Dead Man Walking

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Dead Man walking. …. succinct … and apt.
Well, Fellas …. haven't been around for a few weeks, so I've missed putting my two penn'orth in, and stirring the various pots in general . Though must admit, some of the threads have been dire … humour totally lacking …. come on Fellas … a little imagination. All's not doom and gloom. A couple of weeks back one of our colleagues was thinking of calling it a day … NOW we all get times like that .. but hang fire … about turn, and just look back down at your C.D. …. you sweat blood for that ! … and you are about to give it all away ??? … set a match to it ?? …. there are any number of reasons that can force one off track … but self-destruct ?? no way.. Jose .
And one of the reasons ??? ….. Classic Doctor's Surgery situation …. Blood tests … endless X-Rays
and Cat-scans …. and .. dum,dum,dum,doohhh …. eyeball to eyeball with the Doctors view, of what a Doctors should look like when delivering notes of doom …. well over -rehearsed , I thought … any minute now, the schmuck's going to hold my hand …. in a pig's eye !!! ..my, ‘NO BULLSHIT' stopped him dead in his tracks, and pulled him back to earth.
He saw before him a quietly angry man who, under his watch, had lost the use of one lung already, and had just finished a nauseous bout of chemo-therapy that had failed to kill the red light still glowing in my eyes, and who had an enormous amount of work still to cover … and produce !!.
Needless to say, he delivered his lines perfectly.
So …. after my digression .. why self-destruct, when all the powers in the world and universe are concentrating on you ? … look ‘em straight in the eyes and challenge them to have a piece of you. Who knows … you just might scare the living sh-one-t out of them.
Gordon Bennett !!! …. just aroused myself out of a drug-fuelled stupor … never having taken anything more than a simple ASPIRIN… I find myself having to take some 40 odd pills a day … I don't know whether I'm on this earth … or bloody Fullers … and especially having re-read this garbage. Thought of editing the whole shebang … but no, can't be bothered .. time for some plain and simple truth.
Allan's acting days are over.
Already one lung bereft. The next six months filled with an endless routine of Chemo, cat-scans and x-rays … vocal chords starting to go … some Gig huh ? … no pay and no bloody dvd either… another five days, and I have the joy of clumps of my remaining hair falling into my pudding … hearing down to zero …. what was that ?? I said, ‘hearing down to … never mind .. deaf old sod ! ‘.
BUT … I do have something to look forward to … oh yes, I do … as a Writer, I have a Novel accepted for publication by an American Publishing Company … we are doing the Edit e'en as we speak … so you see …. Life aint so bad .. is it ? …. I don't need a full head of hair to Write ! … I don't need a full complement of lungs to punch a question mark … and I most certainly don't need a loud voice to shout, through print .
So … clever sod …. what do you need CCP for, I hear you ask ??? …. and good question too, and valid point … truth is … I DON'T. But maybe …. just maybe , CCP needs an Allan O'Keefe … as it needs a Mark Kempner … a Lee … an Alan Brent … a Forbsey … an Annie … are you catching my drift out there ?? .. especially the younger end. As I am fond of quoting the Irishman's putdown on the younger generation, I shall repeat , with addendum …. ‘Youth is wasted on the Young' .. but , by God you waste it wonderfully.
God Bless you all.


  • 13 years ago
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Guy Press
Actor

CCP Does indeed need Allan O'Keefe!!!
Sending you nothing but good wishes Sir!!


  • 13 years ago
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Toni Brooks
Actor

Hi Allan
First off, I'm really sorry you're having to go through all that s**t and am sending you loads of love.
And I just want to say that you've got loads to offer other CCPers so don't you dare sign off. I love your spirit and I love the way you see the world - your optimism and outlook are an inspiration.
God bless


  • 13 years ago
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Private User
This profile is private

I completely concur with your sentiments and comments. Whilst we should take the business seriously, and professionally, we should also not lose sight of the fact that we are all in a "bollocks filled" profession! There are times when actors fingers and bumholes need to be disconnected at times, and I include myself in that before someone attacks!

