I've had a beard all my life, except for when I was a child and unable to grow one, and was also in a "clean cut" singing group and was unable to have one, and then was married and my wife didn't want me to have one.
I'm not sure when I put my foot down and my follicles out, but I suspect it was sometime when I was sick and getting over something and didn't have enough energy to stand and shave.
The result--a beard. Not always the best beard--the kinds that are either wonderfully slick, like an animal's coat, or beautifully curly like those on Greek statues. Mine was always a little fuzzy, kind of like a well-worn (and loved!) teddy bear. This wasn't a bad thing but it was more "cute" than "macho."
No mind, I kept it.
I shaved it only once, in 1988 when I was cast in a comedy horror movie and the director wanted me to shave. I actually had to think about it. "Um, let's see, I can have a leading role in a movie if I shave, or I can not shave... which should I do?"
I shaved. I didn't like the way I looked and as soon as the movie was over I grew it back and it's been back ever since, which is almost 20 years.
Now I've been given a similar choice--a good part in a movie or a beard. Can't have both.
In this case, I'm trying a different approach. I'll shave the beard down to a goatee--and also die it dark brown--to match my naturally dark brown eyebrows. That suits my character's backstory better than clean shaven, it makes it easier for me to move into my next role which shoots only a few days after this one wraps where I should have facial hair, and if all else fails, I'll shave and then hope it grows back as fast as it seems to do when I don't want it to.
See before and after pictures here...
So, I shaved, met with the director who felt it was fine for the part (good, really, since the lead didn't have facial hair), but he wanted me to die what little hair I had on my head, too. I resisted, but relented, taking five whole minutes to do it using "Just for Men" haircolor, which, I have to say, is easy enough for any male primate, and actually looks natural--rather than that "Ronald- Reagan-esque-all-the-same-color-shoe-polish look" seen on so many.
Everyone told me I looked great! Ten years younger! Which only made me ask, "How bad and old did I look before?" and make me wonder how hideous I had been for many years before this transformation.
The weird thing is--I don't care how old I look. This is a very bad attitude in Hollywood and I shouldn't be admitting it in writing, but I am. So I might play somebody's grandfather, so what? I'm old enough to have grandchildren if I'd had children at an early age and they'd procreated early as well!
But now I've discovered that with a razor and $14 worth of hair and beard color, I can also look young enough to have young kids (instead of grand kids). $14 for a decade--what a deal!
My life as an actor again
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