Tim McDaniel(I)

Tim McDaniel was born Timothy Charles McDaniel at the Children's Hospital in San Francisco, CA in 1965. His mother was an entertainer born in New Jersey and his father was a nightclub owner born in Texas. Still a toddler, Tim moved to southern California, where he spent much of his time visiting 20th Century Fox studios and hanging around television show sets like SWAT and MASH, quietly learning about the inside scoop of the industry while his mother worked as a casting director (she also worked as a talent agent and manager). [Sidenote: While Tim was still a baby, his father was involved writing for television shows like the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,as well as writing commercials, some recognized officially by the EPA]. Tim started acting at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, CA, doing small parts in Shakespeare plays at the age of 11 or 12. He also worked in a PBS special as a tween in a public service announcement about the dangers of sneaking into houses. Before his 13th birthday, Tim landed a job at the Long Beach Convention Center in a production of Our Town, directed by Gower Champion and starring Eddie Albert as the narrator. Tim played the role of Si Crowell. This production ran for 8 weeks, so he was schooled on set.

Tim later played small roles in a couple of AFI film productions of some of the Shakespeare plays he took part in earlier on, and by the time he turned 16, he was auditioning a few times a week for various movies, television shows and commercials, some of which he landed roles in as well.

After taking a commercial acting class and getting some commercial photos for a composite, he was hired for a small role in a First Tennessee Bank commercial. He went on to take a few acting classes in Hollywood, one of which was led by Geno Havens. He also attended the Groundlings Improvisational Comedy Workshop, taught by Genevieve Robert. More on Genevieve Robert in a minute...

When he was about 22, he auditioned for and won a leading role in the movie "Ghost Chase", directed by Roland Emmerich, who later took credit for writing and directing blockbuster movies such as Independence Day and Eight-Legged Freaks. Tim spent a few months in Sindelfingen, West Germany making the film with co-star Jason Lively and the likes of Ian MacNaughton, who produced and directed many of the Monty Python films. After production, he participated in a publicity tour which included Munich, Berlin and a few other radio and television appearances, promoting the movie.

After returning to the states and the release of Ghost Chase worldwide, Tim auditioned for and got a cameo role in the film "Casual Sex" with Lea Thompson and Victoria Jackson. Coincidentally, Genevieve Robert wrote and directed the film, so he auditioned with her. Ms. Robert probably didn't realize that Tim was a student of hers just a couple of years earlier.

Tim lived in Topanga Canyon for quite a while and worked as a preschool teacher for a year or two, then moved to the San Fernando valley, where he started doing "earthling" work in customer service and retail management, to name but a couple of the many jobs he went on to take. And yes, he was a bartender for some time (queue rim shot).

Tim moved in the early 90s to Virginia, following the Northridge earthquake, when his rental home became uninhabitable for the most part, after moving a couple of more times locally.

He now lives in the Charlottesville area of Virginia with his wife Sandra and children, Bradley and Mary, where he has worked as a law publishing editor, a quality assurance engineer, a school bus driver and as far as we know, at the time this was written, still working with the elderly. Service to others is his calling now, and he strives everyday to make a positive change in the lives of the people he meets and greets each day.