Ricardo Tubbs: Philip Michael Thomas

[Pink Flaming0]

From the book "The Making Of Miami Vice" by MacGregor and MacGregor (I recently purchased) Inside the Organized Crime Bureau, the offices of the vice detectives, Rico Tubbsangrily pounds the table of the conference room and shouts he's the one the underworldfigure is trying to kill. "Cut," yells John Nicolella, who is directing the MIAMI VICEepisode called "Sons and Lovers." Tubbs emerges from the conference room, past thecamera, and is no longer angry. In fact, he's no longer Tubbs.Philip Michael Thomas mingles with the crew members, picking up a conversationstarted earlier, thanking someone else for help, and acting generally like one of thegang. Rather than dominating the scene, he blends in with it.For a man who has been characterized as an egomaniac by the press, Thomas issomething of an anomaly. People who know him tend to like him. People who readabout him think he's arrogant. It's not surprising. After all, he has said he is the mostinteresting person he knows, that VICE is bigger than The Beatles were, and hismultidimensional talents are unlimited.But then the people who know him offer another view. "Philip is truly one of thenicest, kindest people I know. He goes out of his way for people," says VICE publicistCheryl Kagan."You've got to understand that Philip is into positive thinking," says his agent KayePorter. "You visualize your goals and profess them as if they're already realized. Philipis so excited about all the great things that are happening to him that he sometimessounds conceited."Thomas calls his own version of the philosophy 'Perfectionistics.' In 1983, he selfpublisheda brochure of sayings encompassing the philosophy and has handed outseveral thousand copies. An example: "What is conceived in conception is conceived asconception is conceived."But words which impact one person may be meaningless to the next. When Thomasread the aphorism to a journalist writing for TV Guide, she called it mumbo jumbo.During an interview with Charlotte Portor of the Associated Press, he spent twentyminutes working out her numerology chart and then interpreting the data. When sheasked what his calculations showed about himself, he said, "I'm on such a strong power.I just turned 36, which is a nine - three plus six is nine - and after this year it's like onesand eights, power, power, power, power, all the way."It sounds like gibberish to the uninitiated. But to Thomas, it's part of his modusoperandi. "I constantly construct and re-construct my consciousness. I knew it (success)would happen and knew it would happen when I first got in the business because I'venever settled for less than one hundred percent."Guest stars on VICE often get a taste of his beliefs. Phanie Napoli, who playedAngelina and Tubbs's girlfriend in 'Calderon's Demise,' got an earful when that episodewas being filmed in the Virgin Islands. "He loves to talk about all that stuff. He even didmy numerology chart when he, Don and I were having dinner one night in St. Croix. Itwas interesting, but I've got my own belief system," she says.Thomas, a vegetarian who doesn't drink or smoke, was born in Columbus, Ohio,and raised in California. He has seven half-brothers and sisters. He began acting at theage of four, when he started performing as an extra in feature films. As a teenager heworked nights as a janitor and short order cook to earn money for college.Upon graduation in 1967, he left California to study religion at Oakwood TeacherTheological Seminary in Huntsville, Alabama, which is affiliated with the Seventh DayAdventist Church. A year later he received a scholarship to study philosophy andreligion at the University of California. He attended for one semester, but it was here hesaw a road company production of Hair and later auditioned for a part.He won the role of Hud, which required him to perform in the nude. "The nuditydidn't bother me in the least. We were performers, artists, playing roles that happenedto require us to shed our clothes."He worked eighteen months with Hair, then starred as Gabe Gabriel in the PulitzerPrize-winning play No Place to Be Somebody. This led to roles in 42nd Street, The Baker'sWife, and in 1976, the starring role opposite Irene Cara in the Warner Brothers movieSparkle. In all, there were eleven films, as well as guest spots on Police Woman, Toma,Family Ties, Strike Force and Roots: The Next Generation. In late 1983 his agent, KayePorter, sent him the script for MIAMI VICE, then entitled Gold Coast. He loved the scriptbut was rejected after his first audition."I told my agent they were nuts. I said, 'No one can do this but me.' Several weekslater he was called back to read with Johnson. The chemistry that flared between thetwo men is now legendary. "We read and the magic was happening. It was like fire andair."Through some curious combination of experience and timing, the roles seemperfectly tailored for just these two. Their camaraderie is part of what makes the showwork on both an emotional and a visual level, and even now, as they move into positionfor another take on a scene from "Sons and Lovers," the chemistry between them isunmistakable.As Thomas has said, "We're like two halves of a circle that came back to make awhole. We have an animal magnetism, a realistic quality that stems from the personallives we've lived."His coppery skin and smoldering green eyes distinguish his appearance. His looksonce confused modeling agencies wanting to fit him into a particular racial category,but Philip refused to be categorized. "I'm American gumbo, part American black, partAmerican Indian, part Irish and part German."Tubbs and Crockett never mention race. They're not avoiding it. It's simplyirrelevant. Michael Mann feels Thomas represents a new kind of black man ontelevision. "He's an extremely sophisticated, urbane black man who's proud of anddraws