Marquee - The Actors Fund

6
Programs & Services
“The Actors Fund made a difference in my life. Today, two years later, my health
has improved, financial stress has begun to leave me, and I am focusing more
on my career endeavors and my life has improved. Thank you all, very much!”
Keith is a 38 year old actor, screenwriter, voiceover artist and
comedian, originally from Texas. He was living near downtown
Los Angeles, in a “marvelous old building from 1929,” he said.
Rumored to be Carole Lombard’s former apartment, it was very
expensive for his budget as an artist.
Recently, he was faced with serious health issues affecting
his ability to work. The Fund helped him with job seeking, financial
aid and counseling. Two years ago, when the stresses around his
illness became too much, he had the opportunity to move into
The Palm View.
Keith’s apartment faces north, and from his balcony he looks out
on the blue skies of the Hollywood Hills, where he enjoys dinner
and sometimes writing outdoors “in the morning when the air is cool
and The Strip is quiet,” he said. He loves Tuesday morning breakfasts
in The Palm View’s commons room, and he feels right at home
in the garden in the back of the building. “Seeing flowers grow that
another resident and I planted a few weeks ago reminds me of
growing up in Texas,” he said.
Keith also loves his neighborhood. “The Sunset Strip is a block
away to the north and Santa Monica Boulevard is a block to the
south. The dichotomy of both streets is fantastic. It’s a very walk-able
neighborhood, with great access to public transportation, and I’ve
gotten to know several of the neighbors in the area.” Keith often
walks a few short blocks to The Comedy Store, where he is a
regular performer.
Keith stressed the importance of The Fund’s services, noting that
they are there if you lose your job, your health fails, or there is no
one to talk to about the intricacies and stresses of life. “Having a
dedicated service to actors and people in the entertainment industry
is a true godsend, an intervention on a higher level that cannot be
merely calculated by budgeting wants or needs.”
Keith is thriving and thankful in his new home. “The Actors Fund
made a difference in my life. Today, two years later, my health has
improved, financial stress has begun to leave me, and I am focusing
more on my career endeavors and my life has improved. Thank you
all, very much!”
Keith Garsee
Palm View
“My creativity has also benefited
greatly from the fantastic environment
that Thomas Pileggi and
The Aurora * staff provide!”
Raissa Dorff is an actress and singer, and a resident of
The Aurora for the past ten years. She moved in originally
as a sublet, and when the spot became available, she qualified
for the apartment as a low income performing artist.
She’s especially grateful that The Fund’s Al Hirschfeld Free
Health Clinic is located right in her building. “The Clinic was a
godsend for me for years while I was un- or underinsured. I received
the best and most empathetic
care from Dr. Spears [Dr. Jim
Spears, M.D., Medical Director]
and everyone at The Clinic.
When I faced a health crisis
in 2002, and had temporary
Medicaid, The Clinic provided
references to other care facilities
where I was able to go until
the issues were resolved. In fact
once I had insurance, I was sorry
to have to go elsewhere! I’d
Dr. Jim Spears, Medical Director of
The Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic,
with a patient.
become so attached to The Clinic
and their lovely and caring staff!”
“My creativity has also benefited greatly from the fantastic
environment that Thomas Pileggi [Activities Coordinator] and
The Aurora staff provide on the 2nd floor. The Colleen Dewhurst
Community Room has become a second home for me.” Raissa began
to use The Dewhurst two years ago for a small, weekly scene study
group she started with friends, eventually blossoming into their own
theater company. The Active Theater recently rehearsed their fourth
production, Venus Flytrap, directed by 2010 Tony nominee Marcia
Milgrom Dodge, at The Aurora’s Community Room.
Raissa also gets a real sense of community from living at The
Aurora. “One of my dearest friends lives just a few floors away.
We can meet on the gorgeous rooftop garden for coffee,
overlooking the Hudson no less!”
Though she’s had her ups and downs in the struggle to survive
as an actor in New York, Raissa notes “The Aurora affords me the
opportunity to live in a safe, secure, and beautiful environment
with a wonderful staff and lovely creative neighbors, in a part of
Manhattan (convenient to auditions, Broadway shows, Lincoln
Center, etc.) I would never be able to afford without the help
of The Actors Fund.”
“People should support The Fund because it really does such
a beautiful thing,” she said. “It supports artists, nurtures and
protects them, feeds and clothes them when times are tough
(which they inevitably are at one point or another in every
artist’s career, no matter how successful) and in a city where
just surviving can be tough.”
Raissa Dorff
The Dorothy Ross
Friedman Residence
(formerly The Aurora)
*The Aurora residence will be
officially renamed in 2011 as The
Dorothy Ross Friedman Residence.
“I’m impressed by the staff, they are truly caring.”
A.J. Pocock was born in Shanghai, China then raised in
Philadelphia. After serving in World War II, he landed at the
Hedgerow Theater in rural Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s oldest
repertory companies. That led to his move to New York City and
the start of a long career directing and producing some of the
largest live industrial shows of the time.
“I worked regularly around the country for the top automakers —
Buick, GMC, Pontiac and Honda,” A.J. shares. He went on to
produce such high-profile events as the Emmy Awards and the
“Ronald Reagan for President Announcement.”
A life-long supporter of the arts, A.J. held the esteemed
position of Shepherd for the historic Lambs Club and is a twentyyear
Trustee of The Actors Fund. “I was aware of The Home
many years before becoming involved as a Trustee, as I did many
fundraisers for The Actors Fund as an actor, director and producer.”
But once A.J. became an active Trustee, he learned about how
much more The Home has to offer. Impressed by the “truly caring”
staff, A.J. and his wife, Broadway actress Charlotte Fairchild (a beautiful
singer at The Home’s weekly piano sing-alongs), are both happy
to be enjoying their later years at The Home.
A.J. Pocock
The Lillian Booth
Actors Home
“Every actor friend is blown away by the theatre and the
rehearsal space. I could never afford to live in this neighborhood
if I wasn’t in this building.”
Darlene Hope was rooming in a brownstone with a friend in
Brooklyn’s Bedford Styvesant neighborhood. It wasn’t the best
neighborhood, and traveling late at night to and from rehearsals
was dangerous for the singer / actor. It was time to make a change,
but affording it was another story.
At an audition at Actors’ Equity, she noticed a poster for The
Schermerhorn. She immediately applied and, in time, was accepted.
Darlene was especially drawn to the fact that it’s a green building.
(The Schermerhorn features a high efficiency boiler, a channel glass
exterior wall fabricated with a high percentage of post-consumer
waste glass and a second floor “green roof” terrace). “I was excited
to have an opportunity to live this green lifestyle.”
Darlene loves her new home, and her neighborhood. “The
amenities are unbelievable. Every actor friend is blown away by
the theatre and the rehearsal space. I could never afford to live in
this neighborhood if I wasn’t in this building.”
Before, Darlene couldn’t warm up for early auditions without
disturbing her neighbors. Now she can go down to the performance
space in her PJs. “You can’t beat that with a stick,” she said. Since
living at The Schermerhorn, Darlene continues to thrive as an artist.
She recently booked a production of Hair near her family in Orlando,
an American Express commercial and is working on a new play.
Darlene Hope
The Schermerhorn