Huffington Magazine Issue 64-65 | Page 31

Voices They never expect to meet with rejection. “Too fat! Too thin! Too loud! Too soft!” Most of them go home. I stayed. I was excited about my first acting venture. My agent sent me to the apartment of Mae West. Most young people today don’t remember her. She was a diva who traveled all over the world in a stage show with six adoring males. At the appointed time, 7 in the evening, I went to her apartment and was ushered into the living room. I found about 10 good-looking guys also waiting for the audition. Mae West sashayed down the staircase. She was, surprisingly, a small woman walking on dangerously high heels. She looked around at the applicants. I was the first one to be rejected. Finally, I got an audition for a small part in a Russian play with an all-star cast. My part was to be a young Russian soldier who was getting ready to go to war. He is saying goodbye to the trees around his house. In the middle of the stage, facing the audience, he cries out to the trees, “YAHOO!!” I didn’t get the part. However, as a small consolation prize, they still gave me a job. When the actor who got the part for which I was rejected called KIRK DOUGLAS HUFFINGTON 09.01-08.13 out “YAHOO!!