)
Mike Farrell
Noted Activist & Actor, Stars in "Dr. Keeling’s Curve" - A One-Man Show on Global Warming
Mike Farrell
Noted Activist & Actor, Stars in "Dr. Keeling’s Curve" - A One-Man Show on Global Warming
Biography
Even before becoming known as B.J. Hunnicutt on the iconic TV series M*A*S*H and Dr. Jim Hansen on NBC’s Providence, Mike Farrell believed responsible citizenship meant being involved in helping our country live up to its potential as a beacon of hope for the world.
Fundamental areas like concern for the environment, respect for human rights, issues such as peace, children’s rights, veterans' rights, prison reform, opposing the death penalty, and animal welfare move him. Working with Human Rights Watch, CONCERN/America, an international aid and development organization, and other groups have taken him across our country and around the world, bringing support and comfort to the dispossessed and investigating human rights emergencies.
Currently performing “Dr. Keeling’s Curve,” a one-man show about climate change, Mike remains actively involved with a host of issues, working alongside the ACLU, the UN, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, The Muslim Public Affairs Committee and the United Farm Workers. He is now Co-chair Emeritus of Human Rights Watch in California and is President of Death Penalty Focus.
Another role that’s close to Farrell’s heart, is that of a caregiver. Married to Actress Shelley Fabares, he saw firsthand how stressful caregiving can be. Alzheimer's disease turned his mother-in-law, Elsa Fabares, from a loving and gentle woman, into someone they didn’t recognize. Through Shelley’s years of caring for her mother, Farrell learned about the impact this "cruel thief," his name for Alzheimer's Disease, has not only on the patient, but on the entire family.
Less than 10 years later, Farrell then found himself in a similar role, becoming a caregiver for Shelley when she began to experience odd symptoms: deep physical exhaustion, difficulty walking up a single flight of stairs, slurring of words and other physical changes. After numerous tests, Shelley was diagnosed with an auto-immune liver disorder and needed a transplant. That immediately put the couple “on call,” wearing pagers and unable to be more than four hours from the hospital. After a successful transplant, the job didn’t stop there. Farrell became Shelly’s full-time caregiver. Today, Shelley is healthy and happy, close to 20 years since the transplant.
Engaging, heartfelt and candid, Farrell’s informed and passionate presentations will remind audiences that nothing is stronger than love and hope.
Speaker Videos
Finding Purpose in Life
Dr. Keeling's Curve (Preview)
Speech Topics
Dr. Keeling's Curve (One Man Show)
Noted actor and activist Mike Farrell plays Dr. David Keeling, the scientist whose research on CO2 gave the world its first early warnings of global warming. In this highly acclaimed performance, Farrell brings to life the quirky and brilliant man who created the Keeling Curve, the iconic chart that illustrates the rise in atmospherice CO2 levels from 1958 to the present.
The story combines Keeling's personal journey with the insights of atmospheric scientists who, hundreds of years earlier, made discoveries that laid the foundations for Keeling's own extraordinary work. We meet Jean Joseph Baptiste Fourier whose obsession with heat led to an understanding of the greenhouse effect, and Svante Arrhenius who proved a link between global warming and CO2. The play paints very human portraits of these and other great scientists.
)
)
)
)