The Marc Copage Podcast Show: Recent Episodes
marc copage
Former child star, Marc Copage, of the ground breaking television series “Julia” welcomes professionals from all areas of entertainment, in front of the scenes and behind, as they give advice and tell stories about their journey. “Julia” was the first primetime television sitcom to feature an independent, non-stereotypical, African American woman in the title role that starred the late Diahann Carroll.
Suzanne Suter, also known as La Boca, is a talented actress and stand-up comic. She gained recognition through appearances on HBO, BET, and MTV comedy shows, leaving audiences in fits of laughter. Born in New York City and raised in Beverly Hills, Suzanne's upbringing exposed her to diverse cultural experiences.
Her father's distinction as the first African-American teacher at Beverly Hills High school instilled pride in her heritage. Despite facing rejection and challenges in her career, Suzanne persevered and found mentors like Damon Wayans, Robert Townsend, and Paul Mooney who supported her journey.
With a passion for comedy and a beautiful singing voice, Suzanne collaborated with renowned artists like Diahann Carroll. She believes humor has the power to break barriers, fostering empathy and understanding among people.
Unwilling to compromise her talent, Suzanne remains authentic and true to herself. She brings joy and unity through her performances, cherishing the ability to make people laugh.
Suzanne continues to inspire audiences with her original humor and genuine storytelling. Her journey exemplifies the value of staying dedicated to one's passions and embracing uniqueness to achieve fulfillment in life.
Step into the fascinating world of Tod Hunter, a captivating individual with a deep connection to Hollywood and a career that weaves through the adult industry, game shows, and more.
Discovering his passion for life in his early twenties during a transformative trip to London, he realized there was so much more beyond his familiar surroundings.
Tod's love for reading, cultivated from a young age, played a significant role in shaping his intellect and writing skills. He honed his craft, learning to make his writing come alive. His talent blossomed, leading him to become a prolific writer for various game shows, including the iconic Jeopardy.
While working on Jeopardy, Tod's sharp wit and creative flair contributed to the show's success. Collaborating closely with legendary host Alex Trebek, Tod's ideas and humor thrived, making the show a captivating experience for millions of viewers.
Transitioning from game shows into the adult entertainment arena, Tod shares a unique perspective, shaped by his Hollywood roots and diverse writing career. Marc sets the tone for an engaging conversation that explores Tod's journey.
Roc Monaco reminisces about his recent collaboration with Jonathan Meyers in an action-packed film set on the exotic island of Thailand, he reveals the Irish actor's captivating performances in popular shows like "The Tudors" and "Vikings," along with his appearance in a thrilling installment of the "Mission: Impossible" series. The conversation delves into the acting process, exploring the contrasting methods employed by different actors. Their meticulous preparation, balancing method acting and focused preparation.
Reflecting on the changes in his own approach to acting, Roc expresses how age has brought a newfound confidence and intensity a departure from his younger days. Drawing inspiration from influential acting teachers like Milton Katselas, he highlights the importance of adapting to the evolving industry while staying true to one's passion and artistry.
The conversation takes a turn toward the ever-changing landscape of filmmaking and storytelling, with Roc expressing his fascination and bewilderment at the rapid technological advancements. Recalling his early days on set, he marvels at the speed and efficiency brought about by compact equipment and streamlined processes. He ponders the impact of AI and emerging technologies on the future of the industry, acknowledging the need to embrace and understand these advancements.
When asked about staying relevant in a constantly evolving industry, Roc’s response is both humble and profound. He emphasizes the importance of enjoying the journey, expressing oneself, and exploring diverse avenues, be it through networking, social media, or engaging in personal creative projects. In a candid discussion about success, Roc reveals the personal satisfaction and the ability to pursue projects he loves define success for him. Detached from the trappings of fame and fortune, he reflects on the challenges posed by an increasingly intrusive world, where privacy is compromised by incessant scrutiny and the invasive nature of social media.
Delving into the intricacies of character development, the legendary actor shares his approach of finding inspiration in real-life individuals, molding them into unique personas through meticulous research and observation. He cites an example where the physicality of an iconic figure became the blueprint for his character, emphasizing the importance of visualizing and embodying the essence of a role.
To conclude our captivating journey, the legendary actor ponders the future and expresses a genuine curiosity about working with contemporary directors and filmmakers who exhibit a true passion for storytelling. He acknowledges that the industry has undergone significant changes, but he remains open to new experiences and opportunities, appreciating the unpredictability and endless possibilities that lie ahead.
The podcast episode features actor and singer Rock Monaco. Roc grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in Chicago during the 60s and 70s in a primarily Italian and Greek neighborhood. He was raised by his father and Italian grandmother. He had a diverse group of friends from different ethnic backgrounds.
Although Chicago had a reputation for violence, Roc felt relatively safe in his neighborhood. He also developed an interest in music at a young age and became a bass player in a band. The band played regularly at school dances, nightclubs, and festivals, and even opened for the Drifters. One of his bandmates went on to play with Metallica.
Roc's musical career expanded beyond rock and he also played saxophone. He attended Lane Tech, a renowned school in Chicago with an exceptional music program, where he focused on classical music but he had a passion for jazz. As a young musician Roc played with some exceptional jazz musicians, including Art Porter, a renowned saxophone player. He also played with Stevie Wonder’s bass player, Billy Dickens, with whom he toured Europe with.
Roc attended the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. This marked a transition in his career as he delved deeper into acting. He eventually moved to Los Angeles, where he continued his studies and professional work in the entertainment industry. He performed in various plays, television shows, and feature films, including soap operas like "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "The Young and the Restless." Roc received the Los Angeles weekly Theatre Award for Outstanding Comedy Performance.
After a hiatus from the industry, Roc returned and started teaching acting classes. He also recently finished production in two major film projects, "Operation Blood Hunt" and "The Kiss of the Con Queen." Roc talks about his 30 plus year journey in the entertainment industry.
She just had no control over it. She was inexperienced and she was a bully. I worked every year and there were always different writers and different producers. She would fire everybody every year. She had some of the top people, top directors and writers who went on to very successful careers and you could see it with the material. The material was always wonderful. The set was just not pleasant.
First cast in the international production of A Chorus Line. They have been in movies and TV shows like Xanadu with Olivia Newton John, The Golden Girls, The Tonight Show, Roseanne. They have performed in the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics, The People’s Choice Awards, and was a Solid Gold dancer! They have had recurring roles on Soap Operas including Days of Our Lives and General Hospital. They also works as a professional escort!
I think people today are more emotional about things. About mental health, more people are talking about it. Not to say that is the thing that’s affecting everything but to’s become more prevalent. We’re having that conversation today. The woman who shot these three kids and they said she had some problems. So it is chaotic and people are more prone to being pushed to their limit and then they retaliate. In the old days people would get pushed to their limit and had to learn to live with it. Now people are not living with things and deciding to do something about it. Maybe not in the right way, but they're doing something about it.
