From The Alameda Times-Star-
Just another TV secret agent at Home Depot
By Susan Young
HE came jogging across Shattuck Avenue in the pouring rain, ready for the casual rendezvous at Beckett's Pub. The dimly lit spot, with a feisty flame in the nearby fireplace, was perfect for a little sitdown to discuss the goings- Or at least the CIA as envisioned by "Felicity" creator JJ Abrams.
Carl Lumbly has been playing the role of secret agent Marcus Dixon on "Alias" since the popular ABC show premiered two years ago. Tonight marks the season finale.
A long-time Berkeley resident, Lumbly has been a long-distance commuter between here and Los Angeles.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather live," Lumbly says. "I just don't think we would have been able to raise our son in the same kind of multicultural environment as we have been able to do here."
The former journalist was working as an Associated Press writer in Minnesota when he was assigned to report on a theater workshop. He never looked back.
He moved to San Francisco in the early 1980s and became close friends with Bay Area native Danny Glover. The two appeared in a production of "Sizwe Bansi is Dead" by Athol Fugard. Lumbly then began working steadily in films and TV.
The actor became a regular on "Cagney & Lacey" in 1981. It was on the set of that distaff cop shop that he met his wife, actress Vonetta McGee, who played his wife on the show. The two will celebrate their
17th wedding anniversary this month. McGee, whose films include "Blacula," "Thomasine & Bushrod" and recently "The Man Next Door," has worked sporadically since their son Brandon, 14, was born.
"Since he's now a teenager, he's
encouraging her to go back to her career," Lumbly says. "So we'll see. It's a fantasy of mine for us to work together again."
Acting may be far away in his thoughts after a strenuous season. In fact, Lumbly says he's quite happy to be back home and hanging around with his family.
"We just finished doing the last bit of work on the series," Lumbly says as he sips a cup of coffee. "I feel that same release my son relishes on the last day of school. It was quite wonderful just to be at home again."
During the filming of "Alias," Lumbly either flies or drives down to L.A. during the week, coming back to the Bay Area on weekends to work around the house he calls a "fixer-upper."
"People will see me at Home Depot and say, 'What are you doing here?' and I'll say, 'Probably the same thing you are doing here.' When my toilet leaks, I have to fix it," Lumbly says. "I don't have a staff to handle those things. I am the staff."
The son of Jamaican immigrants, Lumbly says his father taught him how to do woodworking and whittling.
"I'll start whittling something and then make a wrong cut," Lumbly says. "I call it a moment of inspiration. Rather than say I'm not a good carver, I like to say I'm open to the moment."
Lumbly says that, like most men, he's a fan of the home shows on TV. He recently built a sauna in his basement and loves working in his garage.
"I call it the clubhouse syndrome," Lumbly says. "Every man loves having that special place in the house that is all his."
Lumbly also spends a fair amount of time working on his one-man show on Frederick Douglass.
"I've written it and it still needs to go through another rewrite," he says. "I have always wanted to do this show, and I've been working on it for a long time. I just need to wait for the proper time when I'm spending less time doing TV."
Yet Lumbly has been phenomenally successful with his television career, which includes a co-starring role as Det. Mark Petrie on "Cagney & Lacey" beginning in 1981; starring as a crime-fighting superhero type on the 1994 Fox series "M.A.N.T.I.S," and now "Alias," as well as a good number of feature films.
"Some I have on my resume, others I just hide my eyes and say, 'Hmmm, I think that was Charles Lumbly ... only made that one film and then disappeared,' " Lumbly says with a quick laugh. "Those films still pop up on TV during late-night viewing and it can be quite painful."
He's been happy with his work on "Alias," which he says takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride each week. In the first season and part of the second, his "Alias" character Dixon thought he was working for the CIA when he was actually working for the bad guys.
His lovely double-agent partner Sydney (Jennifer Garner) finally told him the truth about the agency, right before the real CIA busted the operation. Dixon was then recruited by the good guys. Recently, poor Dixon has had his life shattered when his beloved wife is murdered by his former bad-guy boss and he goes looking for revenge.
"On 'Alias,' sometimes when things are bad, it gets worse," Lumbly says. "The actors don't know that far in advance what is going to happen with their characters. I didn't know in the beginning if Dixon knew he was working for the bad guys or not. But I believed he didn't know."
Lumbly says he's blessed to work with such a wonderful star as Garner.
"She's a good example of good parenting," Lumbly says. "She's a hard worker who understands that she's been given a gift with this show. Of course, it's like getting a bike for Christmas that you aren't quite sure how to put together and might not turn out exactly like it looks on the box."
Lumbly says Garner, who has been going through a very public breakup with husband Scott Foley ("Felicity"), understands that being in the public eye is part of being a public person.
"She knows that along with the Golden Globes and Emmys and magazine covers come the tabloids and the constant pressure of living your private life in public," Lumbly says. "She's very gracious about it."
Lumbly enjoys working on the show but doesn't think that his job defines who he is as a person.
"I don't live my life as an actor. There's no way to distinguish me from any of my neighbors here," Lumbly says. "I'm just the owner of a fixer-upper who is lucky enough to have a great family."
