Cliff Bemis | Bio and Resume

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Cliff Bemis

Height: 6’1" • Weight 250 lbs REPRESENTATION LOS ANGELES ABRAMS ARTISTS AGENCY Attn: Eric Emery 9200 Sunset Blvd. L.A., CA 90069 (310) 859-1417	SAG • AFTRA • AEA	Hair: Brown • Eyes: Blue REPRESENTATION NEW YORK ABRAMS ARTISTS AGENCY Attn: Richard Fisher 275 7th Avenue New York, NY 10001 (646) 486-4600
FILM
Billy, The Early Years Nancy Drew World Trade Center Dear Mr. God Au Pair II (Czech Republic) Odd Couple II Double Exposure The Distinguished Gentleman Jack The Bear Naked Gun II 1/2 Modern Love Pink Cadillac The Great Outdoors	Robby Benson, Dir Andy Flemming, Dir Oliver Stone, Dir George Stanford Brown, Dir Mark Griffiths, Dir Howard Deutch, Dir Larry Mortorff, Dir Jonathan Lynn, Dir Marshall Herskovitz, Dir David Zucker, Dir Robby Benson, Dir Buddy Van Horn, Dir Howard Deutch, Dir
TELEVISION
Law & Order, SVU Good Morning Miami Titus The Huntress Providence Arliss Reunited (series regular, UPN 98-99) Murder She Wrote (MOW) Gun Seventh Heaven Seduction of Innocence (MOW) Coach (recurring) Louis and Clark Platypus Man Thunder Alley Dream On The Mommies The Boys Men Don’t Tell (MOW) Beverly Hills 90210 Cheers Dear John Pacific Station Quantum Leap Sisters Growing Pains The Whereabouts of Jenny (MOW) Dallas (recurring) Newhart 21 Jump Street Who’s The Boss Ryan White Story (MOW) Brothers Married With Children	Peter Lety, Dir Peter Bonerz, Dir Joe Regalbuto, Dir Robby Benson, Dir Michael Fresco, Dir Andy Wolk, Dir Asaad Kelada, Dir Anthony Shaw, Dir Ted Demme, Dir Mark Sobel, Dir Alan Metzger, Dir Gordon Hunt, Dir Michael Watkins, Dir Gary Brown, Dir Robby Benson, Dir Robby Benson, Dir Gary Brown, Dir Lex Passaris, Dir Harry Winer, Dir Beth Rooney, Dir John Ratzenberger, Dir Hal Cooper, Dir Art Dielhenn, Dir Andy Cadiff, Dir Jim Contner, Dir John Tracey, Dir Gene Reynolds, Dir Irving Moore, Dir Dick Martin, Dir James Whitmore, Jr., Dir Asaad Kelada, Dir John Herzfeld, Dir Robert Walden, Dir Gerry Cohen, Dir
THEATRE
The Drowsy Chaperone Irving Berlin’s White Christmas Mame Songs from the Tall Grass Wonderful Town Promises, Promises Cinderella Do Black Patent Leather Shoes... Man of La Mancha Sweeney Todd Tomfoolery Tintypes Canterbury Tales Carmen A Funny Thing Happened... Images Jacques Brel The Music Man Story Theatre 1776 I Do, I Do	Casey Nicholaw, Dir; First National Tour Walter Bobbie, Dir; Broadway, Los Angeles, San Francisco Gordon Hunt, Dir; The Hollywood Bowl Will McKenzie, Dir; Ford’s Theatre, DC Don Amendolia, Dir; Reprise! L.A. Stuart Ross, Dir; Reprise! L.A. The Muny, St. Louis Kenley Players and National Tour Kenly Players Cleveland Playhouse Cleveland Playhouse Cleveland Playhouse Cleveland Playhouse Cleveland Opera Co Cleveland Playhouse A.C.T. and Cleveland Playhouse Playhouse Square Association Berea Summer Theatre Berea Summer Theatre Berea Summer Theatre Berea Summer Theatre
RECORDINGS "Christmas Eve" (vocal) "The Badge of the CHP" (vocal) "Hear My Prayer" Volume I, II & III (instrumental) "Irving Berlin’s White Christmas" (original cast albumn)

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Cliff Bemis Bio

Cliff Bemis grew up on a family dairy farm in rural Elyria, Ohio, located about 35 miles west of Cleveland. At an early age he learned how to milk cows, bale hay, and grow crops. When he was in the fourth grade his father’s health prevented them from staying on the farm, so the family moved to Lorain, Ohio, into the home his father had grown up in, and back to greenhouse/florist business, known to local residents as Bemis Florist.

