Metro Cigar News Spring 1998: Michael Nouri

Cigars are a lifelong passion for actor Michael Nouri

by Bob Nesoff

In 1955, Michael Nouri sat back to read Ernest Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea," lit up an H. Upmann cigar purchased at the corner store for 10 cents and relaxed as smoke curled to the ceiling.

The only thing wrong with this picture was that Nouri was as old as the cost of his cigar, 10.

"I was always a big Hemingway fan," he said, admitting that 10-years-old was a but early to begin smoking, even if the Cuban characters in "Papa" Hemingway's adventure yarns all smoked.

"It was romance and fantasy," Nouri said. 'My parents were away at a convention and I decided to liven up my reading of Hemingway."

There are some questions Nouri declines to answer, such as "why was a 10-year-old home while his parents were away; and how he accomplished later trips to Cuba.

"I am a big fan of the Cuban people," he said, "and for seven years running, I made at least one trip a year to Cuba."

The famed actor said that his love of good cigars first led him to Cuba, but that his friendship for people there kept him coming back.

"My love of cigars led me to a wonderful people," he said.

With an embargo on travel to the tropical island imposed by the United States, it isn't all that easy getting there. With the exception of journalists and a selected few other categories, it is impossible for a legal entry. Most go either by way of Mexico or Canada, but Nouri pulled a curtain down on his own preferred method.

Although he says he thoroughly enjoys smoking a Cuban, Nouri is perfectly content to light a quality cigar from another place. "I became a serious smoker when I was in my mid-20s (he's now 50ish) and have continued ever since. That's a long time before cigar smoking ever became a fad as it is today," he continued.

"I enjoy the reflective mood that it creates; you become contemplative, almost meditative. I like to sit with a friend while smoking."

Michael Nouri eschews large groups of smokers of any kind.

"I can't stand being in a room with hundreds of smokers," he says.

"Cigar smoking should be pleasure; look at it, feel it, smoke it and enjoy it," he says, making it sound almost sensual.

Although he is a fan of the Cuban people and their cigars, he doesn't have all that much good to say about the Cohiba.

"The original can be inconsistently in quality. The demand is so great that quality has been sacrificed. There was a time when Cohiba Roberto was the thing to have."

His own personal favorite also depends on the whim and the mood.

"It could depend on the time of day or where I am and what I'm doing," Nouri added.

He enjoys a Ramon in the morning because it is a small cigar with a lot of taste. Later in the day he is partial to a Punch Punch because of its consistent taste or a Montecristo #2 or a Diplomatico #2.

His favorite, however, is the Fuentes because of its consistency.

Nouri credits the "sudden popularity" of cigars to the fact that "Its' time has come." He also credits in large measure Cigar Aficionado publisher, Marvin Shanken.

"Talking about cigars without talking about him," Nouri said, "is like talking about automobiles without discussing Henry Ford.

He does, however, concede that the cigar's popularity will eventually taper off, but that those remaining will be true cigar smokers.

The need for cigars, according to Michael Nouri is not really politically correct.

"There is a need in this culture for men to be able to get together in fellowship and enjoy each other's company," he said. "This allows them to relax and talk."

"I never thought that women had a difficult time getting together and talking. They don't need a reason to do so. But I just can't picture a bunch of women siting in the beauty parlor under hair dryers and smoking cigars."

Who does he enjoy getting together with over a good cigar? Among Michael Nouri's select group of cigar smokers are friends and fellow actors Joe Mantagna, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia and Tim Robbins.

Nouri finds time in between his macho smoke sessions to develop a social conscience. In April he was one of a group of celebrities to lend their name to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's MS Walk. The event is nationwide at some 650 sites and was expected to raise an estimated $21 million for research into the debilitating disease.

Several celebrities suffer from MS including Annette Funicello, Richard Pryor and Alan Osmond. Working with Nouri to publicize the event are C. Thomas Howell, Paul Reiser, Tony Roberts (who starred in Victor/Victoria with Nouri), Tanya Tucker and Daniel J. Travanti.

Michael Nouri is familiar to the public from his roles in "Goodbye Columbus," and "Flashdance." He's also appeared in numerous television shows including the highly rated "Law and Order" and "Love and War."

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