A Born Actor? Well, No.

Hubert B. Herring

“My lord, he doth deny to come.”

With those words, Richard III’s fate was sealed. The ally he’d counted on had let him down. So my words — for yours truly was indeed the messenger who delivered that fateful news — clearly represented the play’s turning point. Without me, it all falls apart.

Aside from carrying a spear or two, It was my sole appearance in that production, more than half a century ago.

I was never cut out to be an actor, though I did make various attempts over the years. Freshman year of college, I got the part of the Gentleman Caller in “The Glass Menagerie,” presumably because I looked the part of the clean-cut, all-American boy. (I had a bit more hair then.) I suppose I did all right, but I doubt if I could be heard beyond the third row. That was the highlight of my acting career. (At a recent college reunion, I enjoyed reconnecting with the woman who’d played the mother in that production.)

Again, comparisons with my father are inevitable. HIs booming voice could fill a lecture hall — no need for a microphone. He urged me once to take voice lessons to make my voice project better, but I never did.

When I landed in Manhattan after dropping out of college, my closest connection — my lifeline, really — was my cousin Marcia, a dozen years older, in the midst of a stellar acting career. No doubt because I was in awe of her, I studied acting briefly at the HB Studio.

One monologue I remember doing was the story of the dog from Albee’s “Zoo Story” (which has wonderful lines like “a dog I know” and “Sometimes it’s necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly”). I had the misguided delusion that I’d done it well, but as the teacher (the Russian actress and dancer Katharine Sergava) pointed out afterward, I had raced through it so breathlessly that it was barely intelligible.

My fear of performing may have started when I was eight. I was away at boarding school (yes, that was too young; long, messy story), in a group called the Tigers, and a notice went up on the bulletin board that “All Tigers except Hubert” should report for choir. I suppose whoever put it up had a good reason for doing this, but it surely did my self-confidence no good.

And then there was the time years later when I was putting our five-year-old daughter, Emily, to bed. My wife, a singer, often sang her a lullaby, but she wasn’t there, so I tried doing it. I got about three notes out before Emily stopped me and said: “Let Mommy sing.”

Oh well.

Dentistry, as with other health services, is rapidly changing. Technology is constantly improving, allowing us to deliver quality care in less time and with less stress. Most importantly though, dentistry is still an art as well as a science. As a health service, the patient care is provided not only by the doctor, but by the entire office staff. Dentistry as a health service means properly placed restorations and courteously answered phones. Rapidly changing technology will not change this philosophy of service.

Kevin Jong, DMD & Peter Zegarelli, DDS

87 North Broadway • Tarrytown, NY 10591 • 914-631-1800

Website: www.drzegarelli.com • Email: info@drzegarelli.com

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Enrico Hair Care, Inc.

Enrico Hair Care, Inc.

Tuesday

Yolanda is available for pedicure by appointment

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Call for appointments 523-6382 or 922-1057

Call for appointments 914-523-6382 or 914-922-1057

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