Tag: Hollywood Blvd

Destination Hollywood, California

Well, well, well. Driving across the USA East to West via the famous Route 66 highway. It was an exciting time because when I was a young boy I dreamed of living in Hollywood, California. I wanted to be an actor like Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers. Gene Autry and Lash Larue. My favorite Saturday morning Western heroes on television and now it was time. I was anxious to get on the road going 2400 miles west without any concerns.

While in Los Angeles I hung out in Hollywood on Hollywood Blvd and the Sunset Strip. That was a lot of fun, met some crazy people and walked the Hollywood Walk of Fame many times. Not many movie people walked the streets in the daytime, but Peter Graves, who starred in Mission Impossible, crossed paths with me. I met Robert Morse in the Point After Nightclub owned by the Los Angeles Rams football organization. I met and became friends with some character actors. One of those was a Pima Indian and he was working as an extra in western movies. Columbia Pictures sent me to their actor’s school and the casting group for Columbia Pictures took tons of photos for my portfolio and told me I had to join SAG (Screen Actors Guild) otherwise I would not get work. After all that I did get some interviews for possible parts. And shortly after that, I had to return to West Virginia because my mother needed me there. I went back to West Virginia and I did not return to California. The casting agency for Columbia kept my portfolio. I wish I could have taken the photos with me. I didn’t have to pay for portfolio and it was theirs to keep.