Curtain closing on acting coach
Robbed of speech by ALS, Ned Vukovic bravely confronts mortalityBy Adrian Chamberlain
CanWest News Service
Published: Saturday, December 01, 2007


Sometimes being a journalist makes you feel cheap and cheesy. It's because questions that may make for a better story can seem crude and insensitive.

That's how I felt asking Ned Vukovic for a metaphor describing his condition.

Vukovic, who lives and teaches in Victoria, is one of Canada's top dialect coaches. Or at least, he was. If an actor needed to sound like a New Yorker from Queens or a Glaswegian or a Texan, he was the fellow to call. His client list reads like a who's who of Hollywood: Shirley MacLaine, Peter O'Toole, Ryan Gosling and Jon Voight.



University of Victoria theatre teacher Ned Vukovic is assisted by his wife Lindsey in using a talking computer
Ray Smith, Victoria Times Colonist

It has been three years since I last spoke with this 53-year-old coach, actor and teacher. Back then, Vukovic was articulate, bright and bristling with vigour. Now, his body is gripped by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. Essentially, one's muscles weaken and atrophy.

It's a terminal disease -- and an unusually cruel one. The late jazz bassist Charles Mingus had it. So does Stephen Hawking, although his form of ALS is slow-moving. Vukovic's disease has spread quickly over the past two years.

He is in a wheelchair and his speech is now almost incomprehensible. He has some finger movement, so is able to produce synthetic speech via a $10,000 talking computer the University of Victoria kindly provided.

With his wife Lindsey translating, Vukovic struggled to respond to my question -- that is, to suggest a metaphor that describes his new life.

"You're living in a glass coffin," he said finally, with a grim chuckle.

"You're locked into your own body." Despite being caught in a fleshly prison, his mind is as nimble as ever. Indeed, Vukovic still teaches acting at UVic.

He recently led a class on sense-memory techniques. Students were instructed to recall a powerful emotional experience, then act out a short scenario based on it.

"If you're able to make the audience cry, you're well on the way," said Vukovic through Lindsey, who regularly assists him in this way. Because of the ALS, his clouded speech sometimes sounded like a moan.

Born in Derby, England, Vukovic has been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. His best friend Phil -- with whom Vukovic acted in the Royal National Theatre -- is visiting him and helping out.

That's because Vukovic's battle with ALS is approaching an apex. He is now unable to bathe, clothe or feed himself. He says he is close to being quadriplegic. His biggest frustration now is that most people cannot understand him.

Lindsey, a British-born actor, met Vukovic in 1990. Her husband's illness is tough on her and their children: Francesca, 12, and nine-year-old Grace. ALS has distanced their relationship with Ned. Sometimes he becomes frustrated, as anyone would, taking it out on those closest to him. The family has had counselling. Lindsey is a vibrant woman, but one can see the tiredness in her eyes.

"You just find yourself running ragged," she said. Fortunately, the family is about to get full-time home help for Vukovic. Dealing with an ALS patient is expensive, despite their medical plan. Blue Cross doesn't provide for things like the special canned food he needs, costing $100 a pack.

Life is not all bad. The Internet is a godsend for someone in Vukovic's condition. He can still follow the exploits of his beloved Derby County Football Club. Cable TV is another plus. And the family plans to buy a page-turner so he can read books more easily.

Vukovic's body is giving out. He'll take a leave from work starting in January, and might or might not return. Yet he is still a strong man. He says he is mentally prepared to become more disabled as the ALS progresses.

And he still has his sense of humour.


As someone once said to Stephen Hawking, 'How come you've been able to have a family at the same time as having ALS?' To which he replied, 'It only affects the voluntary muscles,'" said Vukovic, laughing.

"I can attest to that," added Lindsey.

Hope does exist, glowing like a candle in the distance. There continue to be advances in stem-cell research. Vukovic said he is trying to "hang around" long enough to benefit from a cure.

At the same time, he has -- perhaps sooner than most of us -- learned to face his mortality.

"You have to accept it," Vukovic said. "There is an end."

achamberlaintc.canwest.com

(Victoria Times Colonist)
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarp...e-d511a92f5c20