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One of
Hollywood's
hottest young movie
stars is also making music.
STEVE HARTZ
Staff Writer
C
orey Feldman was 3
years old when he
starred in his first com-
for
spot
a
mercial,
McDonald's. It ran for eight
years and won a Clio Award,
the "Academy Award" for
commercials.
By the time he turned 8,
Feldman appeared in 60
other commercials. Today,
he's done more than 100
commercials. But Feldman,
now 18, is more than just a
"commercial" success.
With seven number-one
movies to his name, in-
cluding Stand By Me,
Feldman, one of the silver
screen's biggest teen-age
heartthrobs, can now add
Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles to his list of box-
office hits. •
"Actually, I didn't really
know much about Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles when
I first got offered the movie,"
said Feldman, who is the
voice of Donatello, the high-
tech turtle. "I once walked
into a 7-Eleven and saw
little (collectors') cards that
read 'Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles.'
"So, I thought the movie
was a joke, one of those bad,
off-beat B-movies or some-
thing. And then I found out
it was a popular cartoon. I
knew kids would like it a lot,
so I really did it for kids."
Raised in Encino, Calif.,
Feldman grew up in an
entertainment family as his
father, Bob, performed in a
band. Corey's older sister,
Mindy, was one of the new
Mouseketeers.
"Whenever my sister went
on interviews, the casting
directors would always look
at me because I was this
cute, chubby little kid. And
they'd say, 'Wow, he should
be in the business.' So my
parents put me in the busi-
ness," Feldman said.
Piling up more than 50
guest-spots on television
shows, Feldman had a hand-
ful of short-lived TV series,
including "Bad News
Bears," "Madame's Place"
and "Still the Beaver."
"I think that television is a
good stepping stone," he
said. "But I don't think it's
anything you should base
your career on — because
films give you so much more
of a spectrum. You have
more chances to try different
things and portray different
characters. With a series,
you get stuck playing the
same character for years."
This month, Feldman's
latest film, Rock 'n' Roll
High School Forever, opens
across the country. In the
flick, he plays a leader of a
band, "The Eradicators,"
that rock 'n' roll at Ronald
Reagan High School.
"We're like the practical
jokers, and we want to play
at the big prom. It's a real
fun, black-comedy-rock-
'n'-roll kind of movie."
In the film, Feldman gets
to sing and dance.
"As a little kid, I used to go
in and sing when I'd audi-
This month, Feldman's
latest film, Rock 'n'
Roll High School
Forever, opens across
the country. In the
flick, he plays the
leader of a band.
tion for jobs. I would sing
songs like 'Tie a Yellow
Ribbon.' The casting direc-
tors thought it was real cute,
this little kid coming in and
singing off key," Feldman
laughed.
In addition to performing
the songs, Feldman
choreographed five numbers
for the film. He said dancing,
like singing and acting, was
something that came natur-
ally to him. "I taught myself
how to act, sing and dance."
In his next movie, Scout's
Honor, which is being filmed
in Seattle, Wash., Feldman
will not only star, he'll also
be an associate producer.
"Sometimes I get a lot of
ideas for movies; there's
stuff in the works that in the
future I could write the
screenplay for," he said.
"Right now, I just can't
write a whole movie because
I don't have the patience.
That's what is great about a
song. I do a song. I get into it,
and it's done. But I can't do
anything that I have to leave
and come back to because
my mind gets sidetracked
with other things."
Rock 'n' Roll High School
Forever features songs
written by Feldman. The
movie's soundtrack is
scheduled to be released in
music stores this month.
"About five years ago, I
began writing lyrics, and I'd
write the music in my head
because I don't know how to
actually write music," he
said. "I started getting real-
ly in to writing because I felt
that a lot of music out there
these days is really
senseless; it doesn't give you
any feelings.
"I like the music from the
'60s and '70s where artists
— like John Lennon and
Paul McCartney — really
put a lot of feelings into their
songs, with lyrics that mean
something. Michael Jackson
does that today. And that's
what is meaningful to
me."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
69