Riverview Senior Citizen Reminisces About Career as Actress, Model

With her soft Southern accent, classic features and snow-white hair, Riverview resident Bernice Halpert epitomizes the gracefully aging Southern belle.

It's a look that hasn't gone unnoticed by Madison Avenue and Hollywood, which has consistently casted Halpert in the roles of a kindly grandmother, an active senior citizen and even as a stand-in for Barbara Bush in the 1999 film, "Any Given Sunday," directed by Oliver Stone.

Halpert's early years as a beauty pageant contestant while growing up in Florida may have been a harbinger to her modeling and acting career. Her scrapbook is filled with photos of a a teenage Halpert posing in pageant photos dated 1947 and beyond.

 But it took 30 years for her to take the plunge and launch a career in modeling.

"I must have been 50 years old when I happened to see an ad in the Tampa Tribune for 'models wanted--age 35 to 50,'" said Halpert who now lives in The Bridges retirement community on Bloomingdale Avenue in Riverview.

"I answered the ad, but I'd never been to modeling school so I began attending classes at the University of Tampa. Two weeks after graduating, I got my first modeling job," she said.

Halpert, a divorced mother of two, subsequently modeled in shows at tea rooms, restaurants and clothing stores, including Scogin's Department Store, Brandon's upscale clothing store on State Road 60 in the 1970s and '80s. She also was photographed for ads in newspapers and magazines.

"I loved it. It just gets in your blood. It was lots of fun," she said.

However, the modeling jobs didn't pay the bills so Halpert went to work for Barnett Bank in Tampa and Clearwater, eventually transferring to the bank in West Palm Beach.

That proved a fortuitous move because that's where Halpert met her current husband of 19 years, Max.

"Some friends of mine talked me into taking out a singles ad," recalled Halpert. "Max saw the ad and wrote me a letter. We dated for two years before we got married."

They were married in Fort Lauderdale with 84 guests attending, and then spent 26 days honeymooning in Israel.

Shortly after, they were staying at their summer home in Hendersonville, N.C., when Halpert saw an announcement for Blue Ridge Community College. The college was hosting a class on acting in TV commercials.

"I thought I'd give acting a try. It was something I always wanted to do," she said. "When I told Max that I was signing us both up for the class, he thought I was nuts."

Actually, Max had a bit of previous acting experience. He played one of the dancers in the ballroom scene in the film, "Dirty Dancing," filmed at an abandoned Boy Scout camp in North Carolina. But he never pursued acting after that.

"He said, 'We're not actors, Bernice,'" she recalled. "But I was able to talk him into it and dragged him to the first class."

"We enjoyed the class so much," said Halpert. "We learned how to write a resume, memorize lines, and the instructor had us writing our own commercials and acting in them. We laughed so much.

After taking the class, the Halperts, both retired by then, decided to find an agent in the hopes of getting some acting jobs.

"We registered with an agency, and two days later they called us," said Halpert.

The couple had won small roles in the short-lived television series, "Moon Over Miami."

The Halperts soons were in demand for print ads and commercials calling for a mature couple.

"At one time, we had 15 talent agents working to get us auditions," she said.

Flipping through her scrapbook, Halpert displayed an ad she appeared in for Dockers. She also graced the cover of several magazines including Mature Living Magazine.

"One day in church, I noticed the lady sitting next to me was reading a magazine, and when I took a closer look, I realized it was me on the cover," said Halpert.

Than, in the late '90s, at the age of 73, Halpert decided to respond to a casting call seeking extras in an Oliver Stone film.

"I auditioned and then didn't hear anything," she said. "I figured I didn't get it. Then one day I got a call telling me I got the part. Next thing I knew, I was driving to Miami."

There, she was directed to a tent near the Orange Bowl where a gentleman approached and introduced himself.

"He said, 'I'm Oliver Stone,' and stuck out his hand," said Halpert.

The 1991 film, depicting a fictitious American football team, stars Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J and Matthew Modine.

"Originally in the movie, I was supposed to be having dinner in a restaurant and get up to go to the restroom. In the restroom, I was supposed to catch two football jocks having sex with hookers," said Halpert. "I wasn't sure I could do that, and fortunately they changed the scene."

In the scene that was ultimately filmed, Halpert, playing Barbara Bush, is in the restroom when actor Jamie Foxx, who played a football player, walks in.

"He is hollering at his girlfriend and then sees me sitting there and says, 'Barbara Bush, I've always had a thing for you, girl,'" said Halpert. "I answer, "Thank you for recognizing me. I appreciate that.'"

Halpert said, after a full day of filming, they wrapped up around 6 p.m. and she accepted her payment of $200.

"When we started walking out, the assistant director said she had something for me to sign because I was a member of the Screen Actors Guild," said Halpert. "I ended up getting more money than I ever dreamed. I still get residuals. I always get so excited when that envelope comes in the mail from Warner Bros."

Halpert's dialogue was cut from the final version but she still appears as Barbara Bush in the film.

"We went to see a screening of the film and my twin grandsons happened to be visiting and went with us," said Halpert. "When I came on, they stood up and yelled, 'That's my grandmother!'"

Now 83 years old, Halpert is content to reminisce about her modeling and acting career as she takes care of Max, 91, who has been seriously ill.

She also spends her time performing in the Silvertones senior choir at First Baptist Church of Brandon.

"It's been an interesting life," said Halpert. "We've had some interesting things happen to us and I've seen parts of Florida I never thought I'd see.