Robert J

I'd like to meet:

Now, I hate to admit this, but there are times when I do get star struck. Doesn't happen often, but I've been very fortunate to meet a number of people in my life, either via my work or just being in the right place at the right time. Some of the celebrities I've met in my life have included: Ginger Rogers, Rip Taylor, Ethel Merman, Elizabeth Taylor, Lily Tomlin (all at or around the Beverly Hills Hotel.) And one of my personal faves, the inimitable Mae West (we've crossed paths a few times actually; she was the best first class all the way. With her, what you saw is what you got.) I've also had the pleasure of meeting David Naughton when I did Dr. Pepper commercials years ago (for those that don't remember him, he was famous for starring in American Werewolf In London.) There have been a slew of others, but there are actually a couple famous people in my family, or so I'm told. On my Mothers side, there was Dick Shawn (real name, Richard Schulefand;) a famous comedian from the 1950s through the late 1980s. Similar to Jonathan Winters in style and weirdness, a one-of-a-kind nightclub comedian/singer, he was off-the-wall and zany. He's best known for costarring in the 1968 film The Producers alongside Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, playing the singing Adolph Hitler. Also somewhere on my Fathers side, there's Marty Feldman. He appeared in a number of movies; his most-remembered role being that of Igor (pronounced: Eye-gor) in Young Frankenstein (1974,) opposite Gene WIlder. But as far as who else that's left that Id like to meet well a few do come to mind, and for various reasons: Barbra Streisand, Pink, Ellen deGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell, Johnny Depp, Andy Richter, to name a few. A person doesn't really have to be famous for me to want to meet them, but just basically be a decent person and try to accomplish something in life that would make the world a better place.

Music:

I enjoy all types of music. From classical, to jazz, to R&B, to rock, to hip-hop, standards, Broadway musicals ultimately anything and everything you name it. It just depends on my mood. I have a wide spectrum of tastes: from Mozart, Motown, Kenny G, David Arkenstone, Pink, Streisand, Beatles, INXS, Bon Jovi, Annie Lennox (Eurythmics,) Billy Holiday, Dinah Washington oh, the list goes on!

Movies:

Just like my taste in music, I like and appreciate all, yes ALL types and genres of films, including documentaries, animated, comedies, dramas, even small little art house films, older films, contemporary films, epics, historical/bio pics; but especially true stories and/or stories that are inspired by actual events. Some of my favorite films of all time are: The Wizard of Oz, Ben-Hur, To Kill A Mockingbird, Gentlemen's Agreement, the original 1962 Manchurian Candidate, the Orson Wells classic Citizen Kane, anything Alfred Hitchcock, Oliver, The Lion In Winter, Come Back Little Sheba (Shirley Booth's performance was brilliant;) also enjoyed The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Albino Alligator, Usual Suspects, Natural Born Killers, Platoon, Batman Begins, Shrek 1 & 2, Monster, Sin City, TransAmerica and a special fave: The City of Lost Children, and of course, anything with Mae West or W.C. Fields!

But that's just some of the movies I love that I haven't been in. If you'd like to see the trailer of the latest film I'm in, feel free to click below. The movie is called "Maple Palm."
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And if you like the trailer and want to see more about me or the film, just go to:Movie Website .. Movie MySpace Page

Television:

My Claim to Fame - My Big Moment on Star Trek: TNG!
Season 2, Episode 17 "Samaritan Snare"

