Bakersfield, Florez Welcome Actor Vince Vaughn

Thanks so much to Jennifer from the office of Senator Dean Florez for sending us this wonderful news story:

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BAKERSFIELD -- Bakersfield welcomed Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show to town Thursday night, and Senator Dean Florez was on hand to honor the actor and comedian for his many contributions, both in entertainment and to the community.

Florez, D-Shafter, presented Vaughn with a resolution highlighting his many accomplishments in the entertainment field, from crashing weddings to cartwheeling through casinos, and praising his lesser-publicized charitable works.

The framed Senate Resolution commended Vaughn for his visits to troops in the Middle East, as well as for his contributions to the Children’s Defense Fund, Smile Train, Cure Autism Now, UNICEF and Army Emergency Relief, an organization that helps those who have lost a spouse while on active duty for the armed services.

Vaughn, who has starred in such hits as Wedding Crashers, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Swingers, was in Bakersfield to perform as part of his national “30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland” comedy tour.

Click the extended entry below to read the resolution language. It's pretty neat.

MEMBER'S RESOLUTION

By the Honorable Dean Florez, 16th Senatorial District; Relative to commending

VINCENT ANTHONY VAUGHN

WHEREAS, Vincent Anthony Vaughn, an entertainer of world renown, has been selected for special distinction on September 15, 2005, and in recognition thereof, he is deserving of special public commendations; and

WHEREAS, Vincent Vaughn was born on March 28, 1970, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Vernon Vaughn, a salesman, and Sharon Vaughn, a real-estate agent and stockbroker; and

WHEREAS, Raised in Lake Forest, Illinois, Vince is the younger brother of Victoria Vaughn and Valerie Vaughn; and

WHEREAS, Vince was interested in theater early on and appeared in a spot in a Chevrolet commercial; he then packed his bags and headed for Hollywood where he became a struggling actor; and

WHEREAS, Vince made a few television appearances, but his real goal was to make it to the big screen; and

WHEREAS, Vince made his first credited role in the film Rudy in 1993, where he met his friend Jon Favreau, who was writing a script detailing his life as an out-of-work actor; and

WHEREAS, Vince was written into Swingers in 1996, by Jon to play the character of Trent and coined the phrase "money"; he signed on just as a favor to his buddy, not realizing it would be a career changing role, and though not a commercial success, Swingers was a critical success in which Steven Spielberg saw him and cast him in the big budget sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997, and this role gave Vince the exposure he needed to become a movie star and, for the first time, choose roles; and

WHEREAS, In 1998, he portrayed a loving father in A Cool, Dry Place; in Return to Paradise, he was cast as a man having to make a life or death decision to save a friend, and Clay Pigeons cast him as a serial killer, and he also was cast as Norman Bates for the shot-for-shot remake of Psycho; and

WHEREAS, For some, the college years were the best of their lives, but Vince's character Bernard in Old School shows that being a husband and father of two can be just as fun, if not more, and that all you need are a pair of ear muffs; and

WHEREAS, Vince single-handedly brought the 1970s playground game of dodgeball to a whole new level and was the funniest Norman Bates ever witnessed; and

WHEREAS, As Ricky Slade, Vince Made audiences want to keep their day jobs and never even think about freelancing their services to the mob, and he also has been known to bust out with a good series of cartwheels on the floor of casinos; and

WHEREAS, Committed to his fellow countrymen, Vince Vaughn visited troops in the Middle East in July 2004 and again in September 2005, and, committed to give back to the community, he donated a costume from Be Cool to The Clothes Off Our Back auction in which proceeds will benefit the Children's Defense Fund, Smile Train, Cure Autism Now, and the UNICEF Tsunami Relief Fund, and, in 2004, he hosted a charity show Outlaws of Stand-up Comedy in which the proceeds went to the Army Emergency Relief, an organization that helps those who have lost a spouse while on active duty for the armed services; and

WHEREAS, Throughout his career, Vince Vaughn has made a lasting impression on millions of fans, and his immense and varied talents have earned for him the respect of his professional associates and the general community alike; now, therefore, be it pride and pleasure in commending Vincent Anthony Vaughn, a truly extraordinary individual, for his invaluable contributions to the entertainment industry, that have brought so much pleasure to so many people over the years.

Dated this 15th day of September, 2005

Honorable Dean Florez
16th Senatorial District

Posted by Christine at September 20, 2005 3:52 PM