2023

Extended Biography

This is the juicy, fun, extended biography.

Here is a link to the bland, simple, Mini Bio. 

Activist. Performing Artist. Author. Philosopher. Singer.

Auntie. Friend. Mother. Sister. Wife.

Jane of all trades master of none, is better they say than a master of one.

PURPOSE

In her youth, Sage Justice imagined herself the love child of Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbra Streisand. She saw her purpose in life as making society a more equitable place while entertaining along the way. The press coined Sage the “Mother Teresa of Theatre” during the run of her first one woman show (Simply Complicated Life, 1993) which raised money for multiple charities, some of which are listed below.

Penny McGuiggan of Los Angeles Film and Music Magazine had this to say about Sage’s performance,

Sage and her husband found a way to marry music (Streisand) with service (MLK, Jr.) by working with The Salvation Army each Thanksgiving and Christmas: serving food, organizing coat drives, and leading Christmas carols (1989-2009). However, they knew people needed help not just on the holidays but year-round; and so Sage co-founded “The Reach Out Program,” as a member of Women in Theatre. Performers who were able to volunteer were paired with various charitable organizations in need of service (PATH, Children of the Night, The Children’s Institute International, AID 4 AIDS, Project Angel Food, AIDS Project Los Angeles, Planned Parenthood, Last Chance for Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and Sybil Brand Prison). Sage states, “We each have something of value to offer one another. Whether we teach computer skills to women in prison, entertain children in burn units to distract them from their pain, read to the elderly, teach poetry or improv to runaways, or visit abused and neglected animals in shelters, our presence alone can be healing.”

NEWSLETTER | PODCAST

Ms. Justice is the host of the free podcast, Sage Words, available on Apple and Spotify: a companion to Sage Words subscription based newsletter available on Substack. Each month, she shares excepts from her books that include expanded perspectives based on empathy and wisdom from historical sages, which center around relevant issues in the current news cycle such as:

• Income inequities

• Gun control

• Reproductive freedoms

• Relationship dynamics

• Observational stories of joy and inspiration

With a focus on solution based journalism, Sage ends each podcast with attainable action steps to empower individuals through civic engagement.

SUCCESS

While Sage may have dreamed of being a Nobel peace prize winning EGOT recipient (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) for spreading healing love, laughter, and understanding through the arts (she took to heart the advice: reach for the moon and land among the stars), and while she likes to playfully poke fun of herself that she’s a “has-been that never was,” she measures her success by the misquoted words of Bessie Anderson Stanley (often incorrectly attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson), “To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; This is to have succeeded.”

Like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, the biggest dreams of her youth have yet to come true and yet, also like GB, she feels grateful for the love she expresses and receives as an auntie, friend, mother, sister, and wife. Nonetheless, Sage has achieved a modicum of achievements as a performer and writer. What follows is the highlight reel of what she refers to as her “turn of molehills into mountains / Forest Gump moments of noteworthy success” that pepper her professional life, and a brief biography on her triumphant personal life.

WRITER

Sage Justice is an award-winning playwright, poet, freelance writer, songwriter, and author of Sage Words, Almost Everything You Need to Know, an elegant and evergreen seven-book series of Life 101 books, the first of which: Sage Words FREEDOM Book One, is available on Amazon. She also contributed an essay in Virgin Territory (Cathy Alter / Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House); and an untitled memoir to be released in 2023/24. Ms. Justice has also published literary prose, poems, and op-ed pieces in Kveller, BLUNTMoms, The Mighty, Life Learning Magazine, and Mothers Always Write. Her writing has been compared to Walt Whitman (by an English professor), Marcus Aurelius (by an Amazon reviewer, also a teacher), and Brené Brown (by some guy on social media who thinks he’s a teacher).

Sage wrote poetry as a young child, short stories as a teen, and got her start as a professional writer as a hostess at a Jewish Deli where the boss’s wife paid her in rugelach to create descriptions on Beverly Hills beauty products. Living in Los Angeles, home of networking opportunities, this naturally led to a meeting with Gary Marshall (Pretty Woman) in Toluca Lake. He encouraged Sage to write screenplays and sketch comedy for film, television, and theatre. Some of these were used in professional acting classes and performances and found their way on the television shows like 90210 and Saturday Night Live, while most of them have collected dust and rejection letters. Gary taught Sage that it was OK to let a script sit until the world was ready for it to be produced, at which time opportunity would meet preparedness.

