by It is not often that someone can be murdered not once, but twice, and still feel well enough to discuss it.
But to ask James Collins (real name Jim Davis) about his death on the F/X hit American Horror Story, he is only too happy to describe every bloody detail.
“Last season, I auditioned for AHS and was hired as Grace’s father, Pierre,” Collins said. “(It was) a small but fun role; I was murdered in the episode…twice.”
Collins was cast in season two of the series, “Asylum,” and appeared in the “I am Anne Frank” storyline, which originally aired last November.
“It was filmed on lot at Paramount Studios,” Collins said. “It is amazing that what you see is done mostly with light and paint.”
As details about the upcoming third season, set in New Orleans and subtitled “Coven,” are leaking out, Collins hopes fans revisit the season that will always be his favorite.
“(Producer) Ryan Murphy is very brave in that each season of the show is unique,” he said.
Graduating from the same school I went to (Roxana, in the St. Louis area), Collins says he caught the acting bug in middle school.
“In eighth grade, a girl I liked told me I should try out for the drama club, so I did,” he said. “I didn’t get the girl, but I got the part! That was it for me; I acted in everything I could find.”
He graduated from Roxana High School in 1975, attended college, and then flew the coop for the cameras in L.A.
When acting jobs dried up, Collins moved back home and soon found himself growing a beak and tail feathers.
“After five months in L.A., I was out of money and moved back home,” he said. “It was during this time I got an agent in St Louis, and the first job they sent me on was an audition for the St. Louis Cardinals for their (new) mascot.
“They hired two of us, and I was the first Fredbird.”
Collins says he enjoyed working with his “backup bird,” Vicky, as well as legendary Cardinals promo director Marty Hendin. But acting continued to knock at his back door.
“I learned a lot, and grew up a lot, but L.A. was always there,” he said. “(Returning to L.A. was) one of the hardest things I ever did, but I was young and determined.”
Over the years, Collins went from theater work to singing telegrams to performing as Beetlejuice at Universal Studios Hollywood.
These days, his upcoming appearances include roles on the Showtime original comedy Shameless and Touch, a supernatural series airing on Fox.
“I’m proud and surprised by this, because there were many times it seemed like I might never work again,” he said.
But whether he is chasing ball players across the green or mopping stage blood from his eyes, he says where he spent his childhood is where his heart remains.
“Growing up around Alton (Illinois) was a great gift,” he said. “Solid Midwestern values, a sense of history, not like living in L.A., where you live in a bubble. The freeways, the perfect, constant weather, the one industry town…it’s easy to forget the rest of the planet isn’t the same.
“I miss the thunder and lightning storms the most. I have been living here for over 30 years but I still call Alton home.
“Is that weird?”
Great write-up on James Collins. With all the hoopla an glamour which typically surrounds actors, we often don’t realize the many struggles they’ve had and obstacles they’ve had to overcome in order to be where they are. This background story on James Collins really drove this point home.
Wish him the best as he continues in his career.