Orson Bean and Alley Mills: Actors and Residents

Longtime residents Orson Bean and Alley Mills remain active in the community by participating in the Pacific Resident Theatre as well as producing the annual Christmas Carol at the First Lutheran Church. Over the years, Bean and Mills have witnessed an increase in housing prices along with a growth of reclusive behavior in new residents along the canals. To their disappointment, original cottages and yards are being replaced with over-sized mansions. Privacy can be a concern in the sought after canals; however, the seasoned TV and film actors don't mind, often engaging passersby and inviting them in to share a glass of wine.

Life in Venice
"You can choose to laugh or cry about anything, but when I look around and see that in the Autumn the spiders come, and build these beautiful webs when ugly webs would catch just as many flies... there's got to be a symmetry to it all. You can call it God if you want, I do, Or you can say, 'ain't life amazing?', and I love living in Venice where it is particularly amazing to me."

A Fun Place
"Venice is one of the few communities in the world that was founded not for commerce but founded for fun."

Tearing Down the House
"I was sitting with Alley on our front porch not long ago and I said, If you could live anywhere, and money was no object, where would you live?, and you answered: Here."

Community Involvement
"We go to the First Lutheran Church of Venice. I don't know that Martin Luther would like it, but its full of some pretty crazy people."

The Venice Parrots
"I said: there goes the parrot, that's the symbol of Venice; and everyone cheered."