Do you know anyone who tried to make it in Hollywood?

I tried to make an acting career but it was in NY. I went to acting school at the School for Film and Television under the direction of Jay Goldberg and Joan See.

I was asked back to to a second year of study…but I didn’t go and I regret that. I’m not conventionally attractive in Hollywood terms…but I was talented and I think I could have had a career in a niche market (Glee, American Horror Story, ect)

Yes. My grandfather's second wife had a niece who tried. She moved to CA along with chaperone Mom and had an agent. She was pretty and got a few jobs as a background extra usually in HS scenes as she looked very young. My grandfather and his wife died years ago so I lost track of the niece but last I heard she married some guy who adored her but she couldn't let go of that dream and dumped him much to the dismay of her family. I don't think she was as talented as she thought and was not going for casting couch games.

Is she doing porn now?

Doubt it R3. Her mother was hardcore Spanish Catholic who believed in chaperones and sheltering. She's probably remarried with kids. Then again maybe she's doing those telenovelas. I ought to look.

Yes my cousin. She is ten years older than me and growing up was always used as a cautionary tale about Hollywood (“you don’t want to be almost thirty and waiting tables like your actress cousin”). I loved the idea of pursuing acting but the cautionary tale scared me away into a “safe” career.

Then, about fifteen years ago, she was cast in something that became very popular and became famous. I am so happy for her, she absolutely deserves her success but it kind of burns that she was used as a cautionary tale and now she has “the life.”

Don't be coy R5. Who is she?

My friend Frankie went to Hollywood, became a porn star, retired and escaped with his sanity intact.

True story, nice ending.

Had a friend that tried for 25 years. Nada. Acting classes, coaches, local plays that no one saw and head shots, head shots, head shots. Some people have it and some don't. Evidently, he didn't.

Good lord yes and bless his heart he is still out there trying. He started doing stunt work at theme park shows in Orlando which gave him work when he moved out there along with some bit parts on big shows but he’s simply not talented or attractive enough to break through to the big time. He was smart to take the stunt player path which helped him make money, but he doesn’t have the “it” factor or the intelligence to rise to the top

I live in LA and have met dozens of people who came to Hollywood and tried. I always think of them essentially as gamblers, betting and betting and hoping that the next play will land them a prize that never really arrives. Some don't regret having tried but most feel disheartened even if they hide it well. Of all the businesses I have seen in my life, none comes close to showbiz in terms of cruelty and coldheartedness. None.

I have a sorta story: a h.s. classmate got a theater scholarship to Kenyon College in Ohio. He was vgl: tall, nice body, ice-blue eyes. I don't know if he ever went to NYC or Hollywood, but somehow he fucked it up, put on 80 lbs., lost half his hair and ended-up back in our hick town as a car salesman. He could totally have been on a soap or something, at the very least.

He did have two pretty daughters, though.

Joan River's said that when she was "coming up," - everyone she knew who worked hard (didn't quit) and didn't get involved in drugs "made it." I thought that was pretty encouraging. Love her or not, she was textbook tenacious. I LIVE her mantra of "say YES to EVERYTHING," which has served me (ridiculously) well. I have crazy stories of how saying yes to something that looked banal led to a contact or an opportunity that was crazy. Sometimes right away and sometimes a year later... when the connection you met says, "What about that guy and that company that we met at so and so, or we saw at whatchamacallit."

Also... sorry, I need to preface that earlier comment... Joan also said, "That had talent" ... so it should read "had talent, worked hard (didn't quit) and didn't get involved in drugs - made it"

Many try, but few have what it takes to make it. Let alone win an Oscar.

Well, let me tell you…

[italic](knocks over gin glass, passes out)

Hollywood goes for booze and dope!

[quote] Joan River's said

Oh, dear!

A guy I went to high school with was "discovered" by an agent at King of Prussia mall our senior year. He was very striking looking, but not very bright. Nice guy though. He wound up doing a few local commercials and using the money to go Hollywood. Something happened to him mentally while he was there (or it exacerbated an already existing issue) and he went completely OCD in a crippling way. He couldn't get through a script because he would have to count all the words and lines and measure things. He wound up getting a recurring part on Beverly Hills 90210, but got fired after his first day of shooting because he just couldn't handle it. Apparently, you can still see him in the background of a few shots in one episode.

He wound up moving back home and still lives with his parents. Very sad.

When I was about 21, just before I moved away from home, I briefly dated an aspiring actor/comedian who just returned from what was apparently a very difficult time trying to make it in CA. He was about a year or two younger than me, super cute, swarthy, Jewish. Whatever lack of opportunities he was met with in CA led to depression, which led to drugs, which led to weekslong stretches in bed and finally coming back home to NJ. He was nice to spend time with, but was always "on". It was exhausting.

My first roommate. He was a good-looking guy from Chicago. He was a big fish in a little pond back home. He thought he was going to make it. I work in PR, at the time I was working for a network for a show so I would get to go to cast parties and other events so I would take him. I got him a few under 5 roles but nothing serious. He eventually got more and more depressed he was not making it. I came home one night from work and his bedroom door was closed. I called to him but no response. Saturday I got up and his door was still closed. I knocked, but nothing. So I opened it. He was asleep in his bed, or so I thought. I went to wake him, he was cold. There was an empty pill bottle next to the bed and three notes, one for his mom, one for his sister, and one for me. I had no idea what to do, I called 911. Then I had to call his mother. It was probably the worst day of my life.

Two people I went to high school with. One was a girl who was a senior when I was a freshman. She has had an okay career, including a recurring role on a streaming show. She was very smart (National Merit finalist) and seemed like a decent person but we weren't very close. One funny thing is that her imdb page used to claim she was born in "1983" even though she graduated in the class of 1996.

Another was a guy who was one year behind me in school. He was gorgeous and I had a huge crush on him. We co-starred in our high school production of The Diary of Anne Frank. He went out to Hollywood after high school, his most notable role was in one of those Olsen twin movies. His imdb page shows no credits over the past 10 years or so.

I don't understand people who try and try to make it there and get depressed enough to spiral down into drugs and depression or kill themselves. Are they just dreamers who invest everything into the quest for fame and attention? Why so needy?

Wow, I'm so sorry you had to experience that, r20. How old was he?

I had 3 friends in high school (back in the early 80s) who wanted to become actors in Hollywood.

1 of them made it onto soap operas. 1 of them made it into movies (I forgot what their 'stage names' are, but I see each of them at high school reunions - both have had massive plastic surgery to keep them looking 20 eyars younger).

The third friend, who I thought would really go the distance and put everyone to shame, didn't make it which surprised me. He ended up getting very minor parts in movies (playing 'the bartender' with one or two sentences, or the 'hot new college professor' who walks by the classroom). He stayed for about 10 years or so, then he moved to NYC to see if he could make it on Broadway. To make $$$, he started stripping at The Gaiety and other clubs back then, even though he's 100% straight. For some reason, despite his handsome Italian looks and great physique, he never made it on stage in legit theater - but working at night as a dancer gave him days to do other things, and he ended up writing a few plays which ended up being produced off-Broadway and winning rave reviews. He also did some directing, too. At the age of fifty, he sold his first screenplay which has been in limbo / production in Hollywood for the past decade.