from black culture... without making it into his identity."When he talks about Tubbs, Thomas sees reflections of himself: "Tubbs is manythings. He's a gypsy, a serious dealer. There's a secret, secret part of him that I'm notinterested in revealing to anyone yet. I want you to always expect the unexpected," heremarked in a Genesis magazine interview.And part of the unexpected are the quirks that Thomas himself instills in thecharacter. The Jamaican accent, for example, or the depth of emotion that comes acrossduring Crockett's soul wrenching confession in "Evan." Or the sensuality Thomasportrayed in the love scene with Phanie Napoli, who played Angelina in "Calderon'sDemise.""It was real awkward at first. There were so many people on the set," recalls Napoli."I'd refused to do the scene nude. I mean, some people might say it's just an artistexpressing another facet of herself, but I've got certain standards. Anyway, they clearedeveryone from the set except for John Nicollela, who was directing, the sound man andthe cameraman. I went into the dressing room and wrapped bandages across my front. Iknew I'd have a sheet around me, too. I also wore clothes from the waist down."At first, Philip tried to change my mind about it, but I knew I couldn't do the scenenude. Before I went on, though, he came into my dressing room to talk to me and wasjust great, really understanding. It made it easier. After all, television is illusion. Imaintained the illusion in the love scene without compromising my integrity." But shenotes that her father, who is Cuban and with whom she is close, refused to watch theepisode. "That's how Cuban fathers are."She and Philip are in touch periodically, but as Phanie notes: "He's busy and thereare always so many women vying for his attention and besides, I have a boyfriend."Thomas has maintained a discreet silence about his private life and romanticinterests.In a Playgirl interview, however, he said he wasn't looking for just any woman."The one for me has to be fine, exceptional. I have to have someone who meets mespiritually in terms of lifetime goals. I'm not looking for somebody that I just want toget into bed with. What I want in life is someone I can build an empire with. And thatempire, first of all, is built upon companionship and shared ideas."He explains that sexual energy is a power he uses for creative endeavors as well asmaking love. "Instead of overusing your physical self, you take your attitude ofsensuality and your tremendous sex drive and use it to be constructive artistically. Imean when I walk through a door on MIAMI VICE, I accomplish whatever goal isnecessary walking through that door, but I also walk through that door full of sexualpower. I put it to work for me."Philip's business is something of a family affair. His mother runs his fan club, hisbrother George acts as his bodyguard, one uncle is his accountant and another hislawyer. On the set, Philip's brother George shadows him everywhere, even though itseems unlikely that fans will storm a set where the entrance is tightly controlled. ButScott Partridge, director of security, notes that for stars like Philip and Don, abodyguard often acts as a buffer. "Instead of having to ignore a fan who mightapproach and ask for an autograph, it's more diplomatic to have your bodyguardintervene."Thomas is using his success on VICE as a springboard for other projects. Teamingup with a designer named Lhin Yi Bisogno, he created three lines of women'ssportswear. He has released a record album called Living the Book of my Life on his ownSpaceship Records label. He also bought a small theater in North Miami Beach whichhe's donating to the city as a workshop for young actors to learn their craft. It cost him$75,000 and is being converted into a deluxe 550-seat theater, recording studio and artscenter.As one crew member noted, "Philip is like the proverbial kid in the candy shop. He'swaited so long for success and now it's here and his enthusiasm is uncontainable."Bob Hoeschler, the police technical advisor for the show, says that Philip often goesout of his way to thank him for suggestions he's offered about tactical details. "Hedoesn't have to do that. But that's the way Philip is." Eddie Olmos has known Thomassince 1971, and the two sometimes exchange philosophies in between scenes on the set.Although Olmos notes he's lived his life much differently than either Johnson orThomas, he calls Thomas "a kind and gifted man who's very sensitive."Thomas, like Johnson, spends fourteen to sixteen hours a day on the set. When hehas time to himself, you won't find him in the glitzy Hollywood fast lane. More thanlikely, he'll dine in a quiet restaurant with a few friends or maybe jam on one of the fourinstruments he plays.Music is an integral part of Philip's life. In an interview with Essence he called it his'addiction.' "When I get into it, I just fly. It's like making love—I'm in outer space and Ican't help myself. With acting, I bring to life the work of others, but with my music, Iam the source, the creator, and it is only through my own words that my soul canspeak. What I cannot tell you about life, love, making love in a day or a week, throughmy music I can tell you in a moment."But the album, which will be followed by a second called Bedtime Stories, is just onefacet of Thomas's five year plan, EGOT. That stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar andTony, the awards he has set out to win for his performances in TV, on record, on film,and on stage. He wears a gold medallion emblazoned with the letter as a reminder ofhis goals.In many photos of Thomas which have appeared in newspapers and magazines, he'spointing his finger at the camera. He's not pretending he's pointing a gun or imitatingUncle Sam. "It's my way of blessing people. I'm saying that if you can live for what youreally believe in, then you'll achieve it."

