THOMAS COKENIAS
A pretty woman asked me to audition for a play her boss was casting. I had never been in a play before, but she asked, so I auditioned. I got the lead, Sydney in The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window by Lorraine Hansberry. I was on stage talking for all but three pages of the play. Many years passed, I had several careers. I started acting again in 2008.
I grew up in Greece, Viet Nam, Korea, and Washington, D.C. I’ve lived in 32 places so far. My friend Katy in Salonika taught me to speak Greek – We were three years old. I learned French in Saigon. We left one week before the first attempted coup against the government.
I was in the Army National Guard for six years, first as Military Police, then as Mess Sergeant. Our unit performed riot duty in Washington, D.C. during anti war demonstrations, we arrested people I had been in marches with the year before.
I got my degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. During summer breaks I worked in clandestine government laboratories doing classified work. Most of my career I helped electronic equipment manufacturers identify and correct electromagnetic interference problems. It was like hunting ghosts using physics magic.
During my sophomore year in college I met a stunning long- legged brunette in a bright yellow vinyl mini skirt with matching jacket. Married her. Two great kids. Still with her. We live by the ocean now, it’s great. We’re not leaving until they pull us out of here feet first.