Even though I’ve been sick with a cold lately, I ended up going to my acting class last night. I was feeling crummy but there was no way I was going to miss acting class. I paid good money for it. It’s fun; we do improv, audition techniques, and character development. However, by the end of the evening, I had partially lost my voice and had a pounding headache. But hey, that’s part of the craft. I’m kidding, that’s just me determined to get my money’s worth. Did I mention I still have a headache? And a cough now too. Good times.
No one else in my family has the acting bug. At least that’s what I thought, for years. And then in 1999 when I was attending my Grandma Gerry’s funeral, I was flipping through some old photo albums and this photo of my Grandma Gerry’s mother popped up:
“WAIT! What is this?” I asked around.
“Ah yes, your Great Grandma Katie went to Hollywood for a short while, leaving us four kids with the nanny,” my Great Aunt Winifred told me.
“Your grandmother thought it was just scandalous!” Great Aunt Winnie chuckled.
Finally there was someone else in the family with these thespian genes! Although I think Great Grandma Katie mainly did modeling, but still. She went to Hollywood in 1929.
Great Grandma Katie is on the Far Right:
When I told this story in my solo performance class last year someone asked how did Great Grandma Katie get to Hollywood from the Bay Area in 1929? Commerical airlines weren’t up and running yet and the highways were relatively new. How long was the drive and who did she go with? I take our modern infrastructure for granted. In Great Grandma Katie’s own words:
“I was born in 1893, and the turn of the century did not influence me at the age of seven. Now at the age of 77, I think how easily we took to growth and the many changes. From the horse and buggy days to the moon.”
Thursday, February 13, 2025:
Theresa Donahoe 