Radames Pera
Encyclopedia
Radames Perá is an American
actor
who is best known for his role as the young Kwai Chang Caine
in the 1972-1975 television series Kung Fu
.
, and Lisa Perá, a Russia
n-born actress. They moved to Los Angeles
in 1963 so Lisa could pursue her acting career, but the marriage suffered and they were shortly divorced. Lisa struggled as a single mother, working nights at the famous '60s Hollywood night club, The Fog Cutter.
At 8 years old, young Radames was discovered by director Daniel Mann
for the role as Anthony Quinn
's and Irene Papas
' dying son in A Dream of Kings (1969). The boy's mother was up for the part of Quinn's mistress eventually played by the late Inger Stevens
. Radames met the Director, Mann at a dinner party and was eventually cast in the role of Stavros. Soon after that Radames got an agent and went on to play many serious roles in television and films. Pera was considered a young character actor and was cast in an unusual variety of roles requiring different looks, accents (Spanish, German, Italian, Russian) and handicaps (mute, blind, schizophrenic, etc.)
He is best known as originating the role of the Young Student Caine, or "Grasshopper" in the series, Kung Fu
, appearing throughout its seminal run on the ABC Television Network, and in worldwide re-runs. The now classic Wise-Master/Student relationship was first depicted on that show and clearly echoed in subsequent films like The Karate Kid and Star Wars
as well as semi-parodied in later hits like Kill Bill
and even The Matrix
.
Pera's other notable appearances include a disturbed young man in an episode of Night Gallery
, Silent Snow, Secret Snow
narrated by Orson Welles
. Campier roles included a guest appearance on The Six Million Dollar Man
and as Don Ameche
's son in Gidget Gets Married
. Between 1969 and 1985 other guest-starring credits include two episodes of Lassie
and Marcus Welby, M.D.
, and single episodes of Hawaii Five-O
, The Waltons
and others.
In Los Angeles in the summer of 1978 Radames began 3 years of acting and directing studies with the legendary Stella Adler
and followed her to New York that fall, in spite of much protest from his L.A. agents. Fellow classmates at Ms. Adler's Conservatory included Jeff Goldblum
, Judd Nelson
, and other Brat Packers.
Though his career had gained some momentum from the recurring role as Mary Ingalls
' love interest, John, Jr., on Little House on the Prairie
. Radames' agents were right to warn that Hollywood quickly forgets, especially child actors most often left forever frozen in time, type-cast in their best known roles.
After returning to L.A. in the fall of 1981, Radames was never able to regain that earlier career momentum and dropped out of the acting business a few years later. His final television appearances were in episodes of Mickey Spillane's The New Mike Hammer
and Starman
and his last film role was as Sgt. Stepan Gorsky in John Milius
' 1984 feature Red Dawn
.
Radames Pera married Marsha Mann on Leap Year Day in 1984, 6000 feet above the Mojave Desert
- exchanging rings and vows in front of a judge and then jumping out of the plane on their first ever sky dive - calling the event "A Leap of Faith".
Pera developed other interests in video and electronics and eventually formed his own company, All Systems Go! in L.A. in 1988, designing and installing home theaters and residential sound systems for the rich and famous, with clients including Johnny Depp
, Nicolas Cage
, Ben Stiller
, and Sharon Stone
.
During this time, Pera and his wife formed a creative alliance with the L.A.-based performance-art-band, "Freshly Wrapped Candies". The couple toured extensively with the band creating and performing digitally manipulated live video images for many of the band's West Coast performances. Working with the Fairlight
Computer Video Instrument (CVI), a camera, and an array of monitors and video projectors. They also produced an hour-long live performance video entitled "The Sheep of Things to Come" in 1990, with excerpts from several of these live shows which was distributed by Modern Visual Communications (MVC) and Ralph Records
.
The band broke up in the early 1990s and Pera moved into more commercial work with the Fairlight
, producing digital video FX for The Disney Channel, a Max Headroom
-like character for their hit show Kids Incorporated
as well as high-tech animated effects for the feature film Bulletproof
.
