Devin Dominic Dawson
From HOTGT
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Description
AGE: 35
GENDER: Male
HEIGHT: 6' 0"
WEIGHT: 183 lbs.
EYE COLOR: Brown
SKIN COLOR: White
HAIR: Blonde, Trendy
RESIDENCE: Portland, OR
OCCUPATION: Day player (various Portland theatres), SAG actor (periodic small parts in made for TV movies)
Character Sheet
Devin Dominic Dawson
Medium-size Male Human
Charismatic Hero3
| Action Points: | 6 |
| Hit Dice: | (3d6) |
| Hit Points: | 15 |
| Initiative: | +0 |
| Speed: | Walk 30 ft. |
| Defense: | 11 (flatfooted 11, touch 11) |
| Attacks: |
Pathfinder (.22 revolver) +1; |
| Damage: |
Pathfinder (.22 revolver) 2d4; |
| Vision: | |
| Face / Reach: | 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft. |
| Special Qualities & Talents: | Dazzle, Fast-Talk, Reputation 3, Wealth Bonus 11 |
| Saves: |
Fortitude: +2, Reflex: +2, Will: +2 |
| Abilities: |
STR 10 (+0), DEX 10 (+0), CON 10 (+0), INT 13 (+1), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 16 (+3) |
| Skills: | Balance 0; Bluff 11; Climb 0; Computer Use 1; Concentration 0; Craft (Structural) 1; Craft (Visual Art) 1; Craft (Writing) 1; Diplomacy 12; Disguise 9; Drive 0; Escape Artist 0; Forgery 1; Gamble 1; Gather Information 11; Handle Animal 5; Hide 0; Intimidate 6; Jump 0; Knowledge (Business) 3; Knowledge (Current Events) 2; Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3; Knowledge (Streetwise) 2; Listen 3; Move Silently 0; Navigate 1; Perform (Act) 9; Perform (Dance) 4; Perform (Keyboards) 3; Perform (Percussion Instruments) 3; Perform (Sing) 4; Perform (Stand-Up) 3; Perform (Stringed Instruments) 3; Perform (Wind Instruments) 3; Profession 7; Research 1; Ride 0; Search 1; Sense Motive 1; Speak Language(Mandarin) 1; Spot 3; Survival 1; Swim 0; |
| Feats: | Alertness, Deceptive, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Trustworthy |
| Challenge Rating: | 3 |
| Starting Occupation: | Celebrity |
| Reputation: | 3 |
| Wealth Bonus: | 11 |
Possessions: .22 Bullets, 50 pack, Camera, Digital, Cell Phone, Casual Outfit, Normal Everday Clothing, Dodge Neon, Holster, Concealed carry, Map, Road Atlas, Coat, Pathfinder (.22 revolver), Windbreaker
Character Background
Transcript: Do You Remember? (Episode 18, November 13, 2007)
The years were 1982 to 1987. The show was “Life of the Party.” Who can forget the lovable antics of Fuzz, the wild hijinx of Lucky Dave, or the raw teenage sex appeal of Sarah? But do you remember little Tommy, Sarah and Dave’s little brother? Do you remember his endearing deadpan delivery, and constant bed-head? Did you ever wonder what happened to him? Today on “Do You Remember?” we catch up with the last 20 years of Devin D. Dawson’s life. What happened to him after the sitcom was cancelled in its fourth season? And what kept this obviously talented child star from rising into the spotlight as an adult?
Subtitle: Greg Wilson, Producer of Life of the Party “We actually picked Devin out of a bunch of kids that came to the audition back around 1981. He had this sort of indefinable air of tired intelligence that our casting director fell in love with for the character. It helped that he was off-script and line-perfect by the second audition, which is something you don’t see very often with child actors.”
Subtitle: Alicia Hammer, “Sarah” on Life of the Party “They just loved that about him; he always knew his lines, and he always read them as if he was about to fall asleep. It made the character really memorable. It was only later that we found out that he had terrible insomnia. He’d use the time he wasn’t sleeping to learn his lines. We found out what was going on during season 3, and we tried to get him some help. But when the doctors put him on sleeping drugs, his performances immediately started to suffer. Greg talked his parents into keeping him off the drugs during filming, and we never forgave him for doing that to poor Devin just to get a better performance.”
The tension between cast and management started to make life on the set difficult, and the quality of the show suffered. Alicia finally had enough and walked out when her contract was up in season 5. She went on to a long and successful career on Broadway, but the show never recovered from the hasty write-out of its attractive young starlet. Devin was 14, growing into a handsome young man, and featured on the cover of Teen in August 1987.
Subtitle: Bernard Dawson, Devin’s Agent and Father “It was a hell of a time. The deal we’d cut after the first contract expired was pretty good, but the first five seasons had been pretty bad. We weren’t as savvy when we first moved down to L.A. from Portland as we were five years later, so most of Devin’s salary got eaten up with living expenses for the family supporting him in L.A. Well, that and keeping up the house in Portland where we lived when the show wasn’t filming. It was all very expensive. “If I’d known then what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have pushed Devin into the career course I did, but New Kids on the Block was very big in ’87 and we all thought the money was in actor-singer double-threats.”
Devin’s album, a rap-pop hybrid titled “Triple-D,” debuted at 89 on the billboard charts, and quickly faded into obscurity. But in promoting the film he met up with other popular Hollywood child actors at the time such as Fred Savage, Joaquin Phoenix, Kristy Swanson, Seth Green, Candice Cameron, Corey Feldman, Drew Barrymore, and others that would fade into obscurity in later years.
Subtitle: Drew Barrymore, Former Child Star “It’s no secret that I started doing drugs early, and you’d be surprised some of the other kids that were total party monsters. Devin was the kid from Life of the Party, right? Yeah, he was on the scene about the same time as I was. The one thing that I remember about him was that he never seemed to be in it for the same reasons as the rest of us: rebellion, boredom, whatever. I always got the impression that he was there for something darker, keeping ahead of the demons.”
Subtitle: Corey Feldman, Former Child Star “Yeah, Devin, man. He was a couple years younger than me, but by the time I got into the drug scene, he was already an old pro. There was never a big scandal with him, though; I guess his 15 minutes were just over by the time the media started coming down on drug using amongst child stars. Plus, he never got self-destructive like some of the rest of us could be: he was in it for one reason. He let me in on the secret, once: getting high and crashing was the only way he could get to sleep and not dream. Insomnia plus night terrors, man, that’s a bad combination.”
With a failing music career, getting by on cameo appearances in second-rate shows and movies, and a drug habit designed to self-medicate, Devin seemed destined to burn out rather than fade away. Did this star flare and die? Find out when we return to “Do You Remember?”
Psychological Profile
Devin's personality has a three-stage cycle. One day, he will spend most of the day stoned and out of it, or high and manic. The next day, he is a well-adjusted and likable individual, with no obvious problems. Each day after that, he becomes progressively more sleep deprived, until he can't concentrate and has trouble keeping up with events. Then he gets high and the cycle repeats. In a nod to trying to keep a normal schedule for an actor, he'll typically party on Thursday night, sleep all day Friday until the last rehearsal before the Friday night show, be useful through the weekend, and steadily become an insomniac mess from Monday to Thursday.
Light drug use or drinking allows Devin to sleep, but only coming down from a bender lets him sleep through the night terrors. On days after he's been able to medicate enough to sleep but not to quiet the demons, he is more alert and awake than normal, but wears a haunted look that is more unnerving to associates than his normal exhausted gaze.
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