He's 61 now, still looks incredible, still straight, and teaches 'creative writing' at one of the colleges in NYC, teaching students how to write screenplays and stage plays. He gave up his dancing days at The Gaiety when he was in his mid-40s (I was one of the guys who would sit in the audience and lust after him whenever I was in NYC), but he probably could still strip with the best of them if ever he wanted to return to his dancing days.

I'm in L.A. and have worked (at non-industry jobs) with quite a few actors. Some were semi-famous or recognizable. Others had small roles in film and TV. I was friends with this guy at one job and it was a a couple years before I found out he was Skip from the movie "Valley Girl."

Colto

Knew a young woman who did the pageant circuit. She ended up winning a state crown, then a national crown, and was in the top ten of a world crown. Her little hometown was so proud; nice signs were put up all over town - “Home of …”. Heartwarming. She went to Hollywood, was in a well known soap for a few years, then…straight to porn.

Hometown signs disappeared overnight.

r23 I was 24 he was 26

Somebody from my health club wanted to be in production. His first job was several years with Aaron Spelling Productions, and then it was Disney with Designing Women, and then working directly with Madonna and quite a few of her music videos, and I believe during most of all of that time, the Jerry Lewis Marathon. He made good money, and was always employed. Came from a very wealthy family as I understand it. Decided to retire when he got tired of it all, moved to Flyoverstan. Inherited as much as he ever could have made as a movie star, which is funny. I can't remember his name stupidly. Does this person sound familiar? I wouldn't be surprised if he reads DL occasionally.

I have two stories to relate. The first is of a woman who worked as a cleaner two days a week at our house when I was a boy. When she was young, she was a Goldwyn Girl and was in several films. She wanted to be an actress but said she spent more time on the casting couch than she did in front of the camera with speaking parts. She never had a speaking part that was big enough to be credited. She said that by the time she was 35, she realized that she’d never make it in Hollywood and began working in retail and anything else that would pay the bills. By the time that she was in her sixties, she did cleaning work during the day and worked as a waitress in a pizza place on Hollywood Boulevard, across the street from Musso & Frank, in the evening. She had a bit of residual bitterness about her life, but a sense of humor as well.

The second story is mine. Both my grandfather and father were in the film business. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in life when I graduated from high school. In college, I majored in linguistics, with an anthropology minor. Linguistics is primarily the study of the rules and structure of languages, but knowledge of other languages is a bonus. My brother and I were brought up speaking English, French, and German at home, so I was fluent in these three languages. This should have opened a lot of doors for me. I decided I wanted to be a screenwriter. My father helped me get jobs as a story editor, dialogue coach, and some other peripheral functions in the movie business. I eventually got some writing positions, and kept busy at this for about 15 years, but I was never a big success. I wanted to be the new Jules Furthman, but what I wrote was frequently criticized as “too literary.” My grandfather’s and father’s successful careers gave nice inheritances to my brother and me. It enabled me to say “Fuck it all” when I turned 50. As a retiree, I’m quite a success.

My cousin Timmy. He grew up in the LA Basin, and had parents who were both well-to-do and indulgent, so they paid for him to go to acting school and then they let him live at home or "helped him with the rent". He was short and not conventionally handsome, and he got some TV credits over about 5 years, before giving up and going to engineering school like his dad (also paid for by his indulgent parents).

I've lost touch with that side of the family but i looked him up on IMDB, and yeah, he has TV credits from when we were young, over a period of about five years. But since then he's gotten some scattered credits as "electrical department", so I guess he kept a few connections in the business.

A high school friend when to Hollywood and no joke- was Faye Dunaway's assistant. They work in the theatre now but not as an actor. I never asked for stories, I am dying to but I assume they had to sign an NDA- otherwise I would assume they would have told us everything.

I had a long-term temp job with this guy once, so I've followed his 'career' via the internet. He studied acting or something, but his main talent is schmoozing/ass kissing. Maybe he brings the weed or something.

I think his mom supported him out there for years so she could say, "My son works in Hollywood" *puff-puff*

Gawky teenage drama school kid and I worked in the same box office at a theater company for a while. He was sweet, a little dim, but determined to head to Hollywood after he graduated in order to make it in film or TV. I thought there's no way he's going to make it.

Turns out Brendan Fraser did pretty well for himself.

A friend from college is working steadily in production. I know he wanted to be directing by now, but he has a good, solid career. I think he made it.

Another classmate made it big a few years ago but he’s having a harder time getting roles now. DJ is very distinctive looking. He was a sweetheart so I always hope the best for him.

A high school classmate majored in acting and moved to LA. That lasted 3 years…she’s a wine mom now. She thought she was hot stuff in school productions and it was hilarious.

A friend got a book deal with a major publisher. I used to read her writing (short stories) before she got the deal. I read her book and was surprised at how "Lifetime Movie for Women" it was. Her creative writing had been more edgy. However, the book was a pretty big success. I heard that someone bought the rights to make the book into a movie. That was a long time ago and I'm guessing that the movie never got off the ground.

A relative posed for Playboy back when Hugh Hefner was alive. I think she was an actual centerfold. She was really young when she posed. She tried acting, afterwards and had some small roles, I think. I've lost touch with her, but my guess is that she married someone wealthy and doesn't really have to work, now.

I don't know what the percentage is of people who "make it", whatever that means, but I'm sure it's minimal. LA is a great big freeway, put a hundred down and buy a car In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star. Weeks turn into years, how quick they pass and all the stars that never were are parking cars and pumping gas.

As far back as the 1910s, Hollywood studios were taking out ads warning young women not to come there to try and break into the movies. The chances of making it in the industry were almost non-existent. The ads always had pictures of hundreds of girls trying to get into the studios and some of them implied that many committed suicide.

R39 Suicide like Peg Entwistle.

I went to college with a girl who was beautiful, and had ‘it’. She went to LA and I was sure she would make it. Nope, she came back to our dumpy town after a semester and said all she could get was soft core porn. I just googled her, and she’s an executive assistant to the CEO of a very large, publicly traded company. Like one of the 10 largest in the world. She has several assistants of her own. So she did great, ultimately. Just not in Hollywood.

R26 what was he like?

Yes, I do. Her story is very tragic. She’s a sad, lonely creature with a mannish figure and face. She’s tried everything to become an Oscar-winning actress. I heard that things havewgotten so bad for her recently that she has now turned to fetish porn like she~male and piss.

R27. Here’s 27’s friend

I knew a guy who went to LA to make it in the music industry. Really good looking, biy next door face and body. Auditioned for Idol (or one of those shows) and they point blank told him that they had their quota of his 'type' filled. Worked as a session musician for a few well know noughties singers. Ran out out of money and came home and is now a music teacher.