ACTOR

As a member of The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Actors’ Equity Association, Sage Justice had many roles that were mostly small, yet still notable. For example, she played the daughter of Mayor Pugen (the mayor who spontaneously combusted) in the David E. Kelley series, Picket Fences, which won 14 Emmy Awards and one Golden Globe Award over the course of its four-year run. Sage had the honor of working alongside fabulous critically acclaimed actors on Picket Fences, like Fyvush Finkle and Michael Keenan. However, what she remembers most, is what happened off camera: delightfully watching Ray Walston (My Favorite Martian), ride his bicycle around the set between takes, talking politics with Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), in the makeup chairs, having spiritual conversations over lunch with Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist), and harmonizing “Going to the Chapel” with her onscreen mother and sister.

Sage also appeared in maybe a dozen episodes of one of her grandmother’s favorite soap operas, General Hospital, during a storyline between Max and Scorpio (played by Tristan Roberts, who Sage studied with at Brian Reise Acting Studio). The moments that stuck with her most during that time were between takes. Sage has a vivid memory of everything coming to a halt on set when the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced and bearing witness to Anthony Geary’s (Luke) reaction. She also recalls the tender moment of watching Genie Frances (Laura) walk with her toddler son in the hallways near the dressing rooms and the signs one passed to get to the sound stage that read, “Warning: Cancer Causing Materials.” As an empathic person, Sage tends to take in everything in her environment and record her memories on multiple levels of sensory experience.

As a commercial actor, Sage was nominated for a Clio Award for a commercial she starred in as an excited, first-time car buyer. This had the double-edged sword effect of casting directors subconsciously associating her face with car commercials and therefore calling her in for many of those auditions, only for the advertising companies to eventually cite a conflict of interest in the final callbacks (not wanting the face recognition for one car brand to be associated with another). It’s been decades now, so maybe someone will give her another chance.

Only 2% of all union actors, those who can officially call themselves professional actors, are able to make a living at their chosen profession. Sage was in the 98% who did not. Nevertheless, she paid her dues, literally and metaphorically, and learned that the most important job of any actor is to hone one’s craft, listen, remain emotionally open, be on time, know your lines, and hit your mark—all of which she excelled at.

 One of the best ways to stay a working actor is to create your own work. Toward that goal, Sage decided to create Integrity Productions (1993-2004) and Integrity Management (1998-2000). Inspired by Carol Burnett, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, and Tracey Ullman, Sage wrote, produced, and performed two solo plays: Simply Complicated Life (1993, Los Angeles), an autobiographical celebration of the integrity, tenacity, and resilience of the individual spirit; and To Breed or Not to Breed (2002, New York), in which she portrayed over 50 different characters from around the globe to delve into the social and political topics of reproductive freedom and motherhood. (Coming soon: the opportunity to purchase a vintage To Breed or Not to Breed shirt)

Both shows received rave reviews and radio, print, and televised publicity. When the LA Times contacted Sage’s mentor, Akuyoe Graham, for a quote about Sage, she said, “I think she is extraordinary. I was touched by her sincerity, her heart of gold. She’s very gifted, and she has something to say. She’s a wonderful actress, a wonderful writer.”

As the winner of best screenplay and one-woman performance at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, Sage got a chance to perform on a small stage at Madison Square Garden, where she was asked to sign autographs, which made her inner child very giddy. After performing at The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and becoming a finalist in the 15 Minutes of Fem contest, she was asked for her autograph again (this was obviously before cell phone selfies replaced autograph requests), this time at The Dolby Theatre at Hollywood and Vine, the very same location where the Academy Awards take place each year.

Sage noted that she was standing on a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and said with a chuckle, “Sometimes you reach for the moon and land on someone else’s star.”

COMIC

Sage performed standup under the name “janedoe” (representing every unknown woman). She created characters, (photographed by the talented Melinda Kelley) which were compared to the magnificent Cindy Sherman and featured her characters in her performance art and comic routines.

 In Hollywood, Sage appeared at The Comedy Store and The Laugh Factory; and in NYC she appeared at ACME, The Marquee, and The Collective Unconscious. Her most memorable moment as a performer (to date) happened in NYC during a standup, tap dancing routine, that featured two, precisely placed Hershey Kisses and a whiskey flask in which the audience leaped from their seats, enthusiastically applauding, while chanting, “Genius! Genius!” This culminated in a unique “audition” for Saturday Night Live, which resulted in a skit that Sage originated, inadvertently airing on SNL. It was a mountainous molehill moment.

