Paul Kyriazi  

When Robert Culp walked into the recording studio he was carrying his marked up script for "Rock Star Rising" and a whole lot of TV and film history. I always make it a point to not immediately go into the work at hand, but to welcome the actor and mention my favorite parts of films they did. I also try to have something of one of their films to give them. And not as a conversation piece, but as coming from a true fan. Since Mr. Culp was in three "Outer Limits" shows, I gave him the DVD box set.

I mentioned to him that I had heard that the "The Outer Limits" episode "Demon with a Glass Hand" was the number one watched hour program in the history of television. He said, "That's right and also the highest cost to profit ratio in the history of television." After looking over the episodes on the back of the box, Mr. Culp got right into questions about the character he would record for my "Rock Star Rising" multi-voice audio-book.

His character was that of a shady agent for the rock star Shane. He had made notes in his script and we went through them. As Mr. Culp is a writer as well as actor, I knew I'd better have good answers to his questions. Robert Culp started off in Broadway, and then jumped to starring in the TV western, "Trackdown" for two years where her began writing scripts which he wrote from "Gunsmoke" and "The Rifleman", as well.

His big break came with "I SPY" on TV and then for movies with "Bob & Ted & Carol & Alice". He started directing in the second season of "I Spy" as well as for other TV programs, and the feature film "Hickey and Boggs" appearing with Bill Cosby again. He appeared on countless TV shows including costarring on the series "The Greatest American Hero", while still appearing in features such as "The Pelican Brief" as the president.

After going over his script notes for "HRL", he got into the recording booth for his first scene with a actress playing a reporter. Then most of the rest of his scenes were with James Darren playing Shane. However, I told the to actors that when Kevin McCarthy showed up, that we would jump to the scene between him and Mr. Culp. At one point, Mr. Culp's character had to make a long speech, selling a new concert. He asked for me to wait a few moments.

So outside the booth, me and the mixer waited for what seemed to be a long time, maybe 5 minutes only, as Mr. Culp, made notes, changes, additional lines, as he stood with his script in front of him. "All right. I'm ready", he said. And then went on to give a brilliant speech, better than I had written or imagined. Following the script in front of me while recording, I would sometimes quickly look into the glass door and see Culp standing by the mike, waving his arms, and doing other physicality to keep him in character and deliver a superb performance in every scene. He seemed to really be enjoying himself.

At the end of the day, he confirmed it by saying to James Darren, "This is the first one of these I've done and it was really fun." After James Darren left the booth for a break, Mr. Culp motioned me inside the booth with him.

I wondered what this was going to be. He said, "Paul, I feel I now know you well enough to say........." Now I'm really thinking, what favor is he going to ask me?" Mr. Culp continued, "If you for any reason need any of these lines redone, let me know and I'll come back with no charge." Wow ! I thought. "Thanks Robert", I said. "It's good to know because I often worry about what happens if I missed something."
 
When Kevin McCarthy arrived, he adjusted his quick rhythm that he had with James Darren, to the more thoughtful, methodical, and also effective rhythm that Mr. McCarthy had. He really gave to Mr. McCarthy, allowing him to warm up and get up to speed. Then the two of them performed a brilliant cat and mouse negotiating scene. I had chosen Mr. McCarthy, not only because I'm a big fan, but who else could intimidate I SPY's Robert Culp, but the man that save us all from the "Pods" in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers".

When Mr. Culp finished with both actors, it was time to say good-by. I told him, "The next time you see "Hannie Caulder" listen to the way you say my favorite one word line, "Winchester" when your are surrounded by bandits and want Hannie to throw you your rifle without them knowing it." He said, "Okay, I will. And thanks for the DVDs.", waved and headed out the door onto another mission.

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Of course, everyone discovered George Chakiris in "West Side Story" in which he received the academy award for Best Supporting Actor. Rita Moreno says of George, "There are only two elegant dancers I can think of, Fred Astair and George." I had not thought of him to play the part of a Puerto Rican loan shark in for my audio-book "Rock Star Rising".

I just didn't make the connection when I first thought about Russ Tamblyn to play the lead in it. This was probably because it was too much of a stretch to dream that big, that it never entered my head.

