Category: 2017 Festival

I was born and have lived all of my life in the environs of Hollywood.   Just before my 8^th birthday I auditioned for a role on the Jack Benny Radio Show as the older daughter, “Baby Alice” of Phil Harris. This began my professional acting career which was mainly on the radio. “It’s A Wonderful Life” was the only movie that I was in and it has been an amazing lifetime experience to have been in such a collectively meaningful picture. My life was busy with school, singing, dancing, piano and other lessons and performing on a variety of radio shows.   From age 8 to 17 I was under contract to NBC to perform on the Phil Harris – Alice Faye Show as “Baby Alice”.

My acting career ended when I entered UCLA and made the decision to not pursue performing arts as a major. Instead I wanted to pursue a career in a helping profession.   The first form of this was Nursing, but for some reason it did not fully satisfy my wish to help others. Eventually it became clear that my desire was specifically to help others who were struggling with finding meaning in their life – not unlike Clarence in the movie who helps George see the meaning of his life. This led to my becoming a Psychologist and finally a Jungian Analyst. I have the great privilege of working with many individuals who are engaged in what I know as the “individuation” process of fulfilling their lives in a meaningful, personal way.

My greatest delight is my family. I have a son, Joe and four stepdaughters from my second marriage: Nancy, Janet, Linda and Naomi. I am the very proud grandmother of six grandchildren and one great grandchild ranging in age from 6 to 26. Joe, and his wife, Melissa, have given me two delightful grandsons, Cameron and Austin. Naomi and her wife Janna have given me twins, Kate and Gavin. Janet and Ken, the parents of Rebecca, and Linda, the mother of Nikki and her grandson, Aiden, are also part of my beloved family. They all have taught me to play, which was something that was missing in my childhood and that I treasure.

All in all I have had, and continue to have, “A Wonderful Life”.

   Darren King was born on June 25th, 1982 to Vivian and Bill King of Marshfield, Missouri. 

He was raised on West Bedford street near Massey Park where he lived along with his two older siblings Kristi and Clint.

    While in 5th grade at Marshfield Elementary, Darren joined Lori Herring’s “Academic Resource Classroom” for gifted students. Her attentive and encouraging teaching style combined with a newfound friendship in Jonathon Altman (another of Mrs. Herring’s students) helped him feel valued and confident at a time when he struggled to fit in. In jr. high and through high school Darren’s “resource room” education was continued by Richard Ingalls whose lessons, like Mrs. Herring’s, inspired and challenged Darren.

    Around the age of 12 Darren’s interests began to shift from visual art to music. He joined the elementary school band percussion section along with Jonathon (whose father was the band director at the time) and spent countless evenings drumming on everything in his home; pillows, basketballs, the box spring of his bed,  even the walls. No surface was safe from the incessant tapping of his only pair of drum sticks. His mother was very patient, reminding herself that the constant noise was proof that Darren was not getting in trouble. It was also around this time that Darren discovered his dad’s wonderful cassette collection and a whole world of music from the past opened up to him. Artists like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, the Beach Boys, The Ventures, and especially Benny Goodman (with Gene Krupa on drums) found in his father’s collection sparked his permanent obsession with music and record collecting. 

    Around age 14 Darren was invited to play percussion (congas. tambourine, etc.) in the Cornerstone Church (Springfield, MO) worship band where he began to develop his exuberant, frenetic style of performance, playing as hard and loud as possible to compensate for the fact that he did not have a microphone. Eventually Darren was allowed to play the drum kit in the church band. It was around this time that Darren met Paul Meany a musician from New Orleans who performed at Cornerstone church.

   In June of 2000, upon graduation, Darren joined Paul’s band “Earthsuit” as an auxiliary percussionist in time for the release of their first full length record. He toured with them for two months but was very disappointed when they decided to send him home after only 2 months of touring. He moved to Nashville and worked for Reba Rambo and Donny McGuire’s church “The River at Music City”. During this time he worked at restaurants, practiced drums often in very lengthy sessions, and began creating his own instrumental songs with whatever melodic instruments and recording tools he could borrow from friends. He sent some of his recordings to Paul who was impressed with them and they began to collaborate by sending CDs of song ideas in the mail.

    A year later Darren moved to New Orleans to rejoin Paul’s group this time as drummer. Shortly thereafter Earthsuit disbanded though Paul and Darren remained together and formed a new group which they called “Math”. Initially only a two member outfit, they were joined by Greg Hill on guitar and Roy Mitchell-Cardenas on bass and changed their name to Mutemath. 

    Mutemath signed to Warner Brothers records and released their first full length record in 2006. Moving from New Orleans to Nashville after hurricane Katrina, the band toured almost constantly for nearly two years in support of that record.