Any women that I knew who wanted to make it always ended up getting married and starting a family.

A member of my family took a stab at it after she'd been on a season of America's Next Top Model. She moved to LA with one of the other girls from her season. Nothing much came of it for my family member as she didn't quite have that fire lit under her ass making her get up each morning and pound the pavement, attending auditions. Her roommate/former castmate, however, did get up every morning and attend casting calls and she eventually landed herself a few roles in a few TV shows. Nothing too insane. She also got herself an actor husband in the process so that's a bonus. But overall you've got to REALLY want it and literally beat down doors to get it. Just showing up or worse--expecting things to just come to you--does not cut it in Hollywood. You'd better be ready to rumble.

I have never had any desire to make it in Hollywood but I did go out there in my misspent 20s seeking I don't know what and blowing a small inheritance while working as an office drone. I had a revolving door of attractive roommates all of whom were looking to make it in Hollywood. They did the typical working as Servers/Retail while taking acting classes and doing Extra work and audition after audition. They did have some good pieces of gossip even as Extras. Otherwise, they all eventually became disheartened and either went into other lines of work or went back home. One roommate got sucked into Scientology and end up so broke I had to give him the money to go back home. Another roommate ended up opening a sandwich shop near a studio that did very well and had celebrity customers but he came from a family in the restaurant business so he knew what he was doing. In conclusion, I don't know of any actual success stories.

When the Sunset Tower Hotel in LA had a major redecoration about 15 or 20 years ago, the designer, Paul Fortune, placed numerous glamour headshots of beautiful would-be actors and actresses in the lobby and bar area. These photos mainly dated from the 1930s and 1940s. What they all had in common is that they were photos of people who failed and never made it in Hollywood.

My brother just reminded me of something to add to my comment at r30. Our house cleaner, who had been a Goldwyn Girl and had a few minuscule roles in Poverty Row/Gower Gulch films, said that in her few speaking roles, she only once was filmed in closeup. And that closeup didn’t survive to the Final Cut. I can’t imagine a sadder or more pathetic fate than to wind up on the cutting room floor at Monogram Pictures.

[Quote] They did have some good pieces of gossip even as Extras.

Daughter of parent’s friends. She ended up involved with James Woods for a while and then faded away. No idea where she is now or what she’s doing.

Yup. Aspiring actor i knew. We were waiters together in NYC many years ago. He wasnt conventionally handsome but he had a swagger about him and was very sexy. Totally straight but the type of guy who would change/drop trou in front of me (always commando).

We were great friends for the couple of years we worked together. Partied a lot. A bunch of us were Soul Kitchen regulars (anyone remember?). Then he moved to LA.

He’s big time famous now. A-list character actor. Has had starring roles on series and movies. One series in particular was scandal-ridden towards the end of its run and the main star (not him) had to leave.

Anyway, he is an utter sweetheart and deserves all his success. I still get giddy finding out what he’s doing next.

Cousin of my fathers. He was in a Billy Joel video (only human I think) and in a few movies in the 90s. Works with kids now.

R20 Your story broke my heart.

High school classmate--wound up as Cybil Shepherd's assistant for awhile. Now onws a bar in NYC.

Younger brother of a high school classmate---Successful comedy writer

Sister of an long ago housemate---wnated a recording career, did a lot of background singing for big names; beautiful voice but didn't have that unique quality that would bring fame. She's now a counselor in New England.

Another would-be actor wound up as George Burns assistant, then a mortician at the Pierce Bros across from Hollywood Forever, later sellling plots in an old school cemetery in Cleveland, while caring for aging parents.

r53 it was pretty traumatic. I have never since been near a dead body but it is nothing like you think. He just looked like he was sleeping. It was harder calling his family. I could have asked the management company but I knew the family would have called me anyways. I had to move to a different apartment. I could not stay there anymore. The management put me in a one bedroom and neighbors helped me move. People really can be caring during things like that.

Yep, guy I used to run into walking his two dogs. Said he had lived in Los Angeles and was a waiter out there for years trying to make it. Said that he went to a play and realized he lacked the talent and passion to make it after seeing one of the actors. He definitely seemed like an aspiring actor, as he talked almost exclusively about himself lol. He always felt "on" to me. Not a bad dude, talked a lot about travel, was a vegan, and was very into politics. Seems like LA to me!

My first roommate in New York was Tom Villard, whom many of you know of, or even knew. I was subletting for that summer from his regular roommate, but I wouldn't have lasted any longer than that. He was a total neat freak, who insisted I clean the toilet every single time I used it.

He did something which today might be considered sexual harassment. My second morning there he told me I had to fuck him, so we could "get the sex stuff out of the way." I wasn't really attracted to him, but he was one of the first gay men I ever met, so I figured this was what it was all about. He didn't come at me again, and we got along pretty well (except for our divergent views on neatness).

And then I was gone. I got a job in advertising after I finished school, and I was able to send him on interviews for commercials. I don't think he ever got one via me. But I was happy to help him.

I don’t think anyone has raised the issue of nepotism here, but there have been separate threads about nepotism in Hollywood on DL. It’s obvious that I was a beneficiary of nepotism when I related my own experience in comment r30. Without my father’s or grandfather’s help, it’s doubtful I would have had such an easy time getting work in films. There’s even a good chance that I never would have made it. However, nepotism in Hollywood can only get you so far. Quite a few of my family’s intimate friends were famous movie people. A number of their offspring wanted careers in film, but there were a fair number who tried but didn’t make it. Nepotism helps, but a minimal level of talent or skill is necessary to last in the business.

*

#57, did he wear a condom?

Depends on the field. The biggest difference now from earlier years is the cost of survival in Los Angeles. If you don't have family wealth propping you up, you need a job with very flexible hours and an affordable place to live, as well as a car (or a $500-600 per month Uber budget). in the past 15 years, the LA metro area is so big and expensive that living outside of it can be over a 2+ hr commute.

These things used to be far more attainable than they are today. LA used to be affordable until approximately the early 2000s. There was so much space and it was so spread out that you could have a paycheck job and get a 1 bedroom apartment. If you were poor, What you were giving up was amenities like recent renovations, washer dryer, pool or balcony proximity to the beach, etc. If you were struggling you could move to the valley. Today, the cost of living is 4-5x as expensive as it was 25 years ago. The shithole areas of the valley now cost $2k per month in rent for a 1 bedroom.

There are only so many years adults will live with roommates in cramped apartments until they reassess their priorities.

For actors, its really a total crapshoot. There's no amount of "talent" that gets someone noticed. And for other fields like writing or directing, there is a good amount of basic talent, but that talent gets developed through work. And lucky breaks. And then support on those projects. For example, a director on a $1 mil movie has an infinitely harder job than a director on a $200 million movie--those movies practically direct themselves.

I know a guy who tried to move out there. He landed a few walk on sort of things. He's in an episode of Grey's Anatomy, I think, for about 3.5 seconds on screen.

Talented, nice person, but he was an emotional/personal mess. Could not accomplish the basics in a given day and packing to move almost sent him into an asylum. Unsurprisingly, he did not stay in LA for long.