 Sage was also a member of the long running North Hollywood improv group, Slow Children at Play. Citing improv as one of her great loves in life, she recalls those days as some of the most fun times in her career. As an improv comic who is also a professional vocalist, Sage specialized in all styles of improv singing and had the fantastic opportunity to sing on stage with Wayne Brady of Whose Line is it Anyway fame.

 Sage attended The American National Academy of Performing Arts, where she studied with Gordon Hunt, at The American Film Institute Conservatory, where she studied with Doug Warhit, and with Margie Haber at Margie Haber Studio. Three of her favorite ensemble, live stage, theatrical, performing experiences included very different productions: Antigone, The Laramie Project, and Annie. She won a Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Antigone at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In The Laramie Project, she played multiple roles at Celebration Theatre, in the West End Theatre District of West Hollywood (2003/2004). The show had two runs, spanning nine months, benefiting LGBTQ services. She also appeared in a production of Annie, in Ojai, California, in which she played a comic role of a lifetime as Miss Hannigan to what seemed like hundreds of double cast little girls, including her daughter (2010). Members from each cast truly became family and stay in touch to this day.

SINGER

Sage is a singer/songwriter registered with BMI Broadcast Music, Inc. with her husband, who is a music composer. One of the true highlights of her singing career was singing backup for the incomparable Diana Ross, for the Super Bowl XXX half time show, on one of her all-time favorite songs, “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand).”  Sage has sung vocals on over 50 recordings. As a vocalist, Ms. Justice has been most influenced by Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, and Nina Simone. She has performed live at B.B. King Blues Club and The “C” Note in NYC and most anywhere people have allowed.

During the early 1990s, Sage was offered four demo-deals by mainstream record companies and released three CDs that went absolutely nowhere. She also released a Christmas album (which was aptly named A Christmas Album), Antecedents (jazz standards which can be heard here) and Create Change (original adult contemporary). Record execs didn’t know whether to market Sage Justice as an Alanis Morissette or a Paula Abdul, both of whom they compared Sage’s appearance to. Adult contemporary vocalists weren’t really selling in the pool of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Artists at that time needed to stand out enough to be noticed but not so much as to be unable to be molded...or have had a prior career as a Disney child star. While Sage did not mark any of those boxes, she dreams of building her own box: a collaborative effort with her husband, and daughter—to release an album that can be turned into the longest running musical in history.

DANCER

For many years, Sage studied ballet. She attended a school of the arts, where she had guest instructors and summer workshop performances with the San Francisco Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and American Ballet Theatre. Sage states, “I was never as good as I wanted to be nor as bad as I feared I was.”

Sage studied hip hop classes at Millennium (when it was still in NoHo) and Third Street Dance for Salsa, Tango, and Swing. For a hot minute, she went on to become a go-go dancer at Prince’s club, 333 Glam Slam in DTLA, at The Commerce Casino, and goof off with friends at The Crush Club in Hollywood. Professionally, her dancing days were mostly limited to teaching choreography of pop culture numbers like “Thriller,” and “Oops, I Did it Again,” as a spoof with the improv troupe, Slow Children at Play.

Once she hit middle age, she joined the ranks of rec center dancing. She took a tap class in Van Nuys with adorable, flatulent senior citizens who all appeared to be on cabbage diets. At one point she heard someone yell, “Pick up your teeth Mildred! Before you tap all over them,” and learned there were more than one kind of “flying falsies.”  Sage laughed so much in that class it remains on her top ten most hilarious moments in life. Today, the only dancing she does is spontaneous twirls while walking on the beach or occasional gentle moves with her daughter or husband in the kitchen while cooking or cleaning.

MODEL/CLOTHING DESIGNER

While Sage never aspired to have a career as a model, she took the jobs she was offered because they paid more than a fast-food job or temp work.

Modeling was a gateway to fashion design. Sage briefly worked at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) as a sample size model for buyers and distributors. Through her contacts, she was able to get some of her own designs mass produced for a catalogue clothing company. Her last big design was her wedding gown, hand sewn by a woman who owned her own dress shop and decided to mass produce Sage’s wedding gown. (Clothing designs cannot be copyrighted, although non-silhouette pattens and logos can be trademarked.) Sage’s design career ended on a high note when an employee at Mattel made a limited Barbie version of Sage’s wedding dress and presented it to her as a gift.

