From the BradentonHerald.com:
SARASOTA - A day after being shot in the head during a dress rehearsal for a play at Manatee Players theater, the last thing 81-year-old Fred Kellerman says he wants is for his acting career to end.
As part of the Sarasota Senior Theater, Kellerman was preparing with one last rehearsal to take the stage Sunday as "Lenny" in a production of the John Steinbeck novel "Of Mice and Men."
At the end of the play, Kellerman's character takes a fatal gunshot to the head.
Just after 5 p.m., Kellerman got on his knees and his co-star, William Bordy, 78, pulled the trigger on a .32-caliber revolver. To everyone's shock the gun was anything but a prop, instead later found to be fully loaded.
Bradenton Police would find Kellerman backstage with blood covering the stage, according to reports.
"I heard a loud bang. I knew something was wrong. But I never passed out," Kellerman said.
Kellerman said doctors would later find the bullet tore into his skull, ricocheted off bone, then came back out and tore off a piece of his ear. Doctors sewed the piece of ear back on at Manatee Memorial Hospital.
"It took a chunk off my ear, but I was told it will grow together. I really feel no pain," he said. "I was really lucky."
Bradenton Police reports say Bordy, president of Sarasota Senior Theater and the play's director, got the gun from a group member, Natalie Gundrum.
The group had used the gun in the past as a prop, but Gundrum told police she did not check to see if the gun was loaded when she brought it for the show Sunday, according to police reports.
Bordy told police he didn't check the gun either, assuming it was not loaded. Bordy told police he should have checked the gun, but it had been empty when the group used it last for the same play.
"It was stupid, stupid. Something you should never do," Bordy said Tuesday. "I got careless."
"It was just supposed to be a click then the lights go down. But when I pulled the trigger, it went off and he fell to the floor," Bordy said.
After emergency workers took Kellerman to Manatee Memorial Hospital, Bordy and the rest of the group went on with the show, performing its variety show, including "Of Mice and Men," with another actor in Kellerman's place.
"It is the old saying 'the show must go on,' Of course, I collapsed as soon as it was over," Bordy said.
Kellerman said he is glad they went ahead with the show.
"There were 100 people there waiting. They sure should have done the show," he said.
Kellerman called his director and co-star Tuesday morning to tell him he was alright.
"He is just a jovial, wonderful man, I just thank God he is OK," said Bordy after a sleepless night. "He was bright and happy when he called. I am so relieved."
Kellerman said he has no animosity about what happened.
"I don't have any anger whatsoever. What happened was pretty stupid, but I am not the least bit upset," Kellerman said.
Next month Kellerman says he wants to perform in a musical he is rehearsing for now. He called his director to apologize for not making it to rehearsal Tuesday but plans on making practice Friday, Bordy said.
"I very much want to still be part of the group. I look at this as nothing more than an accident," he said.
Some days - many days, in fact - this blog just blogifies by itself. It's amazing to me that anyone would use a gun in an amateur stage production, and even more amazing that those handling the weapon of mess destruction would be so cavalier as to fail to check to see it were a real gun or not. And what is Ms Gundrum doing running around with a real gun? Is she, in fact, a member of a well-regulated militia? Because we all know THAT'S why people have the Right To Keep And Bear Arms! It's right there in that there Constitutional thing!
Save your breath if you're going to tell me how many people are injured or killed annually in stapler mishaps or bagel-slicing accidents. Paul Harvey used to go on the radio with stories about some dude killing his mother by stabbing her 167 times with an icepick, and then he'd cluck fatuously, "We're gonna have to ban icepicks............................................page 2!" Staplers are made for joining pieces of paper together, most often on lengthy loan agreements that enable people to buy Chevrolets upon which to display their attachment to Dale Earnhardt, Sr. 
Bagels are a tasty breakfast, particularly when used as a setting for cream cheese and lox. Icepicks are for chunking up huge ice blocks, or, for those born since outdoor plumbing came into being, they're what you use when you can't find your awl or tack starter.
Guns are sold for the sole purpose of putting a hole in places where, previously, no hole existed. Old Bundy is a very lucky man, and of course, so is his co-star Kellerman. Lots of people weren't so lucky. Why do we keep cheating the hangman? Stop playing with guns!
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