BACK IN THE DAY IN LA

 
Miles and Caitlin, my only children back in the '80s in LA when this photo was taken. I was a single parent for Miles since he was five, and Cait since she was twelve. Now Miles and his partner Hannah live with me in upstate NY where they are my caretakers, while Cait lives nearby in Western Mass with her family and helps me too. I'm a very lucky person. 

ANOTHER NEW FAVORITE QUOTE

 

ICON

 

TWO NEW FAVORITE QUOTES

"I would like to live in a world where you didn't have to be ashamed of shame."

"If you can acknowledge the complexity of your own heart, then you're not going to look for scapegoats."

—Jacqueline Rose (from "Presence of Mind" in The New Yorker, Aug. 21, 2023) 

A LONG TIME AGO THAT FEELS LIKE LAST WEEK

 

Jimmy Remar, me, and Bill Mosley in the summer of 1990 on the set of WHITE FANG in Alaska. I chose to make my one-scene character, Sykes, a wannabe dandy, and the replacement director, Lewis Teague, let me. Made a lot of friends there, including these guys.

(Because there was another actor named Michael Lally in The Screen Actors Guild long before me, I had to add my middle name for SAG, so I'm Michael David Lally in film and TV credits. But in googling this to check the date, I found that on Wikipedia they have me as Michael Davis Lally. Kinda like it.)

ROBBIE ROBERTSON R.I.P.

 
I first met Robbie Robertson at a private memorial service for the singer/songwriter David Blue not long after I moved from NYC to LA in 1982. Whenever I ran into him after that at Hollywood parties or any gathering we would usually end up in a corner talking. He was always nice, even sweet with me.

I think because I wasn't a celebrity myself, or anyone with any power to open doors or even any competition, movie and music stars used me at these gatherings for relief from the pressure to be on or to impress or to charm etc. and so we could just have an honest conversation with nothing at stake.

Anyway I liked him, I'm sorry he's gone. Condolences to his family, friends, and fans.

MY UNIONS (WGA & SAG-AFTRA) ON STRIKE FOR GOOD REASONS EVEN WITHOUT AI ISSUES

 

ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY

 
I always loved this photo of my older siblings before I was born. It must be summer of 1938, during The Great Depression. There was another brother between me and them who died as an infant. I came along in the spring of 1942, five months after the USA entered World War Two, which my two oldest brothers would join the military for before it was over. 

PAUL REUBENS R.I.P.

I didn't know Paul personally, though I was at the same event he was once or twice. But like so many, I adored his performance art, in his early iterations as what would become Pee-wee Herman, and the later full blossoming of that character, and the world of his imagination, in his all-welcome-here TV playhouse, and Pee-wee movies.

My only personal story about him is when I was asked to audition at the last minute for the small role of Sykes in WHITE FANG. I was told that I was up against Paul "Pee-wee" Reubens who had also auditioned for it. It would just be a cameo role for him, but would help show he was versatile enough to do other characters besides Pee-wee. 

Needless to say, I got the role and immediately flew to Alaska where it was being shot. I chose to make the character a wannabe dandy of the time but because of problems on the shoot felt I didn't do my best work. When I saw it at the premiere, and the few times since, all I could think of was: I sure would have loved to see what Reubens would have done with this role.

Rest In Pee-wee Paul, and condolences to family, friends, and fans.