by Niloo E Sarabi
Few personalities in Hollywood have taken as long a retirement as Ron Lester and yet been able to return to their careers as energetic, motivated and inspiring as this genuine son of Georgia. Upfront and funny as always, Ron is the type of guy who can make you laugh and cry almost instantly. This, the makeup of ?a great character,? as he calls it, is perhaps why we love his movies so much. He sat with OH Magazine recently and shared his struggles and triumphs nearly five years after our first interview.
What kind of bariatric surgery did you have and when?
RL: I had gastric bypass in June 2000; they basically went in and removed ¾ of my stomach. I flatlined during the surgery, and then they had to go back six months later to realign my intestines, so now I use my large intestine more than my small intestine. Since then, I have had 17 plastic surgeries, but in between some of my plastic surgeries, I had problems with my gallbladder, so they had to remove my gallbladder too. Altogether, I have had 20 surgeries since 2000.
How much weight have you lost since your surgery, and how do you feel nowadays?
RL: Well, my biggest weight loss was 348 pounds, but I gained some weight since then, which is a good thing because I had become too thin at one point. I got down to 159 pounds after all the excess skin removal plastic surgeries. I looked sick, and then I got up to 183 pounds and I felt really good at that weight. Shortly afterward, my mother was diagnosed with cancer, and I decided to move back home to be with her. I was sad to see her struggle, so I went back to some of my old eating habits and started eating the foods I shouldn?t have. I got up to about 200 pounds. Since then, my weight has been fluctuating between 180 and 190 pounds, and I am really happy with that.
What has been the hardest part of your journey?
RL: After a brave battle with cancer, my mother passed away in March of last year. I think she held on as long as she could to make sure I was going to be all right. And if I hadn?t done the surgery, I don?t think I would be strong enough mentally to handle the loss. She had been there for me all my life and especially during my surgeries, and everyone who knows me knows how close we were together. The last few years have been difficult for me, trying to figure out the new me and the new lifestyle, because the first year is all about weight loss, which is all exciting, but by the end of the second year, you have to really deal with the changes and you have to find who you are once again and where you want to be. It is a huge adjustment, and I have always tried to do everything on my own. My brain and my body were going through tremendous changes, and I became like someone who had bipolar disorder: I?d be up, I?d be down, I?d be happy and I?d be angry. In the last two and a half years I have been myself, living life and enjoying my life every day.
When I look in the mirror, I?m still a 580-pound guy, but I am alive. I had to lose everything that I ever held on to: my identity, my fame, my money, my fans and even my mother. I really had to lose it all to finally be able to step back and appreciate the things I have been given. Losing my mother was the most devastating thing I have ever had to endure, but believe it or not, I am the happiest that I have ever been in my entire life now, because I know that she is in a better place. I am healthy, and having met my girlfriend, Kate, I feel that I have found true love. I feel like I have learned so many lessons in the past few years, and even though there are going to be good days and bad days, I do appreciate my life. I realize now that if I had not undergone bariatric surgery, I probably would not have been alive to take care of my mother.
How did you meet Kate Williamon?
RL: We met through a friend of ours. Being the funny guy that I am, I initially thought that she was not my type; she is a very sophisticated Southern belle, she participates in triathlons, she plays polo and she is very health-conscious. She quit her job in Georgia to move here and be with me, which makes me all the more determined not to let her down. I had never met anybody that I could spend every minute of every day with and not feel crowded. I never did before, but now I do believe in fate.
Are you still an avid car racer?
RL: No, not anymore. Before my mom passed away, I sold the few race cars that I had to help pay for her medical bills. I don?t have my motorcycles anymore either. I?d really like to go back to racing cars again, though; I like the precision of it, the adrenaline rush, and the cool outfits too. Maybe someday I will go against Patrick Duffy.
Do you still participate in celebrity rodeos?
