After that I got small parts here and there in live theatre and in television and movies, until I got teamed up with Red Skelton on his live weekly show.
also visited MASH units. When he was about to return home he told me to look him up when I got home after the two year stint. He told me it would 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 years of active duty, two years of active reserve and then two years of inactive duty until I got my honorable discharge. I served in the States for a while and then served in Japan and Korea. While in Japan, Red Skelton came to the Orient to entertain the troops in Korea and he requested me from our State Department to go with him and help him entertain. I did. We performed in small camps and bases all the way to the DMZ... the 38 parallel. We
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Early in your career, did being a person of Middle Eastern heritage make it difficult for you to find acting roles?
No, because I was usually cast in Middle Eastern roles. If not that, certainly Italian, Greek, Hispanic looking parts. Yes, I played Jewish characters also.
Are people usually surprised to find out that you actually did military servi ?H[???XO??