[Matt5]

Brillant detailed infomation:balloon:

[mjcmmv]

Great background, especially for those of us that don't have the book!

[vicegirl85]

Great information!  Thanks for sharing

[RedDragon86]

 

Yeah brilliant info. He might of had big ego and who could blame him, he was part of one the greatest shows ever, certainly the biggest most successful at the time. But I believe he is a really nice guy. Don Johnson once said that he never had one argument with Philip during they entire 5 years. 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2019 by RedDragon86

[Robbie C.]

I think his ego ultimately paled in comparison to someone else's, though.

[mjcmmv]

1 hour ago, RedDragon86 said:

 Don Johnson once said that he never had one argument with Philip during they entire 5 years. 

 

 

And I believe that! It was fun watching them together on Nash Bridges. The camaraderie was still there! 

[Matt5]

On 11/16/2013 at 4:11 PM, Pink Flaming0 said:

From the book "The Making Of Miami Vice" by MacGregor and MacGregor (I recently purchased) Inside the Organized Crime Bureau, the offices of the vice detectives, Rico Tubbsangrily pounds the table of the conference room and shouts he's the one the underworldfigure is trying to kill. "Cut," yells John Nicolella, who is directing the MIAMI VICEepisode called "Sons and Lovers." Tubbs emerges from the conference room, past thecamera, and is no longer angry. In fact, he's no longer Tubbs.Philip Michael Thomas mingles with the crew members, picking up a conversationstarted earlier, thanking someone else for help, and acting generally like one of thegang. Rather than dominating the scene, he blends in with it.For a man who has been characterized as an egomaniac by the press, Thomas issomething of an anomaly. People who know him tend to like him. People who readabout him think he's arrogant. It's not surprising. After all, he has said he is the mostinteresting person he knows, that VICE is bigger than The Beatles were, and hismultidimensional talents are unlimited.But then the people who know him offer another view. "Philip is truly one of thenicest, kindest people I know. He goes out of his way for people," says VICE publicistCheryl Kagan."You've got to understand that Philip is into positive thinking," says his agent KayePorter. "You visualize your goals and profess them as if they're already realized. Philipis so excited about all the great things that are happening to him that he sometimessounds conceited."Thomas calls his own version of the philosophy 'Perfectionistics.' In 1983, he selfpublisheda brochure of sayings encompassing the philosophy and has handed outseveral thousand copies. An example: "What is conceived in conception is conceived asconception is conceived."But words which impact one person may be meaningless to the next. When Thomasread the aphorism to a journalist writing for TV Guide, she called it mumbo jumbo.During an interview with Charlotte Portor of the Associated Press, he spent twentyminutes working out her numerology chart and then interpreting the data. When sheasked what his calculations showed about himself, he said, "I'm on such a strong power.I just turned 36, which is a nine - three plus six is nine - and after this year it's like onesand eights, power, power, power, power, all the way."It sounds like gibberish to the uninitiated. But to Thomas, it's part of his modusoperandi. "I constantly construct and re-construct my consciousness. I knew it (success)would happen and knew it would happen when I first got in the business because I'venever settled for less than one hundred percent."Guest stars on VICE often get a taste of his beliefs. Phanie Napoli, who playedAngelina and Tubbs's girlfriend in 'Calderon's Demise,' got an earful when that episodewas being filmed in the Virgin Islands. "He loves to talk about all that stuff. He even didmy numerology chart when he, Don and I were having dinner one night in St. Croix. Itwas interesting, but I've got my own belief system," she says.Thomas, a vegetarian who doesn't drink or smoke, was born in Columbus, Ohio,and raised in California. He has seven half-brothers and sisters. He began acting at theage of four, when he started performing as an extra in feature