Former child star Micky Dolenz had laid out a detailed road map for the next phase of his life, and it had nothing to do with the Monkees. Or, in a twist, any part of show business at all.
“I was still going out on auditions to make some money, but my plan was just the opposite of everyone who has ever come to Hollywood,” Dolenz tells Life After 50, with a laugh. “I had planned on becoming an architect and, if that didn’t work out, I figured I would fall back on a career in show business. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s just how I felt about it.”
In fact, following his childhood stint in Circus Boy, Micky Dolenz returned to normal life. He was attending trade school in Los Angeles when the idea for a television show based on a fictional band called the Monkees was first hatched.
“My parents, very wisely, took me out of the business and I just went to high school like every other kid,” Micky Dolenz adds. “So, after high school, I was kicking around with friend, wondering what we were going to do with our lives. I had always been into building things, and also electronics, so my friend said: ‘Let’s get our degrees and start a building business.'”
That friend? The Birthday Boy from “Randy Scouse Git,” Dolenz’s first original Monkees song. They were college buddies in real life.
“I was doing little guest shots on various television shows, and was even up for some roles on various pilots,” Micky Dolenz says. “Even when I got the call that I would be doing the pilot for The Monkees, I didn’t quit school. I had been around the business all my life and was very aware of how difficult it is to sell a pilot. I had taken about 10 days off to shoot the pilot, and then went back to school. Then a few months later, they sold the pilot and got an order for the show from NBC. It was only then that I left school.”
By the way, Dolenz eventually circled back to that passion for building things, co-founding Dolenz and Daughters in 2013. He and Georgia Dolenz handcraft every item for their family furniture business.
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Smart!!!! (^_~)