In 1993 Radames and his wife moved to Portland, Oregon
, successfully relocating his home theater company at the same time. After 10 years in the Pacific Northwest the couple moved back south to the coastal town of Ventura
, CA.
During this period (2002–2004) Radames became involved in advocacy for the reformation of laws and regulations pertaining to child actors. He reactivated his Screen Actors Guild
membership in order to participate in SAG's Young Performers Committee alongside prime advocates Paul Petersen
and SAG President at the time, (fellow Little House on the Prairie
alumnus) Melissa Gilbert
. He attended monthly Committee meetings at SAG's West Coast headquarters and co-chaired many Young Performers' Orientation Seminars along with former child actors he had worked with many years before, among them Alison Arngrim
and Johnny Whitaker
), providing essential professional and personal insights and survival advice to parents of young people entering the acting business for whom no other practical information like this was readily available.
In 2004, Pera and his wife moved to Austin, Texas
, where he started up the same business under the name "Get It Wired". As of June 2009, he has been in the field of custom home entertainment for over 21 years. But Austin is also home to a burgeoning film community, and Radames now happily divides his attention between running a business and participating in the local film scene there. He occasionally screens episodes of Kung Fu to young filmmakers at the Austin Film Society
hoping to inspire young people to tackle The Bigger Ideas with their projects.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who is best known for his role as the young Kwai Chang Caine
Kwai Chang Caine
Kwai Chang Caine [虔官昌 or 拐杖棍 Qián Guānchāng] is a fictional television character in the 1972–1975 western television series, Kung Fu. He has been portrayed by David Carradine as an adult, Keith Carradine as a younger Caine and Radames Pera the child Caine and Stephen Manley as the youngest...
in the 1972-1975 television series Kung Fu
Kung Fu (TV series)
Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
.
Biography
Radames Pera was born in New York, New York, the son of Eugene R. Perá, a renowned painter and originator of Spin artSpin art
Spin art is an art form that primarily uses paint, a canvas and a spinning platform. It is primarily used to entertain and expose children to the process of art creation, although it can be enjoyed by people of all ages.-Techniques:...
, and Lisa Perá, a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-born actress. They moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1963 so Lisa could pursue her acting career, but the marriage suffered and they were shortly divorced. Lisa struggled as a single mother, working nights at the famous '60s Hollywood night club, The Fog Cutter.
At 8 years old, young Radames was discovered by director Daniel Mann
Daniel Mann
Daniel Mann, also known as Daniel Chugerman , was an American film and television director.Daniel Mann was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was a stage actor since childhood, and attended Erasmus Hall High School, New York's Professional Children's School and the Neighborhood Playhouse...
for the role as Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
's and Irene Papas
Irene Papas
Irene Papas is a Greek actress and occasional singer, who has starred in over seventy films in a career spanning more than fifty years.-Life:...
' dying son in A Dream of Kings (1969). The boy's mother was up for the part of Quinn's mistress eventually played by the late Inger Stevens
Inger Stevens
Inger Stevens was a Swedish-American movie and TV actress.- Early life :Inger Stevens was born Inger Stensland in Stockholm, Sweden. She was an insecure child and was often ill. When she was nine, her parents divorced and she moved with her father to New York City...
. Radames met the Director, Mann at a dinner party and was eventually cast in the role of Stavros. Soon after that Radames got an agent and went on to play many serious roles in television and films. Pera was considered a young character actor and was cast in an unusual variety of roles requiring different looks, accents (Spanish, German, Italian, Russian) and handicaps (mute, blind, schizophrenic, etc.)
He is best known as originating the role of the Young Student Caine, or "Grasshopper" in the series, Kung Fu
Kung Fu (TV series)
Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
, appearing throughout its seminal run on the ABC Television Network, and in worldwide re-runs. The now classic Wise-Master/Student relationship was first depicted on that show and clearly echoed in subsequent films like The Karate Kid and Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
as well as semi-parodied in later hits like Kill Bill
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
and even The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
.
