Employed While Paralyzed
His career as an actor and comedian was interrupted by a fall from a ladder that left him with a personal struggle.
RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF PARAPLEGIA
AM was born in Brooklyn, a borough within New York City. His father worked in the garment industry and his mother was a homemaker.
Following high school, AM enrolled in a college in California, where he played football on a sports scholarship. But he didn’t remain a student through graduation, instead returning to New York to study acting and stand-up comedy after initiating some amateur attempts at those aspects of the entertainment world.
EARLY PLAN TO GET ATTENTION IN SHOW BUSINESS
AM’s first business plan was initiated after he returned to California, specifically to Hollywood. His strategy was to “worm his way” into show business by taking a job selling a phone system in movie studio lots, which enabled busy people to speed-dial numbers. AM hoped to make some money, meet producers and directors, and then show them his 8″ x 10″ glossy photograph and phony (no pun intended) resume.
His plan appeared to work because soon he was getting small movie roles and eventually a leading role on a CBS sitcom, though the show was short-lived. Another leading role was later achieved in a sitcom which also didn’t last long. Magiclike, he gained wider attention within the show business industry with his “Magic act” which weren’t really tricks at all (showing both hands raised, then putting them behind his back and presenting them, one at a time, with different fingers raised) but he was introduced with such silly, inflated fanfare (“The Amazing Metrano”) that his schtick was more comedy than difficult illusion.
ACCIDENT YIELDS OPPORTUNITY TO DISCOVER ADDITIONAL PERSONAL DETERMINATION
AM’s career took a turn after he fell from a ladder while attempting some home repairs. He hit the ground head-first, snapping his neck. At first, despite immediate medical attention and a long hospital stay, AM could neither move nor speak but with intense effort and physical therapy, was eventually able to talk and walk, the latter with the help of a crutch.
AM’s physical disability, while relatively mild in comparison to full or more widespread personal paralysis, resulted in him eventually trying to normalize his life as much as possible by finding new mental resources within himself which “I never knew I possessed.”
After his accident, AM continued to earn occasional TV roles, including “L.A. Law,” “The District” and “Party of Five.”
From a NY Times obituary
