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Breaking/Latest News Items:

2015 has begin with some great news! My latest audiobook, THE IDIOT GOVERNMENT REVIEWS by Pete Sortwell, has been approved by both the author and by Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX)!  Not only that, but the author is so pleased by my work that he has asked me to continue on with the next IDIOT GOVERNMENT REVIEWS book!  It should be available for purchase on Audible, Amazon and iTunes by the end of January!

September 2014 was the most incredible month I have ever had in my entire professional career! In the past three weeks, I: 1) booked and shot a speaking role (with ONE line that caused the Casting Director to totally crack up!) on the upcoming comedy series THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT (this episode was shot in my old neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, a few blocks from where I used to have a house!), 2) booked a role in a short film as the owner of a second-hand monumental masonry yard (used gravestones, etc.) which was late October, AND 3) booked a Mastercard spot which was shot in conjunction with SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (meaning that SNL cast members and crew were used)! The spot can be seen at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrfoWmitC4Y

I also had auditions for two more TV series, MANHATTAN LOVE STORY and THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA, a fun VO audition for Bird's Eye and an equally fun VO one as a "Zombie" for AMC‘s THE WALKING DEAD (marketing purposes only, no for on-air use).

I've also just learned that my "Creepy Cabbie" NEWSDAY commercial was renewed!

The World Premiere of the documentary TOWER TO THE PEOPLE: Tesla's Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues, in which I am the Voice of Nikola Tesla, had its World Premiere on Saturday October 4th at the New Yorker Hotel on 34th Street and 8th Avenue (where Tesla used to live)!

In less happy news, I received a phone call from no less than the director of the new Richard Gere film TIME OUT OF MIND in which I booked an on-screen role as "Mousy (Homeless) Guy". He was very kind when he told me that due to time constraints my scene with Ben Vereen had to be cut. However, while slightly disappointing, there's no need for despair; what with "Special Features" on DVD's and Blu-Rays these days, there's every possibility that my scene could be included in a ":Deleted Scenes" section.

On Saturday February 15th, I could be found at the studios of Sirius XM Radio as the Special Guest Host of SETH RUDETSKY'S BIG FAT BROADWAY SHOW, talking with Seth about my experiences and appearances on Broadway courtesy of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.  A 3-1/2 minute clip of the show, which was broadcast on Monday February 18th, can be found on my Audio/Video page.

My local TV spot as "The Sleazy Pawnbroker" for GLOBAL GOLD & SILVER is being seen by everyone (except me!) and widely acclaimed!

My recording of TERROR TALES, a collection of pulp fiction stories, for RadioArchives.com was completed, accepted and submitted to the publisher for mastering and addition of music and opening narration!  Recorded in my very own Recording Booth (which is STILL STANDING!), I can be very proud of the quality of my work on it (even if the actual stories are pretty cheesy!).

A project I worked on in late 2011 has come back to become part of my Audio/Video Gallery ... the NATURE CITY/MUSEUM OF MODERN ART video I shot while being a "Gas Guzzler" (literally drinking gasoline from the pump!) has been posted on the Weiden-Kennedy (the advertising company responsible for the shoots) website, and I have had a copy of my shoot downloaded. Check out my Audio/Video page to see it!  

On June 26, 2013 I added the role of "Sleazy Pawnbroker" to my repertoire when I shot a local commercial for GLOBAL GOLD & SILVER; I and a rather attractive female customer will be demonstrating how NOT to sell your gold/silver/jewelry!  Part of my role was to be chewing on a beef jerky stivk while I spoke ... insidious salty stuff, beef jerky sticks! Fortumately I brought enough (at my own expense) to last the shoot!

On May 18, 2013 I renewed my professional acquaintance with Virgin Mobile by playing a "Sad Drunk Clown" being convinced by a rabbi and a priest to change my wireless service to Virgin Mobile as part of their "RETRAIN YOUR BRAIN" series (I think they're using the same script for ALL of these new Internet commercials but in differebnt situations, as I saw at that same shoot a Henry VIII-type king, two biker-type armwrestlers, two female teenegers and two hot-looking drag queens!).

