‘Stink’ Fisher relishes pivotal role in ‘Lovely Bones’

By AMY LONGSDORF
For the Courier-Post

Forget about conventional acting lessons. Bill "Stink" Fisher learned his craft on the streets of Knollwood Drive in Cherry Hill.
Along with his younger brother and their pals, Fisher spent many an afternoon wrapped up in action-packed games of army. Pretending to be soldiers, they'd fill their backpacks with rations and speed around the neighborhood on their bikes, dodging imaginary gunfire.

"I always went all out," he recalls. "I'd hide under pine trees and we always had our walkie-talkies.

"I was acting and I loved it. It wasn't escapism for me; I just loved the element of exploration and pretend."

Of course, some of the neighbors thought the kids took their games a little too seriously.

"Everyone thought the Fisher kids were nuts," he says with a laugh. "Were were nuts from day one."

Nobody thinks Fisher is nuts anymore. The Cherry Hill East grad (class of 1988) has parlayed his powers of imagination into a successful career as an actor. He's appeared in "The Longest Yard," "Invincible" and "The Sopranos," while simultaneously running his Haddon Avenue eatery, Collingswood's The Pop Shop, with his wife, Connie Correia.

With "The Lovely Bones," opening Jan. 15, Fisher has one of the most attention-grabbing roles of his career. Under the direction of Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings"), Fisher plays the small but pivotal part of Mr. Connors, owner of a sinkhole used as a neighborhood dump by the movie's main characters, including a serial killer chillingly played by Stanley Tucci.

"We all loved Stink," says cast member Rose McIver. "He's terrific in the movie."

Set in 1970s Norristown and shot in such Pennsylvania locales as Eagle Springs, Malvern and Hatfield, the movie tells the tale of Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old who is raped and murdered on her way home from school.

As she prepares to ascend into heaven, Susie watches over her grieving family (McIver, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon) as they struggle to go on with their lives and track down the culprit (Tucci).

For Fisher, the experience of being directed by Jackson was one of the highlights of his career.

"When he selects you for a role, it makes you feel like you belong," says Fisher, who lives in Collingswood. "I couldn't get over being on the set, and getting notes on my character from Peter Jackson, the guy who pulled off the "Lord of the Rings' movies and "King Kong.' "

At the film's premiere, Jackson made a point of coming over to greet Fisher.

"My brother said, "If Peter Jackson stops in his tracks to talk to you, that's not a bad thing,' " Fisher recalls. "(Jackson) is a genuine dude."

Fisher is just as fond of Wahlberg, with whom he's worked on both "The Lovely Bones" and "Invincible."

"I saw Mark at the premiere and he remembered my mom from meeting her on "Invincible,' " says Fisher who has two children, 8 and 3.

"Mark is a genuine guy. What you see is what you get. No false pretenses with Mark."

Fisher comes by his love of show business naturally. His father, Herb Fisher, was an actor and playwright who also taught English at Cherry Hill West High School. Fisher's mother, Barbara, can claim to have been secretary to rocker Chubby Checker and to have turned down the opportunity in the early '60s to go to London to work for The Beatles.

As for his own performing impulses, Fisher muses, "I've been full of drama my whole life; I just needed to figure out a way to channel it."

Despite his long-standing love of acting, Fisher followed a different path after graduating from Cherry Hill East. "Football came first," says Fisher, who was subsequently drafted by the Jets.

On the field is where Stink landed his smelly handle.

"People were always yelling, "You stink, Fisher!' I thought that was my name so I kept it."

After his sports career ended, it was a promo for Monday Night Football which reignited Fisher's passion for performing. A sizeable role as a football player in "The Longest Yard" followed, and Fisher hasn't stopped working since.

In 2005, Fisher and his wife, a longtime food writer, decided Haddon Avenue needed a family-friendly restaurant.

The Pop Shop is now one of the town's most popular restaurants, even drawing the attention of Bobby Flay, who visited in 2008 for a grilled-cheese contest.

Upcoming for Fisher is the small role of a bar patron who gets into a scuffle with Drew Barrymore in "Going the Distance." Also on the burner is is a reality series tentatively titled "The King's Ransom," which Fisher is developing with Fox-TV.

"Running a restaurant, you get to be very creative," he explains.

"I love the teamwork. But there's just something special about being on a film set, with a film crew, and being a part of that; I love the creative process.

"I feel more alive doing that than anything else."

Amy Longsdorf reports on the movie industry for the Courier-Post. Reach her at movieamy@aol.com.

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