But by chance both Russ and George appeared at a photo signing convention and then idea clicked. And if I could pull it off, not only would he be perfect for the part, I'd be making movie history, of a sort, by putting these two actors together for the first time since they both got stabbed and killed below that highway, so many years ago. A sort of resurrection for Riff and Bernardo. Too much to dream? Probably. Russ got the script to George and, after a weeks wait, he told my agent he would do it.

Out of the blue, I got a call from George saying that he would like to make some changes to the script and wondered how I felt about it. I told him that the overall story was of more concern to me than each individual word, so it would be fine. And of course, I wanted each actor to make the part his own, thusly putting more of them into my project then just showing up and performing what was on the page. George asked where could we meet. Using what I had learned from my "James Bond Lifestyle" techniques I asked him if there were a big five star hotel near where he lived, as they would always have a comfortable lounge where we could talk with beverages available. He said the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills, and we set the time and date.

I got there early and checked the place out. The lounge looked like a scene from a badly designed movie about Hollywood. A set too much "in character" to be believed. It was beautiful with three connecting lounges with a bar in the middle one. Seated at tables were men with laptops and talking over the cell phones about about making script changes. I picked an a comfortable sofa with a chair and table next to it for George to sit in when he arrived, ordered avian water from the bar tender and opened my script on the table.

George arrived right on time and I stood. I told him people had recently said, I looked like Michael Caine, so he recognized me right away. He looked just like Bernardo and still definitely in shape as he trains at a gym daily and still does dance exercises.

I warmed him up talking about the fact the we were both Greek decedents. His parents coming from Greece, both sets of my grandparents coming from Greece. We talked about some of his movies like "Diamond Head". He said he is still friends with James Darren from that movie.

I didn't know then that James Darren would end up in the project, and not through George. Then we went to work on the script. Basically his changes were more of the editing nature. Condensing longer speeches into more concise dialogue between him and Russ' character, for whom he had most of his scenes with, besides the character of his sister.
 

At one point, George started to act out his dialogue and from the corner of my eye I notice people turning and looking at him and then me. Normally, being basically a shy person, this would have bothered me, but being it was academy award winning George Chakiris that I was working with, I didn't bother me at all. In fact, surrounded all by all those "in" Hollywood types, I felt like that I was "in" with them. But I only thought about that for a second and then put my mind back on the script.

Two hours later, and after some more movie talk, both George and I were satisfied with his dialogue. At the recording studio, Russ and George sat facing each other, and did all there twenty or so scenes together. We would record each scene one by one talking a break between them to analyze and prepare for the next one.

We first ran the scene where Russ' Puerto Rican girlfriend introduces him to her brother, so it was a three mike set up and we got it in one take, with the actress sounding like Rozie Perez. Then she took a break and Russ and George continued with scenes they had to do alone.

Once in a while they would stop and have to go over what they had agreed to do, and the changes that George had made only with me. I had typed up and copied the changes, which I had ready for both of them if need, but they preferred to work off their own scripts. It was great to hear the two of them set up what they would say before the start of each scene.

After two hours, their scenes together were done. Next George had to do his remaining scenes with the actress playing the part of his sister. It was great to hear the two of them, in character, argue about what was happening in the story. When George had finished all his scenes, I had Russ back in the booth continuing on with his scenes. I was happy to see that, even though finished, George sat in the back on a sofa with his "sister" and talked and enjoyed the atmosphere. It turned out they were both cat lovers and George told her that he would design a special piece of jewelry for her. I love it when the cast gets along.

Finally during a break, George said his farewells. I shook my hand and said, "It was a pleasure working with you." I replied, "I'll always remember The Four Seasons. It was very productive." After he left Russ turned to me and said, "You know Paul, these days, George hardly does anything, but after meeting you, he decided to do this." I replied, "I'm really happy about that." I turned out that he had not been 100% sure about doing the project until after our first meeting. Now as I write this with a photo of Riff and Bernardo knife fighting on my PC table in front of me, both signed by Russ and George.
 

I still can't believe that I have their performances on tape. The great thing that comes to mind is that when they finally hear the project on CD, they will really be surprised at the sound design, the music, and how the overall story plays. And most of all, they didn't (nor did I) know of all the other name actors that would join this project based on the fact that the two of them had already recorded their parts.

Rod Taylor was to follow, then Robert Culp recording with James Darren and Kevin McCarthy. I can't wait to thank them for their believe in the project, when I send them their copies of the CD. And can't wait for their reactions!

