"I worked for the recreation and parks department for a year"
About this Quote
The intent feels disarming: an assertion that celebrity is not a natural state, that the famous body on screen once belonged to an ordinary payroll. There’s also a subtle class signal in “recreation and parks” - municipal, public-facing, lightly unglamorous work that suggests early mornings, field maintenance, summer programs, a paycheck earned in the background of other people’s leisure. It’s the inverse of Hollywood’s myth that talent gets discovered fully formed under perfect lighting.
The subtext is credibility. Majors is telling you he didn’t teleport into stardom; he had a job that required showing up even when nobody clapped. For an actor from his era, that matters: mid-century American masculinity prized steadiness and utility. The quote quietly aligns him with that ethic while also making his later fame feel earned rather than bestowed.
Contextually, it plays like an interview aside - a quick grounding detail offered to puncture the inflated story. In a culture addicted to origin myths, the mundanity is the point.
Quote Details
| Topic | Work |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Majors, Lee. (2026, January 16). I worked for the recreation and parks department for a year. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-worked-for-the-recreation-and-parks-department-104257/
Chicago Style
Majors, Lee. "I worked for the recreation and parks department for a year." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-worked-for-the-recreation-and-parks-department-104257/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I worked for the recreation and parks department for a year." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-worked-for-the-recreation-and-parks-department-104257/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.