films. As a teenager heworked nights as a janitor and short order cook to earn money for college.Upon graduation in 1967, he left California to study religion at Oakwood TeacherTheological Seminary in Huntsville, Alabama, which is affiliated with the Seventh DayAdventist Church. A year later he received a scholarship to study philosophy andreligion at the University of California. He attended for one semester, but it was here hesaw a road company production of Hair and later auditioned for a part.He won the role of Hud, which required him to perform in the nude. "The nuditydidn't bother me in the least. We were performers, artists, playing roles that happenedto require us to shed our clothes."He worked eighteen months with Hair, then starred as Gabe Gabriel in the PulitzerPrize-winning play No Place to Be Somebody. This led to roles in 42nd Street, The Baker'sWife, and in 1976, the starring role opposite Irene Cara in the Warner Brothers movieSparkle. In all, there were eleven films, as well as guest spots on Police Woman, Toma,Family Ties, Strike Force and Roots: The Next Generation. In late 1983 his agent, KayePorter, sent him the script for MIAMI VICE, then entitled Gold Coast. He loved the scriptbut was rejected after his first audition."I told my agent they were nuts. I said, 'No one can do this but me.' Several weekslater he was called back to read with Johnson. The chemistry that flared between thetwo men is now legendary. "We read and the magic was happening. It was like fire andair."Through some curious combination of experience and timing, the roles seemperfectly tailored for just these two. Their camaraderie is part of what makes the showwork on both an emotional and a visual level, and even now, as they move into positionfor another take on a scene from "Sons and Lovers," the chemistry between them isunmistakable.As Thomas has said, "We're like two halves of a circle that came back to make awhole. We have an animal magnetism, a realistic quality that stems from the personallives we've lived."His coppery skin and smoldering green eyes distinguish his appearance. His looksonce confused modeling agencies wanting to fit him into a particular racial category,but Philip refused to be categorized. "I'm American gumbo, part American black, partAmerican Indian, part Irish and part German."Tubbs and Crockett never mention race. They're not avoiding it. It's simplyirrelevant. Michael Mann feels Thomas represents a new kind of black man ontelevision. "He's an extremely sophisticated, urbane black man who's proud of anddraws from black culture... without making it into his identity."When he talks about Tubbs, Thomas sees reflections of himself: "Tubbs is manythings. He's a gypsy, a serious dealer. There's a secret, secret part of him that I'm notinterested in revealing to anyone yet. I want you to always expect the unexpected," heremarked in a Genesis magazine interview.And part of the unexpected are the quirks that Thomas himself instills in thecharacter. The Jamaican accent, for example, or the depth of emotion that comes acrossduring Crockett's soul wrenching confession in "Evan." Or the sensuality Thomasportrayed in the love scene with Phanie Napoli, who played Angelina in "Calderon'sDemise.""It was real awkward at first. There were so many people on the set," recalls Napoli."I'd refused to do the scene nude. I mean, some people might say it's just an artistexpressing another facet of herself, but I've got certain standards. Anyway, they clearedeveryone from the set except for John Nicollela, who was directing, the sound man andthe cameraman. I went into the dressing room and wrapped bandages across my front. Iknew I'd have a sheet around me, too. I also wore clothes from the waist down."At first, Philip tried to change my mind about it, but I knew I couldn't do the scenenude. Before I went on, though, he came into my dressing room to talk to me and wasjust great, really understanding. It made it easier. After all, television is illusion. Imaintained the illusion in the love scene without compromising my integrity." But shenotes that her father, who is Cuban and with whom she is close, refused to watch theepisode. "That's how Cuban fathers are."She and Philip are in touch