Life & Work with Sheldon Neal of Irvine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheldon Neal.

Hi Sheldon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I included quite a bit of detail. Once I started, it just sort of seemed to flow.

I was born with a congenital missing radius bone and club hand on my right arm. After several surgeries at Shriner’s Hospital in St Louis (5 before I reached kindergarten, I’m told), my right arm was straight and usable. I lead with this because I think it impacts how one sees the world, particularly when growing up.

I grew up on a corn and soybean farm in central Illinois. When I was young, my Dad tended to be over-protective of me. Mom (a nurse), on the other hand, was not. She was determined I would not be coddled or treated differently because of my handicap. I remember one time I was riding my bike (7 or 8 years old) and I hit a high spot on the sidewalk. I went flying over the handlebars and landed on my arms, scraping them up very badly. Dad was immediately saying we are going to get rid of that bike, I don’t want him getting hurt. Mom said no, get back on that bike and ride it up to the house. I learned more from that than I realized at the time.

After high school, I went to Illinois State University for a semester. I was a much better partier than student. I went to a junior college in Champaign for a year, then worked at Goldblatt’s Tire Center mounting tires on cars. I later moved to pump jockey and sometimes mechanic at Taylor Shell before going back to farm with Dad in Weldon for five summers. Got my heart broken by my first love and decided I didn’t want to be a farmer any longer.

I moved to California in 1981 to figure out what I did want to be. Turned out it was not the best time to arrive. The economy was pretty bad (mortgage rates hit 18.63%) and jobs were scarce. To add to the misery, I couldn’t get brain work because I had no degree or credentials and couldn’t get physical work because of people’s perception of my capabilities due to my right arm. So, I did what I could, sold L.A Times door-to-door, worked phone sales (boiler room) for a while as I looked for more gainful employment. Finally a wheelchair repair company in Orange gave me a chance to prove myself physically. If I could push an electric wheelchair (200 pounds or so) up a ramp to a 4 foot high work table, they would give me a job. I was still farm strong at that point and even though the front wheels got caught on the ramp, I was able to get it up on the table and got the job.

It was good having consistent employment even if the pay wasn’t much. So, when the opportunity to attend computer programming school presented itself, I jumped on it. I soon found out I could not survive going to school with no income. I worked it out that I would got to school early in the morning and enter my changes into the school computer (this was before personal computers were the norm), then I would go to work at my wheelchair repair job mid-morning and finish my school work at home in the evening. I was able to finish the program and was Valedictorian in my class.

After graduation, I was able to get a corporate computer programming job. Over the next 33 years I worked from Programmer to Programmer Analyst to Systems Analyst to Systems Specialist to Project Manager and finally Development Manager. I studied the stock market and invested well along the way and was able to retire in 2016, the same year the Cubs won the World Series for the first time since 1908 (Go Cubs!).

Along the way I got married, had 2 sons, got involved with camping, Boy Scouts, backpacking, hiking, coaching youth baseball, and traveling pretty extensively. I also dabbled in softball, gourmet cooking (and eating), fine wines, project cars and 4 wheel drive adventures. I was President of a 4WD Club for about 5 years.

After I retired, I sort of took it easy for a couple of years just because I could. Then, it dawned on me that I had used up more of my life than I had left, so I’d better get busy doing anything I still wanted to do. My wife and I joined the Laguna Beach Lawn Bowling Club in 2018 and still are heavily involved with it, I bowl 4 times weekly, generally bowl in a couple of leagues annually, and enter a few tournaments a year. I also serve on the Board of Directors and the Greens Committee at the Club.

In her later years my Mom was severely afflicted with dementia, I think largely because she didn’t actively engage her brain. Looking for activities to engage my own brain, I took a basic Acting Class at South Coast Repertory in 2019. I found I enjoyed it, so I took another. My teacher hinted I might have some talent at it and one of my scene partners thanked me for giving her so much to work with in our scene. I was hooked. I continued taking classes until the pandemic hit and everything shut down. After a few months waiting SCR began offering classes over Zoom. I eventually enrolled in a Screen Acting class over Zoom which eventually went back live at SCR. I continue taking classes with this instructor weekly in Culver City.

In class one evening, I asked if it was worth the money to get professional headshots. He said yes it was and one of the other students happened to be a professional photographer. I set up a session with her and began submitting to things on Backstage. I still remember when my wife and I were vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard when I got a call from a Casting Director for a TV show asking if I’d be interested in doing background on their show. I looked at my wife and said, “Is it really happening?”.

My photographer friend showed some of my headshots to her agent who then set up a meeting with me. I signed with them shortly after. I have been fortunate enough to do a music video as the lead, a couple of independent films, some student films and TV, and some Vertical TV shows. Most recently, a movie I have a scene in was released on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and some other platforms. It’s called A Lion’s Game and is a really fun watch. I am so thrilled to be a part of it.

I have learned so much in my short acting career and continue to learn more each day. I am very excited to see what the future holds for me!

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14276946/
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5jklrzosvjtYhjaWFar5py
https://www.instagram.com/sheldonmneal/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMZbP_Vsj8A

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not really, but it’s been quite a ride! I think I covered most of the obstacles in the previous section. If you need me to detail them here, I can.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Although I have worn several hats over the course of my life, I am currently an actor. I find it mentally challenging, scary as Hell, but infinitely rewarding. I think I am most proud of the work I did in the music video Shame and in the movie A Lion’s Game. I think my varied background gives me a different perspective than most.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I could go on for quite a while about the exposure I’ve had to different aspects of society and workplaces (Farmer, Mechanic, Salesman, Corporate IT roles, independent businessman) (small farm town in Central Illinois to Southern California). I’ve included some links in the first section with much more storytelling.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheldonmneal/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheldon.neal.50
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm14276946/

Image Credits
Me.