My first acting job was on a show called “Infinity Factory” back in New York. In New York I got into doing magic and magic shows for kids and stuff like that so I became a street magician and I could handle a deck of cards. I could do flourishes. I learned how to do that stuff and one hand cuts and stuff like that. They used my hands for Eddie Murphy in one of his movies. Basically I was doing what they call insert work. They would put me in the same outfit. I did Chi McBride who is a big guy and they would put a pillow in the suit. When they shot me they would only shoot me from the hands down. I was able to make a significant amount of income and cover my insurance through union extra, stand-in, as well as this kind of work.
My guest for today is a multi-award winning producer, director, editor, writer, and filmmaker. Their work consists of films, documentaries, commercials, and music videos. They have over a dozen awards for both producing and directing. They have authored several books on filmmaking on a budget, “Out Of Your Own Pocket”, available on Amazon. They also teach a course on filmmaking at the Los Angeles City College.
I learn so many strange things when I’m researching that make me want to write other things because you can just go down the rabbit hole for hours with so many strange facts about science, the weather, just all kinds of things. Social morays from 300 hundred years ago. Sometimes you think a character is going to do something and they don’t want to do it. They want to do something else. Often that’s a better and more organic thing than what you had in mind. I always have respect for the things that don’t work. But in this book the real love story is the mom and the daughter. Troubled as it is they are a society of two and they do stay together through thick and thin.
I learn so many strange things when I’m researching that make me want to write other things because you can just go down the rabbit hole for hours with so many strange facts about science, the weather, just all kinds of things. Social morays from 300 hundred years ago. Sometimes you think a character is going to do something and they don’t want to do it. They want to do something else. Often that’s a better and more organic thing than what you had in mind. I always have respect for the things that don’t work.
You’ve been working for years and years in various areas of entertainment. From modeling to acting to stage combat to stunts and fight choreography, dance, hosting, promotions. What are some of the ways a gal or guy can go about hustling up work for themselves in the entertainment business? Word of mouth. Somebody that worked with you. Everyone in the entertainment industry somehow knows somebody else so if you’re personable and talented and a genuinely nice person.
There is so much power in music to make a change in this world. I feel drawn to do more activism and yet my skills are and my contacts are in the music world so I’m trying to more and more align with that. My teaching, my singing, my performing, my writing songs, leading workshops is all about creating possibilities for people.
My concept has always been spend time on your strengths. Get great at what you already love. Do what you love and the money will follow. Get passionate about something and just do that more and more. Often time the weaknesses will be subsumed underneath that.
You were a member of Burt Bacharach’s band as a keyboard player and background vocalist for the last twenty or so years? Twenty-three years or something like that. What was that experience like and how did that all come to be?
To me music truly has to get back to where there is a deep respect for the evolution of where it is now. At the same time the core values of what it represents. Challenge yourself. Pull something from deep within yourself to touch another person. Music touches you. It’s supposed to touch you, it’s supposed to resurrect something within you. Remember back in the day, all the love songs, ‘La-La-La-La-La Means I Love You’, The Beatles, and we listened to that music and I would sit by the console and get a piece of paper and a pen and write the lyrics down. I love listening to good music. Music doesn’t touch me like that anymore.
My father was the program director for KGFJ. He was the first Black disc jockey ever in the South. He kept the radio station really prominent in the urban and the Black community at that time in the 50’s. He was brought out to LA to be a program director. My father was also even more importantly than programming, he really loved community activism. So when he came out to LA and got involved with KGFJ he really merged the community with this great music. It had nothing to do with genres, just a true enthusiasm and a love for great music.
I’m a bulldog with things. I don’t give up. I think tenacity is my strong suit. I get my clients to focus. I get them to refine their skills. If they need practice I tell them to practice. If they’re not great writers I ask them to work with great writers to learn more about great writing. If they need some image management. That can be hard for them to take, but you gotta tel them. How they can find gigs for themselves. You have to be your own manager so I tell them what a manager does and how they need to get themselves organized or to find somebody to help them. Their mom, their dad, whoever. Find a champion and get some support.
My grandfather on my father’s side was a big band trumpeter in the 1920’s with a band leader named Ben Bernie and Ben Bernie was best known for writing “Sweet Georgia Brown”. The original “Sweet Georgia Brown”. You can actually see it on YouTube. It’s amongst the first sound film tests done shooting Ben Bernie and his orchestra playing “Sweet Georgia Brown”. But my grandfather at 27 years old had started his own band and recorded six tracks for Columbia records. In his band when he was that young he had a young Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. So they were all up and coming and one night he came home from a gig on a Friday, said he wasn’t feeling very well, had a cold or was tired and by Sunday he had died.
You brought it up earlier, looking pretty or whatever can work to my advantage. I think that a lot of times it works to my disadvantage. And acting anyway or at least especially with me. I'm blonde, I'm somewhat curvy, I can kind of hide it but people know. It works against me. For instance, I had a representative once who only saw me for sexy type roles and it's hard a lot of times for people to get past that. And so I feel like it's been a real challenge for me to prove hey I'm not just a pretty face. I can actually act too and I care and I put a lot of effort and research into my work and spent a lot of time memorizing and practicing and other things that actor should do but sometimes they just want you to stand over there and look pretty for the camera.
There was a flyer in the mail for Miss Texas, Miss Texas USA is what it was called. I convinced my dad into letting me do it. I had no experience at all. I didn't know how to walk in heels or be on stage and not be nervous or nothing and and he let me do it it was fun! I mean I absolutely had no clue of what I was doing, but it was fun meeting the girls and kind of a challenge, oh how am I not going to be nervous and how do I walk in these heels I'm just trying to pick up make up tricks and things like that it was. It was fun I got to be a girl finally you know. I never really had girly friends that showed me hair and make up and stuff like that so it's kind of fun to delve into that. I didn't want anything I didn't place but I just had interest in it and then my mom pointed out to me if there was a bikini contest at a local club and she's like you've been on stage in a swimsuit you might as well go and try to win this hundred bucks. So I'm like OK! That was a lot of money back then! So I did the bikini contests and won the contest and came to find out that it was a preliminary for the finals and then from there you go to the state finals for the Texas bikini team! At the time the Texas bikini team was the largest touring group a swimsuit models. We would tour around. We were like an attraction for these different shows and they would advertise us and we do commercials. It was so crazy to me! I had never even met a celebrity and soda be sort of a celebrity so it was weird.
