About the Person I Love
Richard was an actor, first and last. A big man with a bigger talent, he even had a personalized license plate that said "ACTOR." Also having a wonderful bass-baritone voice, he played an amazing Tevye, Sweeney Todd, the Major-General in "Pirates of Penzance," and dozens more roles in the 11 years I knew him.
My Personal Love Story
You could call it fate. I'd bought a new house, and I received in the mail, addressed to the previous owner, an invitation to audition for "King Lear." I hadn't been on the stage for 10 years, and overcame my nervousness enough to go to the auditions. I can do a masterful British accent! When another woman asked to read for the Fool, I took the plunge and asked, too.
I thought I'd done poorly, and didn't go to call-backs. The director called ME and asked why I hadn't come, and had me come to his home for a reading. I got the part.
Richard was playing Gloucester. At the first read-through, when he started to speak I just cringed thinking, "Oh my god, he's SO good, I'll be terrible next to him." He told me later that when I began to read, his first thought was, "DAMN, this gal's got a better English accent than I do."
During the run of the play, I timidly asked if we could have our picture taken together. Later, I sent him a copy of the picture. Shortly afterward, he asked me out.
We never married, but we were a couple from then until his sudden death 11 years later. In all that time, we had just one 15-minute fight.
Looking at all the things that went into our meeting - the audition announcement not addressed to me, the other actress giving me the idea to read for the Fool, the director insisting I read for him after I'd chickened out... yes, it was meant to be.
Richard was a star - both onstage and in my life.
Advice
- If you are angry at each other, ask yourself whether the issue, and your anger, are worth damaging the relationship. I thought he was wrong, but it wasn't worth it. I went and put my arms around him and said I was sorry, and that was the end of our fight.
- Take chances.
Additional Comments
He was 23 years older than I was, but that was okay. We never ran out of things to talk about, and each learned to enjoy what the other loved to do.
