The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 31

www.pantagraph.com The Pantagraph Tuesday, December 27, 2005 D5 Auto accident didn't deter 'CSF coroner Hall By Lualne Lee KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS PASADENA, Calif. Who would've thought the distinguished coroner on CBS' smash series, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" has his own action figure, or that he's a commanding voice on Court TV or that he once starred on a kiddie show, "The Littles." "'All of those things are true of Robert David Hall, who plays Dr. Al Robbins, the man who meticulously unearths the physical clues that help solve the often-sordid crimes on "CSI." Hall had been a journeyman actor for 20 years before he landed the part of his life. And it was a long time coming. He had to suffer a life-altering experience before he could pledge himself to acting.

In 1978 an 18-wheeler careened over the center divider, crushing Hall's Volkswagen beneath Considered a goner by the police, he was rescued by a retired welder and two paramedics who extricated him after his gas tank burst into flames. He was burned over 60 percent of his body and spent eight months in the hospital. Both legs were amputated near the knee as a result of the injuries, but the accident changed his life. "What I thought ended things was really a beginning," says Hall (friends call him David) over a salad in a Cuban-Pacific restaurant here. "It threw enough of an obstacle in my way that I had to work harder than I would have to overcome it.

The day I was injured I worked from 5:30 to 9 on a radio Files," which starred Jim Garner as the ex-con turned shamus, was one of the most popular TV shows to air during its six-year tenure. It solidified Garner as a bona fide star, and is still fresh and funny to this day. Garner says he really had no dream of becoming an actor in the beginning. "I had close to 50-70 odd jobs. I wouldn't stay with them for a day or two or three just didn't like them.

Finally I tried this and liked it-So I decided to give myself five years. 'Then I started in 'Maverick' and movies, whatever. Then I said, 'Well, I think I can go another five years, then maybe another. Finally, when I was 50 years old, I said, 'You know what? I've been doing this years. I think I've got a Carell has a niche Steve Carell is hilarious as1 the smug, egoistic boss on NBC's "The Office." Carell ad mits that he often plays guys of shall we say questionable character.

"So far I've accepted every acting job I've ever been offered. So it wasn't a master plan in my mind in terms of what types of parts," Carell said. I also seem to have played a lot of newscasters on 'The Daily 'Bruce That seemed to be a road I was going down as well, but certainly not by my own design. I just happened to be getting these parts, was actually paid money, and so I said, I hope to someday to actually play a part that's less of a jerk." then. I would do a couple of radio commercials and make 100 bucks, which was great.

Once a week I took an acting class, but acting was not uppermost. I'd spent most of my 20s playing guitar in bands. The radio thing happened by chance." To hear Hall talk, most everything happened by chance, though he was prepared when it did. Landing the role on "CSI" was another giggle of Fate. "If I had to go in the front door I might not have made it," says Hall, whose trim gray beard sets off his blue eyes.

"The original character breakdown was for a woman. And I think they wanted someone from an ethnic background. "The first woman they had was a wonderful actress, but just didn't care for the part or didn't enjoy the 10-syllable medical words or whatever. So they hired somebody else for a one-shot, and that didn't work out." He was finally hired for one scene on the show that grew. "Me being an actor who's just knocked his head against the wall for years, I thought, 'Oh, this is nice.

I'm getting a little recurring part on this show that'll probably never Ended up doing 15 one-shots. But about the middle of. the first season the show took off like a rocket to Mars and it's never looked back. The beginning of the second season they made me a regular." In his struggling days though he was no Mel Gibson there was an action figure made of his character Lt. Re-condo, which he voiced on the cartoon "G.I.

Joe" "Lt. Recon- do," he smiles, "was based on my high school track coach. Though he walks with a slight limp and a cane today, Hall, 58, is proud that his disability has nothing to do with the role he plays on "CSI." "It's about your ability," he says, "not your disability." Married to this third wife, Judy, Hall has a 24-year-old son by his second wife, Connie Cole. They married after the accident and are still friends. "I want to say good things about Connie," he says.

"I think the reality of my disability hit her later on, after our son was born. I'm not a saint. It was sad it didn't work out. At the time of my accident she was there, Clara Barton, came to the hospital made sure people donated blood for me and I'll always love her for that. But Judy I can love and live with her," he smiles.

Hall, the oldest of five, grew up all over the East Coast. He comes from a long line of naval officers. His dad, who was an engineer and a lawyer, didn't take it well when Hall decided to dedicate his life to make-believe. "I was admitted to law school and made the decision that I would rather play guitar with this band that was going touring, and my dad was so angered that he didn't speak to me for about eight months. But he got over it.

And I consider it the best decision I ever made in my life." Garner found a job That put-upon P.I., Jim Rock-ford, who is still pleasing TV audiences in reruns, has hit the DVD market. "The Rockford CBS photo Robert David Hall stars as the coroner on "CSI: Crime Scene I did occasional voice-overs, we call them 'dollar a holler' spots because they didn't pay much '24' cast keeps growing Clark has familiar party challengers KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS A pair of Broadway veterans will step away from the stage and into the world of counterterrorism on the upcoming season of "24." Jayne Atkinson, a two-time Tony Award nominee, and Tony winner Stephen Spinella are the two latest additions to the Fox series, which premieres Jan. 15. They join a sizable list of newcomers to the show for season five, including Sean Astin Lord of the Jean Smart Connie Britton and Peter Weller 'We feel lucky to be working with so many great actors," executive producer Howard Gordon says. "Each of these newcomers, as well as the previously announced cast additions, will help deliver the thrill ride '24' fans have come to expect." Atkinson, currently appearing in "Syriana," will play a "heavy-handed" Homeland Security official named Karen 18-hole "Pro" Mini Golf 9-hole Glow-in-the-Dark Largest Playland in Town! FREE 50 Games! Other FREE games too! ALL Fe.

one VKesl Gift Certificate Available Book Your Holiday Parties Here! Hayes. She and her associate, Miles (Spinella), are dispatched to CTU to clean up a situation. Season five of "24" picks up 18 months after the events of last season, with the pre-sumed-dead Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) leading a new life under a different name with a single mother (Britton) and her teenage son (Brady Corbet). Soon, though, Bauer is drawn back into his former life. Atkinson earned Tony nominations in 2000 and 2003 for her work in the plays "The Rainmaker" and "Enchanted April." Her credits also include "Free Willy" and "The Village." Spinella was in the Broadway cast of "Angels in America" and won two Tony Awards for the two parts of the epic play.

