just as uncomfortable as the time before. The funny thing was, for the next month everyone I knew who was traveling to JFK, saw the commercial, and called me saying, you looked great, I didn’t know you were pursuing an acting career.
Ok, let’s get back to the audition. Of course, I said yes, dyed my hair brown for the part, and tried to learn the lines in a weeks’ time. Well, I couldn’t remember the lines in the way Tennessee Williams wrote them. I had the concept down, but that’s all. The day of the audition, I was a nervous wreck. When we went on stage, it was brightly lit. The audience section was completely back. You didn’t know who was watching, or how many people were watching. I felt so bad for Kim. I tried my best, but the short time to rehearse, and my very nervous state, made the scene a complete-shambles. They say that my acting was not judged, but had to affect her acting.
I vowed, never to get on a stage, or in front of a camera ever again.