   In the fall of 2007 MUTEMATH was joined by a band of siblings from Texas named Eisley for a 2 month tour. Darren fell in love Stacy Dupree, Eisley’s lead singer and songwriter, though they did not begin dating until nearly a year after that tour (and after much persistence on Darren’s part). Darren moved to Tyler, Texas in hopes that their love would grow. They married in July of 2010 and Stacy gave birth to their first baby girl, Scarlett, on October 24th 2012, by far the best moment of Darren’s life. Four years later, on October 15th 2016 their 2nd daughter Solenne was born, doubling their joy. 

     Over the last decade, Darren has co-produced 5 full length albums with Mutemath, directed many of their music videos, toured the world, appeared on late night and daytime television many times, and produced and written songs with some of the most successful artists of all time, though none of those things compare to the joy and love he has found in Stacy, Scarlett and Solenne. 

 

Steven Ford has enjoyed a successful acting career for over 25 years appearing in over 800 hours of film and television productions. He has worked on over 30 films and many guest leads in television. Most recently you would have seen Steve appearing in the hit movie TRANSFORMERS and BLACK HAWK DOWN. Steve’s other film credits would include films such as CONTACT with Jodie Foster, ARMAGEDDON with Bruce Willis, STARSHIP TROOPERS, ERASER with Schwarzenegger, HEAT with Al Pacino, CARRIE II and WHEN HARRY MET SALLY as Meg Ryan’s boyfriend. He has also done numerous guest leads in television shows such as SUDDENLY SUSAN, J.A.G., FLIPPER, WALKER TEXAS RANGER, DR. QUINN, BAYWATCH, THE CAPE, COLUMBO, MURDER SHE WROTE and HAPPY DAYS. Steve also hosted a full season, 22 episodes of the prime time series SECRET SERVICE for NBC. Early in Steve’s career he spent six years playing the character Andy Richards on the Emmy Award winning daytime show THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. 

Before becoming an actor in 1980, Steve worked on the professional rodeo circuit as a team roper and still ropes today in his spare time. He owns a ranch in California. Steve served three years on the Board of Directors of THE NATIONAL COWBOY HALL OF FAME in Oklahoma City and currently serves on THE GERALD R. FORD PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION.

He is also highly sought after nationally as a motivational speaker for corporate events relating his inspiring experiences during his family’s stay in the WHITE HOUSE and his years in Hollywood. Steve also speaks about his own successful battle overcoming alcoholism over twenty years ago. He shares with audiences inspiring stories of character and leadership that lead to the Ford family’s success which will help audiences rethink their own lives. He is the third son of President and Mrs. Gerald R. Ford.

Most fondly remembered for her starring role as “Cissy” in the long-running CBS international television hit, Family Affair, Kathy Garver has also garnered critical acclaim in movies, stage, radio, voice-over animation, and audio book narration.

Kathy was born on December 13 in Long Beach, California to Hayes and Rosemary Garver joining her sister, Beverly, and brothers, Hayes, Jr. and Lance.  

Her acting career in television began when she was just seven years old. When she was just eight years old, Hollywood legendary director Cecil B. DeMille recognized Kathy’s distinct talents. Originally hired for a small part in the epic motion picture, The Ten Commandments, Kathy was noticed by the great director who then had special scenes written into the movie to highlight the talented little girl. The award-winning movie followed her first film, The Night of the Hunter, directed by Academy Award winner, Charles Laughton. During her teenage years, she added radio and stage to her burgeoning film and television career.

Kathy was a freshman majoring in speech at UCLA when she was tested for a television series entitled Family Affair (1966-1971). Kathy, deemed perfect to star as “Cissy” with Brian Keith as “Uncle Bill” and Sebastian Cabot as “Mr. French,” starred for five years in one of the warmest and most enduring series of the 1960’s and 1970’s. With “Buffy” and “Jody”, the show continues to be popular today pleasing old and new audiences world-wide as a true classic.

Filming Family Affair demanded much from Kathy: “Brian Keith only worked for about half the production schedule so the rest of us would have to film scenes from as many as six different episodes in one day,” she recalls. “I actually had to do most of my close-ups with the assistant director, a paunchy middle aged man glued to a cigar, standing behind the camera. I had to use a lot of imagination to perform with him playing my six-year-old sister, “Buffy!”

After Family Affair, Kathy starred in an Israeli musical-stage version of the TV series, learning Hebrew phonetically for her role. Later, she continued dramatic studies at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she portrayed “Juliet” in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Dramatic and comedic productions in the states followed including starring roles in My Fair Lady, Sunday in New York, A Midsummer’s Night Dream and The Trojan Women. At the conclusion of this work, she returned to UCLA to earn a Master’s Degree in Theatre Arts.