I was scared out of my wits to go there. You can imagine all the stories that people talk about you know. Oh they're afraid of Black people, well I heard some stories too about lynchings you know and bottles thrown at civil rights workers and all kinds of things with bussing you know. I was truly frightened to go to the school with these white people but I gotta tell you within two weeks I'd been at that school I made lifelong friends. A couple of them I would say are just like family members. This is what I say about traveling and having experiences and breaking bread with people. All of the preconceived notions that we have about people they fade away because we learn that we have more in common with people who supposedly look different than you or act different than you, you'll realize, oh no, they all pretty much want the same thing. Do you know what that same thing is? Everyone is looking for love.
When I was in Europe I had already made the decision to actually try this other lifestyle. To shift courses in terms of being involved in a heterosexual relationship. I broke up with my boyfriend who I have been with for five years with the understanding that I wanna feel like I don't have, I'm not cheating on anybody back in the states if I'm doing this. And he basically said, well we don't have to break up just go and do your thing. I'm sure you'll come back and we'll be together. And so I went to Europe literally I went with the understanding that I was going to get involved in a relationship with a woman. And so literally when I went to Germany I ended up in a relationship with a man and I told him from the very beginning but this is not going to be a relationship. I'm not up for that. I really want to explore my sexuality and really just see what's on the other side.
My guest for today is a multi-talented entertainer known for the television series ‘Fame’, the movie, ’Girls Just Want To Have Fun, and has performed in the Equity stage productions of ‘Cats’, ‘Ragtime’ ‘Aida’ on the Broadway stage. You might know him the most from the classic dance movie Breakin’! Phineas Newborn Ⅲ,welcome to the show!
It was interesting because again you don't know when you're a kid the area in which are living in. It's not something that you really know. I later realize that I was growing up in the black arts District of LA which was interesting because it never felt like the black arts District it just felt like my neighborhood. And the only difference that I really noticed was that it was a very segregated neighborhood. Everybody on my block was black. It wasn't until I actually started venturing out I'm going to other areas in terms of my education that I actually incurred a lot more communication and just relationships with other races. So really growing up in Leimert park during that time was kind of a scary time. It was an aggressive time. The Crips and the Brims were two rival gangs and very prominent in our area and I would remember growing up and playing out on the street and someone would say the Brim's are coming Down the street and we all have to run back into our houses. We wait for them to pass down the street and then we all come back out to play. It was that kind of environment.
I think drama is easier than comedy. Especially on film. In a comedy, on stage, I can sense the rhythm, the breath, of the room. I can tell how to ride a laugh. On film, it’s a little harder if it’s a one camera thing. If it’s a three camera thing, with an audience it’s more like theater, it’s a bit easier. I did a comedy called “Love Life” on HBO last year. William Harper Jackson was the star of it and Anna Kendricks. I played Williams Uncle. The Uncle was a real cut up and I was like, how do you do this? And I remembered, comedy isn’t comedy. Comedy is drama. You just tell the truth and it will be funny. So rather than me trying to be funny, I was serious! Acting is believing.
I had to come to a point in my life and this was when I really knew that I wanted to focus on just doing theater. I realized I'm going to have to learn how to be a producer. This is when I realize that I was still fixated on the 6° of separation character. I had come up with the idea that if I produced 6° of separation and I could get Will Smith to come on board as a producer somehow using the 6° of separation. I had been around him on a couple of occasions. I thought that I should learn how to produce this play, star in it, and get Will Smith’s attention have him come on as a producer and make it this huge thing because I'm sure that it's a very important play to him as well so that was the plan. I had realized in that moment, that was when I was still in Los Angeles getting typecast in my mind, and I realized in that moment if I'm ever going to break out of these kinds of characters I'm going to have to be the one to create the opportunities because sometimes people can't see you until you show them.
I don’t think I really need a lot of approval from others. I don’t think I ever really did. Even as a child. If they didn’t like me, that’s ok. I’m not going to bother you, now if you get in my face then we’re going to have a little bit of a problem, but ok I’ll leave you alone if you don’t care for me. I never really took that stance that I needed everybody to like me, that I needed to be the golden girl. I didn’t need that kind of validation at all. It’s wonderful when someone you care about appreciates what you’re doing. That feels nice, but if you live your life that way you’re never going to accomplish anything because there is always someone disapproving of everything.
The commercial spun off some incredible promotions. You could go into Jack In The Box and buy a 45 of my song, “Take Like A Little Easier”. You could buy my puzzle, you could buy my poster. Then a phone call comes in and it’s Matel Toys. They want to produce my doll. I was very thankful to my wonderful agent and manager and all the people I had at that time. The doll was a project called ‘Operation Bootstrap’. Somebody asked, why don’t they have any Black dolls? The guy kind of put his foot in his mouth and said there was no market for Black dolls. Oh boy, did that set the world on fire. Everybody went crazy. So he goes ok, I didn’t mean it like that. So everybody started to ride down on this multi-million dollar toy company. And he said are there any Black toy manufacturers? We want to see what you got. Well, there was a wonderful group in LA called Shandana Toys. And so they had submitted their doll and they landed the contract for ‘Operation Bootstrap’ and they made my doll, they made the JJ Jimmy Walker doll, they did the Flip Wilson doll, and these dolls had a voice box. You would pull a string and it would talk. That was just one of the many great things that happened.
I a lot of ways it’s gotten easier. I see a lot of Black actors doing more parts. You know, different types of parts. That was the thing I really wanted to get to. Cause when you’re playing with GI Joe you can be anybody. That’s been my life. I’ve been able to travel. The dancing took me on the road. When I was producing sometimes I’d have to get in the car and go to Vegas. I’d go to Florida, go to New York to meet investors and it was just really fun meeting all these different types of people. It was like being in a big movie. You’re going out and you’re not really sure what’s going to be on the other side, but you’re ready for it!
My guest for today is a multi-talented, triple threat! She is a professional dancer, choreographer, vocalist and actress. She is a former soloist and assistant director of the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre. She has been a soloist and master class dance instructor for the Lula Washington Dance Theater traveling and teaching throughout the United States. She has performed throughout the world in various productions. Snow White, An Enchanting New Musical at Disneyland, the tribute band Proud Mary, Bella Donna, Soulicious, Pam Darden’s Marvelettes Revue, and was cast in the original L.A. company of The Lion King where she was a swing for 11 singers and dancers and understudied the role of Sarabi. She also is a director for Jaxx Theatricals and serving her 10th season as a Principal dancer and company teacher for Jazz Antiqua. And if that were not enough, she holds a 2nd degree Black Belt in Hapkido. Shari Washington Rhone, welcome to the show!
Owner and CEO of Fireboi Entertainment, a production company specializing in producing, and developing feature films, TV shows, animation and video games. They have worked in visual FX, video game production, toy development, locations, writing, directing, booming, and producing. Currently developing content to be distributed on multiple streaming platforms.