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CNN's Anderson Cooper will also be prowling Times Square for a special on the news network. While he's there, he may spot Philbin leading the crowd in a verse of "New York, New York" from his perch outside Planet Hollywood. Philbin caught the New Year's bug last year when he filled in for Clark; now he's a competitor. "They could have had Regis back this year if they wanted," Philbin said, with a rare edge. "Ratings were pretty high." But he said he understood Clark's desire to set up the "New Year's Rockin' Eve" franchise for the future.

"The Regis-Ryan network swap is kind of a fun dynamic and I certainly wish Ryan the best," said Phil Gurin, executive producer of Philbin's Fox show. "I know Dick as well. Everyone doing these types of shows, we all know each other and we'll probably have a drink when our shows are over, somewhere in Times Square, and just salute New Year's together." New Year's i i Dance Party "i Dec. 31, New Lafayette ClubS) 1602 S. Main A Lnampagne warn, Hors d' oeuvres, Partu favors door prizes Dancing to music Jv from 50' to today $15.00 advance 828-1212 or IS IT WISHES! I station in Orange County.

Then I was an advertising copy- writer for a firm in Costa Mesa, St i fLX Carson Daly will host NBC's New night's biggest booking with the year's dominant singer, Mariah Carey, set to perform in Times Square. The Bangles, Chris Brown, Sean Paul, the Pussycat Dolls, Sugarland, 3 Doors Down and 311 will also be part of ABC's party. Seacrest spent the past few years competing against Clark on Fox. But this year he signed a deal with Clark and ABC to co-produce the show and essentially become Clark's, heir apparent. The hope is Seacrest will seamlessly take over when Clark decides he doesn't want to do it anymore.

Seacrest, 31 on Christmas Eve, said he always watched "New Year's Rockin' Eve" while growing up in Atlanta. "My parents would leave me at home with a baby sitter," he said. "It was my sister, me and Dick Clark celebrating New Year's." As an adult, he's studied Clark's career and used him for a model. "One of the reasons I wanted to do a New Year's Eve show was because Dick did a New Year's Eve show," he said. In one sense, that's already a big victory for Seacrest over NBC's Carson Daly, 32, another Clark acolyte.

Daly takes pains to avoid being seen as a competitor to Clark. Even though Got an opinion? WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR Regis, Daly among rivals By David Bauder ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK New Year's Eve is the biggest party night of the year, and television is among the most youth-obsessed media, so guess who will be the top hosts this weekend when the ball drops in Times Square? A couple of guys in their 70s, that's who. Dick Clark and Regis Philbin Have long cultivated a sort of ageless appeal and that will be put to the test during New Year's Eve specials on ABC and Fox, respectively. Clark partner Ryan Seacrest and NBC's Carson Daly are also on duty. The septuagenarian send-off to 2005 one of a handful of interesting television subplots for the night is particularly rich in irony.

ABC and Fox are among those TV networks that usually pretend people over age 50 don't exist. "Regis can do anything these young punks can dp," said Philbin, 74. "I fit right in there With my Fox people. They want Regis to dance, Regis will dance. They want Regis to lift weights with them, Regis will lift weights with them.

Whatever they want!" Good thing he's bringing a fighting spirit, because the lineup of performers Fox has given him Nick Cannon, Tyler Hilton and John O'Hur-ley is awfully thin. The fact that Clark, 76, is now the father figure of New Year's Eye is a vivid example of how time flies. Some revelers, the ones with gray hairs, can remember when he started "New Year's Rockin' Eve" in 1972 as a nipper alternative to Guy Lom-bardo. Despite increased competition, it's still the dominant show of the evening. This year, "Rockin' Eve" adds a curiosity factor: it will be Clark's first appearance on television since he suffered a stroke last December.

Philbin was his emergency sub last year. Rumors that Clark would not appear again have been fueled by his decision not to give interviews and a doctored publicity photo distributed by ABC that inserts an image of a pre-stroke Clark supposedly standing next to, co-hosts Ryan Seacrest and Hilary Duff. Clark's representatives insist he will be in Times Square this week. Clark can do as much or as little as he wants, Seacrest said. l'For those who have grown up watching him, they want to see him," he said.

"They want to! see him doing all right, and tfrey want to see him on the show. But we haven't nailed down exactly what he's going to diJ." Seacrest will be with Clark in York, while Duff will anchor and perform at a Hollywood segment. ABC nailed the Associated Press Year's Eve special Dec. 31. there's a clear opportunity to paint himself as the youthful alternative on New Year's Eve, he almost needs to be coaxed into it.

"There will be something for everyone," Daly said. "If my dad wants to watch Regis, and I'm sure he will, then God bless him. If my brother, who's my age and I know he's a big Mary J. Blige fan I know he'll watch my show. We're all going to have the ball drop and we're all going to have a good time." He's been watching old tapes of who else? Clark to help prepare.

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