EE entertainment

From Page B12

Angeles on weekends to see
his family, he decided he had
had enough.

“‘} ended up in a debt
from being a working actor,
from having to travel back
and forth so much. When
the show was over, | came
back and said to my agents,
I don’t want to do any more
of these kinds of shows. 1
either want to be a comedian

or a cowboy,’’ recalls
Rhodes.

**They smiled indulgently
and said, ‘Well, Donnelly,

we know you can be a
cowboy,’’ because they knew
| kept some horses and had
done some westerns and
done a lot of riding. They
figured 1 could’ convince

WHILE ACTOR Don-
nelly Rhodes casually
lights a cigarette, left,
waiting for his next film-
ing appearance in the
CBC-Walkt) Disney TY
series Danger Bay, being
fitmed in Vancouver, his
stuntman Bill Ferguson,
above, scales a cliff in a
‘Cliffhanger’ episode.

people I was a cowboy. But
they didn’t think, and no-
body else did, that I could be
funny. I had spent my early
years desperately trying to be
funny, everywhere I went, so
that people would like me. |
was that guy at the party
that knew all! the jokes.’’

Within three days of that -

conversation, Rhodes receiv-
ed a telephone call from
Soap producers. He read for
the part five times and snag-
ged the plum role of Dutch,
much to his agents’ surprise.

A big reason for the popu-
larity of Dutch was the char-
acter’s basic similarity to
Rhodes.

‘*The only things you have
to work with as an actor are
your own experiences and
what you observe, what you
can understand. We sort of

Learn to...

took Dutch in a 360 degree
turn from being wanted in
10 States and a real tough
guy, to (where) he was really
a very naive, well-meaning
fella, who did not see below
people’s surface and into
their manipulations. He just
accepted what they said was
true because that’s the way
he was. So he was very in-
genuous,’’ says Rhodes.
**What we ended up with
was a kind of a character
that was pretty indestructi-
ble. lt was hard to pigeon-
hole him. You couldn’t em-
barrass him, you couldn't
emasculate him, because you
were dealing with a large
child — with the strength of
a gorilla. You had to be nice
to him. I think there’s an

element in there that a lot of
people could identify with

NEWS photos Terry Peters

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because we’re always being
pigeon-holed by everybody.
And we have our own view
of ourselves and that’s the
one we cherish. So I think a
lot of people identified with
Dutch.”’

That identification with
Dutch also spilled
Rhodes’ personal life.

‘*l went to New York and
a cab driver stopped his car
in the middle of the street as
] was crossing the street and
yelled, ‘Hey, hiya Dutch.’
That’s the way people relate
to you on the street, to the
character you’re playing,’’
says Rhodes. ‘‘] played Mr.
Chancellor on the Young
and the Restless and people
sull recognize me from that
show. They want to know
what sign | am, what kind of
girls 1 like — they want to
know all those personal,
embarrassing things. But
with Dutch, the, just want
to say, ‘hiya Dutch.” So he
was a lot easier to deal with,
as far as meeting people
went.”’

Danger Bay has the
veteran actor, as a widowed
marine biologist with two
children, working at the
Vancouver Aquarium.

‘*Basically being for Walt
Disney and the CBC, it's
called a family action-adven-
ture, which simply means
there are no big car chases."’

Filming of Danger Bay 1s

expected to last through
September. Originally con-
tracted for 13 episodes,

rumors have it that the series
may be extended nine more.

Rhodes currently has no
plans

for future work:

into

B13 - Sunday, September 16, 1984 - North Shore News

‘*Basically, I’ve never really
known what I was going to
do next week and most ac-
tors don’t. You just have to
live with that if you want to
be an actor, because very
few of us manage to make #
living just from acting. I’ve
been very fortunate. |
haven’t had to deal with
that.”’

Rhodes says he will not
return to Hill St. Blues or
Double Trouble (on which
he played the father of twin
teenage girls) due to his cur-
rent tight shooting schedule.

He adds he enjoyed the
time spent on the two shows,
saying the production staff
and actors on Hill St. Blues
provided a learning experi-
ence.

‘‘There’s a lot of care
taken on that show. Dan
Travanti, who heads_ the
cast, 1S an experienced actor
who also is a very warm
human being. And that kind
of influence is all around the
show,’’ says Rhodes.

Rhodes says he also does
not plan to follow the trend
of several other actors and

launch a career as writer or
director.

‘*l watch those guys from
where | stand and they all
look like they’re insane.
They’re all worried about
me. Listen, all I have to do
gS ‘show up on time, hit my

arks and move my lips.
Key have to deal with the
money guys and then they
have to deal with the actors.
They have to deal with the
people writing the scripts.
They have to have thicker
skins thar actors do. And

it’s a tough job,'’ says
Rhodes.

It seems inevitable that
Rhodes will surface from

time to time in comedies.

‘‘For some strange reason,
the people in the industry,
and the public as well, you
can scare ’em, you can be a
leading man, you can be a
villain — but if you can
make "em laugh, they really
like you a lot better,’’ says
Rhodes. ‘‘Ilt opens the door
to playing all different kinds
of parts. And that's the most
fun, being able to do lots of
different things.”’

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