I knew Dick primarily as one of my father's film buff buddies. I had heard that in Dick's younger days he was an actor. I always thought he had a part in "Godzilla," but after reading his resume I realize I was wrong. He was the Air Force Major in "Gammera The Invicible."
When I was going through my father's things, I found Dick's personal items -- a couple of head shots accompanied by a yellowed xeroxed copy of his resume. I don't know how old it is, although I can tell you it's as old as when Brooklyn and Manhattan did not have area codes, and Brooklyn phone numbers began with letters. His began with JU and I don't know what that meant. Ours began with BE which I thought stood for Bensonhurst.
I surmise this mini package of memorabilia arrived in my dad's possession after Dick's death. He had kept it in his closet. I don't believe Dick and his wife had any children. I know of no relatives of his I can pass it on to. They're my father's memories, not mine, yet I feel like I can't just toss them out.
Dick was always a nice guy, one who never quite made it in the profession he sought. His love of film and theatre didn't stop with his uncasted roles, and my dad and he spent countless hours in Manhattan at many a movie theatre, museum, art house, etc. Collecting and dissecting films & film literature were their passion. Neither achieved the recognition they deserved. It's hard to be a bit player in a Million Dollar Movie/Seven Million Storied town. They may have been "nobodies" in New York City, but they were "somebodies" to many others. It's only fitting I give Dick Kraft a proper hat tip, and cast him out to the internet, where he can finally be seen again.
Dick Kraft - Actor, Model, Announcer, Prize-Fighter, Freelance Writer, Script Reader, and Casting Director
A member of EQUITY, SAG, and AFTRA, Dick studied at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts under Jehlinger, Loeb, Goodman, D'Angelo, etc. He performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Equity Library, Stock, TV Commercials and in "Various and Sundry Other Roles."
Some of the roles he played: Charlie Chan in a malt beer commercial, a guest at a wedding in a soap commercial, and on Broadway as a tough guy from slums in "Walk Hard," and as Gabe the dim-witted villager in "Sleepy Hollow." Other characters include a suave man-about-town, a nervous spy, existentialistic windbag, the president, a cop, and in Milos Foreman's new film, "Taking Off," a tipsy guest at a banquet.
Aha! I can now date his resume to 1971, when "Taking Off" was released. So here we are 42 years later, and his pictures are posted somewhere with the ability to reach those he could never imagine when he posed.
Dick Kraft, Actor -- a nobody no more...
What a nice thing to do!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, as to phone exchanges, they were usually sort-of descriptive words, like Sunnyside (an early Yuma exchange). Growing up in suburban Detroit, our phone was GR-4, which was Greenleaf, nearby Redford had Kenwood and Tuxedo, downtown Detroit was Woodward.