Subdeacon Joe Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Movie and Entertainment Sphere Suggested for you · · What is an example of a person practically falling into a movie career and becoming famous(with no prior experience)? There are lots of great answers to this question, so it feels a bit unnecessary to add one more. However, I’m going to do it because I love this story. There was this guy who was very nerdy in the 1930s. He loved bookkeeping and was quite happy working in offices. In fact, he was a terrific accountant. World War II came along and he enlisted, serving out his time NOT in the “actor’s division” in Hollywood but as an ordinary soldier. Then, at the end of the war, he mustered out of the US Navy along with everyone else and returned to his accounting practice. However, this time he opened up his own office and worked for well-heeled people in Los Angeles. And there the story might have ended, but one day the fellow got some bad news from his doctor. A childhood accident had deprived him of the sight in one eye, and the doctor told him he was straining his remaining eye too much. If he continued working long hours as an accountant, he’d go blind. Well, the poor fellow had no interest in doing anything else and no aptitude, either. Certainly, he would never be able to find another career that paid as well as his accounting gig. So, he moped around for a while, at loose ends. He talked to one of his clients about his problem, and the man offered him a job. It wasn’t much of a job, and he had no training in the field, but he figured, well, why not. The client was Jack Warner. The audiences loved the accountant and he went on to a spectacular career as a character actor playing heavies and ornery western parts. From what I have heard, he was a hell of a nice guy, too. Oh, one last thing. Late in his career, after he had been in films for decades, someone asked Jack Elam if he’d rather still be an accountant. “In a heartbeat,” he replied. Read more>>> http://tinyurl.com/3stam498 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Great story!!! Thanks for that! Interesting that he loved accounting so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Hmmm. How did he serve in the Navy if he was blind in one eye from a childhood accident? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantry Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 He was hysterical in Cannonball Run Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 20 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said: Hmmm. How did he serve in the Navy if he was blind in one eye from a childhood accident? Hmmm…..Good point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted December 21, 2023 Author Share Posted December 21, 2023 26 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said: Hmmm. How did he serve in the Navy if he was blind in one eye from a childhood accident? I've seen conflicting accounts, almost evenly split, of "despite being blind in one eye he was able to enlist" and "being exempt because he was blind in one eye, but still wanting to serve, he worked as a civilian for the Navy." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonshine 20515 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 In WW II there were many exceptions. They needed men, war fighters. There are a number of things a one-eyed guy could do, I'm sure. MS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Sometimes need outweighs the rules. They took me in 65 regardless of my feet. I had several sergeants take a closer look when marching but nobody really said it was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 FIL, 82nd Airborne, lost an eye at Anzio. He continued to serve and was back in action in Market Garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Kane Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 IIRC, the bad eye was the result of another kid jabbing him in that eye with a pencil during a Boy Scout meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 At least it wasn’t a bb-gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassnetguy50 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 4 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said: Hmmm. How did he serve in the Navy if he was blind in one eye from a childhood accident? His eye was injured at age 11 but wasn't blind until the lens was removed years later. The eye still tracked with his working eye until his 30s. I've read that he enlisted, served 2 years in the navy, was discharged, and read that he was hired by the navy as a civilian worker in Culver City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warden Callaway Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Jack at his best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted December 21, 2023 Share Posted December 21, 2023 42 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said: Jack at his best. Love that movie!! Tyrone Power and Susan Hayword Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dantankerous Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Plenty of great Jack Elam roles. He was a treasure. Still is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Wyatt Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Always one of my favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Elam once described the career arc of a character actor: It goes like this, the director says “Who’s Jack Elam? Then it's "Get me Jack Elam." Then, "Get me a Jack Elam type". Then, "Get me a young Jack Elam". Finally, "Who’s Jack Elam?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cypress Sun Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 40 minutes ago, Dantankerous said: Plenty of great Jack Elam roles. He was a treasure. Still is. You look just like him...almost like a twin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 He stole every scene in Rio Lobo and Support Your Local Sheriff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watab kid Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 i enjoyed his character in everything i saw him in , the guy you loved to hate , as an aside , i almost lost one eye in a similar accident at a boy scout meeting - about a half inch and instead of a slight scar id have been blind in my right eye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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