There was another actor in my family. A real actor – a professional. His name was Wayne Tippit and he was my mother’s cousin’s husband (right?). Wayne passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 77.

Wayne was always a sort of touchstone for me – being an aspiring actor myself. Here was someone who made it – from our family – to where I wanted to be. And he was just the type of actor I wanted to be – a working actor. Going from job to job to job. He was one of those guys that you could see twice a week on different shows on different networks. Maybe you don’t remember his name – but you know that face. When I was really young, I probably met him once or twice at various family functions. But the one time I do remember meeting him was when he and his wife were in Boston and came to see me in some play I was doing. I remember it was hard not to be… stupid about the whole thing. Here was a guy I know who’s on TV! The hyperventilating was awful. A This-Could-Be My-Big-Break kind of thing, if only in the daydreams sweeping through my frontal lobe. But both Wayne and Carol were very gracious and friendly toward me anyway. Family – however distant.

And when I say Wayne was a working actor – I’m not kidding. His list on the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) is as long as my arm. Movies and TV going back to 1954 when he was a regular on the soap “The Secret Storm”. He’s been on “The Rockford Files”, “Baywatch”, “Seinfeld” and “Melrose Place” to name but a wee portion of 30 years of TV classics he was part of. Wayne also appeared in the films “JFK”, “Taps” and “Nurse Betty”. He often played detectives, doctors, and businessmen. My impression of his characters was – though occasionally crooked – they were always sturdy and dignified (though I can’t vouch for his voice-over work on the “Duckman” cartoons). It would have been nice to follow through on my own aspirations and acquired a fifty year body of work like his.

My deepest condolences to the family. Wayne – rest in peace.

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