 MAKEUP ARTIST

In addition to working “day jobs,” from offices and restaurants to palm reader and reiki practitioner, Sage also worked as a makeup artist to help pay the bills while pursuing a career as an actor. Earnest in her belief and conviction of her own intuitive abilities, but ever aware of the scrutiny of extra sensory perceptions in general, she feels a bit awkward about her work as a psychic, saying, “The power of anything from religion to modern medicine is based, in part, in our belief in it. If it helps someone heal, does it matter whether or not it can be proven?” Nevertheless, Sage learned that just because she could do something, didn’t mean she should. She’s far happier now focused only on doing the few things she feels most inspired to do: write, walk on the beach, spend time with loved ones, and express her creativity through all facets of the arts.

As a makeup artist, Sage mostly did headshots for actors, test shoots for models, talk show hosts, weddings, and independent films starring: Don Swayze, Joe Estevez, and Chad McQueen. Then one afternoon in 1993, she was hired to be a personal makeup artist for Rupert Murdoch and his family.

When Sage first met Rupert, she had no real idea who he was, the power he had, or the beliefs he held. She just knew that she had to go through more security clearance to meet him than she had any celebrity. At the time, Sage drove a car that was coined “The Peace Mobile” as it was spray painted with red peace signs and white daisies and covered in progressive social and political bumper stickers. There were only three cars parked on that sound stage of the FOX lot that day: the photographer’s, Rupert’s limo, and Sage’s peace mobile. When Rupert walked past Sage’s car, he smiled, and the photographer commented that he had never seen Rupert smile so big in all the years they had worked together. Sage and Rupert got along fabulously. He seemed to delight in her views on the oneness of humanity and invited her to be his daughter Elisabeth’s makeup artist for her wedding to Elkin Kwesi Pianim. Sage recalls making small talk with Elisabeth as she was doing her makeup for her engagement photos and asking her what she studied in college. When Elisabeth replied “History” Sage asked, “What kind of job will you be able to get as a history major?” still completely clueless as to who the Murdochs were. While Sage and Rupert do not share the same political ideologies, that didn’t stop them from enjoying each other’s company, to which Sage wistfully expresses, “Imagine if that were the case for everyone in the world.” Unfortunately, Sage had a health crisis shortly before Elisabeth’s wedding and had to ask a friend to take over that makeup job. Her illness, which at the time was diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, took her out of commission and she never did makeup again.

Personal Life…

INFLUENCE

Ethnically mixed and raised mostly by her grandparents but influenced by a multigenerational experience across four primary households, Sage was exposed to a variety of juxtaposed socio-economic environments, cultural identities, and philosophical ideologies: poverty/wealth, black/white, genius/ignorance, progressive liberal/regressive conservatism, LGBTQ+/Evangelical, young/old, Buddhism/Judaism, and abled/disabled. These experiences have given her unique perspectives and insights into the oneness of humanity, beyond ideologies and identity labels.

PRECOGNITION

Touched by the curse of Cassandra, Sage has had prescient visions since childhood—everything from the invention of the iPhone and tablet to 9/11 and the pandemic. Sage admits, “Extra sensory perception is filtered through the imperfections of humanity. I am a flawed and imperfect being. Anything I perceive can be tainted by my own emotions, confirmation bias, or even physical ailments.” The unofficial claim by her husband of 30+ years, is that she’s right 80% of the time, which Sage is quick to point out, “means I’m wrong 20% of the time!”

RESILIENCE

When asked what she would title an autobiography, Sage joked, “Pollyanna in a Horror Film.” She shares her story not to gain sympathy or be viewed as a victim, but to demonstrate the resilience of a survivor in the hopes of inspiring others to never let their past define their present. Abandoned by her teenage birth parents, her life was marred by a litany of trauma, tragedies, and ill health. Nearly every member of Sage’s core family was tragically taken. As a young child, Sage witnessed the murder of her brother. As a young woman, her uncle drowned in a sailing accident. When her sister was in her 20s, she died in a drug rehab facility. When her aunt was in her 40s, she shot and killed herself to find relief from decades-long migraines. When her papa was in his early 60s, he passed away from multiple rare cancers discovered only two weeks before his sudden death. Sage discovered that if we are to survive grief, ever more enlightenment must appear in the emptiness of loss.

In 2004, Sage met one of her comic heroes, Lily Tomlin, who invited her to share her work. Back then, the goal of many comics was to have their own HBO special. Sage was in pursuit of that path when she was diagnosed with mercury poisoning. After enduring eight surgeries, several rounds of chelation, and then three more surgeries to search for the unknown source of occult internal bleeding, which led to 15 years of infusions, while being the full time caregiver for her grandmother, Sage decided to take a break from all career pursuits to simply “be” and heal her body. During her time of “being,” Sage became a mother, and continued to care for her grandmother for seven and a half years. She’s still trusting that when the time is right, she will be able to reignite the opportunity for creative collaboration with Lily Tomlin.