The first guy I was in love with was an incredibly handsome guy. He did local modeling, was on greeting cards, and acted in dozens of plays. Went to Chicago to take classes at Second City and.....he just choked, froze, could not handle whatever the demands of that class was.

What I thought was just him being dramatic and, well, him.....now I can see clearly that he was and is bipolar, a diagnosis confirmed by his now ex-wife. But at the time, I just thought....why? He could have been on SNL.

r57 size meat?

Do people actually try to make it and get destroyed and end up hooking or doing drugs or is that a complete myth?

r64 Long and skinny. I didn't have much to compare him to yet.

Wesley Woods aka Shane Henderson tried to make it as a stand up comic and failed miserably. He did porn because his comedy career wasn’t going the way he wanted, so he got some sort of fame I guess. He quit porn and tried to make a go of it again but he’s not funny or talented. He’s moving back to the Dallas area this month.

Why do some of you not name the celebs you are talking about? It's not like you're saying anything bad about them.

R18, sounds like he had a case of surprise anal (sometimes called rape-rape). It’s made many of men go cray-cray.

I'm from LA.

So, yes. I've known too many to count.

One of the girls in Lower EF(Sheila Steinberg). Her family was even worse than mine. She went out to be a star, made the rounds; became a porn star. Lived the porno lifestyle, hooked a rich man and moved to the Midwest. Found out she didn't like the Midwest, rich husband left her "Broke as shit". Found God& religion(and a preacher man-good looking too, well Hung) Last I heard about her, he was killed in a car crash,went home and her sleazeball dad stole her $$$$.

No, R60. Gays didn't wear condoms in the 1970s.

I took a Meisner Workshop several years ago (didn't finish, and didn't plan to be a professional actor; just found it interesting), so I know several people who went out there. I don't know anybody who "made it."

Occasional tiny roles in big projects or larger roles in web series... that's it.

My roommate in college freshman year hung out with an absolute cunt of a girl/woman, hoping to get laid. Didn’t work. The cunt went on be Rob Morrow’s assistant for a while in the 90’s. Hopefully she died shortly after in a large grease fire.

[quote]r46 A member of my family took a stab at it after she'd been on a season of America's Next Top Model.

OMG - America’s Next Top Model!

Somewhat OT: this channel has interviews with ANTM contestants. There’s some major off camera dirt sprinkled throughout the many videos. Like once, the girls who failed a challenge were brought to a farm and had to move piles of dismembered goats or something. It would have been in Cycle 16.

I liked this girl’s interview best for some reason.

Beautiful face.

It’s true that a very high percentage of the waiters and parking valets in LA hope to make it in films. But the business is so precarious (and often not that well paid) that the majority of actors and actresses frequently work at other jobs when they’re not filming to augment their income and to have a backup in case acting jobs dry up.

It’s not just actors who work at more menial jobs, either. In the late 1980s, my husband and I met my parents at Chasen’s for dinner one evening. When we were seated, my parents laughingly told me that the Chasen’s parking valet who took their car was a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and they’d seen him just a few days earlier at the Golden Globes ceremony.

A guy from my High school who was super popular and a grade above me moved out to Hollywood. He was not a jock or particularly good-looking but very social and had the gift of gab. He went on to produce gay porn and then he somehow became friends with Michael Jackson and produced or did something with his documentary before his name was removed from it due to his gay porn-producing past. He is now currently married to Debbie Rowe, the mother of Paris and Prince..Fred Schaffel was his name.

R77’s is the most interesting story in this thread

R79 HFPA members are well known to have second jobs to augment their income. And it’s not just parking cars. Something that’s been said for years among the film community in LA is, “On the night the Golden Globes are given, you can’t find a decent waiter in Los Angeles.”

I had no idea. It is super interesting to me. I love stories like that

R81 At least parking cars and waiting tables is honest work. HFPA members are notorious for taking bribes. Meshulam Riklis spent a fortune with them on Pia Zadora. Real film people hold the HFPA in contempt. My father routinely referred to them as “those jokers.” But everyone in town looks forward to their annual ceremony since it’s less serious than the Oscars and people can have more uninhibited fun. I’ll give them that.

My sister. In Hollywood in the 80s. She had three nose jobs to look less "ethnic," which is what her agent(s) recommended. She started off in an acting class with George Clooney, Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick Swayze. Her biggest success was in a few made-for-TV movies and as an uncredited hostage in Die Hard. She still receives surprisingly good royalties from Die Hard, and it's fun to watch the movie and hear her scream. I'd know her voice anywhere. She met a man, and they left Hollywood together and married. Her last big gig was being Jonathon Winters' stand-in in a sitcom. She segued into regional theatre, and now teaches an exercise class.

The son of a woman I worked with. His career was going nowhere when he got a small role on a hit cable show. Then he got a supporting role on a big network show that lasted for around 7;years. The shows been over for many years and he’s yet to get another good acting job. He’s funny looking and not a great actor. I’m not sure what his future looks like now. Getting older just makes it harder for him. You can be fairly famous one day and then nothing.

I used to work in a high-end hotel bar that had live entertainment. One of the regular musicians was a really handsome guy who had a good-looking girlfriend. Both were trying to make it as actors. One night I was watching TV and I saw the musician's girlfriend in a commercial. I told the musician about it and he said, "Oh, good, she'll make some money from that." That's how I found out that acting in commercials is a decent gig.

Alas, I don't think either of them made it very far as actors. I don't see either of them in commercials, even. I've forgotten what the GF looked like, but I'd definitely remember the musician if I saw him again.

r84 if he landed a hit series that lasted more than 5 years he may be getting residuals. Pre-Netflix was the goal to be on a show that went into syndication.

I did. Ask me anything.

R87 What was it like? How did it turn out? Any advice for the hopeful?

R87, did you get to meet any big names?

I had some success in NYC off and on. I felt I had become a good actor and I wasn’t getting enough TV auditions. I looked at Ross Reports (a little booklet that lists agents and casting directors) and all the shows in NYC fit on half a page but the project in LA filled 14 pages, I just felt my odds would be better in LA so I wrote letters to agents in LA and told them I wanted to meet with them. Then I followed up with a phone call. I flew out to LA for a week and stayed with a friend. None of the agents were that interested but I called all the agents again and an assistant asked for my reel. I gave it to her, she liked it, she showed it to her boss, he liked it, and he shared it with the whole office and they liked it. I met with them and they signed me. Shall I continue or do you want to ask specific questions?

R89- After I booked a TV show, I was given an opportunity to play in the NBA Entertainment League. I played basketball with/against Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Ice Cube, Adam Sandler and more. Also met Rosie Perez who watched one of the games. She thought I was funny. I’ve also met lots of actors at parties and gifting suites: Debbie Allen, Paris Hilton, Cicely Strong, Sarah Paulson, Cuba Gooding Jr, Laverne Cox, and more. I’ve shared a hot tub with Wentworth Miller and Gerard Butler on separate occasions. Other questions?

