Robert "Buzz" Pine's list of movie, television and even stage credits spans more than 45 years and while, yes, he's one of those actors you might know more by face than name, there's little doubt you've seen his work -- and more than just a few times.
His six seasons as Sgt. Joe Getraer on the late '70s/ early '80s TV series CHiPs is perhaps his best-known character, but it's really just a blip in a career that's included more than a hundred different roles on big screens, small screens and stages of every shape and size.
He's the star of this week's Arts Watch column because his next credit will come Saturday on the stage of Bryan's Theatre Company, where he'll join his wife and former actress Gwynne Gilford for two special Valentine's performances of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Love Letters.
The performances will benefit St. Michael's Episcopal School, Bryan's magnificent K-12 college preparatory school. Why Pine and Gilford are coming to Bryan to help St. Michael's is a whole other story that I'll get to in a moment, but first a deeper look at the career of this character actor who remains a tireless worker.
It's hard to name a TV series in which Robert Pine has not guest-starred, but a recent role that caught my eye was last year as character Jim Halpert's kilt-wearing dad in the "Jim and Pam's Wedding" season-ending episode of my favorite TV show, The Office.
For 13 years he had the recurring role of Stephen Logan, father of the conniving Brooke on The Bold and the Beautiful.
"I was only a regular for three months but every time the tramp would get married, they'd bring me back for the wedding," he joked last week.
Pine played JFK in a miniseries called Hoover vs. the Kennedys and played the president's chief of staff in the 1996 feature film Independence Day.
His vast TV resume also includes Gunsmoke, Picket Fences, Quantum Leap, The West Wing, Chicago Hope, Beverly Hills 90210, JAG, LA Law, Criminal Minds, The Practice, 24, Six Feet Under, Saving Grace, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Cold Case and multiple appearances in Murder She Wrote. He even once sat beside Charles Nelson Reilly on the Match Game panel -- one of his many game-show appearances.
Believe me that's just a small sample of a much longer list.
You get the idea that Pine made the right choice when as an Ohio Wesleyan student he abandoned his chosen path of pre-med when acting got in the way.
"If truth be known, my lack of expertise in the classroom was what got in the way," Pine said in a telephone interview last week. "And there are many prospective patients out there who are glad I went into acting -- occasionally playing a doctor rather than being one."
Texas A&M professor of geology and geophysics Jeff Fox knows all about that and more -- and therein lies just one connection Pine has with Aggieland. Fox and Pine have been best of friends since they were 5-year-olds in Scarsdale, N.Y.
"We went to summer camp together and then were three-year roommates at Ohio Wesleyan. We have been close, close friends for many years," Pine said.
That friendship, Fox said, tightened when they both attended Columbia "and that's when he decided that medical school was not the highest thing on his list and sought his fortune in Hollywood after having a very successful screen test at Universal."
But his success as an actor does not surprise Fox. "Not at all. He's a charming, big-hearted, warm-spirited individual who has never let the halcyon life he's led in any way effect his generosity or sincerity."
This life-long friendship between Pine and Fox, somewhat by chance, is what led to Pine's and Gilford's upcoming performance to benefit St. Michael's, where Jeff and Janet Fox's son Kevin is a senior.
You see, back in the late '70s, Jeff and Janet purchased a vacation home in Montana.
"Buzz (as Pine's friends know him) would come out and visit us for a period of time and he would bring his young son Chris," Fox explained. It was what Fox recalled as "guy" time since Pine's wife and daughter Katie often stayed back in Los Angeles.
(Back to the story in a moment, but having just mentioned Chris now seems the right time to confirm what you are no doubt thinking. Yes, Robert and Gwynne's son is heartthrob actor Chris Pine, who starred as young Captain James T. Kirk in last year's blockbuster film Star Trek. Pine agrees that he's better known now as Chris Pine's dad "and that's going to get even more so, which is great for him and us. We are real proud of Chris.")
Fox says that over the years, Pine and young Chris visited Montana routinely for hiking and fishing, forging an even closer friendship.
Last spring break, the Foxes joined up with Kevin at the end of St. Michael's Gilbert and Sullivan performance tour of Southern California.
