Bryan Cranston

A skinny red-haired kid from California, Bryan Cranston was cast as the king`s brawny Siamese senior adviser in a 1977 production of "The King And I" at Florida`s Daytona Beach Playhouse. Then he was wanted for murder.

"King" was an unpaid gig at the community theater, where the local actors and producers were willing to overlook his lack of stage experience because he was born and raised in Los Angeles. Surely some acting skills would have rubbed off on him along the way, as he had appeared in a TV commercial when he was 8 years old and his father, Joe Cranston, was a sometime bit actor.

Cranston had studied police science at a Southern California college for two years prior to taking a cross-country motorcycle trip to Florida with his brother, Kyle. While working days as a waiter in a Hawaiian restaurant, Cranston was thrust on stage overnight and had a wonderful time. The only problem was the residue left by the purple eye shadow he used to make himself look "more Siamese."

Tired of getting strange looks from restaurant customers, a fellow actor suggested that I put some Vaseline on my eyelid before applying the makeup - which would wipe right off," says Cranston, 45, now considerably older and wiser as weird and hairy dad, Hal, on the hit sitcom "Malcolm In The Middle."

"It was a Saturday night and a full house when I tried that little trick."

But it got very hot and sweaty on stage. By the third act, when I bent over the dying king and gave a sad speech, the Vaseline seeped into my irritated eyes and I couldn`t stop the tears flowing down my face," he continues, laughing. "The audience went wild. The tears spurted from my eyes. The accolades! From then on, I just pounded Vaseline into my eyes. I think it`s a valuable lesson for every young actor."

Applause still ringing in his ears, the restless Cranston, accompanied by his equally adventuresome brother, decided to head up the East Coast to Maine a couple of months later. By the time they left Daytona Beach on their motorbikes, they were wanted by police on suspicion of murder in a half-dozen Southern states. A cook at the Hawaiian restaurant had just been found bound, gagged and bludgeoned to death in a stolen car.

"The guy, Peter Wong, was a real bastard and I hated the guy - everyone did," Cranston recalls. "We all talked about how we would kill him, like cutting him up and putting him in the mushu. Off we went, then he was found. During the investigation, the (cops) came around to the restaurant and asked if anybody hated or had ever talked about killing Wong. `Of course, the Cranston brothers.` An all-points bulletin was out for us immediately, but somehow we slipped through."

Before they returned to Florida the following winter, the real murderers were behind bars. But trip south from Maine still became a major turning point in Cranston`s life, after being stuck for a week in a ferocious rain storm somewhere in Virginia.

"Kyle and I were stuck at a camping area that had a cement slab with a roof over it and just enough space for two picnic tables. For seven days and seven nights, we played cards and I read a book of plays. The moment I finished (Henrik) Ibsen`s `Hedda Gabler,` I realized that I had to pursue acting as a career."

In 1978, after another season of acting, directing and producing at the Daytona Beach Playhouse, Cranston headed home for L.A. for acting classes, endless rounds of auditions and occasional paid gigs - including a couple of national TV commercials and a small guest shot on "CHiPs." Five years later, he finally received a major break with a two-year run as good guy Doug Donovan on the daytime soap opera "Loving."

Scores of episodic guest appearances and supporting roles in feature films and TV movies followed before he landed a recurring role as Dr. Tim Whatley - the nitrous oxide-addicted dentist - on "Seinfeld in 1995.

"It was a lot of fun and helped my stature in the business, because `Seinfeld` was the one show people in the industry watched," he ways. "The day after the first episode aired, everybody at the next audition knew who I was. It established me as a player."

Born in the San Fernando Valley to parents who met in an acting class, Cranston knew what it was liked to share one bathroom with four other people from an early age.

"I also learned what it was like to be the kid of an actor, which usually means lots of financial ups and downs," he explains. "I remember when my dad bought a new car one year, then got rid of it to buy an older car the following year. One year we put in a swimming pool in the back yard; the next year we couldn`t afford to put chemicals in the water and weren`t allowed to swim in it."

Taking a wild guess, Cranston thinks that his own parents served in part as inspirations for his decidedly spacey Hal character on "Malcolm In The Middle." Including holding "judgment days" on Saturdays.

"During the week when my dad was working, my mother, Peggy, would write little notes, like summons, whenever my brother and I did something wrong. Like failing to take out the trash or jumping from the roof. Then, on weekends - usually Saturdays - they would hold court," he continues.

"My mom would state her case and we would have a chance to defend ourselves. If guilty, we`d usually throw ourselves on the mercy of the court. After all was said and done, my dad would pass judgment. A run-of-the-mill offense usually meant being grounded for a number of days. A heinous crime could bring a spanking. For a while, I thought all other families in America did the same thing."

Cranston and his wife, actress Robin Dearden, do not employ the same method of punishment to their 8-year-old daughter, Taylor, though they may have been tempted on occasion.

He is currently hoping that distribution will go smoothly for "Last Chance," an award-winning feature film ("a sweet romantic drama") he wrote, directed and stars in opposite his wife.

The down-to-earth and good-natured actor - whose TV miniseries and film credits include "From The Earth To The Moon," "That Thing You Do," "Clean Slate" and "Saving Private Ryan" - also plays hard off-camera. Particularly baseball, as a shortstop for the Hollywood Stars - a showbiz team that plays for fun rather than profit.

"My fantasy was playing baseball at L.A.`s Dodger Stadium and last summer it came true in a charity game," he says proudly. "I was part of a double-play combination and hit a double down the left field line. The adrenaline pumping, I ran faster than I have in my entire life. The thrill of a lifetime."

(c) Copley News Service

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: Eirik Knutzen