Rod Taylor has been deep in my heart since I saw "The Time Machine". And who better to take us through the narration of a story than the guy that most boys, and young at heart, have taken the ride with him countless times in his time machine. His narrative voice is strong and gentle at the right times and we trust him to guide us on our adventure together into the future. So for me, he was the only choice for my audio-book "Rock Star Rising".

We planned to start recording at 9am. My producer and friend Larry Metzger and I decided to sit in the plush building lobby and wait for Rod. The sound man was setting things up in the studio and everything was cool. Our chairs in the lobby faced the heavy glass recording studio door that had a bell on it. We were only 10 feet away, and since there was no one else in the lobby on a Saturday we would surely see Rod arrive. Suddenly in the midst of conversation the sound man comes out and says, "Rod's here. He's in the studio." I said, "What! We were both looking right at the door. We would have seen him open the heavy slow door and heard the bell." We jumped up and went into the studio.
 

Rod, even though having never met me, greeted me with a big smile and a "Hello Paul". Maybe he checked my photo on the Internet movie data base, I don't know. But I had heard that Rod is a happy gregarious fellow and I had seen that in person one other time which I will tell later on. He said, "I really enjoyed your script especially...." and then he quoted a passage by heart. And then said, "That's a long winded sentence, but I think I can make it." I said, "Yeah, I do have a few run on sentences in there."

I told him how much I liked him and Jim Brown in "Dark of the Sun". That is the movie where he plays a mercenary soldier and takes a train into the African Congo to bring back people trapped by rebels, as well as diamonds. Rod said, "Do you know, that's Martin Scorsese's and Quinteen Tarintino's number one favorite movie?" After a few more stories, I explained to Rod how we were recording in digital and that he could stop and repeat a line again any time he wanted. That any mistake could be easily cut out later. This was his first time doing it and was amazed how the technology progressed since he had recorded the voice of Pogo in the original "101 Dalmatians".

Rod started out as contract player for MGM. He appeared in "Giant" and "Separate Tables". He made it a point to appear only in good movies, turning down lower class productions, as he was,and is, truly interested in doing good work in a profession that her really respects.

He gained fame with "The Time Machine" and the TV show "Hong Kong" where he became the highest paid actor for a one hour show. Rod solidified his star position with the Alfred Hitchock movie, "The Birds". "Fate is the Hunter", "36 Hours", and "Dark of the Sun", showed he could chose imaginative and rugged parts.

Only at one point in the narration of my production did Rod actually lose his breath, at the end of which he chuckled out, "There you go again, Paul, with the run on sentences." "Sorry Rod. I was advised on my first novel that there was a period on the typewriter. I thought I had improved."
 
I was surprised when Rod made improvements to some of the lines I wrote and even found an "unnecessary and confusing" passage that he recommended I delete. When he explained it to me, I understood right away and deleted it. Rod was not only acting, he was processing the story and making additions and improvements. A real example of a professional interested in his craft. At the two hour point, Rod asked for a break.

We talked about his other films and I was able to tell him this story:

"You know Rod, I once visited your set at the Burbank studio when you were filming the TV pilot for "Shamus". I sat on an "apple box" against the wall and watched you film. When you finished, you started telling a funny experience to the crew, who gathered around you and where I was sitting. Half way through your story you looked around for a place to sit and sat on the end of the box, shoulder to shoulder with me. I was in heaven sitting with my hero." Rod laughed and replied, "You should have told me to 'Get the hell off my apple box.'"

After finishing the narration, I asked Rod to sign a Time Machine photo for me. Instead of leaning over the table, he sat himself down as if preparing to paint a master piece, and signed it large and wonderful. Just before leaving I said to him, "Rod, just one last thing. I want to tell you my favorite line you ever said in the movies. "Put the swastika back on. You've earned it!" He said, "Yeah, that's from "Dark of the Sun". He then added. "I had a great time working with you. Good luck with your project."

A week later when Larry and I were again sitting outside in the lobby near the recording studio door, it finally occurred to me how Rod had gotten inside without us seeing him. "Larry", I said, using a Scottish accent, trying to sound like Alan Young in 'The Time Machine'. "Now I see. Rod drug his heavy machine over there, scratching the floor, so that he would appear inside the studio to record our production and make a better world for us."

I don't know which three books he took with him. But I hope one of them is "Rock Star Rising."