First, I would like to apologize for
not posting last week. Konnie wasn’t feeling well, but she didn’t inform me
until Wednesday morning, and I had trouble sleeping the night before. I mean, she told me she was sick; I finally fell asleep. Enough said.
This week is my turn, and I haven’t
been feeling well, but I am awake and thankfully, able to think.
And what is on my mind is the fact
that I am a slow reader. I have always been, and I think I’ve mentioned this
before, because my slow reading speed caused me some issues in college. Well, it
isn’t all that fun in everyday life either.
Growing up, I learned the real names of TV actors generally when our big sister grew tired of me calling them by their characters’ names and informed me of their actual names.
The credits on TV shows usually run
so fast, I can’t read them. Sometimes, if I watch the credits a lot, I can
manage the main characters’ real names, but not much more.
Movie credits are thankfully slower,
which helps.
Another thing about me is that I’m
usually fairly good at remembering faces and can generally place where I’ve
seen a face before. If I’ve seen an actor in something else, I can usually tell
where.
So on with what is bugging me.
I watched the premiere of Star Trek
TNG. I was, after all, an adult when it came out, and I grew up watching Star
Trek. (Big fan here.)
So, right off, I spotted Brent
Spiner. I didn’t know his real name at the time, but I had certainly seen him
on Night Court.
I also spotted Johnathan Frakes. I
knew two things about him. He’d been part of a two-episode storyline on Highway
to Heaven, and I knew there was a connection between him and the soap star Genie
Francis. Names came later. I did recognize him, though.
Lavare Burton was easy to spot
because, despite being an adult, I liked Reading Rainbow. I even knew his name.
Of course, he introduced himself in Reading Rainbow; I didn’t need to read credits.
By the way, I did not connect him with Roots until I read an article about him.
I knew him from Reading Rainbow.
Then there’s the guy who played Worf.
Now his makeup was so complete there was no chance of placing his face, but man, his voice rang a bell! The problem was I absolutely couldn’t place where I’d heard
it before.
This fact has bothered me all
through the TNG series, the movies, and DS9. Where do I know that voice? It’s
so rich, so deep, and so memorable, I know that voice! I just couldn’t ever
place it, not even after that DS9 episode where Sisko dreams he’s a magazine writer
in like the 1950s. All the main actors from DS9 are in the dream sequences,
but of course, Dorn wasn’t in his Worf makeup. It didn’t help; I still couldn’t
place him (whose name I finally got off the credits from Generations).
Then just last week, I was scrolling
through Facebook and came across a post about “Where are they now” for the
stars of the old TV series CHIPS. Another show I really enjoyed growing up. So,
I actually watched the whole thing with pictures of the actors from the show and pictures of the actors now.
Can anybody guess who the last actor
they showed was?
Michael Dorn!
The big, gorgeous, tall guy with the
big bushy mustache and all that hair from CHIPS was played by Michael Dorn! The
guy doesn’t have the mustache or hair anymore, but he’s still got that too die
for voice! I could kick myself for not placing him sooner!
I might point out that, in the years
since TNG, DS9, and Voyager, I have spotted some of those actors in other shows. After
all, I do know them. I loved TNG, DS9, and Voyager. Though I think the one I enjoyed
spotting again was Pam Dawber on NCIS. Even though she’s aged a bit from her
days on Mork and Mindy, she was easy to pick out because her voice and
profile haven’t changed.
It was great seeing her again. But even before
she showed up on NCIS, I had read an article about her and Mark Harmon and how
she gave up acting to raise their kids. So, it was doubly nice to see her on
the screen again.
It was also nice to spot Marina Sirtis
on NCIS, but she’s changed enough that it took me several minutes to place her. I
did place her!
Anyway, happy writing, everyone!
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