| MY BIO-sorry about the small print I was born on July 11th, 1965 at 6:05 PM Eastern time. Everyone says not to tell one's age but I don''t give a damn. If some dumb-ass needs to pre-judge me beacuse of my age it is his or her problem and ensuing loss. SO THERE. I come from Vaudeville Royalty on my dad's side which is a little known fact, and am a 2nd generation American on my mom's side. . My paternal Grandfather was Jack Curtis Sr. - a booking agent for KEITH-ALBEE and my paternal Grandmother (Jack Curtis Sr.'s 3rd wife) was Mabel Ford of The Ford Sisters - Dora and Mabel, originally THE FOUR FORDS when dancing with their bothers Ed and Max.. My Grand-Uncle Max invented a step called THE MAXIE FORD. Their mom and dad (my great grands started a Vaudeville act in 1880s and pretty soon all the kids were hoofers. The Ford Sisters were billed above Barrymores and billed 2nd only to Sarah Bernhardt. They ran the ORPHEUM CIRCUIT and THE PALACE, toured Europe in 1909 and then againg in 1914 for a year and a half. They danced 44 weeks out of the year. They played the Hippodrome countless times and my Grandma Mabel apparently had a Silver Fox named MEXICO, who was a guest at the Hippodrome while Mabel was on tour. Mexico was one of the attractions at the Hippodrome - tame enough to pet or you aot a free candy from the management. The FORD SISTERS were also one of the most highly paid acts of their time from what the articles I possess say. Jack Curtis Sr. had a daughter with 1st wife Anna Chandler, named Beatrice Curtis. Beatrice married a guy named Harry Fox (Foxtrot) and they had a child about a year before my dad Jack Curtis Jr. was born in 1926. WHere this chid is???? What happened??? Growing up, I knew that my Grandma had been in Vaudeville and had been a tap dancer but had no idea to what extreme. I have only found out in the past year what a HUGE presence she and her family were and am slowly wrapping my mind around all of it. I have documentaion which I have yet to compile in chronologic order; another one of my back-burner projects. Prior to that I have been asked to write a foreward for a book on Auntie Dora's son; a magician named ROY BENSON. A company called THE MIRACLE FACTORY is publishing it and it shoud be available in early 2005. In any case, I have never used any of this to my advantage but will begin to because it's true and can. It's never too late. So, I was raised on the upper West side of Mahattan, I was taught to speak French and uttered not a word of English until I turned 3. .It was fun in the playground when trying to communicate I am sure, but I must have managed. As a result of my french accent when speaking English, I uttered my first "line" in Agnes Varda's "Le Bonheur" which my mom had translated and was dubbing into English. My Fench would also save me from total destitution in 1997 and 1998. I was hired to do a TV series which aie=red only in France . I had to leave my children for 5 weeks and work in Hawaii. I t was very difficult for to leave them. I left them a Hershey's kiss for each day I would be away so that they could keep track by eating one a day but I digress. I am good at that...I continued do a lot of dubbing growing up and was used when a child's voice was needed. It's thanks to dubbing that I got my SAG card. When it came time for school I was sent to Le Lycee Francais de New York and after a while I was tossed 180 degrees the other way into The Rudolph Steiner School. It is there I was taught HOW to think not WHAT to think. Something for which I am very grateful every day of my life. During my elementary school years I figure skated and took dance classes, studied classical guitar, sang with the city and Metropolitain Opera Children's choruses (until I grew too tall) and took speach, and voice lessons. The short version I think is that I burned out early and ended up acting out like a banshee most of the time because of the overload. I look back and can only think that my mom was trying to make sure I had things to ill my time and my head to make up for my father's untimely death. It backfired.. By 10th Grade I could take traditional schooling no longer . I ran away from home to make my point...I was back by evening. After several attempts at a less demanding academic education, I chose to quit while I was ahead - X could equal whatever it damn well would like to equal. As far as I was concerned I would never have use for it, so one day I just never went back. My mom announced that I could not stay at home and do nothing, so I went to The Gap and got a job... 3 weeks later I was through with that and got myself an agent. Meanwhile I was hanging out with a few unsavory characters from my last real school: The Robert Louis Stevenson School for misfits. They (Darrell Brock) introduced me to a place called CBGB's. I was in the midst of wrenching myself away from my mother in an emotionally evil way. I was in HATE with everything -I still have my days. We didn't know that I had ADHD back then which actually explains a lot of my childhood ISSUES. I think losing my dad when I was 5 (he was only 44) in 1970 didn't help things either.Who knows it may even have exascerbated the chemical imbalance. Had I been diagnosed there is a strong possibility I'd have been medicated for it - glad I only dicovered it late in life (3 years ago, actually) and chose Tae Kwon Do rather than pills. As of today (11/13/04) I am a red belt struggling with running an 8 minute mile on the physical fitness requirement I need to meet to get my next belt promotion. When I turn 40 I get to run a 9 minute mile, which I can almost do. 9:14 is my best time so far...never give up, I say! Worse comes to worse I wait until July 11 2005 to test. OK so, where was I .. right ..CBGB's. That was was fun. I sported purple hair - as did the wall and carpet at mom's , was a