NORTHRIDGE : Injuries Teach Actor Success and Survival

As a successful television actor, Robert David Hall knows what it means to enter a room and be recognized.

But he said he has rarely experienced the emotion he encountered last month when he was honored for his work on behalf of burn victims.

It came from more than 300 burn survivors at a meeting of the World Burn Congress in San Francisco.

Hall, a burn victim himself, helped make a documentary about burn injuries, treatment and the role of friends and loved ones in the healing process.

“These people had seen me when they were in recovering in the critical burn wards,” Hall said.

Looking at the medal he received for his role in the film, Hall said, “I felt like the cowardly lion in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ ”

More than 15 years ago, Hall survived a fiery car accident that resulted in third- and fourth-degree burns over 60% of his body and the amputation of both his legs.

As a film, television and voice-over actor, Hall has overcome the loss of his legs. His latest endeavor was playing the villain in “Dream Lover,” which starred James Spader.

As a disabled actor, Hall said he faces the unique situation of living with the disfigurement caused by burns in an industry where “You can’t just be OK looking.”

Hall said his experiences have taught him “beauty does come from the inside.”

Hall said he believes that his accident served a purpose. He has similar feelings about another tragedy that touched him personally.

He suffered $70,000 to $80,000 in damage to his Northridge home in the earthquake.

“That was the second scariest event in my life,” recalled Hall, who sees parallels between the quake and his accident.

He believes something positive will come from the earthquake’s devastation. “That’s not hippie mumbo-jumbo either,” Hall said.

Despite his success in both his life and career, Hall insisted, “I’m not a hero. I survived and managed to do just a little better than just survive.”