ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300008
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEANNE WOLF THE NEW YORK TIMES
Sinbad, the cuddly 6-foot-5-inch comedian known for an irrepressible nuttiness that has brought him as many kids as adults as fans, is playing the most grown-up role of his career.
In ``First Kid,'' which opens nationwide today, Sinbad still goes for laughs, but he also gets to pack a gun and even face a few bad guys.
As Secret Service Agent Sam Simms, whom he refers to with a sly smile as ``Double-Oh Simms,'' Sinbad takes on the unenviable assignment of protecting Luke Davenport, the son of the president of the United States.
Luke is a seemingly spoiled and undisciplined kid whose outrageous behavior could make the kind of headlines the White House would like to avoid. In spite of his brattiness, however, Luke is lonely and longing to be accepted. In Agent Simms he finds a friend who finally understands him.
Sinbad says he was able to relate to Luke's struggle to find his identity. It reminded him of his own childhood in Benton Harbor, Mich., as the second oldest son in the Adkins family.
``Like Luke, I always felt like I was an outsider,'' he says. ``I was awkward and goofy. I didn't fit in, and I was always getting dogged by the other kids.
``The worst was when I was in junior high school. Tough kids would take my lunch money by hanging me upside down in the bathroom. Then they'd smack me on the head and shut me up in a hall locker.
``I used to cope by always being a little bit on the outside,'' he continues. ``I made up my own world when I was a kid. I was always clowning around. I remember when I was 5 I got a whipping, and it was the best feeling I ever had. My father got fed up that I wouldn't stop clowning, but I could see my brothers and sisters laughing at me. I knew I could be funny even if I made somebody mad.''
Sinbad finally began to show another side of himself in high school as he capitalized on his towering height.
``I decided to try basketball. At first I was a terrible player, but I kept on practicing, even when everybody was laughing at me. I became the best on the team and that was my ace.''
Sinbad also identifies with the rebellious side of the character he plays in ``First Kid.''
Like Simms, the Secret Service agent who marches to the beat of his own drum, the comic has often met life's challenges by doing it his way.
``I was fired from every job I ever had,'' he says with a shrug. ``I was at the University of Denver on a basketball scholarship, and I got kicked out with four weeks left because I couldn't get along with the coach. I got kicked out of the Air Force. I never seemed to finish anything I started.''
Now, after paying his dues as a stand-up comedian, Sinbad has found in Hollywood the success that eluded him earlier in life. But he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as a funny man, even if it has brought him his own TV series, FOX's ``The Sinbad Show,'' and a string of movies from ``Necessary Roughness'' (1991) to ``Coneheads'' (1993). He's also done comedy specials for HBO and a popular commercial campaign for Reebok.
``I've always been seen as a Captain Kangaroo kind of character,'' he says. ``I've always been that big goofy guy. I hope that `First Kid' will begin to give Hollywood a different idea of me.''
In fact, Sinbad went out of his way to prove he was up to the physical challenges his role presented.
``My character has to do some boxing,'' he says, ``and the producers didn't think I could handle it. They had a double that was going to box for me and jump rope. So I started getting in shape, and I got out there and said, `If this guy can out-jump me then let him do the scenes.'
``All I can tell you is you won't see a double jumping rope for me, or doing the boxing either.''
In spite of his determination to be taken more seriously, Sinbad readily admits that everywhere he goes children are among his biggest fans.
``I didn't know I was gonna be this `kiddie comic,''' he says with a smile. ``Before I knew, it kids were hanging around me and treating me like I was 5. They see me as a big kid. I never do anything I wouldn't want my own daughter to see.''
Off-screen Sinbad has worked hard to be a father to his two children, in the aftermath of a painful divorce three years ago.
``At first I really panicked,'' he remembers. ``I was scared to death that I would be out of their lives forever. I never thought I'd end up a divorced parent.''
The comedian decided that he'd remain close to his kids by staying in their neighborhood.
``I live right down the street in my own house,'' he says. ``I have rooms for each of them.''
The divorce has impacted him in other ways as well. ``I just accept the fact that I'll never be cool again,'' he says. ``I'm a dad with kids and not a swinging single guy.''
Is another marriage in his future?
``I'm hardly even dating,'' Sinbad responds. `` I don't date anybody for long. I take somebody to about three movies and that's it. I'm a three-movie man.
``I don't think I could ever get married again,'' he continues in a manner that is sincere but hilarious. ``I'm too set in my ways. I could date somebody, but you let her in your house and she'll be in your closets and moving all your stuff around. I guess we could each have a separate wing of the house. That might work. Then we could meet in the middle.''
Sinbad pauses when asked to name the people who have shaped his life and given him the determinedly positive attitude that is guiding his career.
``First of all, I'd have to say my dad,'' he says finally. ``Then I think of the heroes I used to watch on TV. I loved Sinbad and how he led his men. I loved any kind of screen hero.
``Rocky was my favorite. When I was in college, I saw it seven times. I watched how Rocky went from being a joke to a hero because of the heart he had.
``That's what I believe in - heart. That's what gets you where you want to go.''
LENGTH: Long : 111 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Comedian and actor Sinbad: ``I used to cope by alwaysby CNBbeing a little bit on the outside,'' he says. ``I made up my own
world when I was a kid. I was always clowning around.