As of December 3rd 2012, my audio book recording of AMAZON NIGHTS: CLASSIC ADVENTURE TALES FROM THE PULPS by Arthur O. Friel, after eleven and a half months of work recording, editing and mastering, HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE RIGHTS-HOLDERS/PUBLISHERS AND IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AND DOWNLOAD ON BOTH AMAZON.COM AND AUDIBLE.COM!  The link for Amazon is:

http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Nights-Classic-Adventure-Tales/dp/B00AHG4MYC/ref=tmm_aud_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1355707248&sr=1-20

and the link for Audible is:

http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00AG3DSCI&qid=1355707352&sr=1-1

I’ve added “Creepy Cabbie” to my list of characters. I booked and shot a commercial in October for NEWSDAY. In it, I play the part of a cabdriver who’s recognized by his passenger as being a psychotic wanted criminal and so she tricks me into driving her to the police station. We shot the scenes for it out on Long Island at Hempstead and Lynbrook, and I actually did all of my own stunt driving (in a “cab” with a totally lousy transmission!) … that is, when we weren’t in a second cab fastened to a trailer which was being towed so they could shoot through the windshield (we did those shots first)! The commercial is now being aired and can be downloaded either from my Audio/Video page or from YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc-Mduzt2HA. Photos from the shoot are also available in my Gallery.

What with Acts of God and there being TWO holidays in November, I’m amazed that so many interesting things have happened to me! First and foremost, thanks to my winning an auction for charity I was transformed into “The Green Goblin” from the Broadway musical SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK! The whole make-up process, prosthetics and all, took less than an hour to do in-between Saturday shows and pictures of the "Greening" are up in my Gallery (and hopefully a time-lapse video of the transformation will be up soon). Everybody at SPIDER-MAN was very nice, and not only did they let me keep the costume shirt … THEY LET ME KEEP THE FACE! I mean the foam latex facial prostheses which were shaped and cut to fit only me!

Earlier this year I shot a scene as a Tour Guide in a pilot episode for a kids’ science fiction TV series at NYC’s American Museum of Natural History (a night shoot). Well, I can now report that the entire first season of that series, now officially titled ALIEN DAWN, has been wrapped and will be broadcast (I don’t know when) on Nickelodeon! The distributor will be Freemantle Media enterprises.

I HAVE NOW PERFORMED WITH THE GREATEST ACROBATIC COMPANY IN THE WORLD ON ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS STAGES IN THE WORLD! Yes, on Saturday August 18th 2012, I stepped out onto the stage of Radio City Music Hall in front of a packed house for one night a a member of Cirque du Soleil in ZARKANA, photos of which are now available in my Gallery! I spent a wonderful day with Cirque, culminating in my becoming a Clown in the "Wheel of Death" act.  Everyone both on- and off-stage was fantastic to worok with, and everyone told me that my being there with them that night made a huge difference as "something new had been added" and I provided a welcome change from the normal routine. Needless to say, I loved every minute of it!

My SOUR PATCH spot in which my poor beard was vandalized by the Sour Patch Kids is now (according to reliable sources) being shown on both TBS and Nickelodeon.

My Video demo can be seen at both ActorsAccess.com and NYCasting.com and on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqWG5faBLLI

What's been happening?

September 2014 has got to be the most incredible month I have ever had in my entire professional career! In the past three weeks, I have: booked and shot a speaking role (with ONE line that caused the Casting Director to totally crack up!) on the upcoming comedy series THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT (this episode was shot in my old neighborhood of Astoria, Queens, a few blocks from where I used to have a house!), booked a role in a short film (as yet untitled) as the owner of a second-hand monumental masonry yard (used gravestones, etc.) which will be shot either in late October or early November, AND been booked for a MASTERCARD commercial being shot in conjunction with SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (the deal seems to be that they use SNL actors and crew)!  I have also had auditions for two more TV series, MANHATTAN LOVE STORY and THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA, a fun VO audition for Bird's Eye and an equally fun VO one as a "Zombie" for AMC‘s THE WALKING DEAD (marketing purposes only, no for on-air use).

I've also just learned that my "Creepy Cabbie" NEWSDAY commercial is being renewed for a two-week broadcast this Fall on Long Island cable TV! 

It's official! The World Premiere of the documentary TOWER TO THE PEOPLE: Tesla's Dream at Wardenclyffe Continues, in which I am the Voice of Nikola Tesla, will be on Saturday October 4th at the New Yorker Hotel on 34th Street and 8th Avenue (where Tesla used to live! Tickets are still available through EventBrite at:

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/tower-to-the-people-nyc-sneak-preview-tickets-12744558317

It's definitely back to the world and events of 1776 for me! In August, I booked a voice (either American Colonist or British Soldier, possibly both) for a film to be used in an American Revolution Museum. The museum itself is now identified as The American Revolution at Yorktown (A.R.M.Y), Yorktown, Virginia, and my recordings have been completed and approved.  Now comes the waiting ...

In less happy news, I recently received a phone call from no less than the director of the new Richard Gere film TIME OUT OF MIND in which I booked an on-screen role as "Mousy (Homeless) Guy".  He was very kind when he told me that due to time constraints my scene with Ben Vereen had to be cut. However, while slightly disappointing, there's no need for despair; what with "Special Features" on DVD's and Blu-Rays these days, there's every possibility that my scene could be included in a "Deleted Scenes" section.     

