Actor & Model
BJ Holtgrewe is a Boston-area non-union actor and mature model available for commercial, film, print, and lifestyle projects. His look is distinctive: white hair, white beard, tall frame, and a natural presence that can move between approachable, thoughtful, authoritative, and quietly charismatic.
He brings more than appearance to the work. BJ has spent years in visual storytelling, production, photography, and directing, giving him a practical understanding of what happens on set and what the camera needs. He is comfortable taking direction, adapting quickly, and contributing to a professional working environment.
For casting, BJ offers a strong fit for roles that call for maturity, credibility, warmth, intelligence, experience, or character. He can portray executives, physicians, professors, grandparents, mentors, travelers, artists, neighbors, and men whose faces suggest they have lived a full life.
- Height:
- 6'5"
- Weight:
- 205 lbs.
- Age:
- 60-80 years old
- Status:
- Non-Union
Gallery
Fun Facts!
- BJ was raised in a small farming community in Iowa, where he showed 4-H calves as a teenager. He and his sister Diane took turns winning Grand Champion.
- BJ grew up with five sisters, one brother, and what felt like hundreds of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Three of his sisters were older, which meant hand-me-downs no young boy should have had to suffer through.
- He is an Eagle Scout and a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow.
- He trained as a recovery scuba diver and dove with a Civil Defense Search & Recovery team.
- BJ helped organize and was part of the Iowa State University team that set the world record for underwater Monopoly.
- BJ took 30 days "off" from college to work closely with the core team of the Sargent Shriver presidential campaign, traveling with the inner circle. BJ was a long-haired college student in an old Buick, planted within the police-guided caravan, and he got to know the Secret Service team very well.
- He also spent an evening with Eunice Kennedy Shriver visiting a nursing home. She impressed the folks there when she mentioned she was JFK's sister.
- BJ shook Jimmy Carter's hand long before most people in Iowa, or across the country, knew who he was. Carter walked right up to him with his southern accent, "Hello, I'm Jimmeee Carter and I'm running for President!" No way this guy was going to win...
- BJ got a selfie before they were called selfies with Jesse Jackson at Chicago O'Hare. Jesse's bodyguard was not thrilled when BJ handed him the camera and asked him to take the photo.
- BJ has made more than 1,080 skydives, served on the board of the United States Parachute Association, and was an international judge, licensed instructor, and jumpmaster.
- His boyhood nickname was "Butch." Yep, it was the haircut of the day. Requests for autographed photos are welcome.
- BJ's legal name is Burdette "NMI" Holtgrewe Jr. This made his father, Burdette Sr. His nickname of BJ came from one of his sisters' boyfriends. When he became "BJ" it made his father "BS." This did not go over well, but the label seemed to fit him.
- BJ survived a car crash in Aspen, Colorado, where he was ejected from the vehicle.
- He holds six patents.
- He co-authored the book MapPoint for Dummies.
- He has spent time - okay, business discussions - with James Cameron, Spike Lee, and Jay Leno.
- BJ has traveled to more than 30 countries filming and producing visual stories. He has also visited all 50 states. Go figure...
- Along the way, he has been to Machu Picchu, gone inside one of the pyramids in Cairo, visited the gorillas in Rwanda, filmed on the Great Wall and in the middle of Tiananmen Square, crawled through a Củ Chi tunnel in Vietnam and almost got stuck, took a surfing lesson in Bali, rode an elephant in India, arrived at Stonehenge at sunset on the summer solstice, slept in an igloo, and a good bit more.
- Other than that, somewhat of a boring life.