He’s ready to cut to the chase
Chris Gardner is still pursuing happiness.
Despite being a best-selling author, a sought-after motivational speaker and having a bank account as big as his beaming smile, Gardner says he’s unhappy – fed up, actually – with how the poor, homeless and veterans are treated in America.
Gardner, whose struggles as a homeless single parent and rags-to-riches journey were depicted by Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” (out Tuesday on DVD), wants to use his “15 minutes of fame” to bring change.
“These folks are just folks,” he said. “Everybody that’s poor or homeless are not all alcoholics or drug addicts. These are poor people, and in many cases, working people.”
Gardner, 53, just finished a proposal for a second book, expected to be released this fall.
Sharply dressed and sporting a well-trimmed, graying goatee, he says wealth hasn’t changed who he is, even though he went from living out of filthy restrooms to owning multiple homes – including a condo in Trump Tower in New York – and driving a Ferrari.
“When you have an experience like this, not just being homeless, but homeless with a 2-year-old baby tied on your back, that becomes part of who you are forever,” he says.
The most important survival skill Gardner learned when he was homeless in the early 1980s was to keep going forward.
“Baby steps count, too,” he says. “You add them all up, one day you’re living next door to Donald Trump.”
Gardner grew up with an abusive stepfather and never went to college. His mother, he says, provided him with “spiritual genetics.”
“The spirit of who you’re going to become as a person, I believe you can make a conscious decision,” Gardner says. “I could’ve embraced the spirit of my stepdad and I could’ve become another alcoholic, wife-beating, illiterate, child-abusing loser.”
His own kids, he says, “are like the chocolate Kennedys. They’ve got a highly evolved sense of entitlement. We’re working to adjust that.”
He has a 21-year-old daughter, Jacintha, and a 26-year-old son, Christopher Jr., who was played in the film by Smith’s son, Jaden.
“Jaden Smith kicked Will Smith’s butt every day,” Gardner says.
“Will’s a funny guy. … Think about it: No. 1 movie star in the world. Two-time Oscar nominee. Third-best actor in his own house.”
Gardner had doubts when he learned he would be played by Smith.
“We all think of Will as big, blockbuster, science fiction, outer-space extravaganza,” he said. “This movie is about inner space, not outer space.”
But Jacintha set him straight.
“She looked at me and said, ‘Pop. Don’t worry about it. If he can play Muhammad Ali, he can play you.’ “
The birthday bunch
Actor Leonard Nimoy is 76. Actor Alan Arkin is 73. Actor James Caan is 67. Singer Diana Ross is 63. Singer Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) is 59. Singer-actress Vicki Lawrence is 58. Singer Teddy Pendergrass is 57. Actor Martin Short is 57. Talk-show host Leeza Gibbons is 50. Actress Jennifer Grey is 47. Actor Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) is 41. Country singer Kenny Chesney is 39. Actor T.R. Knight (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 34. Rapper Juvenile is 32. Actress Amy Smart is 31. Actress Keira Knightley is 22. Rapper J-Kwon is 21.