Way before I moved to Hollywood I lived in fabulous Miami Beach for ten glorious years where I had neverending fun in the sun and lots more after dark.
When I arrived in South Beach - in the early 1990s - it was a sleepy bohemian beach town populated by a colorful collection of artists, gallery owners, fashion industry professionals, models, gay men, drag queens, entrepreneurs, and lots of young, hot, fun-loving party people from all over the world who just wanted to live a free, liberated lifestyle on a fabulous neon-lit beach. Think Studio 54 on a tropical beach and you'll get the picture.
It was truly paradise and anyone who lived there during that time will tell you how privileged we were to live in such a special place during the wild 1990s. So because of our growing reputation of being called "The American Riviera", Hollywood production companies would often invade our fabulous little seaside town to film a movie or TV show like "The Bodyguard" or "The Birdcage".
So in the winter of 1993, when NBC and producer Dick Wolfe landed in Miami to film a new action/adventure TV series called “South Beach”, the beach was all abuzz about it and when they put out a call for stylish hot locals to bring some "real" SoBe spice to the show I showed up at the casting in my speedo, a tie-dye sarong, and neon roller blades. I was SO ready for my close-up! Luckily, I was selected as one of the permanent hotel residents on the show - where the lead character supposedly lived - and I ended up appearing in every episode!
The series starred Yancy Butler, who played Kate Patrick, a thief who, along with her partner Vernon (Eagle-Eye Cherry), is given the choice of going to jail or working for a government agency run by a man named Roberts - played by the fabulous John Glover and Patti D'Arbanville who played the owner of the Red Sands Hotel where all of us lived on the show.
I have three favorite memories from those few months of filming. The first is of John Glover saying, "Do you own any shirts?" to me every time he saw me on set because our fantastic Costume Stylist's Patricia Field, Rebecca Weinberg, and their assistant Molly (the same fabulous team that worked on the hit HBO comedy series “Sex and The City”a few years later) either always had me shirtless with some colorful pants or with my shirt open in bathing trucks strolling through the hotel lobby set which I loved! See me in the photo above with the head wrap on at The Clevelander"? Wasn't I cute? I was SO bold back then with my fashion. :)
My second favorite memory is when I was asked by the DP to ride a vintage red bicycle down the street as Yancy and Eagle Eye pulled up to the front of the Red Sands set and walked into the hotel. Unfortunately, I hadn’t ridden a bike in years so when the Director yelled “ACTION!” I slowly wobbled down the street on the bike and almost fell over several times. Then the director yells “CUT!” And he came over and asked if I knew how to ride a bike. I said, “Yes, I just need a few seconds to ride it around a bit so I can get the hang of it.” He reluctantly said okay and after a few seconds he yelled "ACTION!" again. Thankfully I got into a good rhythm and did it perfectly until he yelled “CUT!” and I ran the bike into a parked car! LOL
My third favorite memory is of the night we had our wrap party at the Century Beach Club - which sadly no longer exists - but was located across the street from the Century Hotel on Ocean Drive and was a super fun hangout for SoBo locals in the earlier 90's. Anyway, that night, the entire ground floor bar and outdoor patio area - which was right on the beach - of the small boutique hotel was our playground for the entire night. We drank, ate, and danced under the moonlight like pagan moon worshippers. Even John, Yancy, and Patti going into the swing of things! It was lots of fun until Pat, Rebecca & I decided to go nightclubbing afterward at Club Nu and several other hotspots around the beach. But that’s another wild story for another time.
Seven episodes of "South Beach" were ultimately produced and aired during the summer of 1993. Unfortunately, only six episodes aired, and the show wasn't picked up by the network. But the good thing that came out of it was that it started my super fun 10-year run living & working in South Beach with a bang and it introduced me to a slew of talented people like John, Pat, and Rebecca on that show (to name a few) with whom I have maintained lifelong friendships with until this day. Luckily for me, indeed.
To listen to my fun conversation with my friend John Glover click on the links below. Enjoy!
Episode 31 - HERE
Episode 32 - HERE
