This is me threatening actor J.D. Hall in the play “Void Where Prohibited” in 1979 at the Scorpio Theater in Los Angeles. I was often cast as hulking police officers. The play about an African American man (J.D.) who goes on a crime spree much like Humphrey Bogart played in The Petrified Forest (1936) had an extended run.

One of the more interesting unplanned things to happen in the play was the night I was readying to make my entrance on the stage. I would stand outside the back door of the theater and kick on the door so the audience could hear it and yell “Police open up!” Then push my way through the door in a forceful manner.

I was in my uniform kicking on the door and a real police car saw me and pulled over. Two real policemen jumped out with guns drawn and ran up to help me thinking I was a real police officer.

I had to explain to them I was not, this was just a play. They put their guns back in their holsters and looking sullen walked back to their squad car and drove away.

The audience meanwhile could not understand what had happened and the actors on stage who were waiting for my entrance had to ad-lib their dialog until I finally appeared.

J.D. Hall went on to roles in numerous TV appearances and films such as Fatal Attraction (1987), Father of the Bride (1991) and Jaws the Revenge (1987).