‘If it wasn’t for Fire Island, I may have never started acting.’

Paul Rosenbaum, Ocean Beach

“Fire Island plays a humongous part in my life, not just because it’s my favorite place to be on the Earth. If it wasn’t for Fire Island, I may have never started acting.

“My father was in the clothing business. He owned a couple of clothing stores in Connecticut and one in Queens. He met someone who had a store on Fire Island called Flair House. Selling negotiations soon took place, and my father bought the store. He had never been out to Fire Island. None of us had. In March of 1964, we took the ferry out, and the place looked so desolate. I remember hearing my mother say to my father, ‘My God, Alvin, what have you done?’

“The store became an ingrained part of our life. As a kid, I worked in the store tagging clothing. When I was young, I used to be a cute kid. Somebody out here who knew my mother suggested I do commercials. We hooked up with an agent, and the next thing you know, I started doing commercials and got pretty proficient at it. My stage name became ‘P.R. Paul.’

“Then I started doing a little bit parts — ABC after-school specials and things like that. One day, I got an audition for TV show ‘Fame’ to play the character Montgomery McNeil, from the movie. I said to myself, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be terrible. Who will watch this?’ Next thing you know, I got the part, and what a wonderful opportunity it turned out to be.

“But I would always return to the store and help out behind the register. Then my father got sick with prostate cancer. Neither my brother or I were interested taking over Flair House, but when my father was dying, he looked at me and said ‘Paul, it’s a shame that you were meant to be in the clothing business.’ He passed away in 1989. So, I took over the store. And I have to tell you, my father was right. Slowly but surely, it became successful.”

I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I went through my treatment, and decided I would give up the store and change my life.

“Then in 1996, this young lady named Joy came into the picture. Joy is a television writer, director and producer. We met through a friend. I brought her out to Fire Island on a really miserable day because I knew that if she didn’t like Fire Island, the relationship wouldn’t last. To my surprise, she fell in love with it right off the bat, and it was an ugly, cold day. We got married and ran the store together, becoming even more successful than I could imagine.

“In the winter of 2007, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I went through my treatment and decided I would give up the store and change my life. But then as I got better and decided I wasn’t ready to give up the store yet, we ran it for another year. Then one day, I was by myself walking down the marina. I looked up in the sky and asked my father for permission to sell the store. And I heard his spirit say, ‘Are you out of your mind? Of course, it’ OK. What, are you going to kill yourself in that store? Go, sell it!’ He was long gone by then, but I heard his words.

“So, we sold the business. I was always ‘Paul Flair,’ that’s how people out here knew me, even with ‘Fame,’ and my acting over the years, my identity, was wrapped up in the store. I actually cried when I signed the sale contract. I actually had tears in my eyes selling it. I asked my wife, Joy, ‘Who am I going to be?’ She said, ‘You’re going to be Paul.’ And I didn’t quite know what would happen, but I knew she was as right as rain because it’s that old thing — when one door closes, another opens.”

The next thing you know, I get invited to do these “Fame” reunion concerts in Europe and the U.K. 40 years after doing the show.

“I used to play in bands back in the ’70s and ’80s in Los Angeles. I had a band named Rock Beat and started doing my music again. The next thing you know, I get invited to do these ‘Fame’ reunion concerts in Europe and the U.K. 40 years after doing the show. Thousands of people come to see us. ‘Fame’ was a humongous hit in Europe, as opposed to in the States, where it was only moderately successful. The next thing you know, I’m releasing my own songs and videos. Joy is a big help in all of that because she was right behind me in everything I wanted to do and making everything better, the music, and my life, more importantly. My latest song is called ‘Not So Blue,’ which we just released the video and can be seen on YouTube. We just returned from an Italian film festival, where they gave me a lifetime achievement award!

“My non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma stayed in remission for 11 years. Then in 2018, something jumped up on my bloodwork. It was the precursor to a different form of blood cancer called CLL, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which is chronic, which means that it’s not treatable, but it is manageable, meaning that they can keep you around for a long time.

“My CLL stayed dormant for five years. Then on Memorial Day weekend in 2022, I caught COVID. It was a minor case of it, but somehow it activated my CLL. The doctor basically said, ‘If you want to start treatment, we can start treatment, and if you don’t, we can wait a while, but you would have to live a sedentary life not to feel the effects of this CLL.’ Because I’m active, playing tennis, biking and playing ball, we chose an aggressive treatment regimen. Anyway, I really don’t think about it a lot. I go on with my life. I’m the happiest guy around.”

Interviewed by Shoshanna McCollum