Pera's other notable appearances include a disturbed young man in an episode of Night Gallery
Night Gallery
Night Gallery is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1970 to 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, The Twilight Zone, served both as the on-air host of Night Gallery and as a major contributor of scripts, although...
, Silent Snow, Secret Snow
Silent Snow, Secret Snow
"Silent Snow, Secret Snow" is Conrad Aiken's best-known short story, often included in anthologies of classic American horror and fantasy short fiction...
narrated by Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
. Campier roles included a guest appearance on The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
and as Don Ameche
Don Ameche
Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
's son in Gidget Gets Married
Gidget Gets Married
Gidget Gets Married is a 1972 television film produced by Screen Gems for ABC. It was written by John McGreevey and directed by E.W. Swackhamer and starred Monie Ellis as Gidget.-Plot:...
. Between 1969 and 1985 other guest-starring credits include two episodes of Lassie
Lassie
Lassie is a fictional collie dog character created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called Lassie Come-Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as Lassie Come Home with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six...
and Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
, and single episodes of Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
, The Waltons
The Waltons
The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name. The show centered on a family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television...
and others.
In Los Angeles in the summer of 1978 Radames began 3 years of acting and directing studies with the legendary Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
and followed her to New York that fall, in spite of much protest from his L.A. agents. Fellow classmates at Ms. Adler's Conservatory included Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
, Judd Nelson
Judd Nelson
Judd Asher Nelson is an American actor. He is best known for being a member of the "Brat Pack" in the mid-1980s; and for his roles as John Bender in The Breakfast Club, Alec Newbary in St...
, and other Brat Packers.
Though his career had gained some momentum from the recurring role as Mary Ingalls
Mary Ingalls
Mary Amelia Ingalls was born near the town of Pepin, Wisconsin. She was the first child of Caroline and Charles Ingalls...
' love interest, John, Jr., on Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
. Radames' agents were right to warn that Hollywood quickly forgets, especially child actors most often left forever frozen in time, type-cast in their best known roles.
After returning to L.A. in the fall of 1981, Radames was never able to regain that earlier career momentum and dropped out of the acting business a few years later. His final television appearances were in episodes of Mickey Spillane's The New Mike Hammer
The New Mike Hammer
The New Mike Hammer is an American television series based on the exploits of the fictitious New York-based private detective Mike Hammer. The show starred Stacy Keach and was essentially a continuation of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, an earlier television program featuring an identical core cast...
and Starman
Starman (TV series)
Starman is an American science fiction television series, starring Robert Hays and Christopher Daniel Barnes. The series ran on the ABC network from September 19, 1986 to May 2, 1987...
and his last film role was as Sgt. Stepan Gorsky in John Milius
John Milius
John Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Early life:Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late 1960s, but was rejected...
' 1984 feature Red Dawn
Red Dawn
Red Dawn is a 1984 American war film directed by John Milius and co-written by Milius and Kevin Reynolds. It stars Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen and Jennifer Grey....
.
Radames Pera married Marsha Mann on Leap Year Day in 1984, 6000 feet above the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
- exchanging rings and vows in front of a judge and then jumping out of the plane on their first ever sky dive - calling the event "A Leap of Faith".
Pera developed other interests in video and electronics and eventually formed his own company, All Systems Go! in L.A. in 1988, designing and installing home theaters and residential sound systems for the rich and famous, with clients including Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
, Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
, and Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
.
During this time, Pera and his wife formed a creative alliance with the L.A.-based performance-art-band, "Freshly Wrapped Candies". The couple toured extensively with the band creating and performing digitally manipulated live video images for many of the band's West Coast performances. Working with the Fairlight
Fairlight
Fairlight is a digital audio company based in Sydney, Australia. In 1979 they created the Fairlight CMI, the first digital audio sampler, quickly used by artists such as Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Jean Michel Jarre. They are now a manufacturer of media solutions tools such as digital audio...
