"Nobody who works in the industry endures more rejections than an actor. I should know. I've been an actor and comic for more than 40 years and have probably been turned down more times than a blanket. But as bad as these rejections have been, they don't compare to what an ethnic actor goes through.

Years ago, I had an actor friend, John, who happened to be a Native American. We were having lunch one day when he said: "Howie, things are OK with me now. But when I first came out here back in the '40s, I couldn't get a job. I went over to Republic studios. They were doing hundreds of westerns then. I figured I'm a cinch to get an Indian part.

"Sorry," the casting director tells me. "You don't look Indian enough."

"I don't look Indian enough? I happen to be a full-blooded Sioux!"

"So what? You still don't look Indian enough."

"So if I don't look Indian enough, who does?"

"Italians."

"What?"

"You heard me. We only use Italians for Indian parts. They look more Indian than the Indians."

"Well, if Italians are doing Indian parts, maybe I could play an Italian."

"No, we use other people for the Italian parts.""

Get the Story:
Howard Mann: If You Want a Mobster Role, You Need to Go to Temple (The Los Angeles Times 7/23)
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