08/29/2025
ANOTHER BLAST FROM THE PAST BY STEVE MELTON
Some of us have had career changes in our lives. From a sales rep to a teacher, from an accountant to an engineer. How about from an actor to a talent agent to a rabbi? Well, I know one such person - Craig Wyckoff, Hillcrest grad of 1969, should have been May of 1970, but he graduated early.
Craig went to the Julliard School in New York City and studied acting. In his class were a couple of unknowns by the names of Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve. Craig landed a role on the soap opera “Sommerset”. Then he got a role in the Broadway musical “1776”. Next came the role of Peter in “Jesus Christ Superstar”.
So, back to Dallas for his next move. Remember the old Windmill Dinner Theater on Keller Springs Road which was way, way out there at the time? It was there that he was in a play called “Send Me No Flowers” along with Larry Linville, known for M.A.S.H.
There happened to be an aspiring actor by the name of John Travolta who was in a play called “Bus Stop”. Well, Craig was his understudy.
Then Craig went to California to do a pilot for Paramount Studios and just stayed.
For a time, he went to San Francisco and did some plays at the Globe Theater. Then he participated in the first in*******al production of “Anthony and Cleopatra”, in which all of the Egyptian roles were played by Black actors and Romans were played by white actors. He played Mark Anthony with two days’ notice to learn his lines, which he did.
After these gigs, in the late 70s, Craig decided to move over to become a talent agent. The normal route is to be a secretary or assistant, but after he was licensed, he skipped ahead and opened up his own agency. He eventually represented Anthony Anderson (“Blackish”, “Transformers”, “Law and Order”), T.K. Carter (of HBO’s “The Corner”, “Space Jam”, “The Thing”, and one by the wonderful name of “Amazon Women on the Moon”), Matthew Fox (“Lost” and “Party of 5”), and the former football player, Dick Butkus.
For some reason Craig represented a large percentage of Black actors. You might think this odd for a Jew from Texas, but it seemed to work.
He knew a man named Glenn Morshower who also graduated from Hillcrest (but in 1977). Glenn asked Craig to represent him about 4 or 5 times, then finally Craig said okay. Glenn went on to become a very successful character actor.
An older veteran actor he represented that you might remember was Dorothy Lamour. She was known for starring in the “Road” pictures with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
He eventually opened up two more offices, in London and New York City, and obtained a partner.
After some time of doing this, while working on a movie in Austin, Texas, he was attacked, beaten severely, and was actually pronounced dead, then brought back to life.
After that, he decided he needed to do something more meaningful and vital for his fellow man. He enrolled in Rabbinical school and went part-time since he needed to earn a living. He had his first of four children by this time.
He was ordained when he was 50. He was the lead rabbi for a synagogue, Shalom Bayit in Palm Springs, driving three hours one way, starting out Friday afternoon. That got to be too much, so he left that position. Then he went to the Congregation Tikkun Olam which meant “heal the world.”
During this time, he kept the talent agency for another 13 years. When he was 62, he closed it and opened a management company, where he mainly advised actors on career choices. He also was putting together projects to produce. He had deals with people such as Michael Bay (“The Transformers”, “The Rock”, “Pearl Harbor”) and Michael Mann (“Last of the Mohicans”, “Heat”, “Miami Vice”.)
In the meantime, Craig was performing his rabbinical duties such as weddings, funerals, and bar mitzvahs, and was a full-time rabbi at Congregation Tikkun Olam. He had to leave being a practicing rabbi when he was 67 due to his declining eyesight.
Facts you probably did not know about Craig:
He has ridden elephants in India and Thailand.
He has been at the top of Mt. Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain.
He has been on a safari in Africa.
He has been swimming off the coast of Australia and swam with great white sharks.
Then he went scuba diving in Hawaii with another Hillcrest grad, Eric Sentell, who lived there. This time he and Eric swam with tiger sharks. Both times if the sharks got too close to them, he would zap them with something called a “bang stick”. It would stun them. Spielberg should have known about this device.
At one point he was in a movie with a lady named Elizabeth Stack, daughter of the actor Robert Stack. Mr. Stack was Eliot Ness in the “Untouchables” and host of “Unsolved Mysteries”. (I always thought that all mysteries are unsolved; that’s what makes them mysteries.) Elizabeth was an actress at the time.
He went to Elizabeth’s 21st birthday party at her daddy’s mansion in Bel Air and met a number of famous actors and actresses such as Jack Klugman, Jeff Bridges, Kate Jackson, Liza Minelli, and Tony Curtis. Then he met Rock Hudson who, of course, was a Hollywood institution. Rock eventually started asking Craig for advice on how to act in live plays. Of course, Craig thought, “Man, Rock Hudson is asking ME for advice!”
Besides having a varied career, Craig is one of the nicest and most fun guys you could ever meet. He always has something interesting to say, but he is also a great listener and a very kind person
