Hey, Campers!

Did you know that, just like all of you crazy camp kids, a whole bunch of famous big-names (actors and actresses, musical artists, professional athletes) enjoyed the absolute FUN of summer camp when they were your age? Famous actor, Paul Adelstein—best known for his role as Agent Paul Kellerman in the television series “Prison Break”—attended summer camp as well.

He went to North Star Camp in Hayward where he didn’t just have a blast for a summer or two—he learned about life and what it is to live in the real world. North Star Camp sees summer camp as a preparatory opportunity to give kids a light education on life.

Paul was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was born to a Reform Jewish family and lived a fairly normal family life. He went to a progressive high school, Francis W. Parker School. And after that, he attended Bowdoin College where he graduated with a degree in English.

He first started his acting career working in the theatre with a company called New Crime Productions (a company which was founded by John Cusack, actually). Paul later came to work with the infamous Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

He made his way onto the big screen for the first time when he was 21 in the film, “The Grifters” and went on to play supporting roles in films like “Bedazzled,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” and “Be Cool.” Paul made it even bigger in the world of television. There he appeared in shows like “ER,” “Without a Trace,” and “Scrubs.”

His real claim to fame was yet to come, however, as the role he is best known for became Agent Paul Kellerman from the TV series, “Prison Break” in 2005. He’s also known for his role in “Private Practice” as Cooper Freedman, pediatrician.

As always, thanks for reading, Campers!

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

It should come as no surprise to you that people of all different walks of life enjoy going to summer camp. I went to camp. Your uncle’s sister-in-law probably went to camp. Heck!—SUPERMAN himself went to camp! It’s the natural thing to do for boys and girls of earth (and Krypton).

As was discussed on a recent Blog post, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster may have introduced the world to the one, the only, Superman…but it was one Christopher Reeve who brought the legend to life. However, before he ever played the man of steel, he was a summer camper, just like you!

When he was your age, Christopher went to camp along Squam Lake and amidst the White Mountains of New Hampshire at Camp Deerwood. He may have only been around ten years old when he went to camp, but it only took him that long to discover his passion for acting.

After being cast in an amateur, student play, ‘The Yeomen of the Guard’, there was no doubt in Christopher’s head, he wanted to be an actor.

It was a no-brainer for him to join the theater department when he attended college at Cornell. He acted in four plays within his freshman year and, always executing his performances with quality, he was contacted by an agent at the end of his first year.

The same agent who represented stars of the day, like Robert Redford, Richard Chamberlain, Michael Douglas, and Susan Sarandon, Stark Hesseltine was sure to make Christopher Reeve into a household name.

After convincing the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences he could do so much more at Juilliard, he transferred three year’s college credits to have his senior year at Juilliard. It wasn’t long after that, in his 26th year, that he received the lead role as Clark Kent (a.k.a. Superman) in the much anticipated film, ‘Superman’.

Unfortunately, after so many achievements in acting, directing, producing, screenwriting, and activism, tragedy awaited Christopher around the corner. In 1995, he turned 43. He was violently thrown from a horse during a customary competition in Virginia; from this, he required a wheelchair and a breathing apparatus for the rest of his life.

He founded the Christopher Reeve Foundation for people with spinal-cord injuries before his death at only 52.

Thanks for reading, Camp Fans.

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

If you’re a fan of the Everything Summer Camp Blog, then you probably already realize that there’s no shortage of celebrities who attended summer camp when they were your age. It doesn’t really matter if they’re singer/songwriters, famous athletes, or big Hollywood stars. It seems like they all ended up going to summer camp when they were younger.

Jerry Stiller is no exception to that notion. He went to Surprise Lake Camp in New York when he was a kid. The camp has been around since 1902, providing children with the beautiful landscape of the Cold Spring Mountains as a getaway from the rest of the world.

Firstborn of four to Bella and William Stiller in 1927, Jerry was born in the Unity Hospital in Brooklyn. Rather grounded in New York, he and his family lived in just a couple different neighborhoods. It was at some time around the early 40’s that Jerry had his fun at Surprise Lake Camp.