The commercial spun off some incredible promotions. You could go into Jack In The Box and buy a 45 of my song, “Take Like A Little Easier”. You could buy my puzzle, you could buy my poster. Then a phone call comes in and it’s Matel Toys. They want to produce my doll. I was very thankful to my wonderful agent and manager and all the people I had at that time. The doll was a project called ‘Operation Bootstrap’. Somebody asked, why don’t they have any Black dolls? The guy kind of put his foot in his mouth and said there was no market for Black dolls. Oh boy, did that set the world on fire. Everybody went crazy. So he goes ok, I didn’t mean it like that. So everybody started to ride down on this multi-million dollar toy company. And he said are there any Black toy manufacturers? We want to see what you got. Well, there was a wonderful group in LA called Shandana Toys. And so they had submitted their doll and they landed the contract for ‘Operation Bootstrap’ and they made my doll, they made the JJ Jimmy Walker doll, they did the Flip Wilson doll, and these dolls had a voice box. You would pull a string and it would talk. That was just one of the many great things that happened.
I had done “The Jeffersons” for CBS. That was a CBS movie. I had also just finished something called “Buffalo Soldiers”, but they cut me out of a lot of it and I was really depressed about that cause I had told everybody. Isabel Sanford, my mother, everybody. Oh, man, this is going to be great! It was supposed to be a big thing on NBC. They had my name there, but they cut a lot of me out and I was really embarrassed and that whole thing. I was doing “The Jeffersons” at the time too. That was the first time I had gone through the experience like that where they cut me out of something so I was depressed. And my best friend at that time was a guy named Dorian Harewood who was really big back then. So we were best friends and he came and knocked on my door. Ernest, open up, where are you? I said, Man, I’m depressed I don’t want to talk to anyone, man. Then he said, Betty Davis wants to see you! He said, I’m serious!
We’re standing around and I can’t believe I’m hanging out with Tom Cruise. So I said, why do you do this? Tom replied, “I like to jump off things.” (laughter) “No, really, when I was seven years old, I jumped out of a second story window and my mom was really mad, but I think I’m getting a lot better at jumping off things. I thought Tom was unbelievably gracious and I learned a lot from my time with him. There is a reason why he is where he is today. It’s not an accident. He’s a winner. Anyone who has had his kind of success, it’s undeniable.
Diana, when we started working together in ’77 I think it was. She had recently left her husband so she was single. She was no longer with The Supremes so she was a soloist, solo artist. She was coming off the success of Lady Sings The Blues and Mahogany and then The Wiz happened. So she was at the top of her game. Over the years a lot of people have come up to me and told me stories about her not being very kind. And my reaction to that is…I think it’s very possible that all of us have had phases in our life where we possibly weren’t very kind because of one thing or another. We have good moments in our life we have bad moments in our lives. As artists we are innately insecure and this business will eat you up and spit you out in a minute. Especially if you are at that level of stardom. But when I worked with her she was fan f’ing tastic!
My guest for today is an internationally renowned choreographer, and teacher who began his career as a street dancer where he was soon discovered by Toni Basil. He has worked both as lead dancer and choreographer for Diana Ross, The Jacksons, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Paula Abdul, Gloria Estefan, and many, many, more! His career has taken him to Las Vegas where he has choreographed shows at the most famous hotels on the strip. Caesars Palace, The Venetian, The Riviera, Desert Inn, and The Stardust. For the past 29 years my guest has been choreographer at the world famous Moulin Rouge and has worked extensively in Italy doing both TV and Musicals!
One of my specialties back in the day was partner dancing. When you’re at the club people would come and go. You might see Bowie, you might see Debbie Harry, people would come in and out. There was this one woman who was super famous in the community whose name was Toni Basil. Mainly because she was one of the original lockers and also because for years she had been the cheerleader for street dance in all its forms. So people were always asking me, ‘you know who that is, that’s Toni Basil, that’s Toni Basil, go ask her to dance. When you’re 19 you’re so full of yourself so I said, If she wants to dance she’ll come over and ask me to dance. And one night she did. She came up and said, you’re the guy who dips the girls. And I’m like…thoroughly full of myself. I’m like… yeah, I’m the guy. It’s so ridiculous when I think about it. I was this whole kind of pompous… this was your whole life. Like the club guy Tony from Saturday Night Fever. Everything else is just a shell of who you are. But who you are at the club means everything. So I said, yeah, I’m the guy and she said do you wanna dip me? I was like, ok. Well, I dipped every bobbie pin out of that woman’s hair. She was screaming in my ear. I rag dolled her all over the place! It was so surreal. It seemed like the rest of the club went into slow motion. After the dance she says to me, I do this show, I want you to be in my show and I want you to do exactly what you just did to me on the dance floor in my show. Are you interested.
It was the first stop motion animation software for PC and Mac. I gave it to my students whose work ended up in the Metropolitan Museum Of Art. We won the education toy of the year. We wowed Comicon one year. And then eventually we signed a television deal.
Musician, actor, writer, producer, advocate, educator, and entrepreneur who was first discovered by Tiger Beat Magazine. Some of the shows you might know Brad from are Friends, ER, Scrubs, VIP, Who’s The Boss, Fright Night 2, Golden Girls, Veronica’s Closet and many more. He is the co-founder and President of SparkRise a game changing new platform and producer of various films about arts, literacy, and the human condition.
Brad has also taught Theater, Animation, Digital Film at over 100 schools in LA. He has been a recipient of the HART VISION AWARD for CA CHARTER TEACHER of the Year and Innovator of the Month by the Professional Teacher's Network. Brad has spoken at the United Nations.
Brad is a producer of the documentary, “Val” starring Val Kilmer which is currently playing on Amazon Prime.
So you almost starred in an adult film? Ah, you know about that, huh? You’ve been doing your research. Do you want to tell us anything about that? Early on this guy… I was so broke, man. I had a token that day to take me to Manhattan. Then I walked from 42nd street all the way to…I don’t know, pretty far away to…one token to take me to Manhattan, one token to take me back. I walked and I saw this audition that said, they would pay me $200, no $150 a day. Now here it is and I’m barely with two tokens, so like I’m like, Ok! So I got there and there were people in the waiting room. I came in and the guy was talking but stopped and looked at me and said, Man, Ooo your perfect!
I had done “The Jeffersons” for CBS. That was a CBS movie. I had also just finished something called “Buffalo Soldiers”, but they cut me out of a lot of it and I was really depressed about that cause I had told everybody. Isabel Sanford, my mother, everybody. Oh, man, this is going to be great! It was supposed to be a big thing on NBC. They had my name there, but they cut a lot of me out and I was really embarrassed and that whole thing. I was doing “The Jeffersons” at the time too. That was the first time I had gone through the experience like that where they cut me out of something so I was depressed. And my best friend at that time was a guy named Dorian Harewood who was really big back then. So we were best friends and he came and knocked on my door. Ernest, open up, where are you? I said, Man, I’m depressed I don’t want to talk to anyone, man. Then he said, Betty Davis wants to see you! He said, I’m serious!
