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Show Page A8 Thursday, January 10, 1991 Park Record Life is a song for this balladeer by ALEX WELLS Record staff writer Ed Ames, one of the America's most versatile entertainers, can sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. He's worked in nightclubs, theatre and movies. And his next performance perfor-mance (coming in 1992) could be one of his most challenging: working work-ing with cattle on his new ranch in Coalville. The son of two Russian immigrants, im-migrants, Ames grew up in Maiden, Mass., far from the cattle and sheep in Utah. He began to sing shortly after learning to talk. "All through my kid days I sang in choirs," he says. "I guess I just took to that when I was a little kid." While still in grade school, he formed a quartet with three of his brothers. "The Ames Brothers" Vic, Gene, Joe and Ed were the youngest of 13 children in the Ames family, and Ed was the youngest in the group. They started out singing gospels and spirituals, and eventually even-tually branched out into "comedy, impressions.. .a few little instrumental in-strumental things," Ames says. "We were the first of the performing perform-ing groups, we were very successful." suc-cessful." While still in high school, Ames was hired by Lou Walters father of Barbara Walters to work the Latin Quarter, a popular Boston club. "When I went to work for Lou Walters I got a great education," he says. "I was the emcee I danced with the chorus girls. I did production. produc-tion. When a comic would come into in-to town and needed a straight man, I would work with him. It was a wonderful experience for a kid." He kept working with his brothers as well, and moved with the group to New York City in the early '50s. Soon the foursome had a hit record and their own television series. Though Ames was just 19 when the group began to appear on television, he avoided some of the pitfalls of early stardom. "We had a solid family background," he says. "We didn't go wild with the whole syndrome of drugs and alcohol." The group stayed together, making mak-ing records and doing shows, for the entire decade of the '50s. Ames also began to work on Broadway, appearing with Kirk Douglas in the the original version of "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." He continued to appear on Broadway from time to time, ... Park City Profile J M fl. If' -N r i : throughout his career, working in musicals such as "Man of La Man-cha" Man-cha" and "South Pacific." To this day, Ames' favorite feeling feel-ing is the thrill of opening night on Broadway. "It's exciting, scary, rewarding, stressful all those things at the same time," he says. "The New York audiences are the toughest and the best.. .it's the max." He enjoys the immediacy of theatre, including the impromptu ad-libbing prompted by mistakes on stage. "The funniest incident I remember was when I was working in a round theatre," he says. "I had a lot of costume changes in the show.. .you'd go off one aisle and come down another aisle. In this case there were only two people in the show. I got caught halfway down the aisle and I was changing in the darkness. Somehow my foot got stuck. The other character finished and I started to panic 'cause I didn't even have my pants on yet. My assistant started helping me and suddenly the lights came up and there I was with this guy who had his hand down my pants. My shirt was over my head." "I played it for the laughs," Ames says, smiling. "What else could I do?" "I registered just as a sort of joke," he says. "I never stopped working, but I ended up getting two degrees while I was there." He worked his way to the top of his class at U.C.L.A.'s film school in the mid-'70s. When he was finished, he hopped off a jet and hurried to his graduation. "I got off the plane and raced as fast as I could to the University. I said 'Where's the cap? Where's the gown?' The students were draping me." A regular skier and tennis player, Ames first came to Park City in the '70s to work at fundraisers fun-draisers for the U.S. Ski Team. He returned to town annually, and built a house on a hill here five years ago. He stays there often with his fiancee, Rebecca Page. "I like it in Park City," he says. "Nobody makes a fuss; it's a nice atmosphere." He still accepts roles in theatre and in the movies. "I just pick what I like to do," he says. "I do television guest shots, concerts, films... whatever I find to be interesting in-teresting and worthwhile." A compact com-pact disc of Ames' greatest hits is due out after the first of the year. Ames, who speaks "six or seven" languages, also likes to spend time "Nobody makes a fuss; it's a nice atmosphere." Rebecca Page and Ed Ames "I played it for laughs. ..what else could I do?" It was Ames' work as Chief Bromden (an Indian) in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" that helped him land the part of Mingo, the Oxford-educated half-Indian on the television series Daniel Boone. Ames played alongside Fess Parker in the series from 1962-68. He enjoyed playing Mingo. "It was an interesting role," he says. "Mingo was sort of between two worlds; that was the concept." As Mingo, Ames didn't scalp anyone. "Instead of shooting people I'd whip things out of their hands and grab their ankles and pull them down," he says. "There was very little violence, in spite of the wild times in America." After leaving the series, Ames enrolled in college on a whim. "I used to drive through the campus at U.C.L.A. in the late afternoon," after-noon," he says. "I heard the school bells and got a longing to go back to school." with his three children and six grandchildren. There's a seventh grandchild on the way "My latest production," he jokes. Ames put down more roots in Summit County a few months ago when he purchased a ranch near Coalville. He plans to eventually work the ranch's cattle himself, with help from neighbors and friends. "It'll be 'Green Acres' for me," he says. "We'll keep it small; it'll be more the nature of a gentleman's ranch.". Ames might not know much about cattle, but if he works with his stock one thing is certain the cows will be thoroughly entertained. rtf) American Heart Association WERE FIGHTING FOR ' YOUR LIFE ft ? SXtnfla? (to fl r ..." '-.r.tw ji.v. rr j - -N 1 .... i.Jiu&4. '..y,' t imnir-T : COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE Spacious 3 bedroom plus loft, 3 bath condo. Private 2 car garage, laundry facilities and all the amenities of home. Located on bus route steps from Town Lift. At $210,000-a must see! DAWN CHAPMAN 649-5474 OLD TOWN CHARMER Completely renovated 2 bedroom, 1 bath home in Old Town. Won't last long at $19,500. 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