More humour, frank exchanges of views, and good debate on these forums, is pretty much my main interest in CCP.

I am sure other messages of support will come flooding in, but for my part Allan, you are someone we all should look up too. Your career is brilliant and I am sure there are those of us on here who would love to be able to bring a fraction of your skill to their performance and gain a CV as packed with Credits as yours is.

I wish you well me old Son….and look toward to many more of your comments, observations, dry wit and wisdom on here.

CCP: How about making Allan O'Keefe an honorary CCP member, with nothing more to pay? - a life time membership?

Good Bless you mate….look forward to chatting with you soon you old fart!


  • 13 years ago
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Allan, I wish we could bottle your spirit and determination! You are an inspiration, and if anyone deserves to receive all the blessings this world can give, it's you. The next time someone has a moan (and we all do need to moan sometimes, to get it out of our systems) they should have a look a this thread first. It really puts your own problems into perspective.

Good on you hon!!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


  • 13 years ago
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Sara Mason
Actor

Alan,
Congratulations about your book, well done! Your post is pretty inspirational for all of us, and very humbling... I wish I could have such determination and positive attitude. Thank you for sharing all that with us and bless you.


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Karen Kennedy
Cabaret Artist

What an inspiration you are Allan. I wish you all the best and concur with definitely think you should be given honorary CCP membership!

Best wishes,

Karen


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Guy Press
Actor

CCP: CCP really does need Allan O'Keefe! Please implement Honorary membership now Chris and co.

He has been a strong pillar of the acting community for years and a great poster on this site! I remembered him from his Z-cars days through Eastenders +. That is the sign of a good and strong Actor the fact you remember them - for the right reasons!!

Allan there is a great deal of respect for you and all your works, please keep posting!! ;-)


  • 13 years ago
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I would like to give you a standing ovation my good man - there is nothing better than sticking 2 fingers up at the world! That speech has filled me with more courage than i've had spurred inside me for a long time. Best of luck with the book i know iwill definately be after a copy.


  • 13 years ago
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Angela May
Actor

Amazing post...you've put life into perspective for many of us. God bless you Allan.


  • 13 years ago
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Sara Mason
Actor

Well said Guy! Alan, your post, this thread, gives me shivers! Don't ever stop!


  • 13 years ago
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So sorry to hear about your situation mate. I always find your advice to others on these boards wonderfully pragmatic and delivered with a sprinkling of warmth and humour. Keep posting and stay strong.


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I'm really sorry to hear your news, but full of admiration for your fighting spirit. As others have said, it really does put things into perspective. Good luck with the book, and I hope you find success with the new writing career.


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Forbes KB
Actor

My dear Allan,

Your acting days are far from over! You are simply putting them on hold while you deal with far more important things...and anyways, you don't need hair to act...I've been getting away with it for years...it's called a blank canvas! :-) A little known fact is the reason I shaved it off in the first place was because my mother was going through chemo and had lost her crowning glory, her beautiful flowing red hair! It was a show of solidarity and put a smile on her face at a time when smiling was pretty hard for her!

Don't you dare log off from CCP, keep
popping by from time to time to keep us all advised of your progress and please continue to entertain us with your thought provoking interjections and insights! With age comes experience and few have as much experience as you do! :-)

Much love!

Forbesy


  • 13 years ago
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As always a beautifully written, amusing and inspirational post!
Well Allan O'Keefe, you may not need CCP but we certainly need you so just take the damn pills and keep posting. Your advice and humour are nothing short of inspirational and as you say, you don't need a voice to write! I'm sure the book will be a huge success, many congratulations.

God bless and much love to you

from a youth waster!
Tamzin
xxx

BTW, bald headed men are sexy!!!!!


  • 13 years ago
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Hey Allan,

I remember some lovely advice that you took the time to give to me a while back and I appreciated hearing it from a chap with extensive experience. You didn't have to offer anything and yet you took the time to do so.

