[Mike Shea] wants none of that Sunday when this year's parade passes the 750,000 or so onlookers that he expects will be lining Sunset and Hollywood boulevards.

Shea was a 10-year-old living in New York when his next-door neighbor suggested that he try acting. The neighbor was a casting director for "The Ed Sullivan Show" and soon he had the boy appearing in commercials for Campbell's soup and Scooter pies. Shea's family moved to Hollywood when he began landing parts in TV shows.

PHOTO: Police Officer Mike Shea; PHOTO: COLOR, (San Fernando Valley Edition, B2) Police Officer Mike Shea, a former actor who rode in the 1968 Hollywood Christmas Parade, will be handling security for the annual event. / J. ALBERT DIAZ / Los Angeles Times