Just another TV secret agent at Home Depot
By Susan Young
HE came jogging across Shattuck Avenue in the pouring rain, ready for the casual rendezvous at Beckett's Pub. The dimly lit spot, with a feisty flame in the nearby fireplace, was perfect for a little sitdown to discuss the goings- Or at least the CIA as envisioned by "Felicity" creator JJ Abrams.
Carl Lumbly has been playing the role of secret agent Marcus Dixon on "Alias" since the popular ABC show premiered two years ago. Tonight marks the season finale.
A long-time Berkeley resident, Lumbly has been a long-distance commuter between here and Los Angeles.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather live," Lumbly says. "I just don't think we would have been able to raise our son in the same kind of multicultural environment as we have been able to do here."
The former journalist was working as an Associated Press writer in Minnesota when he was assigned to report on a theater workshop. He never looked back.
He moved to San Francisco in the early 1980s and became close friends with Bay Area native Danny Glover. The two appeared in a production of "Sizwe Bansi is Dead" by Athol Fugard. Lumbly then began working steadily in films and TV.
The actor became a regular on "Cagney & Lacey" in 1981. It was on the set of that distaff cop shop that he met his wife, actress Vonetta McGee, who played his wife on the show. The two will celebrate their
17th wedding anniversary this month. McGee, whose films include "Blacula," "Thomasine & Bushrod" and recently "The Man Next Door," has worked sporadically since their son Brandon, 14, was born.
"Since he's now a teenager, he's
encouraging her to go back to her career," Lumbly says. "So we'll see. It's a fantasy of mine for us to work together again."
Acting may be far away in his thoughts after a strenuous season. In fact, Lumbly says he's quite happy to be back home and hanging around with his family.
"We just finished doing the last bit of work on the series," Lumbly says as he sips a cup of coffee. "I feel that same release my son relishes on the last day of school. It was quite wonderful just to be at home again."
During the filming of "Alias," Lumbly either flies or drives down to L.A. during the week, coming back to the Bay Area on weekends to work around the house he calls a "fixer-upper."
"People will see me at Home Depot and say, 'What are you doing here?' and I'll say, 'Probably the same thing you are doing here.' When my toilet leaks, I have to fix it," Lumbly says. "I don't have a staff to handle those things. I am the staff."
The son of Jamaican immigrants, Lumbly says his father taught him how to do woodworking and whittling.
"I'll start whittling something and then make a wrong cut," Lumbly says. "I call it a moment of inspiration. Rather than say I'm not a good carver, I like to say I'm open to the moment."
Lumbly says that, like most men, he's a fan of the home shows on TV. He recently built a sauna in his basement and loves working in his garage.
"I call it the clubhouse syndrome," Lumbly says. "Every man loves having that special place in the house that is all his."
Lumbly also spends a fair amount of time working on his one-man show on Frederick Douglass.
"I've written it and it still needs to go through another rewrite," he says. "I have always wanted to do this show, and I've been working on it for a long time. I just need to wait for the proper time when I'm spending less time doing TV."
Yet Lumbly has been phenomenally successful with his television career, which includes a co-starring role as Det. Mark Petrie on "Cagney & Lacey" beginning in 1981; starring as a crime-fighting superhero type on the 1994 Fox series "M.A.N.T.I.S," and now "Alias," as well as a good number of feature films.
"Some I have on my resume, others I just hide my eyes and say, 'Hmmm, I think that was Charles Lumbly ... only made that one film and then disappeared,' " Lumbly says with a quick laugh. "Those films still pop up on TV during late-night viewing and it can be quite painful."
He's been happy with his work on "Alias," which he says takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride each week. In the first season and part of the second, his "Alias" character Dixon thought he was working for the CIA when he was actually working for the bad guys.
His lovely double-agent partner Sydney (Jennifer Garner) finally told him the truth about the agency, right before the real CIA busted the operation. Dixon was then recruited by the good guys. Recently, poor Dixon has had his life shattered when his beloved wife is murdered by his former bad-guy boss and he goes looking for revenge.
"On 'Alias,' sometimes when things are bad, it gets worse," Lumbly says. "The actors don't know that far in advance what is going to happen with their characters. I didn't know in the beginning if Dixon knew he was working for the bad guys or not. But I believed he didn't know."
Lumbly says he's blessed to work with such a wonderful star as Garner.
"She's a good example of good parenting," Lumbly says. "She's a hard worker who understands that she's been given a gift with this show. Of course, it's like getting a bike for Christmas that you aren't quite sure how to put together and might not turn out exactly like it looks on the box."
Lumbly says Garner, who has been going through a very public breakup with husband Scott Foley ("Felicity"), understands that being in the public eye is part of being a public person.
"She knows that along with the Golden Globes and Emmys and magazine covers come the tabloids and the constant pressure of living your private life in public," Lumbly says. "She's very gracious about it."
Lumbly enjoys working on the show but doesn't think that his job defines who he is as a person.
"I don't live my life as an actor. There's no way to distinguish me from any of my neighbors here," Lumbly says. "I'm just the owner of a fixer-upper who is lucky enough to have a great family."
