The Cosmic Consternation of Compatibility (Part Three): "A Class Act"

Wandering into the dimly lit saloon on an unemployed afternoon to commiserate with a bartender friend, I out-stretched my arms and inched my way in the darkness with grabby hands toward what appeared to be a row of stools.

“Here!  I gotcha!” a man’s voice called out to me as he gently led me ala a seeing-eye dog to a seat while my eyes adjusted from the sunny outdoors.  “Let me guess; your first time here?” he laughed jovially.

And coming to learn that my bartender friend had been scheduled for a later shift than I anticipated, ‘The Regulars’ warmly welcomed me like a nestling under their collective wing as they absolutely FASCINATED me with hours of personal tales from their experiences in “old” Hollywood!

“So, what do you do for a living, Penny?” mustached Tony, who had led me through the darkness asked pleasantly.

“Oh, I’m just mostly a stand-in and kind of an actor” I kerfuffled lamely as I was relatively certain that my weensy three-line uncredited role of “Valley Girl #1” on a sit-com  wasn’t significantly worth mentioning in the moment.

“Hey, I’m an Actor too!” Tony beamed.  “We all gotta start somewhere, kiddo!” he cheered me on, as he bought me a beer.  “Do you have your SAG card yet?” he asked delicately as I nodded weakly (yeah, for like TWO years at that time?).  “Well then, from now on Penny, I want you to hold your head up high and confidently state “Yes, I am an ACTOR!””

And thus, I became friends with my first Real Live Movie Star mentor.

Now, with no ill-will toward the Facebook franchise with your thousands of “friends”, nor any disrespect to my Hollywood acquaintances (whom we all air-kiss and hug when we’re randomly reunited at work), but 'Uncle Tony’ was indeed, by the truest definition of what the word used to mean, my FRIEND.

“So how’s Hollywood treating ya these days, kiddo?” Tony would randomly call out of the blue if we hadn’t seen each other in a while before he flew off to shoot yet another Feature Film. 

And filling him in on my small-screen life, he was forever my cheerleader who always reminded me to metaphorically and quite literally keep my chin up.  (“If you do that Penny, even on a lousy show, at least your lighting will look good!”)

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“Uck, uck, uck, I totally SUCK at auditioning” I flung my head against the bar dismally some years later, as I’d been offered the rare opportunity to perform for the Casting Director for a small part on an extremely popular Network one-hour dramedy.

“Now, now, don’t get too much inside your own head” Tony gently warned me.  “What actually happened?” he wanted the specific details.

“Well, the gorgeous young girl with the stupid dazzling white teeth and the stupid perky nose and the stupidly toned perfect body who went in before me was OBVIOUSLY what they were really looking for...” I started my tirade of insecurity.

“Stop right there, Pen” Tony interrupted me.  “You can never ever presume to know what a Casting Director might want.  In fact, if she was THAT spectacular, hands down the Actresses on that particular show would’ve demanded that she be fired on the spot if they thought she might be unwelcome competition.” 

Hunh.

To be completely honest, I’d never once in my “Hollywood” life at that time, ever been taught to appreciate the supreme importance of Individuality.

“Anything else?” Tony asked, as I mulled over the afternoon.

“Well, one girl came in armed with a headful of extra dialogue to flush out the audition as she ad-libbed a lot of words.  I could hear her through the door” I confessed, thinking at the time that I should’ve been more prepared too.

“OK.  Quick question.  How many Writers do you have on your current Sit-Com?” Tony asked.

“Maybe five to seven?” I guessed.

“And how long is a general episode?” he wondered.

“Around twenty minutes, give or take?” I estimated.

“Alright Pen, this is the harsh reality here.  Writers with limited time want to hear only their words.  They’re up all night, they conjugate their sentences precisely, and they have NO desire to be upstaged or rewritten by an Actor.”

Hunh.

Again, I had learned a lesson that is seldom untold, but I took to heart!

>>><<< 

Practically “Ethel Mertzing” Tony the next day after seeing him perform on CSI (the original series) on my small screen, I couldn’t hardly believe that my Real Live Movie Star friend would succumb to and accept being cast as an Hispanic gardener.  

“Oh, we filmed that a while ago” he smiled fondly.  “Thanks for telling me, Pen!  I’ll look forward to the residual check!” he cheered my beer happily.  “I’m not sure why I so often get cast as a Mexican when I’m actually Italian, but like I said, you never know what they want!  And that’s why WE are Actors!” he included me into his echelon without so much as a blink.

>>><<< 

Aside from the unadulterated advice that Tony departed to me throughout the years as an Actor, I shall forever remember him not only as my beloved mentor; but my drinking buddy too (of course!); the gentleman who never had a bad word to say about a single soul; a Real True Movie Star (who, despite his stardom, would ACTUALLY ride the BUS with me when I absolutely refused to ever drink and drive again in my lifetime – Seriously... a Movie Star on the METRO making sure that nobody groped me?!); and who should always be remembered for the phenomenal Gift that he was to all of us who were blessed to know him.

So, with equal parts of Sadness and Love, I hereby raise a glass of cheer to you, Tony Genaro.

You are truly missed, my dear friend.     

And I also hereby promise to remember to hold my head up high and share a cocktail with you when they honor you “In Memoriam” at the Oscars! 

(I know you wouldn’t have it any other way!)