Wentworth Miller and Gerard Butler? Lucky dog! What were they like?

Well, it was 2005, and I was staying in a nice apartment building in BH adjacent temporarily while I found a new place. There was a pool and hot tub on the roof. I went up there one day and it was just him in the hot tub. He was nice. We talked about our careers. He told me about movies he was working on. He wasn’t a huge movie star yet but he had done Phantom.

Wentworth I met twice. When we were filming the marketing campaign for the new season on FOX (he was doing Prison Break and I was on Bones. I was on a break and wandered past his dressing room and he invited me in. Neither of us were famous yet because our shows hadn’t premiered. He was nice. I think he was somewhat interested in me. We talked about acting and our past projects. Then several years later, I was at Burke Williams spa and naked. Wentworth was already in the hot tub and I got it. I don’t remember what we talked about. His show had been canceled and I had left my show.

Got IN, that is. First paragraph was about Gerard Butler.

R93 Are you still living/working in LA?

Who cares R95, tell us about the celebrity peen!

R95- I live in NYC where I have always had an apartment.

R90 You sound pretty well organized and you have tenacity. Your demo reel must have been pretty persuasive. Congratulations! I’ve been retired from writing and a few other odd jobs for more than ten years, but I like to keep up with what’s going on in the business. I’m in LA. Are you doing much online auditioning? Is there any significant change from when you started out and today? Do you still have the same representation? I sound pretty nosy, but I’m curious. If you’d rather not respond, that’s understandable.

R5 it's Evangeline Lily!

R98- Thanks. My reel was scenes from guest spots on "100 Centre Street" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and a scene from a movie I did called "On_Line." I was proud of it and it never did me any good until that moment when the assistant asked for it. All my TV and film auditions have been self-taped and submitted online and I like doing it that way. If I mess up, I do it over again. Doing "Bones" really destroyed my ability to memorize lines and I think I lost out on a lot of work because of a string of bad auditions after I left "Bones." Almost everything is self-tape. That would be the most significant change. I do not have the same representation now that I did when I moved to LA.. However, one of the agents at that agency is now my manager. Theatrically, I have been repped by 10 different agencies over my 28 year professional career. I've also had two different commercial/voice over agencies and two different personal appearance agencies. Theatrically, I'm currently represented by one agency in NYC and a completely different agency in LA. They are great. I'm quite content.

More questions?

R50, is this who you are referring to—the girl who dated James Woods? I used to work with someone who knew this girl’s parents who were NOT thrilled she was dating James Woods. This was over 20 years ago.

I know a lady who decided she wanted to act in her late 40s/early 50s and actually snagged an agent. She’s definitely a “character” type, but has been in a few things. Never gone to Hollywood, but has done productions in New Orleans, Atlanta, Nashville, and Memphis. Very small or non speaking roles in a few big movies, some small recurring roles on a few cable shows, and bigger parts in a couple of indie movies. I was very surprised it worked out even that well for her. I believe she has given it up to spend more time with her family, but good for her for achieving what she did.

The odds of actually being able to earn a decent living. let alone getting really famous and wealthy are miniscule. Which makes me annoyed at those actors who self-destroy their careers .

I have a question for C list Actor.

I’ve read that residuals for television work isn’t what people think it is. Do u find that Bones residuals has really sustained you through lean years?

r100 I know who you are :D.

(R100), thank you for the insight. The fact that you have real acting credits already sets you apart from the millions that never even got that far. I can't even imagine how actors deal with rejections and the pressures. You show biz folks are made of stronger stuff than I. Glad you are content and wish you all the best

R100 Thank you very much for your response. It sounds like you’re a dedicated actor. I hope you’re earning a fair amount. A lot of people don’t realize how little many film people earn—on either side of the camera. In a prior DL thread, I mentioned an actress who has been in 36 films or television shows, including a starring role in two films, when not filming, she worked as a waitress. “Just in case.” When I last saw her, she was working as a waitress at Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills, even though she had a feature out at the time. Covid closed the restaurant and I don’t know what she’s doing now, but IMDb says she’s keeping busy.

You mentioned On_Line. I saw that and have met Jed Weintrob. I know he’s now mainly a producer.

I’m very content to be retired, but I’ll always have interest in the business. I’m doing what I can to support the WGA against the assholes at the AMPTP. The majority of writers, like actors, aren’t fairly compensated for what they do.

I wish you all the best.

In film school, my professor, a former Hollywood producer showed up some vids of HBO movies he worked on. One had an actor pretending to crash and lose control of the car about 30 times. The producer said the actor was very bored and he looked it too.

When you see actors in green screen backgrounds and directors yelling cut after 10 seconds of dialogue, jarring 5 seconds of acting here and there, it's a wonder more actors don't leave. Acting can be so BORING. It's not a wonder why some people are like, ok, I've done that and are content to walk away.

I wonder if that's why some actors have temperamental reputations. Acting for 12 hours a day and waiting waiting waiting in trailers for hours just to do a little bit of acting. A director who tells you to do it a way that seems counterintuitive, and may risk your career, having to do promotion for the movie and being asked the same question 50 times, or some stupid questions, or questions that reach too deep into a painful part of your personal life to be 'entertainment' for the public.

It's a wonder why people want to act in Hollywood. It doesn't capture the spirit of interaction like collaborators on stage, or offer the freedom of constraints like an independent, experimental movie that will let actors do their thing.

I liked Missy Crider on the short-lived show The Others. Too bad she had to get involved with that creep, James Woods

Me! I tried for a few years in my early/mid 20s. But I realized that time passes, my odds were low, and the toxicity of Hollywood got old. I also had severe social anxiety, which I realized wasn't a match for that industry. So I made a career change and went into academia -- where the egos can be just as large, if not larger, than in Hollywood. Some professors demonstrate a brutality that would rival any in a studio. Rejection is also super-common. My social anxiety held me back there, too; it wasn't something I could escape. But fortunately I found an excellent therapist who helped a lot. After some struggles, I have finally made it.

I had a younger co-worker (mid 20's) who left our boring (yet very stable) office, moved to L.A. to try to be a singer. Trying to get gigs at clubs, trying out for reality competition shows, etc.

I saw him perform once, and he was a competent singer I suppose (I'm not really a music person), but he didn't blow me away.

He was back in around 9 months I heard later and got a job with the same type of company (insurance). This was around 6 years ago. Second hand what I was told, was he not only could not get any auditions, but he just was not prepared for how expensive L.A. was/is. Hard to find a job that allows for the kind of flexibility performers need, and yet pays enough to actually live there.

I felt bad for him. He is a nice kid.

A guy I went to high school with was hot but dumb as a box of rocks. Somehow he has managed to have a pretty decent career as a producer of those cheap “faith based” movies.

[quote] Doing "Bones" really destroyed my ability to memorize lines and I think I lost out on a lot of work because of a string of bad auditions after I left "Bones." Almost everything is self-tape.

R100, why /how did "Bones" destroy your ability to memorize lines?