On October 21st 2011, I learned that I had booked the role of a man drinking gasoline from a station pump as part of a Performance/Exhibition video that will be part of a display at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New Yorkl City! The entire project is called NATURE CITY, and the actual shoot was done on Tuesday October 25th at a gas station in my neighborhood! Fortunately, the pumps used were fakes and the hoses were connected to water faucets, so all I drank was New York City tap water! Considering the amount of water those nozzles put out, it amazed everyone (including me) that I only got one sleeve soaked over the course of several takes (there actually is a trick to using gas pump nozzles; you have to hold them at a certain downward angle so as not to trip the automatic cut-off)!

I am now a "published" reader on the LIBRIVOX web site with two recordings: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar", which can be found in the "Short Ghost and Horror Collection 014", and Henry V's monologue "Upon the King" from Act IV, scene 1 in the "Multilingual Shakespeare Monologues Collection 010". Both recordings can be downloaded by searching the LIBRIVOX catalog at https://catalog.librivox.org.

I was one of the 12,500 entrants who auditioned for the voice of the AFLAC duck. Ah, well, what could have been ...

The DISNEY EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTIONS web site for THEY SPOKE OUT: AMERICAN VOICES AGAINST THE HOLOCAUST is still running at: http://dep.disney.go.com/theyspokeout/index.html, and the two stories for which I did voiceovers, "MESSENGER FROM HELL" (in which I can be heard as a member of the Polish Resistance and as British Minister Sir Anthony Eden) and "VOYAGE OF THE DOOMED" (in which I provide the voice of Dr. Max Aber), can now be seen on it.

On Sunday November 7th 2010 at approximately 8AM EST, I heard one of the EMPIRE BLUE CROSS/BLUE SHIELD spots I recorded on 1010 WINS.  These spots,  recorded in September 2010, were the voice of a "Small Business Owner" for two spots for EMPIRE BLUE CROSS/BLUE SHIELD. It was interesting in that EMPIRE BC/BS has their own recording facilities in their building and that two versions of each spot were done, one for Upstate New York where the plan is called EMPIRE BLUE CROSS and Downstate where the plan is called EMPIRE BLUE CROSS) ... or is it the other way 'round?

On Halloween 2010, I added a new character to my Gallery: Edgar Allan Poe's "The Red Death"!

AT LAST I HAVE ACHIEVED ONE OF MY PROFESSIONAL ACTING AMBITIONS! On August 4th 2010, I stepped in front of the cameras at the LAW AND ORDER: SVU studios in North Bergen, NJ to shoot a scene (opposite Ice-T) as "Sex Offender #1" for the second show of the new series, which was aired on Wednesday September 22nd as part of a double-feature with the Season Premiere! All thios from an audition and call-back on the same day (July 22nd)! And a speaking part too! The episode was re-aired on Saturday October 2nd. I appear in photo form twice (once on a blacberry and once on the police command board), but a clip of my actual speaking appearance can be seen on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWjGbyVmsD0.

On SNICKERS.COM last year, you would have seen a face (somewhat resembling Shakespeare) on top of the Snickers bar underneath the tiny SNICKERS billboard. Click on that face and the message in the SNICKERS bar will change to "You're not you when you're hungry. But this unlicensed doctor can tell you who you become." Click on the tab marked "Find out now" and you will see a teaser video heralding the launch of the SNICKERS Interactive web site. If you wish to bypass the main web site, the teaser video can be seen at: http://www.snickers.com/whoyoubecome.

On June 9th 2010, I attended a special Intensive Acting Class at New York City's THE ACTOR'S GREEN ROOM run by Jennifer Rudolph for LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT in which I read the part of "Campus Police Sergeant Rapp" from the script of a previously filmed episode. The video of my read can be seen on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZNTLhtCjfA

On May 24th during my recent trip to Las Vegas, I made my second appearance with CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, this time in their show MYSTERE at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino!  During the 7PM show I attended, I was "selected" out of the audience to participate ... not only one time but three times and once in costume too! (the photos the CIRQUE people took and which are now in my Gallery can verify this!)

I'm delighted to announce that I have verified that the Voice Menu that I recorded for PIRATE BRANDS Snack Foods is actuallty being used! Both David Zema and I have dialed the contact number: (800) 626-7557 and have heard my now-famous "Pirate"! It's always nice to be sure ... (actually, PIRATE'S BOOTY is a very tasty snack food!).

I'm also extremely delighted to say that my "Audiobook" demos have been updated to reflect actual recorded work; WATERSHIP DOWN will be replaced by TOM SAWYER and THE 13 CLOCKS will be replaced by THE BFG.