He completed his junior and senior high school education in the Clearview school system, with which the Bemis family has long and extensive ties, as Cliff’s grandfather, Clifford A. Bemis, was one of the founding board members of Clearview High School. In total, 15 Bemis family members have graduated from Clearview, with more currently in the school system. In 1966, Cliff graduated from Clearview, and in 2003 was honored as an inductee into the Clearview High School Distinguished Alumni Group.

Music and acting was always a part of his life. He studied piano beginning at age 6, and began his theatre career at Amherst Workshop Players, under the direction of Valerie Jenkins Gerstenberger. That experience was what truly “sparked” his interest in becoming a professional actor.

Cliff first started working professionally in theatre while still in college at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, where he was the recipient of the 1998 Alumni Merit Award. He built an extensive and varied career in Cleveland performing musical theatre, opera, as well as the related fields of commercial acting, which included jingle singing, voice-overs, on-camera and industrial films. He was one of the original cast members of Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living in Paris, which played for over two years on Playhouse Square in Cleveland. That show is widely recognized as the show that helped save this historic theatre district. For seven seasons, he was a regular guest artist at The Cleveland Play House, sang with the Cleveland Opera Co., and narrated with The Cleveland Orchestra. He was also a regular singer of the National Anthem for the Cleveland Indians, the Cleveland Browns, as well as the National Air Show.

In 1987, while performing on stage together for the Kenley Players in Akron, Cliff met and became friends with actor Robby Benson (star of One On One, and the voice of The Beast in Beauty and the Beast,) and his wife actress/singer Karla DeVito. They encouraged Cliff to move to LA, which he did, and where he has continued to build upon his career.

In 1992, Cliff auditioned for and got the part as the national spokesperson for the International House of Pancakes, or IHOP restaurants are they are commonly known. Starring in over 30 commercials for the company, his personal appearances for IHOP took him all over the USA and Canada, where he autographed over 75,000 “Cliff at IHOP” pictures. New Year’s Day, 1999, Cliff could be seen waving from high atop the IHOP float to the millions of people around the world who watch the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Over the past 22 years, Cliff has appeared in over 70 different TV shows including “Arliss,” “Married With Children”, “Dallas,” “Newhart,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Cheers,” “Coach,” and “Murder She Wrote” to name a few, and was featured in the films World Trade Center, directed by Oliver Stone, Nancy Drew, Billy, The Early Years, Pink Cadillac with Clint Eastwood, Distinguished Gentlemen with Eddie Murphy, and Naked Gun 2 1/2. In the fall of 1999, he costarred in a new sitcom on UPN titled “Reunited” starring Julie Hagerty of Airplane fame. He has appeared with “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander in several stage productions, including Promises, Promises, as well as starring opposite Lucie Arnaz in the musical Wonderful Town.

Cliff originated the role of Ezekiel Foster in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, which had its World Premier at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco in 2004. He is currently playing the role of Mr. Feldzieg in the First National Tour of The Drowsy Chaperone, which is touring over 30 cities in the US and Canada.

Cliff balances out his professional life with involvement in several different charity organizations that he feels passionately about. A long time supporter of law enforcement, in particular, the California Highway Patrol, he is a Lifetime Member in the CHP 11-99 Foundation. For his song “The Badge of the CHP” Cliff was bestowed the honor of Honorary Member in the California Association of Highway Patrolmen. Cliff wrote, produced, and performed the song in honor of his friend CHP Officer Bruce T. Hinman, killed in the line of duty in 1995. He also supports The Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors, and is an Honorary Deputy Sheriff in the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

For ten years, Cliff did a week of volunteer work at The White House, preparing it for the Christmas holidays. He was honored to have met both Presidents and First Ladies Bush and Clinton on several different occasions.

In 1999, Cliff released a Christmas CD titled “Christmas Eve,” featuring his vocal talents on the traditional music of the season.

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The following is an excerpt from a recent interview:

What is your full name and where did you grow up?

I was born Clifford Oliver Bemis, in Amherst, Ohio, on May 21, 1948. But I have always gone by Cliff. In fact, the only person who calls me Clifford is my mom, probably like a lot of other "grown" kids whose moms still call them by their full name.

