Howard's a pro!

[blackcoffeinbed]

Howard Hessman is certainly not the BEST-actor-of-all-time (hell, not when there's De Niro and Hackman out there), but he certainly is the most PROFESSIONAL actor that there ever, EVER was. More professional than anyone. You can just tell by the way that he acted, that during breaks from the set when perhaps other actors would gab on about what they did last night, or what they plan on doing the upcoming weekend, or who 'Suzie Cream Cheese' or 'Johnny Bag of Donuts' is dating, old Howie spent his time thinking of how he was going to play his role on the next take. And for the actors who would be with him during these breaks, Howard would probably start off conversations with them on how the next take should be approached by he and each of them; analyzing the roles and the script at hand. Now that's professionalism! This was definitely displayed in 'Head of the Class'. You can just tell that Howard wasn't only the teacher ON screen, but OFF screen to those younger actors as well. You just had to know that he had all of those kids around a table with him during breaks involving each them in serious conversations on how the next take should be approached. Notice how things changed when Howie was no longer on the show. The professionalism in each of those who played the students suddenly vanished. Not that Hessman's replacement WASN'T professional (I'm sure that he was), but I'm sure he didn't spread that professionlaism onto the others quite like Howard did. How many times do you think that the new guy got all the kids together during breaks to get them ready for the next take? No further questions. Back to Howard, if you want to see for yourself an even better example of his professionalism as an actor, check out an early-80s movie that had him as the father of someone who commited suicide (the son played by Rob Lowe's brother). Howard's acting was well. Anyway, Howie's got my vote for 'most-professional-actor-of-all-time.' Agree? Your comments are more than welcome.

[silentbri]

I don't really see him as being any mor eprofessional than any other actor who has been on more than one sit com in his career. As far as actors go, I think he's a very good "every man", much like Phil Hartman was for Saturday Night Live. He is indeed a very versatile actor, who can take on any role and own it... but not any more than any other professional actor.

------------------
Be sure to click here and check out my web page! What else are you gonna do?

[warsaw dreams]

I agree with blackcoffeinbed. Howard is a professional and from reading back issues of TV guide, I know for a fact that he did talk to the younger actors on HOTC when on break and told them 'acting tips' and such. Plus, all of those students had an acting quality all their own,too.