Biography, 2

By 1930, at age 17, Julie had landed a few walk-on parts in the theater where he was able to observe and learn from actors at work. He also succumbed to a sense of adventure and went on a sojourn of his own - hitchhiking and riding freight trains across the country.

For months he lived the life of a hobo, staying in roadside camps, picking fruit or working as a waiter at truckstops to earn some change. Later, the Hollywood publicity machine would romanticize this experience (and reportedly director Preston Sturges got the idea for his now-classic "Sullivan's Travels" from listening to Garfield's stories), but in reality it was a dirt-poor existence at the height of the Depression.

Back in New York, Julie worked as an apprentice with the Civic Repertory Theater, attending acting classes and receiving more bit parts on the stage.

1932 was a turning point. Julie, or, Jules Garfield, as he was now calling himself, joined up with the new avant-garde Theater Group. There he would form friendships that would remain influential throughout his life. Writer Clifford Odets, Stella and Luther Adler, Morris Carnovsky, Elia Kazan -- all important names in the theater and in Hollywood for decades to come.