Actor

Gary Lee Smith**:  Gary has appeared in numerous national and regional television and radio commercials and was a regular on the syndicated television series Thunderbox which ran for two seasons on UPN.  He’s also narrated or acted in many industrial and independent films and appeared on stage in over forty productions in venues across the country.  His theatrical awards include; Carbonell Award Nomination 2003, Best Lead Actor (Buddy Rogers Award 2000), Best Supporting Actor (Buddy Rogers Award 1998) and Best Character Actor (Buddy Rogers Award 1999).  Prior to becoming a professional actor, Gary served as a law enforcement officer for twenty years on the city, county and federal levels.  Originally from Kansas City, Mo., Gary now resides in North Carolina.

** Denotes member of Actor's Equity Association.  The union of professional actors and stage managers.

Kenneth Kay:   Mr. Kay is currently the Producing Artistic Director of the Blowing Rock Stage Company, a professional equity theatre located in Blowing Rock, NC.  Prior to that he was an Associate Director and Director of Outreach Programs for the Caldwell Theatre Company in Boca Raton, Florida. Previously, he served as the Associate Artistic Director and Director of Apprentices with Flat Rock Playhouse, NC and from 1993-95 he was the Artistic Director of the Burt Reynolds Institute of Theatre Training. Mr. Kay has been an active member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors’ Guild over twenty years. During that time he has directed and/or acted in nearly 170 professional productions throughout the southeast and on national tour. He is also the recipient of four Carbonell Awards for Directing (South Florida’s version of the Tony). Mr. Kay resides in Blowing Rock with his wife, the lovely and talented Kim Cozort.

Steve Bouser:   Steve is editor of The Pilot, a prize-winning community newspaper serving Southern Pines/Pinehurst, N.C. He grew up in Missouri, was trained as a Russian linguist in the U.S. Army, graduated from Southwest Missouri State University and worked at papers in Wisconsin and Florida before moving to North Carolina in 1973. In 1993-97, he worked with USIA and USAID on media assistance programs in Russia and other former Soviet countries. He and his wife, Brenda, have a daughter, Kate. He has two grown sons, Jacob and Benjamin, from a previous marriage.  In addition to “Senator Sam,” Bouser has written “Ben,” a one-man play about Benjamin Franklin that is now being prepared for production. He has written several screenplays and is now working on a non-fiction book about the lingering mystery surrounding the 1935 death of a young heiress in Pinehurst.

Sam Ervin, Jr.:   Born in Morganton, Burke County, N.C., September 27, 1896, Senator Ervin attended the public schools; graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1917 and from the law school of Harvard University in 1922. He served as a U. S. Senator from June 5, 1954, until his resignation December 31, 1974. During his twenty years in the Senate, Sam Ervin was considered by his colleagues to be one of the Senate's foremost experts on the Constitution. Well liked by his constituents for his folksy manner, Ervin frequently quoted Shakespeare and the Bible, and often referred to himself as "just an ol' country lawyer." When news of the Watergate scandal broke in 1973, Senator Ervin was chosen to head the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, which became known as the "Watergate Committee." As chairman of the televised Watergate hearings, Sam Ervin became a nationally-known figure who played a pivotal role in events leading to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. After he left the Senate he resumed the practice of law and engaged in literary pursuits in Morganton, N.C. and died in Winston-Salem, N.C., on April 23, 1985. He is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Morganton, N.C.