Everyone has a story.
Each week, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person–someone who is well-known, influential, or successful, and asks, “What’s Your Story?”
By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
Limo rides and dinners with Elton John.
Being “liked” by John, who is gay.
Around 1987, that was real life for Shreveport actor Patrick Kirton.
“At first, I was scared to death. This is somebody I had listened to my whole life. Once I met him, I didn’t know what to say. But after a while, that went away, and it just got to be fun. We talked. We laughed.”
Then came the moment of truth.
“A guy I knew said, ‘You know he likes you, right?’ I said, ‘I like him, too. He’s fun.’ The guy said, ‘No, he LIKES you.’ I went, ‘Oh, I’m not gay.’ He said, ‘You’re not?’ I said, ‘NO!'”
When word got to John (who has sold 300 million records), he and Patrick remained friends. But, John expressed disappointment.
“He told me, ‘If you were gay, you would be the richest man ever to come out of Louisiana’ . . . . That’s when I realized it’s not a choice whether or not you’re gay. If it was, I was sitting there thinking, ‘Do I want to? Nope. I can’t do it. Sorry. I just can’t.'”
Patrick, who is 64 years young and enjoying his best years as an actor, told me entertaining stories — and his story — during lunch at a place of his choosing, Ramirez Mexican Restaurant in Bossier City. Patrick dined on sour cream chicken enchiladas, with rice, beans, and a taco. I cleaned the shell of a chicken fajita taco salad.
Patrick recently found out he will have a recurring role in Vindication, a streaming, faith-based crime drama series. This past January, Patrick and Susan, his wife of 27 years, were in the short-film Pasture Prime, which was shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Colorado. In 2021, Patrick had a leading role in an episode of the CW series Walker. He also had a scene with Samuel L. Jackson in the movie Cleaner, and has appeared in several Louisiana Film Prize short films, as well as television commercials.
“I’m doing more now than I ever thought I would. It’s like, people have a dream and they reach it, and they think, ‘What else? What else? What else?’ Man, I’m happy I can send in an audition and somebody thinks I’m good enough to fly down to Austin for a week and film a show. (Walker) That’s gratifying. That’s nice.”
Growing up in South Broadmoor — next to the girl he would eventually marry — Patrick was intrigued by what he saw on the big and small screen.
“I always loved movies. I would get lost in them. I just looked at these people and said, ‘I would love to be doing that . . . . The big (TV) shows back then were The Rifleman and Gunsmoke. I loved those shows — just loved them. As I got older, it was Starsky and Hutch and shows like that.”
But the reality of appearing in a movie or on a show seemed like a dream that would never become real life.
“It was always something I wanted to do, but was never something I thought I could do . . . . I think I was scared to do it for a long time. But when I went to college, I thought, ‘The heck with it.’ I’ve always wanted to do it, so I auditioned for a play. I got the part. The play was hilarious, and I was hooked.”
At Louisiana Tech, Patrick majored in Graphic Design, but spent most of his time in the theatre department.
“Did my grades suffer a little bit? Sure. I was up there all the time, rehearsing and helping build sets.”
22 years old, with a diploma in hand, and ready to take on the acting world, Patrick loaded up a U-Haul and moved to Los Angeles.
“My mom was horrified I was going to be so far away. My dad was like, ‘Well, you’re young. Go give it a shot.'”
It wasn’t long before reality set in.
“John Schneider and Tom Wopat were trying to get more money, so Dukes of Hazzard re-cast their characters. I thought, ‘I’m six foot. I’ve got blond hair. I’m from the south. I’m made for this!’ I was watching TV, and they showed a helicopter shot from Burbank Studio of the open (casting) call. There are guys wrapped around the block who looked just like me. I’m thinking, ‘Holy Crap!’ That’s when I thought, ‘This is not as easy as I thought it was going to be.'”
It wasn’t. Instead of being in front of the camera, Patrick spent most of his 14 years out west behind the scenes. He worked as a prop guy on music videos and feature films.
“The work was steady and the money was good.”
In fact, Patrick would still be in Hollywood, had Susan not accidentally won the leading role in his life.
“I came home for (my dad’s) funeral, and Susan had moved back. She had been married, got divorced, and came back to help her mom with her dad. They happened to come to my dad’s funeral. Susan walked in as a grown woman, and it was almost love at first sight. I looked at her like, ‘Oh my gosh!'”
In 1996, Patrick once again loaded up a U-Haul, this time to return to Shreveport. He and Susan married, and Patrick pretty much gave up on a career in the film industry.
That is, until a devastating, Category 5 hurricane hit south Louisiana.
“Seven years later, lo and behold, Katrina happened. The tax breaks were here, and they started filming movies in Shreveport. I thought, ‘Okay, let’s see what I can do.’ I got an agent, got submitted, and started booking roles. When they come here, they look for local actors to do the daypart (smaller roles usually requiring a day to film) stuff.”
Unlikely as it seems, Patrick has found more acting success in Shreveport than he did in Los Angeles. But Patrick will always cherish his time rubbing shoulders with stars of stage and screen.
“I got to meet Jimmy Stewart, Shirley McClain, Tony Curtis, Charlton Heston, Ginger Rogers, Jack Lemmon, Walter Mathieu . . . . “
And Michael Jackson. What was he like?
“What you would think . . . . He was very child-like. Very playful. Very shy. It was weird. He was this meek little man, but the minute they turned on the (music) for him to start, he became Michael Jackson. It was just amazing. But as soon as the song ended, it was back to being little shy Michael Jackson. The transformation of when he was performing and when he wasn’t was night and day.”
Certain Patrick had to study lines for an upcoming role, I asked my final question. As always, what is it about his story that can be beneficial to others?
“It’s important to have something in life for which you have a passion. Even though it’s ‘part-time’, acting gives me joy. You can never be too old to find that kind of passion . . . . Do what you want to do. If you feel like you’re called to something, give it a shot. What have you got to lose?”
I’m looking forward to the next time Patrick appears either in a film, or on my TV. I will remember our lunch, and tell people, “I knew him when . . . .”
Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Email SBJTonyT@gmail.com