cursing, inarticulate teen experimenting with boys, drugs, music and ran lights for $5 a set. I cavorted with Ramones, Bad Brains to mention a very select few...and while I was still making feeble attempts at education the owner, Hilly, had a deal with my mom: If I went to school I was allowed to hang out in the club otherwise no CBGBs...A plot if ever there was a plot but until I officially quit I adhered to it. I was lucky I didn't get killed, mugged, raped or worse, but I didn't. I just acted out and made bad choices. During all of this teen-aged hysteria my agents Lester Lewis and Associates, a small agency, told me I had an audition for a movie called Baby It's You. I was so freaked out that I dragged my friend Stever along. I booked it and I managed, with John Sayles' amazing direction, to get a mention in Judith Christ's review column in the NY Times :"The role of Jodi, touchingly played by Liane Curtis." she wrote. That was incredibly cool. Especially since I had visions of Stu Klein dancing around in my head saying something like: "Baby It's You is not for you..:.Hhe was an evil and pissy reviewer in NY and hated almost everything. I would like to mention that my first on-camera experience was early, actually. I was 4 and was chosen to be on the Pilot of Sesame Street. When the day was done all the children were told to go to Mr. Hooper's store and get a balloon. The director was kindly blowing them up for the cast. When he got to me and my balloon his lips and face must have been tired because he blew it up to what I considered to be half way. I asked him please to blow it bigger. He responded by saying : "these balloons don't get any bigger." I then told him that he was stupid because my mommy had blown up the same kind of balloon twice as big as that just the night before. I was not invited back....hmmmm was it something I said? Fast Forward...I finally moved out to LA in 1987 after having been warned by Judd Hirsch not to. "Always keep your roots in NY and let them fly you back and forth." Oh well. I worked a lot for the first year and a half and was doing ok. I got pregnant with my oldest child, Tyler Ford Curtis. Things were difficult but I insisted that my agent please kep submitting me. He said: "Liane, go home have your baby and get skinny; nobody wants a pregnant woman." I then got homonal and venemous and stepped on my own dick, I said: "You're fired!" Steve Small (oops I said his name - I wonder if I were to say it 4 more times whether it would be like the movie Candyman...) then told me not to let the door hit my ass on the way out. Yet another turbulent ending. I almost called Gloria Alred to make a public stink about discrimination. I wasn't disabled or ill; I was pregnant for cryin' out loud. I chose not to go that way afraid that I would never work again; there are days that I wonder if I would've done better to make a public stink because no publicity is bad, apparently. Oh well. I then met, married and had a baby with another dad. Logan arrived on August 18, 1991 and times got lean. I couldn't get arrested much less get hired or fired but here and there. Not enough to be comfy. We were very stressed and proved to be a bad combination #2 and I so we divorced in 1995 All kinds of Movie of the Week-style crappy things then happened which I will not go into at this time. It left me depressed, unwanted, unused and frustrated. Oh yeah and really, really sad. What I thought was my identity was gone. My ego was crushed -probably a good thing- and my wallet was empty. My heart, however was ready to burst and I finally turned to my guitar and newly discovered songwriting ability to get relief. I began to play open mic nights here and there and was encouraged by invitaitons to play at McCabes outdoor summer concert, folloewed by what I didn't realize at the time was a pretty normal development deal contract. FYI... music is VERY different from acting as far as how it's all set up. This music stuff scared me and I did not sign. I played what would be my last McCabes open mic night. I remember that I was craving weird food that night. I had a funny feeling. I went back to my roots and took up classical guitar lessons again, thinking it would be good for the baby growing inside me.I was indeed pregnant with my 3rd and last child Jacqueline. I married my current husband, Tim, in 1999 a month before giving birth to our daughter. I played out once more at McCabes open mic night when she was an infant and then just decided to become invisible in Hollywood, complaining all the way. Not enough $$ not enough attention... DEFINATELY NOT the way I had pictured it in my version. The ego throwing fits and focusing on the perceived problem. I just didn't realize until very recently that I had somehow been waiting for someone's permission...funny after never listening and always doing what I liked to my own detriment for so long. Fast forward to: Now I am finishing my 1st album RACHEL PROFILIN' - QUARTER TO NINEe, wich Jonathan Nelson (suicidal tendencies - chili peppes- and narrow intercession) is co-producing, a different 3 song demo in the valley wich Joe Laswell is co-writing and producing for Graham and Lauren @ Matrix. I am trying to network, build the website, create momentum, HAVE FUN, believe the impossible, manage literary properties for my client Kathy Messik, and am talking about a 3rd with Ken Medlock. I am also re-working a pilot for an HBO or SHOWTIME style for myself with my old compadre Worth Keeter. I am FINALLY doing a lot more than just waiting for my agent to "DO SOMETHING!!!!!" and playing my tired old violin - gotta hang that shit up now. Maybe my efforts will CREATE something for my agents to do - who knows I am productive, nuts, cranky/happy, and just doing my best to pay it forward, encourage my friends and stay sane whilst juggling it all. |