Computer Video Instrument (CVI), a camera, and an array of monitors and video projectors. They also produced an hour-long live performance video entitled "The Sheep of Things to Come" in 1990, with excerpts from several of these live shows which was distributed by Modern Visual Communications (MVC) and Ralph Records
Ralph Records
Ralph Records was The Residents' original record label, the name coming from the somewhat colorful phrase "calling Ralph on the porcelain telephone."...
.
The band broke up in the early 1990s and Pera moved into more commercial work with the Fairlight
Fairlight
Fairlight is a digital audio company based in Sydney, Australia. In 1979 they created the Fairlight CMI, the first digital audio sampler, quickly used by artists such as Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Jean Michel Jarre. They are now a manufacturer of media solutions tools such as digital audio...
, producing digital video FX for The Disney Channel, a Max Headroom
Max Headroom (character)
Max Headroom is a fictional British artificial intelligence, known for his wit and stuttering, distorted, electronically sampled voice. The character was created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel, and Rocky Morton in the mid nineteen eighties, and portrayed by Matt Frewer as "The World's first...
-like character for their hit show Kids Incorporated
Kids Incorporated
Kids Incorporated, is an American children's television program that was produced from 1984 to 1993. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as an integral part of each and every storyline....
as well as high-tech animated effects for the feature film Bulletproof
Bulletproof
Bulletproofing is the process of making something capable of stopping a bullet or similar high velocity projectiles e.g. shrapnel. The term bullet resistance is often preferred because few, if any, practical materials provide complete protection against all types of bullets, or multiple hits in the...
.
In 1993 Radames and his wife moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, successfully relocating his home theater company at the same time. After 10 years in the Pacific Northwest the couple moved back south to the coastal town of Ventura
Ventura, California
Ventura is the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States, incorporated in 1866. The population was 106,433 at the 2010 census, up from 100,916 at the 2000 census. Ventura is accessible via U.S...
, CA.
During this period (2002–2004) Radames became involved in advocacy for the reformation of laws and regulations pertaining to child actors. He reactivated his Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
membership in order to participate in SAG's Young Performers Committee alongside prime advocates Paul Petersen
Paul Petersen
William Paul Petersen is an American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Primarily known for his character-type roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as an adult Petersen established the organization A Minor Consideration to support child stars and other child laborers through legislation,...
and SAG President at the time, (fellow Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
alumnus) Melissa Gilbert
Melissa Gilbert
Melissa Ellen Gilbert is an American actress, writer, and producer, primarily in movies and television. Gilbert is best known as a child actress who co-starred as Charles Ingalls's second daughter, Laura Ingalls Wilder, on the dramatic television series Little House on the Prairie...
. He attended monthly Committee meetings at SAG's West Coast headquarters and co-chaired many Young Performers' Orientation Seminars along with former child actors he had worked with many years before, among them Alison Arngrim
Alison Arngrim
Alison Margaret Arngrim is an American actress, stand-up comedian and author.Arngrim's father, Thor Arngrim, was a well-known Hollywood manager...
and Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker
Johnny Whitaker is an American actor and singer notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood...
), providing essential professional and personal insights and survival advice to parents of young people entering the acting business for whom no other practical information like this was readily available.
In 2004, Pera and his wife moved to Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, where he started up the same business under the name "Get It Wired". As of June 2009, he has been in the field of custom home entertainment for over 21 years. But Austin is also home to a burgeoning film community, and Radames now happily divides his attention between running a business and participating in the local film scene there. He occasionally screens episodes of Kung Fu to young filmmakers at the Austin Film Society
Austin Film Society
The Austin Film Society is a non-profit film society based in Austin, Texas. Founded in 1985 to exhibit independent, experimental, foreign and various other non-mainstream art films, the film society has grown from just film exhibition to fostering independent filmmaking in Texas and has served as...
hoping to inspire young people to tackle The Bigger Ideas with their projects.