NOTE: So many people have asked me about my career that I decided to spend time with my publicist, Bill Murphy, who interviewed me about my first few appearances on TV. Our conversation took place in September of 2012. This is Part 1 of what’s likely to be a 3-4 part series. I hope you enjoy it!

Bill: Let’s talk about your first TV appearance, which was Ironside in 1971. The episode was called “In the Line of Duty.” How did you get the gig on Ironside? What had you been doing? You were in your mid-twenties. So this must have been one of your first jobs.

Udana: That was literally my first job. I was going on auditions, and I had a manager who was helping me go on auditions, and I went to Universal Studios, and somehow I got chosen. I think [producer] Cy Chermak had something to do with that.

B: Let me check IMDB. Yep, Cy Chermak.

U: Got it. That’s so long ago. I had no idea who I was. I had no idea that I was pretty, all I knew was that I just wanted to act. Cy Chermak hired me for this, and I got my SAG card. That’s how I got my Screen Actors Guild card, and it cost me $280 to get my SAG card then. Now it’s $1000, $2000 or something like that. But at that point it was a whopping $280. [laughs]

B: [laughs]

U: And I got my Screen Actors Guild card. I kind of knew who Gary Mason was and Raymond Burr was, and I had, I remember I had a scene that I had to be very emotional in. I had to be crying. And there were four people in the scene. I think we were Continue reading →