Poseidon On Screen

You know, for close to eleven years now, I've been paying tribute to beloved stars of the screen, big and small, and to countless movie and TV projects that I adore. From the age of eighteen (if not before), learning about and devoting free time to classic television and movies has been my passion. It all started with four things. I was obsessed with both Joan Collins of Dynasty and Eleanor Parker of The Sound of Music (1965.) So I began to seek out other projects of theirs from earlier in their careers, which sent me down a rabbit hole full of gorgeous and captivating movies. Then there was the unearthing (after years of being out of circulation) of several 1950s Alfred Hitchcock movies such as Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958.) Once I saw those, I had to see every other sound film he ever made. Then there was a coffee table book I bought called "The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema." In those pre-Internet days, a resource like that was invaluable to a burgeoning classic movie buff. Later, the unbelievably extensive (though still not entirely complete) imdb.com website made it so much easier to research the work of all one's favorite stars or to locate certain programs. Though I have been a local stage performer for 25 years, it never in a million years crossed my mind that one day my own name might be found among the seemingly countless listings of that website. But - as I pinch myself - it is there! I'll get to that in a moment though.

During this recent COVID-19 pandemic, I - like many people - have been sheltering in place and working from home (being lucky enough to still keep my job, as countless others have not!) It's been one wild ride all along. As a single person, the isolation has not in any way been easy, especially when you're a person like myself who practically lives to make other people chortle with laughter at any given moment. In order to do something other than sit at my computer all day during work hours, followed by sitting all night in front of the TV set, I began making short videos, confessionals of a sort, using characters that I dreamed up: Jerrold and Lorabeth Holtmesser. This may or may not be your cup of tea, but on the chance that they might give you a smile during these long, dull days, I am sharing. They run about 3 or 4 minutes as a rule. I am NOT making fun of or light of the virus. This is my coping mechanism for the isolation and my way of trying to lighten the dark mood of the times we're in.

Jerrold is about as far afield from me as you can get! I like to be (or, I should say, used to like to be!) neatly-dressed, carefully-groomed and well-spoken. He is gruff, busted-looking and just this side of trashy. He has a heart of gold underneath his rowdy exterior, though. Lorabeth is his put-upon wife, who does all she can to maintain a comfortable and secure household, but is occasionally undone by the events around her. So far there have been eight of these in all. There is occasional language, but nothing too bad. It began as a simple one-off, but the demands of friends and family dictated that I produce more whenever the germ of an idea struck me. (I say "produce..." these are nearly all done on one-take with a budget of $1.07 - for all eight! LOL I spent one dollar on one prop for one video. Everything else was in my possession as a result of countless Halloweens and theatrical efforts.) Catch me back at the end of this post for more about imdb.com

Jerrold# 1 - The first time we ever meet this grumbling but amusingly raggedy character.

Jerrold# 2 - Jerrold is back with some keen observations about his neighbors. (This video somehow was ended abruptly during upload to youtube, with about 30 non-essential seconds lopped off.)

Jerrold# 3 - The night before Easter and Jerrold is in the house...

Lorabeth# 1 - Our first glimpse of the gently-oppressed wife of Jerrold. (I have put SO much weight on since the pandemic, but even given that I look inexplicably extra-gargantuan in this one! LOL)

Jerrold# 4 - Jerrold is given the task of figuring out a mystery in their general vicinity.

Lorabeth# 2 - Lorabeth comes face-to-face with one of the pandemic's non-medical yet undeniably horrible side effects.

Jerrold #5 - Jerrold's desire to keep a little bit of money on hand at home goes terribly awry...

Lorabeth# 3 - The virus isn't enough. Crazy weather isn't enough. Now this!

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So... onto the next part of this post. I may have mentioned previously that last Fourth of July I took part in the filming of an independent movie. I didn't get my hopes up too awfully high and it is actually the third professional gig I have done for the screen, though the first two projects did not proceed very far. However, this one has really taken off as of late! It has made the rounds of the film festival circuit and been granted quite a few citations/awards, including one for me (albeit as part of the film's Ensemble!)

If you come here often, you know I am always at work. (I haven't taken a single day off this year thus far.) So I was only available a limited period of time to participate in the project. Fortunately, they were filming over a holiday weekend and I could use those days in addition to a little time away from the office with which to join in. The movie (Our Scripted Life, 2020) is about a soap opera actor who's in love with a female costar. In order to win her over, he develops a movie all his own in which he and she can star and, perhaps, fall in love. Midway through the movie, a crazed rural family is introduced of which I play the patriarch, Stump Turner. The role required some aging and graying (yes!) in order for me to play this grizzly, crotchety old farmhand. I really only have one considerable scene with brief appearances a couple of times elsewhere because of my limited participation, so it elated me to find that I was placed upon the film's poster among the rest of the yahoos...!

To further add to the excitement, the movie has just been added to Amazon Prime's lineup of movies for rent or for sale! And, as you may have guessed, this has led to me having an honest to goodness imdb.com profile (with a "starmeter rating" somewhere down below pond scum! LOLOL But I don't care. It's just fun to be a part of it all. But, hey, I got billing on the Amazon page...!) Should you opt to watch this movie, you should be aware that it is in the vein of the popular gross-out comedies we see a lot of these days. The target audience is younger than me (what isn't?!) There is language and also adult situations. My own part is generally free of this, not because I wouldn't do it but because my character is fundamentally religious. Please forgive me for hijacking my own site to publicize myself, but I don't think it's too wrong to do after more than a decade of highlighting so many other people! We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming very soon.  Thanks and love, Poseidon!