The summer I was sixteen, I thought, this may be my last summer to goof off because I’ll probably have to work every summer from here on out. I’d better make the best of it. Well, that lasted about a week. My dad came down into the basement, woke me up and said, “Get up, I found you a job, you’re going to work.” That’s an exact quote.
The foreman at Shutter Craft, a wood-shop specializing in shutters, was a friend of my dad, and I was now the new shop boy. I was too young to run the machines, so they had me do anything and everything else. If there’s one thing I got growing up in my family, it was a strong work ethic. I didn’t like it necessarily, but I wasn’t afraid to put in a days work.
When I moved to Hollywood and started working in the studios that work ethic became my saving grace. It seems an assistant who can make good coffee and double as a carpet shampooer is a winning combo.