About 80 years ago, Earl Holliman was helping moviegoers find their seats in a theater in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Earl Holliman really wanted to be in movies. Even though he struggled with auditions and was often told he didn’t look right, he decided to change his look at the Paramount Studio barber shop. This new look helped kickstart his career. Born in 1928, Earl Holliman from Louisiana always dreamed of being a movie star.
When Earl Holliman was around 14, he worked at Shreveport’s Strand Theater, earning 25 cents an hour to help moviegoers find their seats. He saved up some money and, at 15, hitchhiked to Hollywood to pursue his dreams.
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Earl Holliman, at 15, brought dark sunglasses with him to Hollywood because he thought they were a Hollywood thing. On his first day, he walked around Grauman’s Chinese Theater, hoping people would notice him. But he didn’t find a job and felt like he failed. He went back home, finished high school, and then joined the Navy. After that, he attended a radio communications school in Los Angeles.
Whenever Earl Holliman had time off from the Navy, he would visit the Hollywood Canteen and meet future colleagues like Roddy McDowall. He later got into the Pasadena Playhouse and had a small part in the 1953 film Scared Stiff with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
However, Hollywood wasn’t easy for him. During auditions, he kept hearing that he didn’t look right for any roles. They told him he wasn’t handsome enough to be a leading man or quirky enough to be a character actor—he was stuck in between.
Determined to make it, Holliman decided to get a makeover to improve his chances of landing a role in the 1953 film The Girls of Pleasure Island.
Funny-looking haircut
Earl Holliman described his big break after his makeover: “When I got my hair cut really short and styled with bangs, I looked very different. With my big ears, broken nose, crooked teeth, and new haircut, I suddenly started getting roles as a character actor. It happened just like that.”
After getting a role in The Girls of Pleasure Island, Earl Holliman had a standout performance in the 1956 film The Rainmaker, which won him a Golden Globe. He acted alongside Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster.
In a 1991 interview, he called it his favorite film and said it really boosted his career.
Over the next few years, Holliman, who also had a successful music career, worked with Hollywood legends like John Wayne, Dean Martin, Kirk Douglas, and Rock Hudson.
From 1974 to 1978, he starred in the TV series Wide Country and then became well-known as Sergeant Bill Crowley in Police Woman, a show that also featured Angie Dickinson.
Talking about his co-star, who’s now 92, Earl Holliman said she was very attractive but also had a sweet, vulnerable side that made you want to protect her. He added that they worked together for 12 to 14 hours a day. Even though Angie Dickinson was very opinionated and they had some disagreements, they shared a warm bond that made it look like they really cared for each other.
After making small appearances in TV shows like The Twilight Zone and Delta, as well as films like Bad City Blues (1999) and The Perfect Tenant (2000), Earl Holliman, who got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977, retired from acting.
Animal advocacy
Since retiring from acting, Earl Holliman has been working as an animal rights advocate. He has cared for a blind possum, injured doves, and hurt cats, and he loves pigeons too. He helps all kinds of animals.
“I feed at least 500 pigeons a day. It’s like having a pigeon McDonald’s at my place,” Holliman says.
For 25 years, Holliman was the president of Actors and Other Animals, an organization backed by celebrities like Betty White, Lily Tomlin, Valerie Bertinelli, and Wendie Malick.
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