Acting Out
A father's pursuit of his passion
By Katherine Puglisi

When his youngest son, Wyatt, challenged him to audition for the local community theater, Sam Gentry thought, How hard can it be? It was spring 2008 and Gentry was ready for a new challenge. Despite never having acted before, he tried out for the theater's presentation of Wait Until Dark. To everyone's surprise, he landed a leading role.

"I grew a lot through that experience," said Gentry, reflecting back. "The director took me under his wing and taught me about performing in the theater. The hardest part was memorizing lines, but once I got that down, I found I had a natural ability to develop a character."

Gentry enjoyed performing so much that he tried out for several more auditions, and in 2008, he performed in four different shows, in addition to working his day job as an F-22 technical support engineer at Aeronautics in Marietta.

"My job is different every day, which fits my talents and personality well. It's the same with acting," he said.

After debuting his talents in local shows, Gentry heard about the Be an Ethics Star! contest introduced by the Lockheed Martin Ethics office inspring 2009.

Wanting to venture beyond stage acting into film, Gentry was immediately excited about the opportunity and quickly began preparing an audition tape. This corporate-wide contest was an open audition for employees interested in acting in a future ethics-related video project.

Then, during that summer, Gentry's son, Wyatt, unexpectedly passed away at the age of 14. After the tragedy, Gentry lost his passion for acting and decided not to pursue the ethics contest after all.

But when he received a reminder about the contest several months later, he had a change of heart and decided to audition.

"I've always told my kids to pursue their passions because the worst that can happen is you don't get the job or the part, but at least you know you tried," Gentry said. "So I followed my own advice and half-heartedly made an audition tape."

Out of more than 225 Lockheed Martin entrants representing every business area from all over the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, Gentry was one of three employees selected to act in a Lockheed Martin ethics video.

"From the auditions, you could tell employees enjoyed participating in this new contest where their creativity and talents can contribute to and support the ethical culture at Lockheed Martin," said Brian Sears, Corporate Ethics director and contest originator. "The judges were very pleased with the quantity and quality of the auditions."

Gentry and fellow winners Azar Allen, with Information Systems and Global Services (IS&GS), and Gaby Aparicio, with Mission Systems and Sensors (MS2), flew to Hollywood, Calif., and starred in the 16th installment of the Ethics Integrity Minute series that debuted in late January 2010.

"The night Azar, Gaby and I arrived in Los Angeles, we went to dinner, and our personalities clicked right away," said Gentry. "The next day we began shooting, and we only had one day to make it happen. The chemistry between us was so great that we rehearsed each scene only once."

Gentry's hope is that his participation, alongside Azar and Gaby, helps increase employee awareness of the Integrity Minute videos and, in turn, the message that ethics in the workplace is vital to Lockheed Martin's success.

Sam Gentry and his sons, Levi (left) and Wyatt (right), visit the Anderson National Historic Site, Ga., in June 2009.

Although he wasn't sure if he would enjoy acting for film as much as performing in live theater, Gentry was pretty much hooked after filming ended. He now hopes to do a commercial or be an extra in one of the many movies filmed in the southeast.

"All three of my kids are talented in the arts — it comes naturally to them," said Gentry. "My kids grew up learning how to work outdoors, but have a creative side as well. My wife and I believe that comes from me; I love working on airplanes, but I have an artistic side, too."

Gentry and his wife, Renee, live on a farm south of the Marietta facility with their 21-year-old son, Levi, and 16-year-old daughter, Kelsey.

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