periodically, but as Phanie notes: "He's busy and thereare always so many women vying for his attention and besides, I have a boyfriend."Thomas has maintained a discreet silence about his private life and romanticinterests.In a Playgirl interview, however, he said he wasn't looking for just any woman."The one for me has to be fine, exceptional. I have to have someone who meets mespiritually in terms of lifetime goals. I'm not looking for somebody that I just want toget into bed with. What I want in life is someone I can build an empire with. And thatempire, first of all, is built upon companionship and shared ideas."He explains that sexual energy is a power he uses for creative endeavors as well asmaking love. "Instead of overusing your physical self, you take your attitude ofsensuality and your tremendous sex drive and use it to be constructive artistically. Imean when I walk through a door on MIAMI VICE, I accomplish whatever goal isnecessary walking through that door, but I also walk through that door full of sexualpower. I put it to work for me."Philip's business is something of a family affair. His mother runs his fan club, hisbrother George acts as his bodyguard, one uncle is his accountant and another hislawyer. On the set, Philip's brother George shadows him everywhere, even though itseems unlikely that fans will storm a set where the entrance is tightly controlled. ButScott Partridge, director of security, notes that for stars like Philip and Don, abodyguard often acts as a buffer. "Instead of having to ignore a fan who mightapproach and ask for an autograph, it's more diplomatic to have your bodyguardintervene."Thomas is using his success on VICE as a springboard for other projects. Teamingup with a designer named Lhin Yi Bisogno, he created three lines of women'ssportswear. He has released a record album called Living the Book of my Life on his ownSpaceship Records label. He also bought a small theater in North Miami Beach whichhe's donating to the city as a workshop for young actors to learn their craft. It cost him$75,000 and is being converted into a deluxe 550-seat theater, recording studio and artscenter.As one crew member noted, "Philip is like the proverbial kid in the candy shop. He'swaited so long for success and now it's here and his enthusiasm is uncontainable."Bob Hoeschler, the police technical advisor for the show, says that Philip often goesout of his way to thank him for suggestions he's offered about tactical details. "Hedoesn't have to do that. But that's the way Philip is." Eddie Olmos has known Thomassince 1971, and the two sometimes exchange philosophies in between scenes on the set.Although Olmos notes he's lived his life much differently than either Johnson orThomas, he calls Thomas "a kind and gifted man who's very sensitive."Thomas, like Johnson, spends fourteen to sixteen hours a day on the set. When hehas time to himself, you won't find him in the glitzy Hollywood fast lane. More thanlikely, he'll dine in a quiet restaurant with a few friends or maybe jam on one of the fourinstruments he plays.Music is an integral part of Philip's life. In an interview with Essence he called it his'addiction.' "When I get into it, I just fly. It's like making love—I'm in outer space and Ican't help myself. With acting, I bring to life the work of others, but with my music, Iam the source, the creator, and it is only through my own words that my soul canspeak. What I cannot tell you about life, love, making love in a day or a week, throughmy music I can tell you in a moment."But the album, which will be followed by a second called Bedtime Stories, is just onefacet of Thomas's five year plan, EGOT. That stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar andTony, the awards he has set out to win for his performances in TV, on record, on film,and on stage. He wears a gold medallion emblazoned with the letter as a reminder ofhis goals.In many photos of Thomas which have appeared in newspapers and magazines, he'spointing his finger at the camera. He's not pretending he's pointing a gun or imitatingUncle Sam. "It's my way of blessing people. I'm saying that if you can live for what youreally believe in, then you'll achieve it."

Just read this again. Such a nice read.