ACTING ON A DREAM FINDING ANOTHER PASSION AFTER RETIREMENT, CANOGA PARK RESIDENT TURNS DREAM INTO A SUCCESSFUL SECOND CAREER ON THE SMALL SCREEN.

Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer

Like his father and grandfather before him, Bill Young realized his childhood dream of becoming a firefighter, battling countless blazes while stationed for 33 years.

But it was his pursuit of Hollywood stardom upon retirement in June 1999 that landed the 57-year-old Canoga Park resident on the cover of the November issue of Money magazine.

Just more than a year after leaving the Ventura County Fire Department, Young said he already has a long resume full of parts on daytime soap operas and nighttime dramas.

``I worked my dream job, and this is my new dream,'' Young said. ``It's kind of like, when you leave one passion, you better find another. Otherwise, it will leave an emptiness in you. Acting is just a real fun thing to do because you're being more honest with your emotions than you've ever been in your life. In real life we're constantly hiding our emotions.''

Young is not alone in his pursuit of a life after retirement, notes Marion Asnes, a senior editor at the magazine that specializes in unveiling financial trends through the stories of real people.

The publication was planning a cover story on people who pursue their dream job after retiring from the one that paid the bills.

``It was the radical difference in switching from firefighting to actor that makes him kind of a romantic figure,'' Asnes said. ``This is a society where we're encouraged to knuckle down and meet our responsibilities and be a good worker. He's done all those things. And then he was able to turn around and say, I'm doing to do what I want now, in my retirement. And what makes his example even more encouraging is that he's had some success at it.''

Although the desire to act did not emerge until he was in his mid-20s, Young discovered early on that movies were an escape from the tranquillity of his family's cattle ranch in the rural outskirts of St. Louis.

His early cinematic hero was William Boyd, who played Hopalong Cassidy; as Young grew older, he switched allegiance to Jack Lemmon. He also developed a serious crush on Shirley MacLaine.

``I was a little kid in a country town with 437 people,'' he said, of Jonesburg, Miss. ``Hollywood was a complete other world to me, like it didn't even belong to my world. It never occurred to me that I would be on a television screen or movie screen.''

Young's father, Dick, now an 85-year-old Chatsworth resident, began his firefighting career in the same station in which his own father worked.

But when a drought in 1954 destroyed the family ranch, they moved to California, where Dick spent 20 years as a firefighter for Rocketdyne, retiring in 1978.

Bill Young worked his way up to the rank of captain during a career that spanned six stations in Simi Valley, Oak Park and Wood Ranch.

Although he managed to escape serious injury, he once fell through a second-story floor after it burned out from under him, and another time, he fell down a hill onto a bed of rocks.

Climbing up ladders while carrying heavy hoses took its toll on his knees - both of which have been operated on - forcing him to begin thinking about retirement a decade ago.

``I knew I was going to have to get another job,'' said Young, whose four youngest of six children, ages 15 to 33, still live at home. ``I still had kids to raise.''

Young started thinking about acting as a second career and began an intense study of the craft, including a nine-month stint under Lynn Redgrave.

To Young's surprise, he was hired to do a commercial for a small airline two months after he began his training. Eight more commercials followed to date.

He also quickly landed his first part on television, playing a fire captain on the daytime soap opera ``General Hospital.''

``That's what opened the door,'' Young said. ``People realized I was a bonafide actor, and I started getting other roles.''

His small-screen rank was upgraded to fire chief for a recurring role on ``Port Charles.''

Additional roles include playing a woodsman and doctor on separate episodes of ``Days of Our Lives,'' a maintenance supervisor on the ``The Young and the Restless,'' and a company chief executive officer on ``The Bold and the Beautiful.''

Not typecast for soap opera work alone, Young has also played a campaign manager on ``7th Heaven,'' a security chief on ``The Practice,'' a doctor on ``Unsolved Mysteries,'' and the father-in-law of a murdered woman on ``Arrest and Trial.''

And now cast as the coverboy by Money editors, who selected him and his wife, Linda, from 20 cover photo candidates for the cover photo.

``They are very vibrant,'' Asnes said. ``That just made them a great choice for the cover. And the fact that they are a very nice-looking couple didn't hurt.''

So far, Young's talents have earned him about $20,000. But with $70,000 a year in pension and savings to supplement his income, he remains undeterred.

``I don't put a dollar sign on it,'' he said. ``I'm hoping I will make enough to help my family.''

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(1 -- 2 -- color) Linda and Bill Young laugh at the article featuring the couple in Money magazine. Bill Young has found life after retirement acting.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer