The Stunt Actor

Another interesting dude was the muscular stunt actor who picked us up in his El Camino on I-5 as we headed into Southern California—the guy drinking a full can of V-8 Juice.  I first describe him as “hairy,” and fill it out more by saying, “He was short and bulky with long arms and big hands.” Truth is, he looked more like an ape than a human being. He was "one of the homeliest people I’d ever seen," all one muscle with long, stringy hair.  Add to that his severe broken nose and thoroughly-scarred forehead. That's why he was good for the job he had in Hollywood. Yet he was one of the gentlest and most polite human beings, a thorough gentleman, saying, “My avocation is stunt work.  But my vocation is to pick up every  hitchhiker I see on the highway.  That is my labor, my brothers, my way to serve.” His soul was deep. He had a serenity about him I didn’t see in many people. He kept stunning us at every turn with his deep, eloquent voice and philosophical observations. I was drawn to him. I would have loved to say I’d noticed his work on TV and the movies, but the work he did was not the stuff that lands your name on a theater marquee. I wish him blessings. That is, if he’s alive today.