From the January 19, 2006 edition of the Notheast Times Nate’s the secret star By Jeannie O’Sullivan Times Staff Writer A few months ago, Liz Harbison learned more than she bargained for from a routine workplace training video. The film covered serious health-care workplace issues like ethics and harassment, but Harbison, the marketing director of the Deer Meadows retirement community in Pennypack Circle, couldn’t help laughing at the little man in the wheelchair who got fresh with a nurse. "‘ Is that Nate? That’s our Nate!’" said Harbison, imitating her reaction at recognizing the Deer Meadows resident. Indeed, 97-year-old Nate Lazowicz had been secretively tending an acting career he’d started 22 years before. The bubbly, 5-foot-tall widower, who’s prone to spontaneous song-and-dance routines, never told anyone about his involvement with Full Circle, an acting troupe from Temple University’s Center for Intergenerational Learning, nor the gigs he’d scored as a result of joining it. " But I’m not an actor. I’m just a show-off," the modest senior explains. "I’m a little guy. I’ve got to make up for certain things, you know?" But his thespian endeavors are getting harder and harder to downplay. People have already spotted Lazowicz on TV and heard him on the radio. A few months ago, Full Circle’s facilitator, Sharon Gellar, told Lazowicz about a production company that needed actors to film a commercial for CarSense, the online used-car dealer. Lazowicz was chosen over three other seniors who tried out for the part. The TV spot, currently airing on all major networks and Comcast cable stations, shows Lazowicz sitting in a Hummer that practically swallows his tiny frame. In the radio ad, he plays an argumentative old man who just can’t fathom a haggle-free car-buying experience. The agency had sent a limousine to pick him up and drive him to the set. " I was walking on air," said Lazowicz. Before the CarSense commercial, his forums included a few industrial training videos and performances at the synagogues, schools and retirement homes he visited with Full Circle. His favorite routines are the sillier skits, like the one he showcased one afternoon last week in a common room at Deer Meadows. "‘ Honey, we’ve been married 46 wonderful years! I’m gonna fly you to Niagara, I’m gonna swallow my Viagra, and aw-a-a-a-y we’ll go!’" Nate Lazowicz sang as he flapped his arms in circular motions. During his entertaining contributions to Full Circle, people will burst into applause and sometimes even rush up to Lazowicz as he takes his bow, according to Gellar. " He’s vibrant. Wherever we would go, people would find him fascinating," she said. Full Circle is an apt description for a career path that curved its way from a summer job at the Shubert Theatre in 1926 to his recent radio and TV ads, with a 20-plus-year stint as a Depression-era poultry salesman in between. Lazowicz and his wife Sarah, who succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease two months ago, raised four kids throughout various Philadelphia locations. Harbison said Lazowicz’s sense of humor kept him and everyone else afloat when Sarah’s sickness worsened. "He would sit there every day, holding her hand and smiling," said Harbison. Full Circle threw a retirement party for Lazowicz a few months ago, when he decided to "ease out" of acting. He said he might consider more work, if it comes his way. Deer Meadows, however, is not bereft of his antics. When Lazowicz led the community’s eight-day Hanukkah celebration last month, he topped off the solemn prayer rituals with a smack on the lips for each of the female residents. "I kissed every one of them and they loved it. I loved it too," he recalled, grinning. "The next day, they stood in line waiting." Reporter Jeannie O’Sullivan can be reached at 215-354-3038 or osullivanj@phillynews.com