Show Yesso's TV 'break' in 'Frank's Place' by Jerry Buck Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES — Don Yesso who'd never acted before was offered a role on the CBS television se- ries "Frank's Place" whei he met the producer of the show while flying from New Orleans to Los Ange les to look for a coaching job Yesso plays Shorty an assistant cook at the Chez Louisianne run by Tim Reid in the critically sc' claimed series The show is not on the CBS fall schedule but the network says it definitely will return when an "advantageous time slot" can be found HUGH WILSON the of createrproducer "Frank's Place" was struck by Yesso's wit gift of gab and a New Orleans accent as thick as gumbo He figured it would be easier to teach Yesso how to act than to teach a professional actor how to talk like a resident of New Orleans' Ninth Ward The accent which is not quite Cajun or Southern is more akin to Brooklynese "I live here now" Yesso says "I like this stuff I like being a thespian" Yesso a mixture of Italian French and American Indian grew up near the Irish Channel about two or three miles from downtown New Orleans He graduated from Louisiana State University where he played football at LSU and was an NCAA weightlifting champion HE ALSO worked as a bartender manager of vara sales ious nightclubs owner and representative delicaof a "down-home- " tessen His only previous ush with the movie business came during college when he had a role as a bodyguard in a movie about Huey P Long He tells how he met Wil non-speaki- 6T son on a flight to the West Coast: "Hugh came walking down the aisle of the plane and saw my cigarette He'd quit smoking 43 days earlier and asked for a cigatette He sat down and we had a drink and started talking about New Orleans Then he said he didn't know if he could work it out but how would! like to work on TV I thought he was joking "I had to send in a photo and a resume I sent them a Polaroid snapshot I stood on the sidewalk and waved I looked like Tommy Tourist Hugh kept telling CBS it was easier to teach me how to act than to teach an actor how to talk like I do When he told me I had the job I went out and bought three books on acting Two of them I couldn't read" YESSO SAYS he found his role as Shorty somewhat easy because he had grown up in a neighborhood similar to that in e 14 i ' : 's : 1 : 4 - k 1' ' 41 '" : ::11 'ftiminev( - ' "Frank's Place" "It's supposed to be hard to look natural in front of a camera" he says "I hate to sound cocky but it came easy to me I guess I was lucky I think Shorty and I are pretty interchange- able He's a little slow but there's something about him The way I try to portray him is that he's a sensitive lovable guy A man's man that the women find appealing" Besides acting Yesso wrote the Christmas show last year He has ideas for several more shows and is working on story ideas for other series He is also under consideration for roles in several feature films Apparently Johnny Carson is also taken with Yesso who was recently on "The Tonight Show" for his fourth appearance "The last time I was on I had all my friends in the - Associated Press Newsktatures Photo Don Yesso who stars on CBS's "Prank's Place" as the assistant chef at Chez Louisianne has proven himself to be a natural in front of the camera He also professes to be a natural in the kitchen and says he perfected "blackened" food before Chef Paul Prudhomme made blackened redfish a national favorite audience" he says "Johnny found out about it later and said 'Why didn't you tell me? I'd have brought them on stage" EVEN CARSON finds it hard to resist friends named Stormin' Norman Bucket the Dude Dr Vinny Boombah and his girlfriend Boo Boo II and Angigolo which is a cross The Salt Lake Tribune TV Magazine Sunday July 3 1988 between Angelo and gigo- name? What else but Pail? lo Yesso contends he per"Angelo thinks he's real fected "blackened" food smooth with the ladies" Yesso explains "And before chef Paul Prudhomme made blackened Vinny used to have a girlfriend named Boo Boo He redfish a national favorite liked the name so much he "I've cooked for years" he called his new girlfriend says "and being a bacheBoo Boo II" lor I blackened everyYesso's friend Bucket thing I didn't know it was recently had a son The fashionable" |