Objectif Cinéma : Could you please tell us a few words about your life before your years in university and about your family.

Stephen Tobolowsky : I was born in Oak Cliff - 22 miles outside of Dallas, Texas. It was very much like Provence but without the mountains. We had forests, streams... and critters. We have four kind of poisonous snakes in the United States and all four lived in our woods ! Along with scorpions (like Provence), tarantulas, leeches, and centipedes. Billy Hart and I formed the « Dangerous Animals Club ». Our goal was to capture all the deadly creatures that lived in our woods. We did pretty good, too.

My Father was a pediatrician. One day, when I was twelve, he came home flushed with emotion and said : « Now I know why I became a doctor. I saved a baby’s life today. Nobody could figure out what was wrong with it. I saw that he had pneumonia. I got him on the right medicine and he is going to live ». I told him a few years ago how moving that day was and how I saw what it meant to achieve and have a calling in life. He said, « I have no idea what you’re talking about ».