For the first 10 years of my life, my family and I lived on an 80-acre dairy farm in Elyria, Ohio, which is about 30 miles west of Cleveland. We had dairy cows, horses, and chickens, and grew corn, wheat, oats, and soybeans, as well as a large vegetable garden. I learned everything about farming, drove tractors at an early age, and know all about preparing fields for planting, how to combine, (pronounced kom’bine for you city folks), and how to bale hay and straw for the farm animals. My dad’s health prevented us from staying on the farm, and when I was 11, we moved back the Bemis homestead in Lorain, Ohio, and back into the greenhouse and florist business in which he had grown up. We kept that family business until 1970.

I lived in the greater Cleveland area until moving to Los Angeles in 1987 at the age of 34.

Do you have brothers and sisters?

Yes, there are a total of five of us in all. And we all worked on the farm, and later in the greenhouse and florist business. I have two older sisters, Jeannette and Polly, and two younger brothers, Scott and Todd, as well as a whole lot of nieces, nephews, and cousins. My dad, Oliver Scott Bemis, passed on in 1962 at the young age of 45. I was14 at the time.

How fortunate I was and am to have the best mom in the world. After my dad died, she devoted her life to making sure that we all got our education, disciplined us when we needed it, and provided the most nurturing environment a child could have. My mother, Olive Jeannette is now 90, in perfect health, and still lives in the house which I grew up in.

Have you done other kinds of acting jobs?

Oh yes. In fact, I have done nothing other than different types of acting jobs since 1977. This includes theatre, commercials, industrial films, voice-overs, jingle singing, opera, TV and feature film work.

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You mentioned singing, are you a singer?

Yes. In fact, it is really how I got my start in the business. I started getting serious about my singing when I was a junior in high school. I was then accepted and given a voice scholarship to study in the Conservatory of Music at Baldwin-Wallace College, in Berea, Ohio, where I planned on going into teaching. However, in my freshman year, I did a stage production of the musical The Fantasticks. From that point on, I was hooked, and decided that I really wanted to use my singing abilities on stage. That sparked a career of about 20 years of doing music theatre in Cleveland, (mainly at the Playhouse Square Center, and the Cleveland Play House), as well as some opera. I also did a lot of commercial work as a jingle singer, and have performed The National Anthem at hundreds of sporting, graduation and special events. It is one of my favorite things to do.

What kinds of things do you do for fun?

It varies as I have a passion for a lot of different things. I love downhill skiing and try to get away for a few ski weekends during the winter, but with my schedule, it’s not always possible. But when I do, look out! I am a terror on the slopes. I also love watching pro and college football in the fall. In fact, OSU coach Jim Tressel and his brothers Dick and Dave were ATO fraternity brothers of mine at Baldwin-Wallace College.

Volunteer work is also big with me, especially for the CHP Widows and Orphans Fund and Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors.

Fun for me is also going back to Ohio as often as possible to see my family, which is growing so much with nieces and nephews now having kids of their own. We have a full house at all of our holiday and family celebrations, and believe me, it is a great time!

Do you have children of your own?

My dear friend and former wife, Sally Winter and I didn’t have children when we were married, however she and her husband Michael have two terrific kids, Dylan and Travis.

I think I would have been a great dad, but it just didn’t work out that way. But I often think how nice it would be to have children. My hat really goes off to parents as today’s challenges in raising kids are so different from when I grew up in a relatively innocent and
much simpler time. My dear friends actor Robby Benson, (the voice of The Beast in Beauty and the Beast), and his wife Karla DeVito, have two great kids, Lyric and Zephyr. I am their godfather and am as close to them as if they were my own. In fact, they are the only ones who get away with calling me "Cliffy."

Any words of wisdom?

Just to live every single day to it’s fullest. One of the reasons that I am so involved with The California Highway Patrol is extremely personal. A very close friend of mine, Officer Bruce T. Hinman, was struck and killed by a drunk driver in October of 1995, as he was attending to a disabled vehicle. Bruce and I had just finished having dinner together during his shift. We parted company, and about 10 minutes later, the accident occurred. His death, and the way that it happened, really shook me. He was survived by a wife and three young sons under the age of nine.

Two of the things that came from this tragedy are how important it is for people to "not" drink and drive, (I still can’t believe that people think they can, and not pay a horrible price for it). And it made me realize how fragile this life is, and how unimportant some of the things that we get all bent out of shape about, really are. So, I try to stay focused on what is really important, to live without regrets, and to always let those whom I love, know it. For isn’t that the greatest and most important reason why we are all here? Can there be any greater gift or reward, than the gift of loving and being loved.