Sarah's Dad - Robert Shepherd

Seeing as today is Academy Award Sunday, I wanted to blog about Sarah's dad, Robert (Bob) Shepherd. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he's an actor and an all around cool guy. I love to listen to his stories about being on movie sets and his conversations with other actors. The whole movie making world interests me and I like getting the behind the scenes take from Bob.

Bob has had many cool acting jobs, some of which are listed on his Internet Movie Database page here. He has played a Congressmen in "Evan Almighty", Judd the Bartender in "Ghost Town", and Obed in "The book of Ruth", among other roles.

However, I believe the greatest role that Bob has ever played is as a Dad/Husband to his family. As much as I like Bob and enjoy listening to his stories about being an actor, I respect him even more for what he has done as a Dad and Husband. Some of you may already know the story, but I will share it for those who don't. Bob, from what I understand, has always wanted to be an actor. After College, he and his wife, Marcia, left his teaching job and position in the Army reserves to move to California to pursue acting as a full time career. While in California, my wife, Sarah, was born. 10 days after Sarah's birth, Marcia suffered an aneurysm. From what I have been told, it was a very touch and go time. The great thing is that Marcia fully recovered, but the incident had left them with mounting hospital bills.

As any actor just starting out, paychecks can be few and far between. With his family going from 2 to 3 and all the hospital bills, Bob made a decision. He decided to put his acting career on hold and put his family first. Bob went back into the Army so he could receive a regular paycheck and support his family.

As a dad, I can really respect how he has put his family first. It takes a lot to put your dreams behind those of your family. It is great that Bob has been able to return to his acting career, now that he has retired from the Army and his family is all grown up. So, whether or not the name Bob Shepherd is as famous in Hollywood as Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, or Tom Hanks, Bob Shepherd has already won my Oscar for his outstanding performance as Lead dad in the Shepherd family.