If you are new to my blog, on Wednesdays I post about my experience in Hollywood as a former child/teen actress. If you want to start at the beginning of these posts go here.
Entering Hollywood at age five, Andre spent 13 years being cast in over 100 commercials, television shows, print work, and movies both local and national. His first movie roles were in 1979′s The Man in the Santa Claus Suit, a classic Christmastime television movie co-starring Fred Astaire, and Kiss My Grits, a 1982 comedy caper. He followed in the footsteps of his sister, Carlena Gower, best known as young Angela in the classic movie The Towering Inferno. Andre went on to fill the role of Derek on Days of Our Lives in 1980 before portraying Brooks Prentiss on long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. Next came a co-starring role in the 1983 series Baby Makes Five, also starring Peter Scolari (Bosom Buddies, That Thing You Do!). It was during this time that Andre learned from Peter how to juggle, a skill Andre practices to this day.
(You guys, I totally remember this pic from the teen mags. It must have been viral because my memory is not that good.)
A lot of other shows followed: Night Court, Highway to Heaven, T.J. Hooker, The New Twilight Zone, My Two Dads, Hogan Family, Mr. Belvedere, Remington Steele, Knight Rider, A-Team, and many more. And of course, the movie cult-classic movie The Monster Squad and the TV series Mr. President.
Andre in an old Nike commercial. "Sky High" before "Air Jordan."
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Back in 2000, I lived in Las Vegas for a few years working in a creative and development capacity in the Hotel and Casino industry. We created and designed great projects and I was in charge of the materials and presentations that we created. It was an interesting experience and I learned a lot from those years.
After that, I actually shifted back to LA and was active in the industry a little more reading for roles, commercials and even teaching some classes to new actors. An old friend of mine from high school and I then started a production development endeavor where we shopped completed screenplays and treatments to our industry contacts and looked to develop some deals for some un-repped writers. I was also active in writing my own projects and treatments as well and learned a lot about that process.
It was then, that I began wondering how I could bridge my two distinctly separate worlds – growing up acting in Hollywood and the world of post-teen days (college, adult friends, Living in NC, business experience etc.). I came up with an idea to create a large-scale film festival for the city of Asheville, North Carolina. Since I was a UNCA grad and had many ties to the community and friends there, it was a no-brainer. I spent the better part of a year getting the project together and then went back to present the idea to people I knew. Everyone loved the idea and was behind it 100% - even the city itself…. I then realized I was no longer a part of the project I brought them and was dealing with a situation I had never been in before. Someone had all my ideas, notes, financials and artwork and decided to go about it on their own. (Ahhh bummer)
Without much legal recourse, I took the next year and rebranded my project, created a competing festival model and created my own company CINEMASOUTH, LLC to run with it. I had a lot of success in re-launching the new project and was even approached by the city (3 years later) to buy their crappy event from them and make it a success. We declined. Worked for another year or two trying to get the project rolling and I decided to shelve it once again as funding issues loomed. I learned A LOT from those years of trying to put something like that together.
Lead up to 2006, I have been in NC working for a friend of mine’s company that involves travel to sports events as well as still using my company to create and activate various projects and events myself. North Carolina has a robust production history and is gaining back the momentum it had a few years ago. I am currently reading for various films and TV shows from here. I have worked on a few projects recently as well as some national commercials that shot here. I am currently attached to a neat small-budget feature hopefully set to start shooting this summer as well as a large film (small role) that I can’t discuss in detail (or death by stone... washing) shooting here this summer as well.
In addition to all that, I continue to be invited to personal appearances at major horror conventions and for screenings of MONSTER SQUAD around country. These are really neat as we get to meet great fans and make new friends. It’s really interesting how dear some people hold this film and what it means to them and it’s been 25 years! (AKA we are getting so old). I am always looking to be as active as I can be in the industry from a creative standpoint and/or acting platform. I work with local actors on auditioning and scene prep. And I have developed a new series, with a friend of mine in LA, that revolves around all of us former child stars. A neat project, that I will keep you informed on the progress. (I'd watch it.)
I have been married for 2.5 years to my wife Michelle (we got married in Vegas!) and have been renovating a house for 3 years. Almost done…hopefully. (Beautiful wife)
More of Andre over at his website - especially if you are interested in the entertainment industry - then and now.
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Thank you Andre for taking time out to do this and congratulations on surviving marriage while renovating a house! And if you are ever in the SF Bay Area please come over and shoot hoops with my son. He is a baller.
