Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

the following is an excerpt from a recent interview...

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

Ah, yes, the most asked question I get. Well, 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 cows, horses, and chickens, and grew crops of 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 into the house and business in which he had grown up : the greenhouse and florist business. We kept that business in the family until 1970. I lived in Ohio until moving to Los Angeles in 1987.

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. Plus a whole lot of nieces, nephews, and cousins. My dad, Oliver Scott Bemis, died in 1962 at the young age of 45. I was only 14 at the time. How fortunate I was to have the best mom in the world. 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 80, still in great health, and 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.

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 Fantastiks", and then decided that I really wanted to use my singing abilities on stage. That sparked a career of about 20 years of doing musical theatre, (mainly at the Playhouse Square Center, and the Cleveland Play House), opera, and led to me getting involved in singing commercial jingles. I have also 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. I have a passion for a lot of things. One of them is snow skiing. I try to get away for a few ski weekends during the winter, but sometimes it's not always possible with my work schedule. But when I do, look out ! I am a terror on the slopes. I also help a Sprint Car racing buddy in his pit crew, love hiking and backpacking, enjoy motorcycles, love watching football in the fall (although it hasn't been the same since the sale of my beloved Cleveland Browns) and try and get back to Ohio as often as possible to see my family. It is growing so much with everyone having kids.

Do you have children of your own ?

My dear friend and former wife, Sally Winter and I didn't have children, although she now has two by her husband Michael. In many ways I wish that I did have children, because I think I would make a wonderful Dad. My best friend, 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 I see them on a daily basis. I 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".

We could go on and on, but before we close, is there any one thing that you would like people to know about you ?

Only that I try and live every day to the fullest. One of the reasons that I am so involved with The California Highway Patrol is that one of my other closest friends, Officer Bruce T. Hinman, was killed by a drunk driver, in October of 1995. He was attending to a disabled vehicle when he was killed. Bruce and I had just had 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 is survived by a wife, and three young sons under the age of 9. 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 and stay focused on what is really important, to live life to the fullest, and 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 loving.