"I flew out early and spent a day with Buzz and Gwynne," Fox said. "Buzz and I drove down to Palm Springs to retrieve Kevin and that's when Buzz met Betty Creamer, St. Michael's head of school.
"Later in the week, Buzz told us about this two-person show that he and Gwynne do called Love Letters. He talked about how Katie and Chris had gone to a small private school in L.A. and how they had benefited from that nurturing environment, and he said they would love to do something to help St. Michael's."
And that's the serendipity course that brings Pine and Gilford to the Brazos Valley this week.
Love Letters is what Pine describes as a "lovely piece just perfect for a Valentine's weekend. You would think that two people up on stage reading letters -- how is that going to grab you? -- but it does. I'm always amazed after we do it how it expresses the art of writing letters, which is sort of a lost art now. There are some wonderful passages in it about that very thing."
Gilford was a full-time actress for some 18 years, until 1987 when she quit acting to become a psychotherapist.
"She loves the job she does now," Pine said, "but getting back into some acting like this is perfect for her."
Their daughter Katie, also a former actress, is now a clinical psychologist who recently gave Robert and Gwynne their first grandchild.
"In our family, the right people became actors and the right people became doctors," Pine said.
The couple will perform twice on Saturday: at 2 p.m. it's a performance only, and tickets are $15 in advance; at 7 p.m., the "Red Carpet" performance includes a catered meal, cocktails and an intimate actor's reception after the performance. Tickets for the evening event are $75 each, or $50 each for groups of eight or more. Reservations are required and may be made by calling 979-822-2715 or e-mailing stmes@txcyber.net.
Even at age 68, Pine keeps multiple plates spinning. He just opened a Los Angeles play called Cousin Bette that will run through March 21. "So you might be asking how I can come to Bryan to do Love Letters," he said. "We're double-casted, so the other guy will play my part that weekend."
Finally, there's a rather amazing postscript to the connection between these actors and Texas A&M, other than their friendship with professor Fox.
Gilford's mother (Robert Pine's mother-in-law and Chris Pine's grandma) was a stunningly beautiful actress named Anne Gwynne, who starred in some 63 films during her 31-year career.
It was in 1943 that she played the role of Nina Lambert in a World War II movie that all old Ags will forever hold close to their hearts (even if Hollywood critics didn't). Filmed on the A&M campus, We've Never Been Licked also starred Robert Mitchum, Noah Beery Jr., and the future Fred Mertz -- William Frawley. The movie will always be a special chapter of Texas A&M's storied history.
Save the date
* Sunday: Brazos Valley TROUPE presents Ebony Overtures, 3 p.m., 3705 E. 29th St., Bryan (846-4903, bvtroupe.com)
* Sunday: Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra presents American Impressions, 5 p.m., Christ United Methodist Church in College Station (845-1234, bvso.org)
* Monday-Feb. 27: Arts Council of Brazos Valley hosts an exhibit celebrating Black History Month, Texas Gallery (696-2787, acbv.org)
* Monday-Thursday: MSC OPAS presents Simply Sinatra, 7:30 p.m., Miramont Country Club in Bryan (845-1234, mscopas.org)
* Thursday: George Bush Presidential Library presents a Classic Film Series screening of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 7 p.m., free (691-4000, bushlibrary.tamu.edu)
* Thursday-Feb. 27: Stage Center presents Getting Sara Married, 7:30 p.m. (823-4297, stagecenter.net)
* Friday: Friends of Chamber Music presents Spanish Brass Quintet, 7:30 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, Bryan (communitychamberconcerts.org)
* Saturday: Love Letters, starring Robert Pine and Gwynne Gilford, a benefit for St. Michael's Episcopal School, 2 and 7 p.m., Theatre Company (822-2175)
* All month: Children's Museum of the Brazos Valley offers various programs, including Monday Madness, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (mymuseum.org, 779-5437)
* All month: Until August, the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum will present "The Culture of Wine," unraveling the mystery, magic and making of wine. (691-4000, bushlibrary.tamu.edu)
* Tom Turbiville is The Eagle's arts columnist. He's also sports director for WTAW-1620AM Radio. E-mail him at tom.turbiville@theeagle.com.
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