"It is critical to own your life."

Ted Wold is a Renaissance Man. Originally from Minneapolis, he has lived in Los Angeles, Dallas, and everywhere in between. He received his undergraduate degree from University of Texas in Austin and his law degree from Duke. He has worked as a lawyer, consultant, contract recruiter, and an award winning actor. However, what he believes to be the most important part of who he is, the part that is not glamorous or enchanting, is his history of drug-addiction and recovery.

Ted Wold

In 1984,Wold moved to Dallas, Texas and began work as a lawyer at a prestigious law firm,"There were two things that convinced me that I should no longer be pursuing law. I was in court, as the second chair, and I fell asleep. I fell asleep in court because I was so bored.  After that, I was talking to a client and during the conversation, I looked him in the eye and said, "I think you need a lawyer!" he looked back at me and said, "Aren't you a lawyer?" I thought, "I don't need to be doing this anymore." Wold told me, with a smile.

After his amiable departure from his firm, Wold eventually began working as a consultant, which lead to him having a partnership in the consulting firm "Hyde, Danworth, and Wold". Despite his success in the field, there was something missing in his life, even if he did not know it. Then, one day, it changed in a flash.

It was a normal morning for Ted Wold, he was reading the Dallas Observer and saw an ad to audition for Theatre Arlington in the Metroplex. Wold had done some acting in high school but, he was an adult and had no training. "I thought to myself, "I can do this." He was cast in the play and found the passion that he had been searching for his whole life.

Even after he began acting, Wold didn't tell anyone at the firm that he was involved in the theatre. Enough time passed and Wold realized that he couldn't continue working as a consultant, "I was in love. Not with a person, but with a passion. They were very supportive when I quit and you're not gonna win an argument against someone who has the power of their convictions behind them."

Today, Wold is a fixture in the Dallas acting scene and has won numerous awards, including two Dallas Critics Awards for Performance by an Actor and two Leon Rabin awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

After talking for a while, Wold brought up the most private part of himself, "It would be disingenous to not bring up the fact that I am a recovering drug addict. When I was 38, I was at a bar and was introduced to cocaine. I had eventually developed a $1,000 a week habit and was living with a drug dealer."

The entire time Wold spoke to me about this, there was no sadness or shame, he presented himself with truthfullness and a demeanor that said, "This is my history. This is what I have done and I have no excuses for who I am, either then or today."

Wold went on to explain when he realized just how extreme his addiction had become, "At one point, I was trying to score some coke and my dealer wasn't answering, so I went to his house and broke in. I climbed into his backyard while he was inside watching TV. This was probably, 2:00 AM on a Wednesday. He saw me coming in his back door, grabbed his gun and pointed it at me. I looked at him and said, "You don't understand. I'm just looking for some drugs."

"(After that)I didn't have any options. I had hit rock bottom. I saw that I was putting drugs before my family, before my passion, before my work. I initially got clean out of panic, I didn't want to lose everything." Wold continued with therapy and started going to AA meetings, "It saved my life. What I enjoy today is being clean and sober and working with others on that quest. I enjoyed drugs, yes, it would be a lie to say I didn't, but I enjoy being clean and sober more.''

Today at 53, Wold loves his life. Continuing to act in Dallas he also teaches private students and has his own contract recruiting business, "Wold Inc." Additionally, Wold has a service commitment at Turtle Creek Manor, A recovery center for people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. He firmly believes that one of the best things a recovering addict can do to help themselves and to help others is to share their story.

Before finishing out conversation, Wold left me with this:

"It is critical to own your life. That means owning your choices, owning mine. In my experience, it's about showing up in your life. Don't make excuses. Own it. Own it. "

You can check out the Turtle Creek Manor website here.

- Jeff

There is so much more I learned about Ted during our talk that I easily could have written something twice this length. Which I might very well do in the future.