I don’t think I really need a lot of approval from others. I don’t think I ever really did. Even as a child. If they didn’t like me, that’s ok. I’m not going to bother you, now if you get in my face then we’re going to have a little bit of a problem, but ok I’ll leave you alone if you don’t care for me. I never really took that stance that I needed everybody to like me, that I needed to be the golden girl. I didn’t need that kind of validation at all. It’s wonderful when someone you care about appreciates what you’re doing. That feels nice, but if you live your life that way you’re never going to accomplish anything because there is always someone disapproving of everything.
I don’t really understand wanting to be around only one type of person. I don’t think that’s what makes life interesting and relationships interesting. All of their interests and their knowledge. It’s fascinating to me getting to know people. Your stories are your message and how I go about delivering them. The things I learned as a young girl or child and I was very lucky. I had various women in my life that just seemed to take me under their wing. They were very helpful in teaching me and giving me tips on things that nobody else was teaching me. Those same women helped me when I raised my son. I wanted to be the mom that I wish I had had so I would go to them for advice.
The irony is that our brains are not wired to make us happy. Our brains are wired to keep us alive. It’s the fight or flight mechanism that we learn about as kids that really maintains our human nature is to have this negative bias because it’s to keep us alive, but the thing is we’re not wandering through the jungle with saber tooth tigers or any of that sort of thing these days. Predators of course show up in other ways today, but for the most part we don’t have to fear for our lives with that negative bias like we did once upon a time, however, our brains really haven’t evolved so much where we are still hard wired that way. It’s really important to take a deep dive into all of this, into positive psychology and mindset and the growth mindset and it’s not a one and done sort of thing.
I remember all the while being on the set and getting to see the whole process. I was always so fascinated with the production aspect. Everything from the clapper board, when they would mention the take number and do the sink thing, to the sound guy rolling the sound, the DP’s the director, looking through the camera. I just found it all so much fun. I just loved it all! So I thought maybe I could find something more steady behind the camera.
So you’re working with Hugh Jackman. How does Hugh Jackman get to be Hugh Jackman? How does one get to have a career like Hugh Jackman? Well, he’s the kindest individual that most people have ever met. And he’s so generous. He finds moments throughout the play, every single day where he will connect with everyone on the stage. It’s amazing. It’s like, he’s someone you feel like you must be around. I start the show shoulder to shoulder with him. We sit together for a good 3 to 4 minutes before the play starts and we check in with each other and we talk about our day and how we are. Maybe we’re tired that day and sometimes we pump each other up or give each other some words of wisdom to get us through. One of my favorite things from him is ‘one scene at a time.’ Don’t think about the whole play. If you have two shows that day don’t think about both shows. Just do 1 scene at a time so you can be present. He’s incredibly present!
My guest for today is a New York actor who has spent many years as part of the Los Angeles theater community. Yes, it does exist! Some of his film credits include “This Is Where I Leave You” with Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, and Jason Bateman. “I Am Michael”, starring James Franco, “The Humbling”, starring Al Pacino and Greta Gerwig. He has also been in the stage productions of “My Fair Lady”, “Sunset Boulevard”, with Glenn Close, “Act One”, starring Tony Shalhoub and Andrea Martin. Tennessee Williams’ “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof”, starring Scarlett Johansson, and “Pee Wee Herman On Broadway” as the King Of Cartoons! This award winning veteran has appeared in over 100 professional theater productions and over 30 television shows. He is currently playing Constable Locke in the Broadway revival of “The Music Man” starring Hugh Jackman and Sutten Foster.
Description: When I’m doing my arranging I start from the bottom and work my way up. It’s the same for composing a song from scratch to already taking an arrangement it’s a pretty similar procedure. With an original composition I’ll start with the drum set. Whether it be a jazz song or R&B or Gospel. What kind of beat do I want so I’ll program my beat in. Then I’ll make the bass line. I’ve already figured out my chord changes and what the progression of the song is going to be. After I’ve got all that figured out, I already know what my bass line is going to be so the song is kind of already written in my head as well as a hand written, scratch, lead sheet if you will. And then a lot of ideas will come to me as I’m recording.
To help content creators get better audio from their mixes and podcasts. I realized that there was not any kind of a podcast like Music Outlook LA which is basically gigs, gear, and info where I interview independent artists and content creators and it doesn’t matter what you do whether you are a musician, vocalist, audio engineer, photographer, best boy or gaffer for an indie film project. As long as you are somebody in the industry. You can be behind the scenes further back up in the main office or being a manager or entertainment attorney.
I get a call from a young lady named Victoria Thomas. She was a college student at UCLA. And she said a casting director told her about me and she needed an extra to be in this student film she was doing. So she wanted to know if I was willing to come in and be in the background. I told her sure. I had never done background before. So I went in. When I got there one of the guys who was supposed to do this part didn’t show up. So she told me to improv it. So I improved it. Well, there were two students there that were studying to be directors. One of their names was Alex Cox and the other one’s name was Charles Burnett. Well, after we finished this student film about three months later I got a phone call from Alex Cox and a phone call from Charles Burnett. I ended up doing seven films for Alex Cox and I did three films for Charles Burnett. So if I hadn’t done that extra role I would have never gotten the films I had and I would have never been considered a cult hero because “Repo Man” is considered one of the top cult films in the world.
When you came out to LA, you were living in your car for a period of time? When I got to LA I had fifty dollars in my pocket. I had a hole in my tire and I had no place to go. I was living in my car. I went to try and get some gas and I thought how my ex wife let a girl live with us for thirty days before she moved to California. So I called my ex-wife and asked her to call this girl and see if I could stay with her for thirty days. So she called and the girl said yes. So I asked the guy working at the gas station and said, could you tell me where this address is? He looked at it and says, walk to the corner, turn left and walk down four more blocks. So I took that as a gift from God. That it was meant for me to be in California. I lived with her for thirty days, looking through the Drama Log and Variety and I saw this job, this casting notice and I tried out for it. I called them and they told me to come and I went there. They liked me but they said well we want a singer. Can you sing? So I sung a song for them and they gave me the part. So thirty days after I got to California I had the third lead in my first feature.