What is "self-tape"?

Thank you for all your posts. I found them interesting.

r114 it means he taped his own auditions so he can edit it rather than submit a reel.

R114 I think what he meant is that the ad libbing of some of the dialogue in Bones hampered some of his subsequent work. That’s what happens when we writers are dispensed with! Actually, some of the ad libbing was effective.

r51 sounds like he was in House Of Cards

[quote]r114 What is "self-tape"?

I’m not who you’re asking, but will try to explain.

When an actor reads for a role in film or TV, they go into a casting director’s office and read a requested scene. This, or a subsequent, audition is taped and sent to the director and producers, because all those people have a vote as to who’s chosen but they can’t all be at every audition. It would just take too much of their time.

At some point it occurred to someone - probably an actor - that if the end result was to be a tape of them performing this scene, they could just get the pages, shoot it at home themselves and then forward it. That way they don’t have to spend half a day fighting traffic, finding parking, hanging out in a reception area alongside their competition, read against an intern, and pray that they themselves are “on” that day and performing well.

Also, if you tape the scene at home you have a few takes to choose from. You can even tinker with the lighting. And you could be halfway around the world, either on vacation or shooting a current project.

I tried and failed. I got a decent studio, rent controlled apt, and hit early with a job that got me my SAG card. Did student films for exposure and one day, I've told this before, attended a gay actor/comedian symposium at the Cagney Boardroom and listened to Jason Stuart talk about how he knew it was difficult to make it to the top, but he never anticipated CLAWING his way to the MIDDLE. I went back home, gave my landlord notice and moved back home.

This year I am taking an honorable withdrawal from SAG-AFTRA. I can use the 200 bucks elsewhere.

My cousin's daughter. She is below average in looks, chubby, and doesn't have the best voice but she has confidence to burn and a lot of energy. She is now going to be 36 and is working as a part time teacher in LA, I hate to say it but I don't think she is ever going to be successful.

If r51's guy was on House of Cards I wonder if he got touched by the Spaceman

r51 was he Will Conway on HOC? HAWT

My brother's roommate. I saw him in some small plays in Chicago and thought he wasn't really talented - although he majored in drama at university.

Moved to LA and he's had steady work in small roles in series and I've seen him in about a dozen national commercials (which can pay pretty well) - but I know he's been in more like 80 or 90 commercials.

Seems to be doing relatively well and steady work in small roles several times each year - but no real fame. He probably makes a decent living too.

C-list Actor is Eric Millegan.

So how do people who actually make it to the top do it? Is it mostly connections, looks, and timing?

How to make it in Hollywood according to the LA Times.

Sorry if this is double posted. I didn’t see it show up,

R105- Residuals have been good to me but that’s because our show is everywhere. We went on TNT after only 3 seasons and played all day almost everyday. We are currently on BBC America, Cozy, and WE. I’m pretty much on TV everyday and for whatever reason they play my three seasons more than the other 9. I get residuals in several categories: basic cable, syndication, DVD, pay TV, internet, and foreign. I also get foreign royalties. Of course, the amount gradually decreases. At its peak, I made about 105K per year. Last year, I made about half that so I’m working as a peer counselor at a mental health respite to make ends meet living in NYC.

R105- Residuals have been good to me but that’s because our show is everywhere. We went on TNT after only 3 seasons and played all day almost everyday. We are currently on BBC America, Cozy, and WE. I’m pretty much on TV everyday and for whatever reason they play my three seasons more than the other 9. I get residuals in several categories: basic cable, syndication, DVD, pay TV, internet, and foreign. I also get foreign royalties. Of course, the amount gradually decreases. At its peak, I made about 105K per year. Last year, I made about half that so I’m working as a peer counselor at a mental health respite to make ends meet living in NYC.

To R124. Did you ever Fuck anyone famous or infamous during your career?

R108- what did you think of On_Line. Jed was great to work with.

a friend from college tried to make it as an actor, he appeared in sitcoms in minor roles. he did OK but now he teaches acting in a university in flyover land,

another college buddy made it. he is a manager to A PLUS actor. A Plus actor has lots of managers due to various business interests and he's one of them. This actor has won awards and my friend was always thanked in his speeches

R130 It’s been a little more than 20 years since I saw On_line. I saw it just once. I generally see a film at least twice before forming an opinion. I remember being a bit confused by how various pieces of the film fit together. I know about the multi-camera approach the director took and was impressed by how he marshaled it all together. Thinking back about my impression, the principal thing I remember is the suicide website.

No, R116, I didn’t ad lib at all. Basically, I was shooting an episode while memorizing the next. The lines were complicated medical-speak. Of course, if I messed up a line, I could just back up and say the line again. That process was new to me. Yes, when you watch a scene on TV, it’s possible if not likely that we never got through the scene without messing up. It’s just cut together and you’d never know otherwise.

R129- yes. A Congressman, a Broadway composer, and a soap opera star. You’ve heard of all 3.

R124. Yes. A Congressman, a soap opera star, and a Broadway composer. All of them very famous.

Congressman....would that be the Cockgobbler?

My husband went to school with a guy that is a working actor. He has been on a few 'Law & Order" a commercial here and there and some children's feature films (always the flustered dad role). He has settled into stage work. He is in his 60's now. He eeeks by financially , but bless him- he does it for the sheer joy of acting. I have to respect that. An artists heart and soul.

i don't know if this person can be considered as "made it". He acted in small parts, was in movie with Clint Eastwood. speaking parts. He does OK and more importantly, he has a rent controlled apt in NYC.

Which Clint Eastwood movie? Gran Torino?

Haven't read all the posts, so I apologize. I had a teenage girlfriend who extra-ed when a major movie came to film in our city for a few days. She was fucked by someone working on the film (not an actor) and convinced to travel with them, promised to see Hollywood. I never heard from her again.

R119 I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you, but sometimes it’s necessary to call it quits and do something else. Covid really screwed up activities at the Cagney Boardroom, but I’d imagine things are pretty much back to normal now. I’ve accompanied several actor friends to programs there, and I was always struck by the combination of anxiety and optimism shown by the crowd. The mood was so different from WGA meetings, which tend to be more about anger.

OMG, Dr. Addy is a Data Lounger!

I really hate how the writers fucked up your character. Or was it David or Emily?

Did you see David's jo sex video?

I knew a girl who was incredibly pretty in that bombshell 60s way and she went west. She lived in LA about five years. She’s flighty and not that talented, but that’s not what did her in.

What did her in was a lack of cash. If you have to spend all your time making ends meet, you can’t be spending all your time auditioning/taking classes/sucking the right producer dick.

R143- I honestly have no idea who was responsible. It wasn’t Emily (we’re friends) and it wasn’t David (he told me he was bummed about it).

I stopped watching a few episodes after you left, Zach. I didn't like it as much anymore. Sometimes a character leaves and the show isn't the same show you used to like. A more recent example is The Resident. After Emily VanCamp left, I wasn't as interested anymore. Haven't watched it in a couple of years.