RL: No. About three years ago, just after my mom found out that she had cancer, I was in Wyoming, and I was playing to benefit some of the charities I support, and I had a bad accident and was seriously injured. I came down on the score, put my right hand around its neck, and as my feet hit the ground, the animal freaked and stopped. Its left horn caught my left cheek, almost breaking my cheekbone and dislocating my eye. I was holding on to it so hard with my right arm that it literally ripped out of its socket. I ended up seeing a surgeon here, and he said that he had to amputate a part of my arm. So I turned to my cousin, Marvin, who is a very prominent plastic surgeon in Atlanta, and he ended up repairing my shoulder and putting a metal plate in my shoulder. That pretty much killed the thrill of the rodeo for me! Now, I just ride for pleasure.
Do you need additional plastic surgeries?
RL: Ultimately, I will need to have additional plastic surgeries because some of the loose skin has not stretched back, but I?m not rushing into it at all. No matter how much I work out, there are limits as to how much the skin will stretch back.
Do you have any movies in the works?
RL: Well, I have been in retirement for a few years, but I am getting ready to co-produce and act in a film about the life of Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle. He was the first million-dollar actor, and he played in a number of silent movies as well as some sound movies. His production company helped produce such well-known characters as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton; they were in his movies. The thing is that Hollywood does not like to talk about certain things. Roscoe was such a huge figure, and then literally overnight he was stripped of everything and persecuted. People wanted to hang him. Even though he was married, he would go up to San Francisco with Buster Keaton and spend the weekend there. It has been said that they used a lot of drugs. Apparently, due to some freak accident, a call girl who was sent to his room died and everyone started blaming Roscoe for her death. So he ended up moving to Paris, and when he came back to the United States, he started making movies with the alias name John B. Good. I find this project very interesting and close to my heart and something that I have always wanted to be a part of, especially because I have been heavy myself.
We also have a horror movie that we are getting ready to shoot called Roots of Evil. And then, after that?hopefully not before that?a friend of mine wrote a movie for me which is currently titled Glutton for Stardom, and is basically about a heavy kid who grows up to be a heavy adult and accidentally becomes an actor and a celebrity, and then loses the weight and finds that he has to put on a fat suit to be able to find work. It is a funny story, and it sort of mimics a lot of the stuff I have gone through in my life. I have a simple formula: make them laugh, bring them into tears and then make them laugh again, and that is what makes a great character. That?s why Varsity Blues was such a huge success.
Are you also interested in doing television shows too?
RL: Of course. I loved doing Popular; it was a lot of fun and a steady paycheck. It puts me in front of the camera and it allows me to have the cool fans I?ve had throughout the years.
I heard that you were going to write a book about your journey.
RL: I was going to, but ultimately decided not to go forward with it. I wrote the book because I wanted to help people who are going through the same things that I was and not to capitalize on my experiences. I have never wanted to be a poster child for weight loss surgery. If I can help people, that?s great. Recently I was asked to go to colleges and talk to young people, and I told them that would go for speaking engagements, but they have to be called that; I do not want to do motivational speaking because I?m trying to get someone to have the surgery or not to have the surgery. I believe that people need to make the choices that are right for them and not based on what I or someone else says.
Tell me how your diet and lifestyle have changed.
RL: Well, I work with a new bariatric surgeon, Dr. John Morton. He is my best friend now, and I feel so comfortable with him. Every now and then, I find something that I cannot eat, but essentially, I don?t deny myself anything. I eat everything a normal person who doesn?t have weight issues eats. The only difference is that I cannot eat a lot of it. I eat sensibly. When Kate and I go out to dinner, I order something small and we both end up sharing what we ordered together.
Do you feel that you are in a good place in your life now?
RL: Ironically enough, yes, I do. I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. After several years of voluntary retirement from my career, I am slowly finding my way back into something I love: acting. I wake up at 5:00 a.m. every morning, go on the treadmill and run for about 45 minutes, then I get my coffee and from about 6:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. I answer my mail and fan letters. I like to think of myself as a humble guy, so I try to read everything and answer every letter. I have people that I have never met, and they write long letters to me telling me about their struggles with weight. They tell me that I inspire them, and I look at that as a responsibility that I should honor. I would have never thought that I would be in this position. I feel that I am mature enough now to respect their trust and help them out, and that I have become the kind of person that my mom wanted me to be.
To learn more about Ron Lester, please visit http://www.RonLesteronline.com.
July 2008