Actor, playwright and producer Terry Ray got where he is by joyfully jumping right in where he wanted to be. You may know him from his movie roles. Or you may know him from Electricity, his original play that tells the story of a romance between 2 men who met at a 10 year high school reunion (one repressed, the other blatantly out) and then saw each other every ten years over a forty year period. It was on its way to Off Broadway when the pandemic struck, but it was the longest running play in Palm Springs, and I hope we may be able to stream it soon.
Television shows grabbed Terry’s heart early on, and because the Mary Tyler Moore show was one of his favorites and mine, too, I invited him to talk about his love affair with television shows of a bygone era.
Star-struck as he was at an early age, he knew where he wanted to be. It was how he got there that is a lesson in the power of youthful nerve and confidence. When he was 15 he could not afford to go to the theater but saw that the reporters were getting in for free. Chirpily passing himself off as a reporter with his school paper, he got in. Whoa! He interviewed Ann Miller and see the show for free. He did this every week. All summer long. Then Cloris Leachman came to town, and that story you have to hear from Terry for what it led to between them. His celebrity interview list, yeh yeh as a reporter for his school paper, is long and I am hoping Terry will come back soon to tell us more.
Am I a spoiler if I send you to this link where he zaps her with his Gaydar gun? To hear Terry talk about absolutely anything is a treat. To see him talk about his faking his way into the world of the stars he loves is an extra treat.
Love letters. Sure. Fan letters; a whole delightful subset of love letters, and yes, he got answers to his.