Bob Mackie. Working for him was a dream come true. I got to talk to people like Carol Burnett, Diana Ross. I got to make Diana Ross a pair of earrings. There’s a photo out now of Carol Burnett in her Norma Desmond costume and it says ‘Happy Birthday, darling and I lost it. I did her hair with those little spit curls and I made her finger nails and the cigarette holder she’s using. And I have them somewhere. I worked with Bob quite a bit over the years and a lot of his outfits I worked on. Years and years and years. The benefit where I met Lucille Ball. He did all those stage benefit costumes. And I actually got to design some of the costumes myself. He was very nice and very gracious in letting me use his stuff. It’s iconic. Going in there and opening up a room that’s all Carol Burnett’s stuff. Or opening up another room and it’s all Cher’s stuff. All the gorgeous gowns. Another room with just the beads and sequins. And then walking to the shop and seeing dress forms for Tina Turner and Pink. It’s just that iconic stuff that’s part of our DNA. You see the costume and you know who that is.
There’s nothing like, when you finally have the person in the chair and your sitting in from of the mirror having the fitting and you put the wig on their head. Then you see the smile come across their face. There’s a look that comes into their eyes and you know that you did it and that everything is working. That really is the best part of it! Bringing a character to life or just helping a woman that has felt very bad about herself because her hair is thin. A lot of people place a lot of value on hair.
I’ve heard there’s some name older actresses that have dropped out of the business just because of all this self taping and they just can’t wrap their minds around the technology. They just can’t handle it. Yeah, I don’t blame them. This didn’t happen to me, but I was helping someone cast their film and I had to take all the actors and one of the roles I felt so bad this woman was perfect, but I couldn’t hear any of it. She sent in the tape and there was no sound, but she thought there was sound. So that’s one I’m sure people go thru every day. If you don’t have an updated iPhone, it’s got to plug into your computer for you to send it to our computer or our phone and if we’re not seeing and hearing everything than yeah, you just lost that role because we can’t hear you.
Does it get any easier as the time goes on? It actually does not get any easier. It’s almost like you’re always interviewing for a job. It does get easier as far as once you get in with say a certain producer or a certain casting director or a director. They might think of you later for another project so that’s where it’s probably easier. But where it’s harder is, ya know, everyone still has to audition. Everybody still has to prepare. I’m sure that even the A list actors, they’re up against each other which is hard because you have quite big shoes to fill when you are a Nicole Kidman you are still up against a lot of other name actresses who are going for the same roles. I think producing though does help.
There was a lot going on in the country at that time. 1968 was a very turbulent period in our nation’s history. There was a social revolution. A demand for more freedom and rights for minority’s and women. The Vietnam war was going on. An anti-war movement. Marches, protests, riots, hippies, a sexual revolution. A questioning of authority and the government. And the assassinations of Dr Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert Kennedy.
It was like being in the twilight zone where everything was the opposite because in LA as an actor i always felt like you as a Black man have so many less opportunities. You audition for a commercial, there’s five roles. Four of the roles are for White men and the one other role is for what they call ‘other’ meaning Black, Latino, Asian, ‘Other’, and so it felt like your opportunities were much less, but when I moved here to Sacramento, it just happened to be at a time where diversity in theater started to become important to the people that run the theaters and because I guess there wasn’t much diversity or many opportunities before there was this small pool of Black actors and so when they found out about me they were like very excited so opportunities were just coming left and right. And the other difference would be when I was doing theater in LA and working with certain companies they only saw me one way. They only saw me for my soft spoken personality so they wouldn’t consider me for certain things. When I moved here, nobody really knew me so they were casting me in all kinds of different roles.
As far as people like Prince? I think, well you know I’m not the expert or anything but I think that I would society or science or whatever would probably categorize him as a transvestite? Which I believe if I read correctly is typically a heterosexual man who likes to wear women’s clothing and accessories? Like you said, it’s not so black and white. That’s absolutely true. That’s why it’s so hard to identify people. I would like for us to get to a point where we don’t need labels we can just be who we are and let it be that.
I feel at home when I’m on set. There are not a lot of irritating things that come to mind. I get more irritated in real life than I ever do on set. As you know from being an actor for many years you get a breakdown. What you’re supposed to do, what you’re supposed to wear, what the time frame is, what your role is, and you have time to prepare for that and what you need to do. There’s a breakdown. So from being used to having a breakdown all the time it really is frustrating for me when people come up at the last minute and tell me I have to do this that or the other right now. There is no prior warning. I need to feel comfortable. I am not going to be able to give my best performance. Just having a breakdown is something that I am totally familiar with and that is what I’m used to and it’s very frustrating when I don’t have that. I think that would be the number one thing that would irritate me on set. Just give me a breakdown and I can do it and I will excel which is the name of the beach club I worked at in Dubai by the way. If you just want to snap your fingers and tell me to do this immediately I will probably not do it as perfectly as I would like and that would be a bad representation of myself and I don’t like that.
"I love being in front of the camera and I love being around other artistic people. A lot of the work that I’ve done throughout my entire life is from word of mouth. People in the industry tend to know each other, especially directors. I think the modeling and acting kind of started around the same time, but initially it was more modeling. Models turned to actress tend to kind of have a little bit of a snotty rap. I mean I studied with Bobby Chance, Ivana Chavez, and a lot of other really great acting coaches that I am honored to have worked with. Acting is almost like a form of therapy for me. To be able to remove yourself from your normal reality. But then, what’s normal? I guess that depends on a lot of different things. To be able to play dress up and pretend and to be in that artistic world is quite therapeutic. It’s something that I have always loved and will always love."
I was closeted when I lived in Ohio. I even went to a seminary school to try not to be gay. I didn’t allow myself to be gay until I moved to California. The first time I went back to a school reunion was my 20th. And I was hesitant. I had a lot of friends and my friends were wonderful to me, but it was a big class and there were people I didn’t know well and they called me, instead of Terry Ray I was Fairy Gay and I was bullied and so I was nervous about going back to my high school reunion. But I went and everybody was so nice. I couldn’t even remember who the people were that called me names. I didn’t really know them and twenty years later everybody was really super nice. I think in my case people just grew up and changed. I now I am treated so beautifully whenever I go back and after having written this play, “Electricity” which is about two guys meeting up after their 10th high school reunion and then 20th and 30th and 40th, so I connected that to my class and I thought about it so much more and opening night I had like twenty classmates there and I was wondering how are they going to take this? And they were lovely! They really were lovely!
I wear a lot of hats because I have to. Here’s my thing. I’m a very strong proponent of making things happen. I cannot stand sitting around waiting for something to happen so I do what I have to to make it happen. That’s the only way I can function. You just have to do it. I am always an actor, but I absolutely love writing so I don’t know if I can do a Sophie’s choice on the two of those. I can tell you my least favorite is producing. I hate producing, but I do it because I have to.