I'd love to read your book, so keep going and like everyone else before has said please keep giving your words of wisdom at CCP. I don't often comment on here, but I still check in read the boards.

Much love to you and just keep swimming!
xxx Shannon


  • 13 years ago
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Allan, you wonderful wonderful man, you!!


I've have appreciated our chats of late more than you could possibly imagine! For someone with your wealth of experience to take the time to advise a young up-start was a true representation of the inspirational and irrepressibly humble charater we have all come to love and (hugely) respect through CCP...so dont you dare go leaving it, you hear!!

I would like to my name to the growing list of those requesting...nay, DEMANDING that CCP recognise your invaluable contributions to this message board and allow you to continue to do so FREE OF CHARGE until such time as you are ready to come charging back into the acting game with your trademark gusto!

We all know you will beat this truly unfortunate setback and come roaring on back baldness or no baldness....although personally I rather think it might suit such a distinguished chap as yourself!! Me, I'd just loook like a peanut...and a dry roasted one at that! Curse my obligatory Scottish red-headedness!

For the moment, I wish you massive success with your writing (and would like to join the other queue too...the one forming for copies of your work) and want to again state how very, truly grateful I am for the advice you've given me personally and indeed others which I have also benefitted from by proxy!


Much love to a true professional - in the very, very truest sense of the word!


Best wishes,

Your namesake!


  • 13 years ago
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Lee Ravitz
Actor

Ironically, I have missed this post as I haven't logged on for about a day, but I heartily endorse all the sentiments that have been delivered so far, Allan. You are a great inspiration to us all, Mr. O'Keefe!! In many ways, amongst the many, many sad developments in our profession during recent years is the decline of the sense of 'continuity' that used to exist within the industry - whereby the older generation of actors used to pass on the best of their working knowledge, practices and experience to a younger generation that they knew, in time, was going to uphold their own traditions many years later. I'm not sure quite where the rot set in on this one; probably with the decline of rep, which I suspect was one of the greatest maintainers of this sense of 'acting community' that existed. We've also seen the industry become swamped with the untutored, the half-tutored and the fly-by-nights, lost a Union solidarity and so on. But the point of this is not to rant about the issue, only to regret it.

What I can safely say, Allan, is that it is wonderful (as far as I, and many others, are concerned) that you bring such a voice of wisdom, experience and encouragement (as well as reminiscence) to these forums. Young actors these days seem to get very little impression that many of the problems, or indeed, the triumphs that they achieve, were all experienced in the years before they chose to start acting. Your voice on CCP is always a great tonic to me, and your perspectives set so many things into context. I hope that your book is a roaring success - and, of course, the first thing you should do is advertise it here, so that we can all know where to purchase a copy!!

Wishing you all the strength and determination you need to pull through this trying time


  • 13 years ago
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My comp. tells me it's Sunday ... it seems that for something like two days, I've been living in a world populated by one breasted, Piccasso females, and Salvadore Dali timepieces ... I'm sticking to gin and tonic next time !.
It goes without saying, that I have just read through all your comments. They have touched me very deeply .. so much so , they have damned near left me a sobbing wreck ... and I cannot thank you all enough .. for your obvious support.
Got to stop now ... contact later.


  • 13 years ago
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Alan Brent
Actor

Now then you old bugger....being bald is what made me the man I am today.....a bald one!
I'm amazed at your strength and the depth and quality of your advice. You've experience that many need to draw on if they are ever going to make a living out of this business. So back on the G&Ts and keep it going.
Good luck with the book! I want to read it. Let me know when it is available.
The Other Al


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charles delaney
Actor, Singer

I've just got back from a nightmare shoot abroad with all sorts of problems & your post has put everything back into perspective.
Your openness to share what your currently going through with us, for me is an inspiration & insight into real courage, strength & determination.
Congratulations on the book deal & look forward to reading it.
Charles


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