Today, Kathy is an accomplished and versatile actress, appearing in such films as Sweet November and The Princess Diaries Mom, Murder and Me along with made-for-television movies such as F.B.I. Murders and Hercules Saves Christmas with guest-star roles on many TV series. She is a sought-after celebrity on game shows, winning top money for charities such as Street Smarts and other reality programs.

Having majored in speech at UCLA, Ms. Garver teaches speech, diction, character development and audio-book narration at Voice One Studios in San Francisco, American Eagle Studios in Santa Rosa, and MJ Lallo Productions in Los Angeles.

Kathy has used her wealth of experience and education to entertain and instruct thousands of people with her exciting and successful motivation and interactive speeches and presentations.

Kathy is very much in demand for her numerous vocal characterizations. She is a standout in the very competitive field of voice-overs for cartoons, commercials, toys and audio books. She voiced “Pepper,” an automotive whiz in the Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos TV series and “Firestar,” a mutant super hero in the Spiderman and His Amazing Friends TV series. Kathy produced, narrated and wrote lyrics and original music for eight audio Beatrix Potter tales and eight Mother Goose-based audiotapes for Smarty Pants, Inc. Kathy’s Beatrix Potter tapes have sold over two million copies and have won numerous awards. She has recorded books for Brilliance Audio, The Dove Foundation, and Listen and Live Audio. Her voice has been heard in Back Draft, Apollo 13 (which achieved the Academy Award for sound), Ransom, and Jingle all the Way. Kathy has recorded more than 80 audio books garnering four prestigious Audie awards in the process.

Having served on the board of the Young People’s Committee of the Screen Actors Guild and as a volunteer for BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools), Ms. Garver has used her experience to help guide new actors in the business. She is also involved in such charities as the Child HELP Foundation (which aids abused children), Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Ms. Garver is President of The Family Affair Foundation which provides reading companions to the elderly and at-risk youth.

Winning accolades such as Best Actress from Family Television Awards, Kathy continues her award winning presence by securing recognition from the entertainment world. Recent awards include two more Audie Awards, one for her narration of The World’s Best Short Stories, the other for her direction of Amy Tan in The Opposite of Fate, read by the author. She was also recognized by the Young Artists Foundation with the “Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award” and the Emerald Award from the Southern California Motion Picture Council. In 2013, this prestigious organization also bestowed on Ms. Garver the highly-esteemed Golden Halo Lifetime Achievement Award, putting her in league with such Stars as Mickey Rooney and Margaret O’Brien.

Kathy now has her own family affair. She met her husband of 35 years, business executive David Travis, on a tennis court in Palm Springs—truly a love match. Their son Reid Garver Travis, now 25, continues the tradition of show business by appearing in occasional entertainment roles, but has set his sights on business and turning his creative ideas into entrepreneurial successes.

Ms. Garver recently added author to her long list of accomplishments. Her first book, The Family Affair Cookbook, published by Bear Manor Media is a tasty trip down memory lane with anecdotes and photos, has received excellent reviews. Her following book, Surviving Cissy: My Family Affair of Life in Hollywood was released in 2015 and sold out in three months — a reprint has been ordered. X-Child Stars: Where Are They Now was launched in 2016 and is already planned for a reprint. X Child Stars: The Movies will be released in 2017.

Obviously, Kathy doesn’t suffer from the sometimes-exaggerated maladies common to former child actors. “The hardest thing is being accepted as someone who has depth,” she says. “Fortunately my parents stressed education and normalcy all through my childhood and during my Family Affair days. In learning to think and work independently, I firmly believe in hoisting one’s own sails!”

In 2017 she is producing and starring in A Family Affair to be Remembered documentary to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Family Affair. She is also hosting StarWatch a Talk show which honor the recipients of the Golden Palm Star for the Walk of Stars in Palm Springs. Ms Garver is also starring with former child stars, Tony Dow (Leave it to Beaver) Barry Livingston (My Three Sons) and Caryn Richman (Gidget) in a new play ‘Dinner at Five written by Lloyd Schwartz (Gilligan’s Island producer/writer and Brady Bunch producer/ writer) directed by Ted Lang (Love Boat) destined to be a true classic) Kathy also has a new pod cast debuting with co-host Marty Bickel entitled Everything Classic – if Kathy Garver is anything she is a true classic!

For all her accomplishments, including her new Cissy crunch candy bars and Cissy candles, Kathy’s sails will be billowing in some very favorable waters for quite some time.

(Adapted from Ms. Garver’s biography listed on her website www.kathygarver.com)