There’s a desperate need for content right now. There are so many streaming platforms. I believe I will be able to sell it and actually make it. People like to see things. They don’t just want a one sheet anymore, they don’t want a pitch. They want to actually see what they’re buying. I do believe that if I get this short series up I’ll have a better chance because then they can see the basic arc and the characters and they will either love it or they won’t. They will know what they’re getting.
It happened my senior year. I wasn’t acting, but I felt my soul really wanted to do it. So I found myself in this class about film noir and German expressionism. It was very interesting to see how American culture compares to German expressionism from Europe because Europe was going thru this tumultuous thing and there were all of these people coming here to live to get away from it all, but it was still in there consciousness and so a lot of people who went into Hollywood were writing about that stuff so film noir was born out of this sort of paranoia and fear and everything was sort of up in the air where you don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. It was kind of fascinating to see that translate to American culture and how we absorbed it. To notice how that has become part of our culture now. It’s fascinating.
A dancer can work in so many mediums that an actor can’t. For a film or television actor you can do a play on Broadway or a tour or something, but if you sing and dance that opens a wealth of opportunities for you. I turned down cruise ships twice. You can dance on Broadway tours, you can dance in Vegas shows, you can dance in movies, TV, commercials. You can teach dance. There are so many avenues to teach dance to children. You can now even teach those classes at the gym. You can create your own content on TikTok, you get sponsorships. So, I do think dancers work a lot more than other industry people. I think more young dancers are able to support themselves by going from gig to gig rather than if you’re just a young actor out there.
Some of the dancers who display their talents on TikTok are some of the most well paid dancers in the world. Some of these kids make 5 and 6 million dollars a year. There are so many ways for talent to promote themselves. I want to cut back to my generation. I remember there were self contained acts. I did Mitzi Gaynor’s act for example. I learned a lot about these artists when I worked with them. Did you know Mitzi Gaynor was responsible for creating the stars act? Nobody at that time in the 60’s was doing that. She created this thing, took her act to Vegas, and that started Ann Margaret and now we have Brittney Spears and those people. I do think rock musicians always toured, but shows such as Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Madonna, that concept came from the stars act. So what do I say to young people? They have so many resources. Your iPhone can create a commercial, a film. I say use your creative talents.
I left the show after the first year, the first season. I loved it, don’t get me wrong. But, because they won Emmy’s in their first season and I was part of that, and I was proud of that, they got a lot more cash from Gracie and Fox who were their production companies at the time. They got a cash infusion which they could have easily afforded to put their crew to go union, but they didn’t. They did not support going union at the time. So I thought, what kind of freakin’ hypocrisy is this? And I got an offer to go work on “Fern Valley” because I was now about to be vested after 10 years, I was 10 years in the industry at the time. I’m in my thirties and I’m thinking a little more clearly than the 22 year olds who are working with me on the Simpsons who insisted that we don’t need the union, we’re going to live forever, we’re immortal. Well, guess what? “The Simpsons continued to be successful. They switched studios. They had a 401K. They were being produced at the same studio that “King Of The Hill” was, but nobody there had union benefits and all of the sudden they’re 40, they’re not 22 anymore.
Back then you got into it because you enjoyed being part of a collaborative thing. You had your writers, you had your storyboard artist that basically do a little thumbnail comic book of what the writing looks like. And then the director goes over that and fixes it and changes it and there’s a lot of back and forth. The storyboarding is done often by committee. So you're writing it by committee and then the storyboard artist take a sequence and see what they can figure out with it. Then everyone comes back together and they pin everything on the wall and sequence and they go is it funny? Is it not funny? That was a typical storyboarding type of session.
I provide a storyboard for every video that I am going to do. I use fiber. What is fiber? Oh, my God, you don’t…? You have to use fiber! Fiber is a platform where you can connect with other creatives. They have people that do music videos. They have musicians, the lady playing base on my video I got from fiber. Your budget can be as little as $5. You can get someone to do something for you for as little as $5. Graphic artwork. You could get someone to play on one of your songs. Anything creative, anything you can think of. I was able to save a tremendous amount of money.
In Europe they really, really, really, love new music. They’ll come to my shows no matter how many times I’ve been through. Over the years I have met several musicians and a musician friend of mine was contacted by a friend of his who was looking for a singer to work on this song for him so we started communicating via Facebook. Via Facebook we decided to work on this song. I would send files to him and he would send files to me so we kind of recorded it all on the internet. Low and behold we did the whole record.
We live in a class society and most people have very little control at the end of the day. We live in a lottery economic system where there will always be large groups of people who will fall through the cracks. It is an established system and no amount of believing or praying to some deity, or kissing the feet of some self-help guru is going to change that fact.
“You said that you had been thinking about pursuing a career in science. Are there any skills that you learned when you were interested in science that are applicable to your career as a musician? Do you see any correlation between those two professions? I do see a tie in between both. I know many musicians who are scientists and doctors. They’re both very mathematical. They’re both patterns. I LOVE numbers. I know a husband and wife who are both doctors, but they met in music school and then both ended up going to med school instead.”
Composing itself is considered a creative endeavor and it is to their advantage to be in the union. Not as a composer, but as a conductor, or a score consultant, an orchestrator, and then you can build up your pension and health plan and things like that. And you have the protection of a union. A lot of people think it’s very difficult to work with the different scales and all and the contracts, but it’s not really all that daunting. We want to make it accessible as we can. It’s also a good way of meeting people and that’s the best way to get work is by getting out and meeting people.
What do you think makes a good story? How do you know that something you’ve written will resonate with an audience? I think you write something that’s coming from a place of, even if it didn’t happen to you, it’s something that you can zone into, or you know some people it has happened to and you also use your imagination it will resonate with people. Another song I’ve written that does that, even though I didn’t personally go through it, it’s called “What You Don’t Remember”, it’s about Alzheimer’s. I thought of the title, “I Won’t Forget What You Don’t Remember”. I just thought, oh, that’s a good title. Right away I knew it would be about Alzheimer’s. It is resonating with a lot of people. I made a video for it that Larry Weisman directed and Bunny Levine plays my mom in it. People not only like the video but the song is being played on radio station’s and they are saying they are getting so many requests for it that they’ve added it to their playlist twice a day and it’s on their top list of songs. I’m actually doing some singing on that one and I don’t usually sing on my songs because I can only carry a tune if it’s not too heavy.
For my book ‘Rainbow Relatives’, I never thought I would write a book, but I was talking to my sister on the phone and asked her if her kids new about my orientation? If they knew if their uncle was gay or not? My sister was like, I think so, but I’m not sure. She said I’m not sure how to even approach that, I wish there was a book on that. So I was like, I’m on it, you know I love to write! So that night I came up with a title “How To Tell Your Kids About Uncle Mary And Aunt Butch’ which became “Rainbow Relatives”. I wanted the book to have a sense of humor and it does.
