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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

James Garner: Who Survived a Hellish Early Life to Become a Hollywood Superstar

By Dick Kazan

Born in 1928, Jim grew up in Oklahoma, a child of the Great Depression. His mother died when he was just 4 years old, and he was beaten severely and humiliated by his stepmother. At the age of 14, Jim left his family and thereafter was on his own, struggling to support himself.

Over the years, he hauled sheet rock, was a dishwasher, a dockworker, a janitor, a hod carrier (carrier of bricks to a bricklayer), carpet layer, chicken processor, and he held various other jobs, all to keep a roof over his head and food on the table. One time between jobs, Jim got so hungry; he survived by stealing crackers off restaurant tables.

Then in 1950, he was drafted into the Army to fight in the Korean War. Twice Jim was wounded. The second time, under enemy attack, he rolled down a hill, dislocating his shoulder and damaging his knees, injuries he would live with for the rest of his life.

Six months later, he was in Los Angeles working for his dad as a carpet layer. One day while driving in Hollywood Jim's life changed dramatically, when he saw a building sign that read, "Paul Gregory and Associates." Several years earlier, Jim had worked in a Los Angeles gas station and befriended Paul, a fellow Oklahoman who worked at the drug store across the street.

Paul believed he would one day be a big Hollywood agent, and told Jim he would "represent" him if Jim became an actor. As the years passed, Paul indeed became a big Hollywood agent. Jim hesitantly drove into the crowded parking lot, and just then a woman pulled out of her parking place in front of the building. "It was fate," Jim later recalled, saying if that space hadn't been there he would have driven away, and not have met with Paul, who convinced him to become an actor.

Paul then got Jim an acting job and Jim's remarkable acting career had begun.

Editor’s notes: Dick Kazan is the author of the website Kazan Today. For more entertaining and compelling real-life stories with valuable lessons on how to succeed in business and in life, visit www.kazantoday.com.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Horst Rechelbacher: A 4th Grade Dropout Who Built a Global Cosmetics Empire

By Dick Kazan

Horst, who passed away at the age of 72 in 2014, created Aveda Corp. from modest means into a worldwide business. This is his story:

Born in Austria during World War ll, the post war years in Europe were very hard and Horst dropped out of the 4th grade to help his family during those difficult times. Later, at age 14, Horst became an apprentice barber and by the age of 17, had become a hair stylist in Rome and subsequently in London and then New York.

To build his reputation and his clientele, Horst participated in beauty show competitions and held seminars, when in 1965, while in Minneapolis he was in a horrific automobile accident. Horst was fortunate to survive and it took six months for him to recover, leaving him deeply in debt. But during those six months, he fell in love with the American Midwest and never left.

To pay his bills, he opened a salon, Horst & Friends in Minneapolis, with just himself and two other people. Over time, this salon grew into a small chain of salons. Horst also began creating shampoos and other natural beauty care products which he formulated in his kitchen sink. Ultimately, those products led to his big break, when at nearly 37 years of age he founded Aveda Corp. in 1978.

Horst opened Aveda Concept Salons and he created a broad line of natural beauty products, and nontoxic household cleaners. He also offered coffee beans, herbal teas, nutritional supplements, books and jewelry, with many of his products eventually available in 25,000 stores and salons across the globe. In 1997, Horst sold Aveda to beauty conglomerate Estee Lauder for a reported $300 million.

After selling Aveda, Horst built Intelligent Nutrients, which specializes in natural, organic earth friendly beauty and health products, many of which he grew on his 570 acre organic farm and retreat center in Osceola, Wisconsin.

How passionate was Horst about natural, organic earth friendly products? His classic words were, "Don't put anything on your skin that you wouldn't put in your mouth." At trade shows and in interviews, Horst would demonstrate this principle by drinking hair spray and other of his company's products, mixed in water. "Absolutely delicious," he would proclaim. "This hair spray could be sold as a nutritional supplement."

Dr. Philip W. Brickner: A doctor who made house calls on the poor

By Dick Kazan

Philip, who at 85 recently passed away in his Bronx, New York home did what few other doctors do. He became a doctor to the poor and the homeless.

It began in 1969 when Philip and his colleagues at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York realized they were getting a flood of elderly and sickly men in the emergency room. It turned out the men were coming from a nearby rundown hotel that housed 1200 men, including drug addicts and recently released convicts. They each lived in a 6 by 8 foot chicken wire and cinder block cubicle.

When Philip and his colleagues went to this hotel, they saw severe health issues and also injuries inflicted by some of the stronger men on the weaker ones. Philip setup a "free clinic" at that hotel, which he and his colleagues operated three times a week. He formed teams, comprised of a doctor, nurse, social worker and electrocardiograph technician, to call on them. Philip also added daily visits to the sickest.

This was the start of Philip providing free medical care to the poor and doing it where they lived. Over time his patients included people who were homebound by physical limitations, including in some cases, the infirmities of old age, as well as disabled children and AIDs patients.

Why did he do this? "There is no point in a doctor in a clinic telling someone to go home, elevate her leg and take antibiotics when she has no home and no money," Philip told The Boston Globe in a 1990 interview.