In 2013, after spending a third of her life in hospitals, decades of suffering from a mystery illness, seeing over 200 doctors, at five major hospitals, across three states, Sage was diagnosed with a life-threatening, rare, genetic disorder with a shortened life expectancy: Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It comes with a long list of comorbidity hoodlums, which have left her wheelchair bound at times. However, Sage has outlived her life expectancy by years and intends to continue doing so. She receives nightly therapeutic neck and body traction/circulation massages and walks beaches daily, and believes in both modalities to heal as well as unconditional love and inspiration that fuel her life force.

In 2016, unable to work, and in need of her husband as a full-time caregiver, she and her family lost their home. They lived in an RV for 18 months, which Sage documents in her book, FREEDOM. After her diagnosis, Sage felt that her career dreams were over. Then, two girlfriends breathed hope and inspiration back into her soul. One compared her to Frida Kahlo, “your best work is not behind you but lays ahead of you,” she wrote; and another who said, “Even if you’re bedridden, you can still start a blog.” In 2015, Sage began wrting letters to her daughter on a blog; and those letters turned into a dozen books (all in various levels of completion), for which Sage hopes to turn not just into publishing deals but for limited film/television series on streaming platforms as well.

These experiences have taught Sage resilience through the valuable lessons of impermanence, non-attachment as a form of survival, and that we always think we have more time than we do. As a result, she believes in taking radical responsibility for one’s life, by choosing to live with gratitude, blame no one, and indulge in a gluttonous zest for life that includes playfulness, unconditional love, and copious amounts of time in nature. Much of this is covered in her book Sage Words FREEDOM, Book One, in which she writes, “The first flight in recorded history was the phoenix rising. When defeated, we have the choice to remain in a place of suffering and fight for our limitations, or we can choose to rise up and keep going. No matter what challenges we currently face, we can and we will overcome them through the actions we take, or a paradigm shift in our perception.”

HOBBIES

There are four things, not related to the arts or loved ones, that Sage enjoys engaging in: daily beach walks/regular camping, reading, chess, and watching her favorite TV show of all time: Jeopardy. Native to the ocean, her constant walking companions are waves and words. The ocean is her temple, and she considers each barefoot walk on the sand as medicinal and sacred.

Sage and her daughter (team Justice) are both members of the United States Chess Federation. In 2012, they established Yas Queen, a chess club to support members of both homeschool and queer communities.

Team Justice founded two book clubs: in 2016, a MENSA reading list book club, A Novel Idea, and in 2022, Rebel Readers, a banned books club.

Sage has a truck camper and spends as much time in nature off-grid camping as possible.

Most nights, she and her family have dinner in front of the TV watching Jeopardy. Whenever a contestant lands on a Daily Double clue, Sage and her family sing in three-part harmony “Daily Double.” It’s these cheeky small moments that keep the spark of her light glowing, when the crushing fatigue of chronic pain threatens to snuff her out.

ETHOS

Sage describes her favorite film, It’s a Wonderful Life, as a movie she can relate to about someone who, in the pursuit of a lifelong dream that never comes true, learns the true value and purpose of life—to love and be loved. As such, her life revolves primarily around the people she loves and the relationships she values. In 1990, she married the love of her life (on Independence Day) who is as devoted to loving and being loved as she is. In a shared home with artists and composers, where the air is filled with eclectic music, Sage’s heart song is the love she has for her daughter, which has inspired her to write a series of books on the topics we all build our lives upon: freedom, courage, self, relationships, health, security, legacy, and spirituality. Her little family of three has a very close-knit bond. They all live and work together (as well as independently) under one roof, along the California Coast.

In addition to her beloved husband and daughter, Sage lives for the nurturing bonds she creates with others. She has 10 cherished nieces, nephews, and Godchildren, 12 treasured great nieces, nephews, and Godchildren, a plethora of adored extended family, and two armfuls of deeply loved friends she has been embracing for decades. When she thinks of all she has pursued in life, what matters to her most is the great honor of loving and being loved. At the end of her life, she hopes that she too, can stand like George Bailey stands, in It’s a Wonderful Life, with arms around family, looking lovingly into the eyes and hearts of those who look lovingly back.