• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10

Actor Kurt Yaeger is forging a new path for performers with disabilities through talent, hard work and self-promotion. Taking a hands-on approach, Yaeger has found success over the last year despite being a single-leg amputee.

Through 75 auditions, he gained work in the film Charlie Wilson's War, nine independent films, and three TV shows. His work can also been seen in print and industrials. A short film he wrote and directed Midnight Snack and his reel are also available on the Internet at www.YouTube.com/crowbar4130.

Handsome and athletic, Yaeger is currently rehearsing for the lead role in an independent film shooting in San Francisco, The Tenderloin, written by Ned Miller, produced by Sam Rider and directed by Mike Anderson. The release date is late 2008 and the film will be submitted to festivals such as Sundance, San Francisco, Toronto, Mill Valley, and Cannes.

"My amputation is a non-issue in auditions. Only once, I had to let them know for a photo shoot, which required a shot by a swimming pool," Yaeger explains, "but directors and writers are receptive to confidence. You have to be confident in your ability during the audition. I landed the lead role in The Tenderloin, but the director didn't know I was an amputee because I was hired to play an able-bodied character. When he found out, he wrote it into the script that the character was ex-military. It added another dimension to the character. It's not done in an exploitive way, but only shown to establish that the character is an amputee. It also gives merit to the character's military history and his will to overcome obstacles."

Yaeger admits he hasn't experienced discrimination in the entertainment industry. In fact, he's been welcomed with open arms by some of the biggest names in the industry.

"On Charlie Wilson's War, I hung out with actor Tom Hanks and director Mike Nichols. It was after my second amputation when I was hired on that film," Yaeger says. "I was chosen as one of two amputees to add war prosthetics and featured in one of the scenes. I drove down from San Francisco, lived in my father's motorhome near the shooting location, made friends with security on the set and got to know people. Working on that film was a great experience. It led me to writing, directing and posting my work on http://www.youtube.com/crowbar4130.”

Living to see that experience is a story in itself.

Yaeger, who was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area, had an interest in performing when he was a child appearing in church plays. Overwhelming his interest in acting was his in-born love of motorcycles and bicycles.

"My father raced cars and competed in motorcycle enduros. I rode my first motorcycle at the age of three. I love the ride," Yaeger enthuses, "and I was always riding bicycles at home. I was athletic and quit playing football to focus on riding BMX. It was a progression to becoming a professional BMX rider. There were no X-Games then. But, once corporate America joined in to support the BMX culture, that's when it became more popular to the public. I learned how to self-promote with BMX companies, got sponsors with extreme sports companies and clothing companies associated with surfing."

Yaeger was supported by major sponsors such as Solid Bikes in the BMX industry, Split Clothing which was influenced by skateboarding, Vision Streetwear, Odyssey and other companies.

As a professional BMX rider for eight years, Yaeger was cast in Nickelodeon's live tour based on the popular cartoon show Rocket Power. When Yaeger returned to college to pursue a Masters Degree in Hydrogeology, a motorcycle accident changed the course of his life.

"It happened on May 30, 2006. I went straight into a guardrail at 80 miles per hour. It was 3 o'clock in the morning. I have flashes of a white car and I think it was a hit and run, but there were no witnesses. I laid on the side of the road until I finally woke up. Confused, I first called my then wife, and moments later I called 911. I was in a coma in the ICU for more than a week. Those first two weeks, I wasn't expected to make it," Yaeger remembers, "but I did. My right ACL and MCL were torn, my pelvis and bladder were torn in half, I had seven vertebra that were broken, my lungs collapsed, I had broken ribs and a severe concussion. My leg was destroyed and eventually, when it came down to it, it was my decision to tell the doctors to amputate my leg below the knee. I was lucky to be alive."

While recovering and using a prosthetic leg, Yaeger was suffering from immense pain.

"A new set of doctors had to re-amputate the same leg a little higher because the bones were cut wrong the first time," Yaeger says. "As I was recovering from the second amputation, I thought about a new career and found a website www.amputeeresource.org/Amputees_In_Hollywood.html. I posted my picture on that Web site, was called by a casting agency, and they hired me for Charlie Wilson's War. I'm also surrounded by good people. Jonathan Kaplan, director and producer of CBS's Without A Trace, and his associate Laura Voglesong were extremely kind to me. Jonathan and his associate helped set up a meeting with the E.R. casting director John Levey, who was very kind in taking the time to meet with me. The Media Access Office and both Gloria M. Castañeda and Douglas W. Gordy, Ph.D, have also helped me get auditions and encouraged me in building my acting career."

Most of the time, people have no idea that Yaeger has a prostethic leg.

"I play pickup games of basketball and I'm extremely athletic, which offers something extra to my acting. But, often people don't know that I'm an amputee," Yaeger explains. "The only times I have a problem is when I park my car in handicapped parking spaces. I look extremely healthy. I get yelled at sometimes and older people give me dirty looks. Metermaids have questioned me for handicapped paperwork. I lift up my pant leg and show them, then they understand."

Yaeger now has an opportunity to play a character for a weekly cable television series. The executive producer on the project has promised Yaeger the lead role.

"I'd be shown as an amputee if the TV show gets a greenlight," Yaeger notes, "Meanwhile, I've built my career over the last year through auditions, personal meetings at film festivals and with casting directors, along with self-promotion on http://www.youtube.com/crowbar4130. I write and direct my own projects. Looking at it from the other side and auditioning actors, no matter whether you have a disability or not, you have to show confidence, be believable and likable. Show them that you're easy to work with, because it makes a difference. In my own work, people are surprised I've gotten to this point and found success so quickly. They say it takes five years to do what I've done in one year. While I'm grateful, I'm not satisfied. There's so much more I want to do."

When asked if the theatre and Shakespeare are in his future, Yaeger jokingly replies, "Amputee or not to be. Anything is possible." For Yaeger, acting is simply an art he enjoys as he embraces playing both disabled and able-bodied characters.

"I really like the quiet moments in acting, the breaks from dialogue, where the mind is teleported into this new world of fantasy. It's freeing to play a tough guy and chase someone down a street in a film. It wouldn't happen in real-life. I forget my own disability and that's fun," Yaeger adds, "and, honestly, when I'm acting I don't feel like an amputee. You have to create opportunities. This isn't luck, instead it's opportunity met with preparation. Lucky is finding a $5 bill. That isn't the entertainment industry. You make a goal feasible by creating the opportunity first. I just want to be a working actor. If I can make a teacher's salary by acting and continue to work, that will be my success!"

For more information on Kurt Yaeger's career link to www.KurtYaeger.com.

To view his acting work or the film he wrote and directed link to www.youtube.com/crowbar4130.

For more information about performers with disabilities visit www.PerformersWithDisabilities.com.