Orson Bean has been an actor, magician, stand-up comic, writer, and TV host in his 60-odd years in showbiz. He weaves all of those separate strands into a satisfying whole in his solo show, Safe at Home, now enjoying an extended and critically acclaimed run at Pacific Resident Theater (which is celebrating its 30th anniversary). Bean tells the story of his life with disarming honesty; although he is basically a funny man, an entertainer, he isn’t afraid to talk about his failings as a son, husband and father. Thus, there are almost as many tears as laughs in his 90-minute monologue. Bean’s childhood in Cambridge, Mass. was a toxic one; his father deserted the family, and his mother drank and eventually committed suicide (an act which Bean blamed on himself). Bean went from this darkness into the warming light of showbiz, his big break coming in 1950 when he walked cold into NYC’s Blue Angel nightclub and confronted its owner, Max Gordon, with these words: “I’m a comic, I’m looking for a job.” When Gordon said, “Say something funny,” Orson shot back at him, “Belly-button.” Bean got ten minutes at the Angel that night; his patter and magic tricks went over so well that Gordon gave him a six-month contract. By the time it ran out, Bean had been praised by Walter Winchell, Bob Hope and Ed Sullivan, who then invited him to perform on his Sunday-night TV show. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history: Bean went on to become a nationally recognized face and name, a big-time comic who became a fixture on “The Tonight Show” as guest and host. Bean also starred on Broadway and in Hollywood for 20 years, became a panelist on “Tell the Truth,” and played Loren Bray, the crusty storekeeper for seven years on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.” Bean touches on all these highs and lows in Safe at Home in deft, winning fashion. Having finally found peace and stability in his marriage to Alley Mills (currently playing the bi-polar baddie on “The Bold and the Beautiful”), Bean has been able to look back not in anger but with joy, love and gratitude.
