If Sydney Lassick never gave another performance in his life, we could always relish the gift of his delicate and touching portrayal of Cheswick, the sweet-natured insane asylum inmate in the modern classic One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.  The scene in which he finally asserts himself and demands that he be given his cigarettes is as powerful today as it was when the film was released in 1975.

Fortunately for us, however, Lassick, who has appeared in such diverse films as Sister Act II: Back In the Habit with Whoopi Goldberg and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead with Christina Applegate, has no intention of hanging up his thespian hat anytime soon.  "From the time I was born, all I wanted to do was act," declares Lassick in a phone interview.  "I've acted my entire life and probably always will."

Although charming, humble and funny on the telephone, it was somewhat disappointing to miss out on one of Lassick's most wonderful and bankable traits-his face.  His is the face that can sustain a career.  His is the face that character actors dream of.  People may not always remember his name, but few forget that expressive, loveable face.

Born in Chicago, Lassick was influenced early on by the movies that played in a small theater across the street from his childhood home.  "I started hanging around the theater and helping out.  My training as an actor really started by studying the great actors who appeared in the films at the theater," confesses the skilled actor.

Lassick was taken away from his beloved films in order to serve his country in World War II.  However, once the war was over, he returned to Chicago to study theater at DePaul University, compliments of the G.I. Bill.

At DePaul, he studied the Stanislavsky method of acting under the instruction of David Itkin, who was a direct student of Stanislavsky.  He also studied with Itkin's daughter, Bella, who influenced Lassick tremendously.  "I was mesmerized by her directing," Lassick reflects.  "I wasn't one of her pets, so she would probably be surprised to hear this, but I really owe her a lot.  If not for some of her teachings, I could never have done Cuckoo's Nest."

The next logical step for the aspiring actor was Hollywood, and that is exactly where he landed.  He soon secured a clerk position at 20^th Century Fox Studio so that he could be close to the film community.  Whenever he had breaks from his job, he walked the studio lot and managed to sneak on to several sets.  He witnessed such large-than-life stars as Betty Grable, Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Joan Crawford, John Garfield and Olivia de Havilland as they worked and conducted business at Fox.

"One day, while on one of the sound stages, I came across Tyrone Power practicing his fencing.  He said that he didn't mind if I watched, so I did.  I will never forget that as long as I live."

The acting ball started to roll for Lassick when the director of the Jewish Community Center practically ordered him to audition for a production of the play, The Crucible, which was being done there.  "I didn't want to do it," Lassick remembers.  "I don't remember why I didn't want to but I didn't."

His performance in the play got him noticed by agent Len Kaplan, who signed him.  Slowly Lassick began getting small parts in films.  This led to a SAG card and the beginning of a career.  "Actor's today should definitely do theater," he encourages.  "It is a wonderful way to be seen."

Lassick was continuing to build his resume when along came One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, which was directed by Milos Forman and produced by, among others, Michael Douglas.  Supporting the film's stars Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, who would both go on to garnish Oscar's for their work, and holding his own against scene-stealing newcomers Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd, Lassick's acting career really took off.

He followed up Cuckoo's Nest with Brian De Palmas's critically acclaimed Carrie, starring Sissy Spacek, John Travolta, Piper Laurie, and current Broadway sensation, Betty Buckley.  He hasn't looked back since.

Currently Lassick is on staff at Bill Levey's Mazutsky Theatre Academy, where he lectures to acting students on his considerable industry experience.  In addition, he has been busy working on various film projects, including Freeway, which stars Keifer Sutherland, Amanda Plummer, Reese Witherspoon, and Brooke Shields.

Lassick loves working in independent films and feels that the independent film movement is very positive.  "Opportunities are much greater now than in my day.  The old studio system was very tight and hard to break into.  Now with all of the independent films and producers, there are more avenues for actor," he says.

In terms of opportunities for himself, Lassick admits that he would love to work with directors Woody Allen and Henry Jaglom (Venice/Venice, Eating).  "I really respect their inventiveness and their use of improvisation.  Improv interests me  very much.  It really brings out the feeling and emotions in acting.  It  takes real imagination to do it [improve] well," he says.  He remembers being back in his hometown of Chicago and attending a show at Second City.  The actors invited him up on stage to perform an improv skit with them.  "It was great fun for me, but I was amazed at the actors' skills.  I think I have a good imagination, but their imaginations go beyond the 12 mile reef!"

To struggling actors who are selling clothes at the mall and waiting tables, he generously offers words of wisdom: "If you really want to be an actor-or anything else, for that matter - you have to really, really want it.  You've gotta love it.  You've gotta want it. Study and read everything you can get your hands on.  This gives you life experience from which to draw from.  Hang in there, and above all, be persistent.  No matter how many times you are rejected, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep going."

His words are not simply empty dialogue.  It is his credence.  "It was always my dream to be an actor.  To have that dream come true is like winning the lottery," he jokes.

If Sydney Lassick's success is a victory, then it is a victory that film lovers everywhere, who appreciate fine acting, can share and savor.