I’m honored that stations, not only across the country, but across the world like my work so much. It’s really exciting. My whole life I knew this is what I was destined to do. And I’ve continued to do it all this time. I consistently have always sung and was determined this was going to be how I lived my life.
“When we were young my sisters and I were in the car with my mother. My parents had just divorced. And that becomes important because of what had happened. The song “The Snake” came on the radio, and my mother made us stop doing whatever it was we were doing in the car and said, now you girls listen to this song and listen to the message of the song. And So that was my initial love of Oscar.”
Acting Coach, Scott Rogers, LOST, North Shore, Baywatch, Hawaii Five-0, ER, 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Rundown, Tears of the Sun, Blue Crush, Lilo & Stich, etc., etc.
I actually started stage managing because that paid better than acting. From stage managing it’s a logical step to go into directing. So I started directing theater. When I was directing theater I would have actors who would ask me for help, for some coaching when they’d have an audition so I started coaching that way and then one of those people booked a TV show and I just remember the rush I had was better than if I would have booked it myself. I can honestly say that. I just felt really, really, really, good. It occurred to me gradually over time, that was my niche.
Older people are having real issues with doing self tapes and uploading them and all the technical stuff that you have to do and go through. It’s just not their thing. So that’s a big problem for them. I heard a lady stand up at a national Sag/Aftra board meeting. She was a guest. She was a working actress that you would know who she was. And she said, she’s leaving the industry because I just can’t do these self tapes. This was before the pandemic. A lot of auditions had already begun going that route. They ask you to do all these different kinds of shots and sometimes they will even say, and we want to use this footage as a part of the show. It’s not ok. Suddenly your expected to be a cameraman and a gaffer ya know and sound and everything.
When I booked the role on ‘Zoey 101’ and I showed up on set they changed the character completely. Originally when I auditioned I was the math teacher and then they gave me new text and said, Ok, here you go. Now you’re a history teacher and these are your new lines. I also had just gotten a cold so I had lost most of my voice. But I had to find a way to make that work when the camera started rolling.
You have to love what you’re doing and love doing it for the right reasons. You absolutely should not be doing it because you want to be famous. You absolutely should not be doing it because you think you’re going to be making a lot of money. You have to be prepared for rejection, rejection, rejection, because that is the industry. The industry is you are constantly opening up your soul, making yourself vulnerable, putting your work out there and the vast majority will never hear anything back. So you had better have a hard shell that you can put away and allow yourself to be vulnerable and then put back on when you are waiting to hear. If you don’t have that then this is not a career path that you should follow.
It was no big deal, being on stage for me. But if you’re someone who starts performing, maybe at 12, 14, 15, those are very insecure years. Those are like the awkward years when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do, who you want to be. And that can be a rough time. I find teaching middle schoolers, there’s a level of embarrassment about everything. And it’s like, well, if you came to this class, you gotta let that go. This is the place you can play. This is the place you can let your guard down. This is the place that is supposed to be a safe place to express yourself. That is why, especially at that age, one of the things I like to talk about is showing who you really are when you perform and letting that personality out and not just putting on a face that you think people want to see. Because I find if kids can learn to do that, it helps take some of that nervousness away. Then they know that I’m the only one who can do it the way that I do it.
She has travelled throughout the world as a performer in various productions and shows. The Lion King, Jazz Antiqua, The Lulu Washington Dance Theater, and also holds a 3rd degree Black Belt. She has travelled throughout the states and all over the world as a Master Dance Class Instructor.
“When I was in kindergarten I decided I wanted to be a dancer for my career. I sang my first solo at age 7 in church and did my first play at 9. I just loved all of those things. So all throughout my entire life I have been just creating. I also play piano and I play violin. I was part of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony for 4 years. Then I went to Butler University where I got a performing arts degree with a concentration in music and sub-majors in dance and theater.”
If you can get an agent, having an agent is one of the best things you can do if you want to be an actor. That’s how you legitimately get into the door of the casting office or a producer’s office. You want a good agent, you want a good manager. It’s about getting seen, It’s about getting into plays if you can. It’s doing workshops. It’s studying with acting coaches that have connections with agents, directors, managers, casting directors, come and find out who you are. And it’s all constantly changing.
My father opened up Motown Records West Coast Offices is 1966. He managed Diana Ross and The Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson Five, all to the Motown artists at the time. And then he broke off and managed Billy Dee Williams and he worked with Diana Ross when she did ‘Mahogany’ and ‘Lady Sings The Blues’, and still to this day manages ‘The Temptations’ and is the executive producer of “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg - The life and times of The Temptations” on Broadway.
I think in LA you tend to get cast in as really close to what you are to start if they don’t really know you. Like the role of a paramedic might really go to a paramedic. Somebody who really knows all to the things to say and do. And you’d have a better shot at getting that or if you’re a real Chef and they’re looking for a Chef or any kind of skills that other people don’t have that could be another little thing that puts you above.
What was it like to have been chosen as one of the most distinctive background vocalists of the 1990’s? That was a great honor. That came to fruition when I did ‘Silk Stalkings’, and nobody knew who the voice was….they said, ‘Oh, my God, who is this girl? Who is that?’ And I didn’t even know it! My girlfriend called and said, “Kathy, do you know that’s what they made you? Did you know that’s what they did?”
She has sung with everyone from Michael Jackson to Elton John, from Diana Ross to MaDonna. She has appeared on numerous television shows as well as movies. “The Color Purple”, “Free Willy”, “NYPD Blue”, “Sister, Sister”, and “The Lion King”, just to name a handful.
You didn’t need to be in front of the camera because there was starting to be things that you could do behind the camera just in the special effects. They called it multi-media. This industry became, it evolved into multi-media because … I was meeting Rap artists and rock groups and independent artists who would hire me to do these flash animations for them. It still wasn’t movie making or cartoons, but guess what …
I had the honor of playing Diahann Carrolls son on a groundbreaking television series that aired on NBC, or are they now calling themselves Peacock? “Julia” was the first television show to feature a non-stereotypical African American female lead in the title role, and I was the first African American child actor to be featured on a weekly primetime network television series. Yeah, me.
I’m an animator. There was a time for many years an animator was just somebody who made cartoons. To break into that industry 99 percent of the time you broke in as what you call a Tweener. And that was somebody who would draw the frame, because animation is actually a series of frames. I don’t want to get to technically into it, but ….
I’ve enjoyed various levels of success throughout my lifetime. I’ve stayed in the finest hotels and I’ve been given keys to the cities by its top officials. I was even invited to the White House. I’ve also mopped floors, cleaned toilets, and been homeless. Being on TV was not my idea. I was not some aspiring showbiz kid wanna be actor trying to be on TV. But for whatever reasons, it seems to have been my fate.