After that I got small parts here and there in live
also visited MASH units. When he was about to
theatre and in television and movies, until I got
return home he told me to look him up when I got
teamed up with Red Skelton on his live weekly
home after the two year stint. He told me it would
show.
be difficult for me to start my career up again and
maybe he could help. When I got back to the States
and was ready to resume my career my father
passed away, and I was going to have to quit the
business and go home and help support my mother.
I stopped at CBS to see Red and he refused to let
me quit. He gave me some cash to send home to my
mother and told me I was now working for him full
time. I was with him for almost one year and that
saved me in show business.
Jamie with Red Skelton
During his service in the US Army
My career really began to flourish. However I
got drafted into the US Army and had to serve two
Early in your career, did being a person of
years of active duty, two years of active reserve and
Middle Eastern heritage make it difficult for you
then two years of inactive duty until I got my
to find acting roles?
honorable discharge. I served in the States for a
while and then served in Japan and Korea. While in
No, because I was usually cast in Middle Eastern
Japan, Red Skelton came to the Orient to entertain
roles. If not that, certainly Italian, Greek, Hispanic
the troops in Korea and he requested me from our
looking parts. Yes, I played Jewish characters also.
State Department to go with him and help him
entertain. I did. We performed in small camps and
th
bases all the way to the DMZ... the 38 parallel. We
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