THE HISTORY CHANNEL of THE REAL FACE OF JESUS? DVD is cuirrently available from the History Channel Shop at History.com)  with myself as an "Older Knight Templar with Torch" (pictures of which are available in my Gallery) guarding the Shroud of Turin in 13th century France.

March 2010 was one of the most productive months I can ever remember!  A chance audition at an elevator helped me book the voice of the "Evil Software" for RED PRAIRIE (my VO teacher/Coach David Zema booked the same spot but as the "Good Software"!), an online audition got me booked for three character voices for an Internet Jewish History project entitled THEY SPOKE OUT, and a live audition got me booked (after much nail-biting and many sleepless nights!) for my first-ever Face-over role (meaning I'll be on-camera but another voice will be used) as the "Disbarred Gastro-Psychologist Dr. Wilder C. Wells" (photos available now in my Gallery) for a new SNICKERS Interactive web site in which I will be diagnosing who you become when you get hungry!

March 2010 was been a month of updates and upgrades, I've had new headshots done and added them to my Gallery.

In other voice-over news, I booked and recorded the voice of an "Intervention Counselor" for HOT POCKETS CHEESEBURGERS striving to return two children to the ordinariness of family dining.

On January 28th 2010 I made my 5th Broadway Walk-on, this time being transported back to 1967 New York and becoming for one night a Member of "The Tribe" in the current revival of HAIR (all without the use of artificial stimulants, and I've got the photos in my Gallery to prove it!)!

I'm not certain whether it's unusual in Voice-over work, but this past March I was On Hold for two different Voice-Over spots for the very same product (Scott's Turf Builder) on two subsequent weeks ... and released both times!  Well, at least I made it to the finals.

Thanks to actor David Jacks, the finiashed product of an OLD NAVY spec commercial I shot a few years ago can be seen on his web site at http://www.davejacksactor.com/oldnavy.aspx.

On Friday December 12, 2008 I made my fourth one-night walk-on appearance on Br
adway in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, playing a "Steamship Passenger" in Act One and a "Transylvanian Villager" in the lynching scene in Act Two!  Not only thst, but I was also part of the Cast Curtain Call and took part in the Curtain Call Song! According to Ira Mont, the Stage Manager, I have made history by being the first, last and only Walk-on for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN since the show closed on January 4, 2009. As in every other walk-on I've appeared in, everybody both on- and back-stage helped make the experience totally magical.

On November 1st, 2008 I made my third appearance on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (Guest Host Ben Affleck, Special Guest Senator John McCain) as part fo the "Bleachers Background" in the NIGHT SCHOOL MUSICAL sketch (a parody of the Disney HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL movies).  A very interesting experience, as we had to be wanded by the Secret Service every time we came up to the floor where the show was being shot!  The video of the sketch can be seen at http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/night-school-musical/810988/.

In May 2008, I was also recently booked as the "Male English Voice" for both the upcoming radio and television PSAs for the WORLD TRADE CENTER ENVIRONMENTAL HEA;TH CENTER; this is a major deal as the voice-overs forthe PSAs are not only going to be both male and female but also multi-lingual, including Spanish, Polish and Mandarin Chinese! 

My first Voice-over booking for 2008 came as a stroke of good fortune (and as a result of a heavy snowstorm in New York City) when I was asked to dub the "Voice of a Factory Supervisor" for a BIG LOTS TV spot.  I was also recently booked as the voice of the animated "Paul the Patriot" for PATRIOT CHEVY BUICK GMC's new TV spot!  Other bookings were as a "Student" on 1010 WINS for Touro College of Health Services and another set of spots for the Arizona Smokers Helpline, continuing the work I did with them this past January.

My "Homeless Man" has joined my "Pirate" persona in popularity; in March 2008 I was cast as a "Homeless Man" for the CBS Daytime drama AS THE WORLD TURNS (photos located in the Gallery). My "Pirate" character, created on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, reappeared in both a Corporate Industrial montage for D&G Law Firm and a TV commercial for Slomin's Security (photos of my Slomin's Pirate are now available in my Gallery)!

Thanks to my travel to Transylvania in October 2007 to celebrate Halloween, I've added a new character to my repertoire: Edwardian Coachman, and the photos of him are available now in my Gallery!

In more on-camera news, I appeared as a "Biker/Rocker Bar Patron" in Episode #111 of the new HBO comedy series FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.

The FRANZ FERDINAND music video "DO YOU WANT TO", in which I appeared as Background Talent, seems to be very popular; everybody has been telling me how much screentime I was given (I personally didn't think that they would shoot me much!); now it can be seen on AOL Music at:

http://mp.aol.com/video.index.adp?pmmsid=1373696&referer=http%3A//music.aol.com/artist/franz-ferdinand/607885/main%23&mode=1

or you can check out the "Uncensored" version on YouTube.com at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-JRrlVjnbo