Biography

I was born in Charleston, SC and have lived in the Eastern half of the US as far North as Philadelphia, as far West as the Mississippi river and as far South as Orlando, my present home. After earning a degree in Civil Engineering, I designed nuclear submarines, served in the US Army for 3 years, got married, was a Sales Engineer, an Environmental Engineer and retired (early) at the end of 2004.

I have always loved music and cannot recall a time when I didn't sing. My first career plan was to be a concert violinist. I also played guitar in college. I've sung many musical styles including Broadway, opera, gospel, jazz, rock & roll, barbershop, traditional and even contemporary classical. I have a real passion for small ensemble a-cappella singing and performing anything in front of a live audience.

About 15 years ago I developed an interest in film acting. Here in Central Florida there is an active TV commercial market during our mild winter season. I took some film acting classes, got a headshot and starting building my resume. I soon developed a love for the camera that matched my love of the live stage. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was a shortage of fit men in my age range. Since I love health and fitness, modeling was a natural addition to my repertoire. Shortly after I started modeling, I discovered that bass voices, like mine, had an advantage in voice-over work, so (you guessed it) I took some classes, made a demo and added VO to my "bag of tricks". As of June 2008, I have completed 57 film projects, plus an ongoing TV show and am currently shooting a full length movie; 17 print modeling and 15 live modeling projects; 17 voice-over projects, plus ongoing Public Service Announcements at the TV station where I host an interview show, and too many musical projects to remember but there are 22 major ones listed on my web site resume, under the Downloads and About Jim -> List of Work links. That resume also lists the details of the projects that I just summarized. And it lists several Boards in the industry on which I serve.

In addition to the mentioned skills of film and stage acting, print and live modeling, singing and voice-over; I also have teleprompter experience, am certified in ear prompter & have my own equipment, can produce reliable French and high-British accents and have good Spanish diction (though not fluent in the language). These voice skills are demonstrated on the VO demo under the Audio link. I am also good at presentations due to my years in sales and am often cast in romantic settings due to my height. At 6'1", I can make both short or tall women look good. I'm not a trained dancer, but I do have rhythm and have done enough stage dancing to follow simple ball room dance instructions. I'm highly organized (engineer, remember), self motivated but pleasant (sales, remember) and reliable (Army, remember). My hobbies include travel, photography, physical fitness and health.

During the summer of 2005 I conducted a comprehensive Mall Survey to ascertain the first impression I make on strangers, with the goal of identifying the rolls for which I am most naturally suited. I interviewed 86 strangers, from a wide cross-section of America, at 5 contrasting venues. Their average age was 35 (ranging from 10 to 87), 60% were female, 87% caucasion, 80% from the US and 50% with high incomes. According to my first impression on those I interviewed, I am a 50 year old Caucasian male with 1 son and 1 daughter in their late teens. My career is in sales, some profession or business (in that order). I am a college graduate, drive a luxury car and enjoy golf, fishing and active (not spectator) sports (in that order). I eat in expensive restaurants (probably Italian) and would choose wine to drink. My first movie choice is "action", followed by "comedy". My appearance is "moderately" handsome, "moderately" tall, but "very" neat. My personality is "slightly" laidback, "slightly" sophisticated, "slightly" conservative politically but "very" kind. I have nationally generic mannerisms and speech accents and could be from anywhere in the US, except the far West. A copy of the full Survey Report can be downloaded at Mall Survey in the Downloads link.

As you will see in my List of Work link under Downloads, I am most often cast in the age range of mid-40s to mid-50s as a spokesmodel, doctor, attorney, executive (especially Donald Trump type), fit boomer, golfer (don't play much, but do have a great "camera" swing) and a father.

Most of my work to date has been in Central Florida, other than the one-month Christmas tour of the Eastern US where I sang low bass in the octet with the Mantovani Orchesrta. However now that I'm retired, I'm available full time and free to travel anywhere. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Breaking News