P.S. Sorry I don't know how to put the accent over your name on blogger.
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GIVEAWAY TIME: Since Andre is most passionate about learning . . . leave a comment telling us something you learned this week - about parenting, life, food, fitness, movies, pop culture, hardship, Andre Gower, finances, dogs, juggling, etc. Bonus entry - go like Totally Desperate Mom on Facebook and then leave a comment letting me know that you did. And then you could win a $25 gift card to Amazon and a copy of Totally Desperate Mom if random. org picks you on June 12th.
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Welcome back to part two of my post featuring my old actor friend Andre Gower. Read Part one here. This is the VH1ish segment . . . where are they now? Juggling in stonewashed jeans? Sorry folks, those days are gone. Well, the stonewashed jeans anyway . . . read on. (My comments in red.)
Here's a little recap of Andre's career:
Entering Hollywood at age five, Andre spent 13 years being cast in over 100 commercials, television shows, print work, and movies both local and national. His first movie roles were in 1979′s The Man in the Santa Claus Suit, a classic Christmastime television movie co-starring Fred Astaire, and Kiss My Grits, a 1982 comedy caper. He followed in the footsteps of his sister, Carlena Gower, best known as young Angela in the classic movie The Towering Inferno. Andre went on to fill the role of Derek on Days of Our Lives in 1980 before portraying Brooks Prentiss on long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. Next came a co-starring role in the 1983 series Baby Makes Five, also starring Peter Scolari (Bosom Buddies, That Thing You Do!). It was during this time that Andre learned from Peter how to juggle, a skill Andre practices to this day.
(You guys, I totally remember this pic from the teen mags. It must have been viral because my memory is not that good.)
A lot of other shows followed: Night Court, Highway to Heaven, T.J. Hooker, The New Twilight Zone, My Two Dads, Hogan Family, Mr. Belvedere, Remington Steele, Knight Rider, A-Team, and many more. And of course, the movie cult-classic movie The Monster Squad and the TV series Mr. President.
Andre in an old Nike commercial. "Sky High" before "Air Jordan."
-------
Back in 2000, I lived in Las Vegas for a few years working in a creative and development capacity in the Hotel and Casino industry. We created and designed great projects and I was in charge of the materials and presentations that we created. It was an interesting experience and I learned a lot from those years.
After that, I actually shifted back to LA and was active in the industry a little more reading for roles, commercials and even teaching some classes to new actors. An old friend of mine from high school and I then started a production development endeavor where we shopped completed screenplays and treatments to our industry contacts and looked to develop some deals for some un-repped writers. I was also active in writing my own projects and treatments as well and learned a lot about that process.
It was then, that I began wondering how I could bridge my two distinctly separate worlds – growing up acting in Hollywood and the world of post-teen days (college, adult friends, Living in NC, business experience etc.). I came up with an idea to create a large-scale film festival for the city of Asheville, North Carolina. Since I was a UNCA grad and had many ties to the community and friends there, it was a no-brainer. I spent the better part of a year getting the project together and then went back to present the idea to people I knew. Everyone loved the idea and was behind it 100% - even the city itself…. I then realized I was no longer a part of the project I brought them and was dealing with a situation I had never been in before. Someone had all my ideas, notes, financials and artwork and decided to go about it on their own. (Ahhh bummer)
Without much legal recourse, I took the next year and rebranded my project, created a competing festival model and created my own company CINEMASOUTH, LLC to run with it. I had a lot of success in re-launching the new project and was even approached by the city (3 years later) to buy their crappy event from them and make it a success. We declined. Worked for another year or two trying to get the project rolling and I decided to shelve it once again as funding issues loomed. I learned A LOT from those years of trying to put something like that together.
Lead up to 2006, I have been in NC working for a friend of mine’s company that involves travel to sports events as well as still using my company to create and activate various projects and events myself. North Carolina has a robust production history and is gaining back the momentum it had a few years ago. I am currently reading for various films and TV shows from here. I have worked on a few projects recently as well as some national commercials that shot here. I am currently attached to a neat small-budget feature hopefully set to start shooting this summer as well as a large film (small role) that I can’t discuss in detail (or death by stone... washing) shooting here this summer as well.
