Learning the Hard Way : Stage: Following her controversial portrayal of Snow White on the Academy Awards, La Mesa’s Eileen Bowman found she had to grow up fast to survive in Hollywood. Now she’s landed a prime part in ‘Tales of Tinseltown.’

Just over two years ago, La Mesa-born actress Eileen Bowman collided with the entertainment industry in her national television debut. Bowman, then 22 and a near-novice in the business, portrayed a slightly racy Snow White who flirted with notorious bad-boy actor Rob Lowe during the 61st Academy Awards telecast.

The Walt Disney Co. took exception with the skit and sued the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Bowman found herself in the midst of a full-scale Hollywood controversy.

Naive and not at all racy herself, Bowman was taken by surprise. For a while, she was set back by the storm of publicity and even considered leaving the business.

But Bowman persevered, and, as is often the case, being at the heart of a controversy may have helped her career. It certainly gave her a slightly harder edge, something that helps her survive the ups and downs of the trade.

Bowman is back in San Diego now, rehearsing for a leading role in Michael Colby’s “Tales of Tinseltown,” which premiers Thursday at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre. Ironically, the musical comedy centers on Hollywood scandals, a subject close to Bowman’s personal experience. During a rehearsal break, Bowman spun a few “Tinseltown Tales” of her own.

“I’m very fortunate to have had the Oscars experience,” Bowman said. “It was wonderful and I loved it, but it was a lot thrown at a naive, little 22-year-old.”

At the time of the Academy Awards, Bowman said, she was unprepared for the business side of crafting a career in Hollywood. In an interview in The Times shortly after the Oscars show, Bowman said she was interested in neither money nor fame, but just in how she could use a career to help others.

Bowman appears shrewder now.

“After the Oscars I would go to auditions and it never failed, the first 10 minutes we’d be talking about (the Snow White ordeal). And it was so much so, I thought maybe I shouldn’t have it on my resume. But then I thought, I am going to have it on my resume,” Bowman said.

“I’m proud of what I did. I worked really hard on the show.”

Bowman also realized the importance of having some sort of professional hook. Castingdirectors sometimes audition hundreds of actors for a single role, but Bowman stood out duringthe many “cattle calls” because of her Oscars experience.

During the past two years, Bowman has landed numerous film and television roles, including parts in the made-for-TV-movie “Writer’s Block” and the forthcoming feature film “Killer Tomatoes Go To France.” Despite these modest successes, Bowman has also seen her share of the down side of the business.

“I used to be very naive,” Bowman reiterated. “Unfortunately, you can’t be that way in this business. That’s what I learned. I learned the hard way. I learned by people.” Her voice trailed off. “I just saw some pretty ugly things.”

She encountered management problems as well as a contractual discrepancy with an employer, but she refuses to discuss the details of either situation.

“I don’t think I can because there were some lawsuits involved, some pretty ugly stuff. I basically let it happen because I was naive and thought: ‘These people are my friends.’ But they didn’t act like friends.

“I thought: ‘OK. I’ve got to be a businesswoman, too.’ That’s really not easy for me to be, but I have to.

“I don’t get pushed around anymore.”

Ironically, the character Bowman plays in “Tales of Tinseltown” is similarly victimized by some slimy Hollywood characters.

“I felt exactly the way my character (Ellie Nash) feels in the play,” Bowman said. “I relate to her a lot.

“Ellie just wants to be a star. She reads these (gossip) magazines and wants to get off this farm and go to Hollywood. But she doesn’t have any way of doing that. And then Elmo (the romantic male lead) comes along on his bicycle and says, ‘I hear you want to go to Hollywood,’ and he takes me from Kansas to Hollywood on his bike.”

Bowman’s character breaks into movies by imitating farm animal noises, and soon becomes a jaded starlet.

“I become a star,” laughed Bowman. “I dye my hair blond. I get kind of affected. Just a little. And then I sleep around with a lot of men.”

Bowman’s character is eventually brutalized by the cutthroat nature of Hollywood. Bowman recognizes the parallels.

“I haven’t slept around with anybody, but yeah, I’ve had some similar emotional ups and downs. All actors have.

“Believe me, I use all that stuff that happened to me (in preparing for) my character.”

Despite her tribulations, Bowman remains optimistic about continuing a career in show business. Bowman and her fiancee, 29-year-old actor Michael Berry, live in North Hollywood and continue to plug away at their craft.

“I just want to keep performing. I want to do television and film and more stage. I hope this show goes somewhere and I hope I go with it.”

“Tales of Tinseltown” opens Thursday at the Hahn Cosmopolitan Theatre Company, 444 Fourth Ave. The musical runs through July 7 with performances Tuesday-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m., with matinee performances Wednesday and Sunday at 2. Tickets are $18-$25. 234-9583.