Soon after, the Stillers moved to the Lower East Side and Jerry graduated from grade school, moving on to Seward Park High. Developing his love for acting, once he was done with high school he went on to be a Drama Major at Syracuse University. Equipped with a Bachelor’s in Drama, Jerry first embarked on his acting career at the Phoenix Theater for their production of Coriolanus, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.

After Jerry met his wife, Anne Meara, the two of them became their own comedy team. They were a successful duo for many years on the stage. They were invited to make appearances on variety programs like the Ed Sullivan Show. They also began a family of their own, raising two kids that followed in their parents’ footsteps, Ben and Amy Stiller.

Jerry had great success, playing roles in lots of movies and television shows. He’s probably best known for his role as Frank Costanza in the classic television series, Seinfeld. He’s also provided a good amount of voice acting for films like ‘The Lion King 1½’, ‘Fish Hooks’, ‘Foodfight!’, and, most recently, ‘Planes: Fire & Rescue’.

Summer camp must have done a lot for Mr. Stiller. What will it do for you? Thanks for reading, Campers!

- John

Hey, Summer Campers!

It seems that no matter which way you turn in Hollywood, everybody involved in ‘show biz’ attended summer camp when they were younger. I’ve written about a decent number of them, but when I look at the vast number of celebrities who have attended summer camp, I realize that I’ve only just begun!

Another name you’ve likely heard before is Jeremy Piven. He’s yet another big-name in Hollywood, an American film producer and actor who went to Camp Chi during his childhood. Camp Chi is a Jewish summer camp, located in the Wisconsin Dells on Lake Blass (not all that far from Everything Summer Camp here in Boyd, Wisconsin).

Quite an accomplished and well-known actor, Jeremy has won the Golden Globe Award as well as three Emmy Awards in a row. He’s also been nominated several times for Best Supporting Actor. Maybe you’ve seen him in roles like Arny in ‘The Family Man’, a salesman in ‘Rush Hour 2’, the Timekeeper in ‘Spy Kids: All the Time in the World’, or maybe you know his voice as Harv from ‘Cars’.

Jeremy may be a big star now, but he grew up like anyone else back in Evanston, Illinois. He and his family lived in a suburb north of Chicago. After his time at summer camp, he found great interest in acting. He later attended the Harand Theater Camp in Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. During his time at the theater camp, he played Bernardo in ‘West Side Story’.

With a strong interest in acting (and a lot of support behind him), he trained alongside John Cusack at the Piven Theatre Workshop (which was founded by his parents). After that, he went on to earn his degree in theatre at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He also attended a semester at the National Theater Institute in Waterford, Connecticut.

By the time he was done with school, he was already appearing in movies with his buddy, John Cusack. Jeremy did what made him happy and look what happened to him? What makes you happy? Thanks for reading, Summer Campers!

- John

Hey, Campers!

Every summer camp fan knows that they aren’t the only one who loves the summer camp experience! After all, what would camp be if you spent the entire thing alone? It’s a good thing so many people love it. Did you know that most famous actors, athletes, musicians, and other big-name celebrities were once summer campers too? I’ve talked about 32 of them on this Blog so far and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

With no shortage of former summer camper celebrities, today I’d like to talk about an awesome athlete, NFL quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, Mr. Drew Brees. Since he joined the New Orleans Saints in 2006, Drew has seen much success. He led the team to the championship of Super Bowl XLIV and was named MVP that year.

But before Drew saw all this success, before his college career, before he graduated from high school, he was a summer camper. As a matter of fact, he went to the same one as Lisa Loeb at Camp Champions in Marble Falls. Camp Champions is a coed camp just outside of Austin, Texas with which Everything Summer Camp has the pleasure of working.

An old camp counselor of his, Nick Fole, recalls back when Drew was only 12 years old. Fole spoke about how Drew would wake him up way earlier before any other camper was awake, and they would play basketball on the courts outside until everybody else woke up. “He was pretty hard to beat. I was a college football player, and I had to work pretty hard. It’s a true test of how competitive he was, even when he was 12.”

Drew went to Camp Champions for eight summers! He REALLY liked camp!

In fact, this guy loves summer camp so much that he’s turned himself into a summer camp benefactor when he’s off the field. Having donated to the summer camp program at Purdue University, PALS, you can see why Everything Summer Camp is happy to shine the spotlight on him in gratefulness and recognition.

Thanks, Drew.

- John