Well, first and foremost, I have to say right off the bat that my favorite shows of all time have to be the Star Trek franchise. Doesn't matter if its the Original Star Trek or The Next Generation, or the ones that followed later on. They were ahead of their time and are still timeless today. And as a child I was glued to the TV and inspired by every episode. It had always been a life-long dream as an actor to one day be cast on an episode of Star Trek. I finally got my wish, when a friend called me at my day job, saying his girlfriend has a new job in the Hollywood Casting Office. And they knew for years about my dream. So she called him to have him call me to let me know that Paramount was casting immediately for overweight guys to be in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. And he said, You must get over there NOW! Pretend you're sick and have to go home or something, but just get there. So, I did. By the time I arrived, there was a tonnage of big guys waiting around the gate. Some my size, some smaller and some way bigger! But I digress I thought to myself, I gotta make myself stand out. Well, everyone waiting was smoking and I'm allergic, so I asked the guard if there's a place where I can wait, so the smoke wont affect me? He said, just go on into this sound stage and take a seat, because its going to take place inside. I thought, how lucky. So I went in, and there were a bunch of chairs all around the room. But over to one side of the room, there were voices coming from behind a door that was ajar. So, I thought Id just sit right next to that door, as those voices may be the producers. Sure enough; I heard someone inside ask, There's over 1,500 big guys here. How are we going to get through all of them today? Another voice inside said, that these parts call for actors who have very short hair and no facial hair. Its easy process of elimination will make it quicker. I was horrified to hear that! I had at the time very long hair down to my waist and I also had a big mustache. I thought all I can do is let them know BEFORE they had a chance, that Id be willing to cut everything off. So, they call everyone inside, in groups of five or six. And I hear before my turn, from inside the room, No thank you You stay You stay No thank you No thank you. I knew I had to speak quickly when its my shot. Finally my turn comes and I'm right in the middle of five guys. And they said no to the first two. Just as they were pointing at me, before they were able to speak, I said, May I say something first, please? The men behind the desk said okay. And I took my moment. I grabbed all my hair and pulled it back behind my head with one hand as I covered my mustache with two fingers and said, You DON'T see these! Don't let these fool you. One of the producers spoke up and said, You mean to tell me you'd cut all your hair off and shave your facial hair for the role? I told them YES! Hell, Id even go bald if it called for it! Because its been a life-long dream, and I LOVE the Star Trek franchise. And I would literally do ANYTHING to get a part, even if it meant no lines or going bald. So they looked at each other and laughed, and asked me to stay. I was up for a bigger role, but some other character actor who had more experience and padded resume got that part, even though the powers that be said I did read better for the role. But they liked me and my spunk and gave me a featured bit as a species called Pakleds. (Side note: I asked the director, Les Landau, how they got the idea for these Pakled characters. He said that he and the writers and producers went out to breakfast at the nearest IHOP and he ordered Pigs In A Blanket. And when they were brought to the table, he saw what they looked like and immediately got the idea for our characters and they shaped the script out in the restaurant. Interesting, huh?) And the rest as they say is history. Sorry to make a long story longer, but I hope you can understand my dream and passion. It took 3-4 hours of makeup a day, but only took 10-15 minutes to take it all off! The first day of shooting, the director wanted us to surround Geordi (Levar Burton) who beamed onto our ship (the Mondoor) to help make us go. When really what us Pakleds really wanted was to kidnap Geordi all along, and force him to steal all the data from the Star Ship Enterprise so we could up our position in the universe from bottom of the totem pole up higher. So, when we surrounded Levar, we were menacing. Mr. Landau said cut!, and told us no, that's not right. Don't give away the secret that we want him approach him very childlike. Now, I've played an overgrown child before in an abstract black comedy, so I did my homework and studied how toddlers act, move, etc. So I'm aware that with young kids or babies, there's only two senses that are focal, one is sense of taste no way could I taste him but there is the sense of touch! And I certainly could reach out and touch him. I was behind Levar's right shoulder and I thought perhaps if I stretch out the time, I could have a personal bit with Levar. I didn't say anything, but on the next take, when we turned around and surrounded Levar, and he says his line, all the Pakleds are supposed to then turn away and go back to work except me. I stood there; he didn't see me. I reached out as a wide-eyed, innocent babe and slid my hand ever so gently from his shoulder down to his elbow. After all, I've never seen his species before and this made my character curious. This made him jump and turn around and look at me with shock. We stood there a good minute and shared a moment. When they yelled, Cut, the director liked what I did so much, that from that point on, in every scene but one, whenever you see Levar, I'm right next to him or close by. Afterwards, even Levar thought what I did was pretty cool. That was a day Ill never forget. Oh yeah, then there's other shows I like as well, like: Lost, 24, and Las Vegas; they're hot. I also like game shows and reality shows, too, like Big Brother, Amazing Race, Survivor, The Surreal Life, Apprentice, and of course, Criss Angel's MindFreak ROCKS!!!! Oh, there's so many to mention, but you get the idea!

Books:

I've already gone on long enough; but like I said earlier, in the Interests section, I used to love to read oh, so many books, so little time! I do have a lot of catching up to do. But some of my favorite books I've read in the past were: A Tale of Two Cities, anything Shakespeare, I also love reading scripts of plays and screenplays from films. And since poetry is very huge in my life, any thing poetic or poetry related is fun. I enjoy when writers aren't as technical, but write visually, and you can see or picture everything in your minds eye. And apart from books, I'm a huge catalogue fan. I love looking through a myriad of catalogues for various items and things that I can collect. I know, I know, catalogues aren't books, but they are printed material I feel that should count! Don't you think?! And thanks y'all for taking the time to get to know a little more about me!

Heroes:

Aside from the usual heroes you'd likely hear about, my favorite heroes are those real life bigger than life people I've portrayed as an actor. I've brought to life onstage such characters as: Oliver Hardy, Benjamin Franklin, W.C. Fields, Peggy Lee, Mama Cass Elliott, King Henry VIII, and of course Mae West, which got me some great reviews and a little notoriety. I did get to do my impression of Mae for Ms. West, and she thought my impression was impeccable and even liked how Id get her facial expressions, the walk, move and even ad-lib as her. So that was a gas! I've always enjoyed acting because it gave me the opportunity to step outside of myself and see the world from a different perspective. Its a unique feeling to live in someone else's shoes, if even for awhile. After its over, when I step back into moi, it gave me a sort of reality check, and a new appreciation. After comparing my life's trials and tribulations to that of some of the characters I've portrayed, my life didn't seem so bad after all. All characters are unique, but the ones that are real or based in reality and truth mean all the more to me.