Christian Benjamin Seaborn is the surviving son of Nora and John Seaborn.

 

Like his brother, Christian found his calling early in life.

 

In a letter dated November 26, 1979 to the CBS news program 60 Minutes, Nora addressed the issue of domestic violence, going into great deal (which was unusual for her) about their lives living with a man, her husband and the father of her sons, who could be lethally dangerous.

 

Of her two sons, she wrote:

 

     “I am sixty-three years old and have two wonderful sons, our oldest

     a marine biologist and underwater photographer, our youngest an actor

     and a writer. I am grateful for them and to be alive.”

 

The final article that Charles would write came some time in 2012. Like his mother, Charles was guarded about discussing his traumatic childhood. Even discussing it with his brother was like pulling teeth. Yet, in this final article, he was quite candid. In part, he wrote:

 

     “Thanks to…an exceptionally perceptive mother, I am one of those very

     lucky people who found their passion at an early age. My mother carefully

     observed the powerful connection I had made with fish. At the same time,

     she brilliantly provided me with a psychological escape route from the

     chaos that surrounded our home.”

 

While Charles was, at the age of 12, laying the groundwork for what would be a long and impressive international career as a marine biologist, author and underwater photographer, that same year Christian, at the age of 10, was starting his own career as an actor.

 

Like fish had for Charles (with eight salt water aquariums that Nora had bought for “Number One Son” (her designation for Charles having been the eldest)), acting in theater productions had been Christian’s way for having something to do away from the “chaos” that surrounded their home. Like with Number One Son, Number Two Son also had the total support of Nora in his endeavors.

 

For Christian, the whole theater thing had started when he fell in love with Louis Armstrong’s hit single Hello, Dolly. When Mr. Armstrong had come to Portland to do an hour concert, Nora had taken him to see the performance. But that was not the end of it. After the concert Nora (who had never met Louis Armstrong) arranged for her son to not only meet his idol but to sing an impromptu version of Hello, Dolly with the international entertainer.

 

After that, Christian was off and rolling, appearing in theater productions all over the city of Portland. Oddly, it was the combination of both his parents who kept the ball rolling.

 

When John’s father had his own Seaborn Shipyards in Tacoma, Washington during World War I, Bing Crosby (on his way towards moving to Los Angeles and becoming a singing and acting film star) had been a frequent guest at the home of Charles and Mary Helen Seaborn, John’s parents. Learning of this connection, Nora (having never met Bing Crosby either) wrote the film star in 1971. With a little nudge of Mr. Crosby’s former friendship with the Seaborns fifty years earlier, the film star wrote back, saying that 14 year-old Christian should do as much theater as he could in Portland in order to both learn the craft of acting as well as to build up a resume.

 

Christian took the star’s advice to heart. By the time Christian was eighteen and graduating from the Oregon Episcopal School in Portland (where he and his brother had attended from preschool through high school graduation), he had directed, stage managed, designed sets and lighting or appeared on stage in close to thirty productions.

 

Following additional theater studies at both the University of Puget Sound (where his brother was attending) and the University of Portland, Christian moved to Los Angeles to pursue his professional objectives of working in the national film and television industry. He was 19 years old.

 

After his first guest star appearance on the sit-com RHODA for the CBS Television Network, he went on to appear on other sit-coms for both the CBS and the ABC Networks. His most notable work came playing the lawyer on CBS’ hit show, WKRP IN CINCINNATI.

 

From acting, he then branched out into other aspects of the industry, working first as an agent then adding writing, producing and video editing to his credentials. After a leave-of-absence from show business (for four years he worked as a groom and exercise rider of racehorses), he returned to acting in 2000, working both in Hollywood and in London, England.

 

Prior to moving back to Reno, Nevada in October of 2009 (he had lived in Reno from 1994 to 1999, during which time he worked as a commercial producer for KTVN-TV, the CBS Affiliate television station for Northern Nevada), for several years he operated his own small business in southern California designing websites.

 

Once, in the fall of 1981, the Seaborn brothers merged their professional backgrounds. The project was for the Education Department of the famed Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois.

 

They co-wrote and co-produced a presentation on how to use media for educational purposes. While Charles handled all the camera work, Christian played a dozen different characters in the production, including donning a dress and wig to portray an actress in the production.

 

For Christian’s 25th birthday that year, on Christmas Eve Charles presented his brother with a life-size, full-length framed copy of Christian’s one-time effort as a female impersonator. For many years, the photo hung in the offices of Garden Manor, the Seaborns’ wedding and reception business in Portland, Oregon.