A guy I knew from the theater program at university. I tried to be friends with him but he was an insecure narcissist to the highest degree. He “didn’t initiate conversation” with people as he was above everyone else.

He thought he was going to make it big on Glee and treated everyone like shit.

According to his IMDB he has a fewer than 25 credited and uncredited roles combined. I’m not surprised as he has a face that looks like the British actor Toby Jones but with a wider nose.

And yet they brought back and used Dr. Addy in the Puppeteer series and showed how Zach was behind finding a treatment for Hodgin's paralysis. Two bad long-arcs crossing. The Gormagon plot line was stupid and unnecessary. The Hodgin's paralysis was stupid and unnecessary.

My cousin worked in production for several years. She worked fairly consistently, but she had to put up with a lot of craziness, high stress-screaming types, though I suspect she has some mental health/temper issues of her own. I remember her telling some story about working on production that Rita Wilson was involved in & she was really annoyed by her behavior instead of just shrugging it off, particularly since Tom was at the height of his career at the time. She's never left LA though, I think she's like a bartender or something like that, but I think she just likes being around that world even if she's not exactly part of it.

I'm fascinated by the Hollywood hierarchy and all the phoniness and hypocrisy

I grew up in a poor town where a handful of families owned everything, they weren't really rich, more well-to-do. A girl who was a member of two of these families made a big deal about being an actress when she grew up. Her first IMDB credit is as a stand-in on an episode of ER in 2004. In the past 19 years, she has racked up a mere 13 more credits, in projects like a short where she plays "Bitchy Partygoer." Besides the ER role, her only other actual TV role is as an intern on an episode of Gray's Anatomy, everything else is shorts and web series.

Oh, freshman year of college, I was friends with a straight guy who went to another college that wanted to be a filmmaker. We had a falling out and he spread a (FALSE) rumor that I was in love with him and made a pass at him.

He flunked out of college and stayed in the midwestern town where we went to school, and I presumed that is where he would stay. According to IMDB, he was a production assistant on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (I hope she abused him), made a few shorts, was editor for a bunch of reality shows and wrote for the cartoons Hot Streets and Tig N' Seek.

I hate him and hope he gets hit by a truck.

Me. I am from a small town (not so small anymore) and I really wanted to direct movies. I applied and got into UCLA's film school in the 90's and was on top of the world thinking it would open doors and someday I'd work on some Star Wars thing. Boy was I wrong.

After graduation, no one would hire me. Of course, this was in the 90's when no one would hire women on film productions. I finally got an editing gig at an adult company and well, as of next week, I'll have spent 27 years in that industry. I've won Best Editing several times and been nominated 23 times...was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2019 one of only two editors to be honored that way. I've worked on short films for people throughout the years and even had a few TV gigs that lasted a few weeks but try as I might, I cannot make the cross over into mainstream. I think people think "adult" and judge me for that. I've given up trying to "make it" as I keep meeting younger people who have only been editing for a few years who are getting onto major shows. I can edit circles around them but whatever. Up until a few years ago, I maxed out at 60 grand a year which is NOTHING compared to what mainstream editors make. I'll never be able to retire and I cannot work freelance because I had cancer and need health insurance now.

I often question my choices in life. I wasted so much time and money going to a film school that got me nowhere. Not only that, but the few mainstream gigs I worked they worked me so many hours that I wanted to die. I hate Hollywood and whenever someone tells me they want to work in film I tell them to run. It's a horrible industry that is built on nepotism. Sadly, I knew no one who could get me anywhere. And yes, I networked and networked and networked. It fucking sucks.

Pornchick - you are loved and admired here.

That passive voice at R154 is like a lump of grease in the center of a bon bon.

r153 that stinks.

Thanks, Mrs at r154.

I should add I know a lot of people, including actors who tried to make it in Hollywood. One of my dear friends was an actress in many popular tv shows over the years. She would be considered C list I guess but she had consistent work until she got older. Now she's producing and seems to like it but says it's very stressful. She wants to bring me onto some of her productions as the editor but it's all considered "freelance" and thus, no health insurance. My other actor friends have been in a lot of stuff but only work every now and then. Most of them do side gigs to pay the bills.

I know a woman who tried to make it in Hollywood and had a moment in the 60's. She also was in a play with Alan X and Gene Hackman. She made a few movies as a supporting player or a B-list lead, flopped and did some TV for a while, mostly a stint in Knots Landing. She then fell even lower and started selling illegal substances in a trailer park, and was rescued by a team of well wishers who somehow persuaded Alan X to fly her to London, where she declared that she was the love of his life, even though he was otherwise engaged, then blackmailed him on his death bed when she "discovered" that he had a man in his life. She took a quarter of a million as a pay off for her silence and went back to the US. her whereabouts are not known. No name.

"I never thought I'd make it here in Hollywood..."

R158 well that escalated quickly 😳

What about initials r158?

It’s Joanna Pettet R161.

Jesse moved to Hollywood to take his great chance With a dream in his heart and a blade in his pants Jesse waited tables in the fancy place at Robinson When David Harses's daughter strutted in and spotted him She said, "Hey, little cutie, you're a beauty follow me?"

And took him to all the best parties in the city Introduced to the new producers on the scene He did all he could to get his face on the screen Jesse learned how to slouch with his ass on the casting couch And took it like a champ when they passed him around

He read script after script and sucked a whole lotta dick But the only films that Jesse ever made were Jacko flicks So one night he took the blade that he got from his pops Dragged it across his throat and left a note in the mailbox

Growing up in Hollywood, I’ve seen many chase the LA dream. About 40% of my gay friends came here to break into showbiz—only a few made it, mostly as low level studio execs, managers, etc. Not one mafr it as actors or singers.

My best friend, arrived to dance but works as a child actor agent. He rides open calls, though his finds rarely make it. Recently, he vowed to sign kids with a strong online presences, and he's ready to exit the circus and retire.

For some reason, as someone who grew up in a suburb in the Northeast, I've known many people who went to Hollywood and some did make it. The reason I guess is that I studied theater and also was an actor but only on stage.

One went to LA in the '80s, never heard about him again. He went at the same time as a woman I knew. She did a little better. She's been on some network shows in small parts, some leads in online series. She got married and raised a kid and runs a Shakespeare theater for teens. Another guy, I just ran into the other day in the supermarket. He went before I knew him--he's now in his mid-'70s. Did some Showcases in LA with people like Tyne Daly. Came home after about a year.

An acting teacher of mine at college (only a few years older than me) got on Another World, then had recurring roles on a couple of big sitcoms. Another guy I knew at college got on Broadway, in a recurring role on Newhart, and was in a sci-fi series, died young though.

Another guy became a standup comedian and an actor and has been on some TV shows and on Broadway.

Several of them thought I was good and good looking, and encouraged me, but things didn't work out because of some family obligations. I haven't acted for many years.

I also knew a guy at college who was in my film class, he knew very little about film, I think he was a business major. I read some years ago that he was a producer at Columbia pictures.

And...there was a kid who lived on my street, who ended up going to LA, working for Nickelodeon and creating an animated TV series. Another guy from my home town became a standup comedian and later a comedy writer and producer.

My mother went to school with Elizabeth Short (Medford High) and my partner went to school with Liza (Scarsdale).

Both became famous.

<- The Black Dahlia?

R169 Yes, the Black Dahlia. I have my mom's yearbook, I couldn't wait to look her up but then Ma said she left school early and didn't graduate with the class.

I do have my partners yearbook as well, and there's a photo of Liza doing Anne Frank with the drama club, which is cool.

Personally, I was in school with a kid who was a one-hit-wonder with a pop song, I rode the bus with Robyn Asimov (Isaac's kid) and Nancy Glass was in my Junior High class but I don't think anyone knows who she is anymore.

(The one hit was " Lay a little loving on me")

My dad also went to high school with Elizabeth Short and lived down the street from her.

^My dad actually knew her sister, not her. He was a couple years younger.

R171 Medford High, the Blue and White!

I knew one person who tried to move there about 15 years ago.

Nice guy, bless his heart, but he was not meant for H'wood. He was a bearish guy and also had ADHD or something....could not organize himself to go to auditions to save his life.

I didn't know them personally, but there were two different people who became somewhat famous from my hometown area.

Julie Benz was one. I'm not exactly sure when or where she went to HS. Friends of mine knew her siblings, two of them were ice skaters and trying to compete for the nationals or Olympics, I think.

Manu Narayan is the other. I think he has more Broadway credits than TV or film but he's got his own Wikipedia page, for whatever that's worth.

I had a chance to join a summer writing program in college that would have taken me to NYC and gotten me into a track of working for Procter and Gamble to possibly write for one of their soap operas. Turning that down is a huge regret, but I was fighting to keep a C average at school at that time (battling with a homophobic English professor) and had no money to finance my first few months in NYC.

R173 The building is now condos. The auditorium is the Chevalier Theater, that has somefamous concert acts play there.

I auditioned for NYU's MFA in acting and was accepted, but after 4 yrs of college I couldn't swing it, money-wise.

Do reality "stars" count?

Albert Hammond wrote about this

^How was that guy not bigger? So good.

Two, both a year ahead of me in high school. One was a bigtime casting director, now retired; the other had roles in a couple of films including “Hair.”

The weren’t close but they were the two most out queens in high school which was saying something in the late 1960s. Both great guys but the actor was the second person I knew who died of HIV - early on, like 1983.

And Jonathan Richman (though not from high school) if you count “There’s Something About Mary” but he’s an always been an asshole.

My cousin tried to become an actor. Got a part on a soap (forget which one) and was let go for being an asshole, his mom said he was always complaining to producers about something. I don't even think he was hired for a few months, just a few episodes. He now has his own little business cleaning fish tanks in restaurants.

I knew 2 girls in high school, one was in my English class who was gorgeous and photogenic. She did some local modeling and her agent got her a part in a teenage horror movie filming in Miami. Nothing ever came of it since she thought she could sit on her ass and everything would fall in her lap because of her looks. She ended up marrying her high school boyfriend and became a stay at home mom.

The other girl was 2 grades above me and had moved from NY to Florida. She told everyone after high school she was going to be an actress. Not wanted to be, was GOING to be. I didn't think she was conceited, just very New Yorky and determined. After she graduated in 1982, she did just that.

She never became A-list, or even B-list, but she does have an IMDb page and she married into the Van Patten family. Her name is Nancy Valen and she married Nels Van Patten, son of Dick. They're still married.

Yeah, one of my college friends became a TV star. He’s not a household name really but he’s worked steadily. He’s in MAYFAIR WITCHES at the moment.

Here’s a good one and I’m gleefully typing this out. My bitch narcissistic sister moved to Hollywood in her late-wait for it - 50’s to become a star. Her husband has some money so she hoodwinked him into this escapade. Of course she failed -miserably as she is nothing more than a narcissistic basket of hypersensitivity and I finally had enough and am enjoying never speaking to her again as long as I live.

I did. His name was Kevin. He was a friend of my older brother. He looked like the Tarzan guy Miles O'Keefe. After a year there he shot himself in the head. I was in sixth grade. He used to let me punch him in the stomach so he could prove how fit he was and how great his abs were. I could never hurt him. Now that I'm remembering he had a twin brother named Keith. Random memories.

I don’t think someone like Anne Haney or Kathryn Joosten can make it these days. Both solid character actresses who stared acting in community/regional theater in their 30’s/40’s then after losing their husbands decided to give Hollywood a try and had success soon after. They didn’t become big stars but they worked continuously until they died. Neither had big connections but were talented and interesting enough to make it.

A older friend’s nephew went to LA with nothing. Took every job he could get and eventually became a big producer. Won an Academy Award for some picture and an Emmy for Queen’s Gambit. Can’t remember his name. But pretty good Hollywood success story.

R186 I did know a guy who was in community theater who then got into some regional theater and maybe less than a year after he went to LA I saw him on TV in some commercials, and on X Files and some other show. Guy was in his 50s.

Someone I work with knows the kid who plays Anthony LaRusso on Cobra Kai. Grew up in Portland Maine.

My father had the dream. He never chased it until in his fifties he got discovered at a cocktail party in Dallas. Until he died 12 years later he worked non-stop making commercials, and one of them won a Clio. Happiest times of his life. He got to say "Mornin' Tom" to Eli Wallach in a film, and he was cast in Paris, Texas but his part was edited out. So not technically Hollywood but he didn't even really try and made it anyway.

what puzzles this eldergay is the trend toward reality programming and showcasing oneself on social media.

I assume a great number of people head to LA seeking a reality gig....fuck acting school.

My Cousin was a nurse in NYC and when she officially retired, she became a professional extra in NYC and made a good living at it. I don't think there's anything that was filmed in NYC that she wasn't in the background in. She had some great stories and lots and lots of patience

A close friend had a nice run on You Think You Can Dance but didnt make the finale. He had a few small roles on Madame President and the Hawaii 5-0 and that’s about . I think now he’s managing his family’s business, a shame he’s attractive and can act as well.

A daughter of one of my clients went to UCLA and was in the same class with Tim Robbins, Darren Starr and Daphne Zuniga. Everyone knew Tim R was going to make it, including him. She never thought Daphne was anything special, but she and Darren were like BFF’s, so when he switched to writing he made sure brought her along.

The daughter dropped out after two years. Parents were wealthy and I don’t think she wanted to try that hard.

I live in LA so of course I know many who have careers in Hollywood and many, many who crashed and burned.

A friend from high school. He started acting as a child in our mid-size Southern town. In high school and right after, he got bit parts on a few TV shows (ER is the only one I remember). His major claim to "fame" was voicing the main character in a major Disney animated feature in the early 2000s.

Since then he's written and directed a bunch of independent films and done a lot of voice acting and theater work. I guess he's done pretty well, even if he never became famous.