Died Today (December 31st): James Avery (1945–2013)

James Avery (1945–2013)

Born: November 27, 1945 in Pughsville [now Suffolk], Virginia, USA
Died: December 31, 2013 (age 68) in Glendale, California, USA

You are only an actor if you absolutely love it and can not do anything else. Starving for your art is great in your 20s, but it’s not so great at 35. It has to be absolute love. You can’t worry about being a movie star or anything else. Just love. That’s it.

Monetary success is not success. Career success is not success. Life, someone that loves you, giving to others, doing something that makes you feel complete and full. That is success. And it isn’t dependent on anyone else.

I wanted to leave home, and I didn’t know where I was going or what I was going to do or what would happen. That’s youth, though. Being fixated on things. I was fixated on being a…