In addition to all that, I continue to be invited to personal appearances at major horror conventions and for screenings of MONSTER SQUAD around country. These are really neat as we get to meet great fans and make new friends. It’s really interesting how dear some people hold this film and what it means to them and it’s been 25 years! (AKA we are getting so old). I am always looking to be as active as I can be in the industry from a creative standpoint and/or acting platform. I work with local actors on auditioning and scene prep. And I have developed a new series, with a friend of mine in LA, that revolves around all of us former child stars. A neat project, that I will keep you informed on the progress. (I'd watch it.)
I have been married for 2.5 years to my wife Michelle (we got married in Vegas!) and have been renovating a house for 3 years. Almost done…hopefully. (Beautiful wife)
More of Andre over at his website - especially if you are interested in the entertainment industry - then and now.
------
Thank you Andre for taking time out to do this and congratulations on surviving marriage while renovating a house! And if you are ever in the SF Bay Area please come over and shoot hoops with my son. He is a baller.
P.S. Sorry I don't know how to put the accent over your name on blogger.
-----
GIVEAWAY TIME: Since Andre is most passionate about learning . . . leave a comment telling us something you learned this week - about parenting, life, food, fitness, movies, pop culture, hardship, Andre Gower, finances, dogs, juggling, etc. Bonus entry - go like Totally Desperate Mom on Facebook and then leave a comment letting me know that you did. And then you could win a $25 gift card to Amazon and a copy of Totally Desperate Mom if random. org picks you on June 12th.
Welcome friends, family, randoms, lurkers, blog addicts, fellow desperate moms, and Bono. This blog consists of mostly funny stuff that will make you feel better about yourself. Lots of mom comedy, non-Kodak moments, and un-fashion tips. On Wednesdays I write about my life as a former childhood actress complete with posts about how the entertainment business works, actors I met (or stalked), people and animals I worked with, my Hollywood friends, and photos of former teen heartthrobs. And if that’s not enough to draw you in to follow me . . . I have done some amazing giveaways. A rubber chicken, millions of doll hairs, and unlimited supplies of air. Come join the party.
17 comments:
This week I learned that even when you have had a very trying day with your child, that leads to you both crying uncontrollably at the end of the day, you still wake up the next morning loving them as much as you did the day they were born.
This week, I've learned that my toddler must start sleeping in his own bed...stat! This TDM is too exhausted to deal with tossing, turning, and kicking. All. Night. Long.
I've learned that our neighbor leaves at 4:30am every morning. How do I know this? Because my 7 month old has decided she likes to party like it's 1999 all night long. Sigh!
I'm a FB fan!
I totally thought I was going to marry Andre Gower. Hmmm. I wonder what went wrong between us.
Wendy, I remember that picture, too.
I cannot believe he sent you THAT wedding photo. The tradeoff of buying Package #2 I guess. He just got yelled at. (But thanks for the compliment!)
And it's 3 years in August which is two months away. So his counting skills are apparently starting to go, along with his left hip. Six years altogether. I think. :)
The Wife
I learned that if I powerwash my kiddos' bikes, it is much faster than trying to wipe them down. :p
Oh "Wife" your comment made me laugh so hard. Thank you for that.
I learned that I love having my kids home from school. Getting to hang out with them all day long is fun. They are really turning into cool little people.
Granted this is week 1 of Summer vacation... we'll see how I feel at the end of July. :)
I learned that my kids pick up all the annoying and not so great habits of their parents. My 4 yr old now says, "Oh, come on!" when he's frustrated; he picked that up watching the Heat bball games with my hubby. My 2 yr old screams "Be quiet!" at the top of his lungs at random times throughout the day; that one was all me, and yes I am working on not yelling at my children. Please don't call CPS on this totally desperate mom! I also learned that I LOVE Wendy's blog and really want her book! I am a new follower sent over by Joy's Hope.
Wendy, thanks for being so real and transparent about life and mommyhood, which is much needed in the blog world! I have been so encouraged by your posts!
Kate
I learned that everything I have is God's. EVERYTHING! The Treasure Principle is an amazingly freeing book, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for my life now that I have released everything to Him! Your blog is awesome!
liked you on facebook!
Packing to move my kids and fam across the country. Learned for the third major move that it doesn't get any easier the more you move. Packing is just not fun.
Liked you on FB!
i learned that i can do like 10 (girl) push ups. i'm a total wimp so this came as a huge surprise! :)
Hope it's not too late! I learned that creating opportunity is just as important as being given an opportunity.
~ Ferly
Gifts We Use {to grow, love and serve}
Look what Andre is up to now! We love the support!
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/changeover/x/2740237
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