Back 1973 I was asked by a young director (Larry Lancit) at the SCETV Network to come over and try out for a part in a musical show starring Gloria Loring...At that time she was starring in a daytime soap opera called,"Days of Our Lives".Her husband then was Alan Thicke and he and Larry were co-directors of a new show which was called "Play It Again Uncle Sam"...Well I was very skeptical about applying for a roll in this show since I had never aspired to be an actor or singer...Larry said they were looking for someone to portray an old sea dog who sings with his crew while they haul the lines of the ship...
So I walked into the studio at ETV and introduced myself...Back then I was 37 years old with a full head of hair down to my shoulders and a full beard and I weighed a little over 210 pounds...Alan looked at me and said to no one in particular..."Well he looks the part...Can he sing?"...I was ready for him and I started to sing in my best deep falsetto voice..."Poor Judd is dead.... poor Judd Fry is dead..."
I heard Alan say..."Well maybe he can lip sync it!"
And I was hired...
The show was about the history of America using the songs and music from way back then...Most of it was shot down in Charleston SC at the Charlestowne Landing Park...They had a large vessel moored in small creek...It was an old bark that had seen its last days...Large enough for someone to walk the deck and swing on the yard arm rigging...I became that someone...
I had to learn a new song...New for me...but old for all the seamen who sailed around Cape Horn and braved the treacherous seas of our Blue Planet...It was called,"Blood Red Roses" and it was sung by the first mate and the crew whenever they had to haul up the mainsail or haul in the anchor...it was a great experience for me...
Since I had worked for the SCETV for over ten years (as an artist and set designer/builder)and had left to become an art director for a local advertising agency the year previously...I knew most of the crew who worked on the show...They had many a good laugh when I did my thing...Back then they didn't have portable mikes like they do today and there was a long audio line which came out the bottom of my britches...That was a no-no...So what did they do? They had me
lip sync it...It's a good thing I had learned the lines...So...If you
click on the link below you can enjoy an old video from 1973 starring Gloria Loring, Bob Hope, Tommy Smothers, Taj mahal, Henry Mancinni, Sammy Kahn and yours truly...
Enjoy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUDVQIubLm8
(The movie had been put on You Tube by a banjo picker Johnny Fenlayson (banjovi1953) who also had a part in the movie...he looked a lot younger then too)