One of Philip's greatest achievements was during the 1980's when he ran a pilot program in 19 cities, providing medical care to the homeless. This pilot program led to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act of 1987, providing extensive medical care to shelters and food lines, patterned on Philip's work. Today, this law, its amendments and newer programs provide services in 249 cities.

For Philip, it came down to this: He was a strong advocate of doctors, black bags in hand, going anywhere patients needed them. And by his actions he set the example.

Besedka Johnson: Who at Age 85 Became an Actress

By Dick Kazan

Most people assume that someone 85 has accomplished all they ever will. But life is filled with surprises. 85 year old Besedka was swimming at a Hollywood Y.M.C.A. and unbeknownst to her the movie “Starlet” was being cast.

Movie executive Shih-Ching Tsou spotted Besedka and as she later told the New York Times, “When I saw her [Besedka] at the gym, I was stunned. I thought, ‘This lady is who we are looking for.’ “ She took a photo of Besedka and texted it to the movie’s director, Sean Baker, who texted back he was interested. Ms. Tsou informed Besedka what was happening.

Besedka was stunned and pleased, for in her youth she had dreamed of becoming an actress, yet never did. But afterward, she had serious concerns and she discussed those concerns with her son Jim, who is in the film industry. Who are these people and what is the film about? And why at age 85 are they interested in her, a person who has never acted?

Jim looked into the movie and the production company and encouraged his mother to pursue it. He later told The New York Times, “I said; ‘Mom, do you know how many waiters and waitresses have slaved throughout their lives for the chance to get to do what you’re doing? Do it!’ “

With her son’s encouragement, Besedka pursued it. She learned her lines, auditioned and landed the role. “She was already convincing and I knew she would get more convincing,” Sean Baker the director told The New York Times. “She came prepared.”

The movie was filmed over 25 days in the San Fernando Valley summer heat. When Besedka complained to her son about the heat, “I laughed at her,” he told The New York Times. “I said, ‘Mom, you’re in your first movie and you’re already a prima donna.’ “.

Born Beatrice Vivian Divic on October 5th, 1925 in Detroit, Besedka moved to California in her teens, and was briefly a model. She changed her name to “Besedka” during the 1960’s to match the name of a dress shop she owned in the San Fernando Valley. The name Johnson came from her first husband whom she divorced in the 1950’s and a second marriage ended in divorce as well.

But in 2012 when the movie was released, 86 year old Besedka became a star, starring opposite Dree Hemingway, daughter of actress Mariel Hemingway. Besedka played “Sadie,” a tough, lonely elderly woman with no family. Sadie is befriended by 21 year old Dree Hemingway’s character “Jane” in a heartwarming cross-generational story, in which both women’s difficult lives are uplifted by the presence of the other.

“Starlet” is such a fine film, that in 2013 it won the Robert Altman Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, and last year, Besedka received special recognition for her performance at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas.

But on April 4th, 2013 87 year old Besedka passed away from a bacterial infection in Glendale, Calif. She is survived by Jim and two other sons, Marc and Lloyd and by two grandchildren. However, in addition to the joy of her family, the last year of her life became something special. “My inner voice is like: ‘Come on, I’m 86 years old. Who the hell wants somebody at this period [in life] …,’ said Besedka last year about becoming an actress. “But I loved being Sadie.”

Jaime Escalante: How He Became One of the World's Most Respected Teachers

By Dick Kazan

Jaime, who passed away at 79 in 2010, became famous from the 1988 movie, "Stand and Deliver." This movie told the dramatic story of how Jaime captured the imaginations of his Garfield High School students in East Los Angeles, 99% of whom were Hispanic and most of whom were poor. He led them to remarkable academic achievements. But the most dramatic story may be Jaime's.

Born in Bolivia in 1930 to school teacher parents, Jaime was raised by his mother after his parents divorced when he was 9. As a young man Jaime was a top student at Normal Superior, a Bolivian teachers college, where he met his wife Fabiola. She encouraged him to go to the U.S. for a better future for Jaime Jr. (the couple would later have another son, Fernando).

With just $3,000, 33 year old Jaime arrived in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, 1963. He didn't speak English but soon sent for his wife and son, after landing a job cleaning tables and mopping floors at a Pasadena coffee shop.

Jaime learned English at Pasadena City College, where he also studied physics and math. As he learned English, he got a better paying job at a Pasadena electronics firm, where he became an outstanding employee.

But Jaime's heart was in teaching and in 1974 at age 43 he quit his job and took a big pay cut to teach at Garfield High School. "My friends said, 'Jaime, you're crazy.' But I wanted to work with young people," he told The Los Angeles Times. "That's more rewarding for me than the money."

Jaime's specialty was calculus, which the school had not previously taught, believing its students weren't capable of learning it. But with his charm, Jaime took control in what had been difficult class rooms and also entertained his students with impressions, jokes and props as he motivated them to succeed. The result was incredible.

Eventually Jaime had his inner city kids achieving top calculus scores and high scores in other subjects on Advanced Placement college exams, as many of them went on to higher educations. Because of Jaime influencing so many young minds, we now have many more doctors, attorneys, businesspeople, engineers, managers and teachers, who in turn are guiding numerous young minds down the path to success today.