McMinnville resident Kirby Brumfield poses with his wife Mena and three portraits of himself portraying famous figures such as the Apostles (top) and Mark Twain (bottom).

Marcus Larson
NewsRegister.com

Kirby Brumfield has a mischievous streak, which makes it difficult for him to give a plain ol' answer if there's a chance to substitute one wrapped in fancy gift paper.

Ask him how he met his wife, a Brazilian native.

He could tell you that he met Mena and one of her friends at a dance when he was in graduate school, gave the exotic Portuguese-speaking girls a ride home, then returned the next day intent on visiting Mena's friend.

It turned out he had gone to Mena's house instead. But that mistake ultimately had a very happy ending.

He doesn't tell you that, however - at least not at first - opting instead for something more theatrical. "I saved Mena from a marauding tribe in the Amazon and we escaped down the river by boat," he boasts in a deep, rich voice.

It's a voice that inspired viewers' confidence when he worked in Portland television. And it continues to inspire those who attend his one-man shows.

"I'm always one for the dramatic," said Brumfield, who recently moved from Portland to a cottage at Hillside Manor.

He and his wife brought their collection of old-fashioned clothes irons. More importantly, they brought Kirby's collection of disguises, which transform him into a variety of characters.

Brumfield had the idea for solo shows when he saw Hal Holbrook appear as Twain. He tinkered with the one-man concept, trying to figure out how he could adapt it to a performance for his church.

He now does a show as the Apostle Paul and another about Christ's life, featuring an array of biblical figures.

The script comes straight from the Bible. "It's just a matter of using the Word," he said.

He also does an American history program called "Voices of Freedom," in which a variety of historical characters come to life. He uses their actual writings, such as Patrick Henry's famous "give me liberty or give me death" speech.

"I use my imagination to determine how they spoke," he said. "Patrick Henry must have been very dramatic. Lincoln was very sincere, but apparently didn't have a great voice.

"I take some liberty with him. My Abe Lincoln is more like me doing Raymond Massey doing Lincoln."

Brumfield said he's proud to be able to present history in a way that draws listeners.

"We're getting so far away from appreciating the heritage of this country," he said. "What those guys did was unbelievable. They went up against the strongest country in the world, and they won."

Brumfield grew up on Sauvie Island, in the Columbia River just west of Portland. No bridge connected the island with the shore, just a ferry.

Several times, he said, he returned from high school wrestling meets or other athletic competitions too late to catch the ferry, and ended up having to sleep in his car on the riverbank.

His parents were educators, but they dreamed of raising their family on a farm. So Brumfield spent his early years working with dairy cows, sometimes treating them to a country song since he dreamed of being a singing star.

The cows didn't mind, he said, but he soon realized he couldn't carry a tune in a milk bucket.

He also dreamed of performing. Although he was shy as a kid, he loved the limelight, so participated in speaking contests and plays.

He planned to end up in Hollywood. But first he knew he had to finish school.

"My parents always said, 'When you go to college ...' It was just assumed," he said.

He majored in agriculture - just something for the future star to fall back on - at Oregon State University.

He acted in plays such as "Arsenic and Old Lace," "Death Takes a Holiday" and "The Taming of the Shrew." One day, he recalled, he walked into the empty theater building, climbed onto the darkened stage and knew, "This is what I want."

He went on to the University of Wisconsin to pursue a master's degree in agricultural journalism. At Wisconsin, he not only met his future wife, he also learned about filmmaking.

He found work on the side as an assistant to a German filmmaker. They spent summers shooting home and farm films around Wisconsin, then winters editing and adding narration.

To pay graduate school bills, he took an announcer job with the local NBC affiliate as well.

After finishing school, he moved to Washington to become a filmmaker for the agricultural extension service there. Sometimes he appeared on camera as well.

A representative of Seattle's ABC station saw him on camera and offered him a job as the home and garden reporter on a new ABC start-up in Portland, KATU.

The chance to be on television in his home state was a dream come true. "Blessing, blessing, blessing," he said.

He started work before the station even went on the air. By the time the first show aired, he had an added responsibility: He had been named KATU's first weatherman.

"When they offered that job to me, I said, 'Sure.' I knew I'd have more exposure on the evening news than I would just in the morning," he said. "Anyway, at that point, I would've paid them for the job."

Brumfield did the weather for four years, then hosted a talk show for the next eight. The show afforded him the opportunity to go to Hollywood each year - at last! - to interview ABC stars.

He also got the opportunity, which thrilled him, to act on about a dozen network shows. He did guest spots on "Batman," "The Green Hornet" and "The FBI," among others.

With his filmmaking background, he had the chance to go behind the scenes and see special effects work and other parts of television and movie shooting. "I was not only impressed by the stars, but also by the cameramen and special effects people," he said.

Visiting Hollywood and being part of the television industry was a special treat for Brumfield. But many of his experiences have been equally special - most of them, in fact, as he sees the potential in almost everything.

"I'm kind of an adventurer," he said. "And Mena supports that. When I come up with ideas, she's always game to go."

They've skydived together. They've also visited parts of the Amazon Basin where Americans rarely go, traveling on boats that normally carry only natives.

In 2000, they traveled the entire length of the world's longest river. At one point, they missed a large boat and had to hire a small aluminum boat with a speedy outboard motor to catch up.

In complete darkness, punctuated by lightning strikes, they crossed the Amazon, dodging floating logs and other debris. When they caught the larger boat, they were questioned by military police as suspected drug traffickers.

They easily could have landed in a Brazilian prison, or in the river as piranha food. Instead, they made it home with a story that even Brumfield doesn't need to embellish.

One adventure that his wife skipped was Brumfield's climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. A first-time mountain climber at age 71, he scaled the 19,340-foot African peak because, he joked, "It was there."

Actually, he had been intrigued by stories about Kilimanjaro, including a tale of a Portland man who died there of altitude sickness. When a house guest in her 20s told him about her climb, he decided to see if he could equal the accomplishment.

Climbing Kilimanjaro starts with four days of hiking gradually upward to 15,000 feet. The fifth day starts at midnight as hikers make a steep ascent to the peak.

"You're fighting for breath," he said. "It's an oxygen challenge more than a technical climb. It's just gutting it out to the top."

Brumfield ended each of the first four days saying he was done. But the next morning, he said, he awoke refreshed and ready to continue.

When it came time for the fifth day, however, his guide said he should stop. He was suffering some balance problems and shouldn't risk the sheer drop-offs along the route.

"I thought, have I come all this way to NOT go all the way? And I said, 'I'm going,'" he recalled. "Two hours later, I was at the top. I was so satisfied."