From Indonesia to Tri-Cities, woman leads a full life

"You should write about Toni Hix," said my husband. "She's had a really interesting life."

Interesting life? What did that mean? I knew that she had been a casting director in Hollywood and that she had worked as a producer. Was that what he was talking about?

"No before that," he said. "Her childhood was interesting. She was born in Indonesia."

Born to parents of Dutch and Indonesian descent, Toni Hix spent a year in what was then called the Dutch East Indies.

Toni Hix came into this world as Maria Antoinette. Her mother had studied French literature and liked Marie Antoinette. Since the family was Catholic, they changed the first name to Maria.

The family had a rich history in the Indonesian culture.

"We have a photograph of my grandfather dressed very dapper at the port," said Toni. "His signature was required on the ships' papers for all of the ships entering and leaving the port."

A year after she was born, the family decided to leave the country because of political unrest and headed back to Holland.

The family stayed in Holland until Toni turned 7. Her parents then told her that they were taking a vacation to America.

"I have this photograph of my grandparents and my aunts and uncles waving to us at the airport," said Toni. "Had I know we were moving to America I don't think I would have wanted to go. I loved my grandmother. I wouldn't have wanted to leave her."

In 1956, Holland was all about bicycles and trolleys. The Dutch still washed the streets at night.

"It was a much slower pace and everything was so clean," she said. "We moved to the south side of Chicago. Everything seemed so dark and dirty. We lived in a rooming house with other families and no one spoke the same language."

Little Maria was enrolled in school and, although she was a second-grader, was placed in kindergarten. "All we did was draw pictures and play," she said. "My teacher couldn't understand Dutch and I didn't even realize I was in school."

Television became her teacher.

"I watched TV all of the time and I began to learn words and phrases from the TV," she said. "Then our mailman realized that I knew a few words and pointed things out to me and helped me learn that way."

The television was still her best friend. She would study the mannerisms of the actors and the way they said their lines. These were all insights that she took to her early auditions.

"I loved watching all of the movies," she added. "I loved Gary Cooper and I remember telling my mother that I was going to Hollywood to meet him. She told me that he had died about two years before and I didn't understand since I had just seen him on television."

Television played a major part in coming up with her nickname, "Toni."

"I was a tomboy and I loved playing baseball but I wanted to play with the boys," she said. "They told me that I needed a nickname. So when I heard the Toni Perm commercial on TV, I decided Toni would be a perfect name, a shortened version of Antoinette."

Hix felt a strong connection to her name when the play West Side Story came out.

"They sang the song Maria and there is part in there where they sing Maria and Toni to each other. I joked that it was my song," she said.

After attending Kishwaukee Junior College, Hix ended up at Northern Illinois University, acting in plays and earning her B.A.

The movies still had a hold on her and she headed to Hollywood. She tried her hand at acting but ended up starting her own casting company and doing classes for actors.

"So many different factors go into casting actors for a part," she said. "I would tell my actors that there are 101 reasons why actors don't get the part and not one is about acting."

Her marriage to Peter Hix, a talented musician, brought her back to the Midwest when he decided to get involved in the family business. Hix quickly immersed herself in the theater scene, teaching at Northern and doing Shakespeare at Batavia High School.

Many theater enthusiasts remember her early productions for Shakespeare on Clark. She and her cast of actors braved the elements for quite a few summers and put on outstanding productions on Clark Island.

When the island renovation projects took the venue away, Toni responded by starting her own repertory company, "The Midsummer Theater Troupe." The talented actors spend the summer doing Shakespearean comedies around the valley much to the delight of their audiences.

Hopefully, Batavia will have a spot on her schedule this summer as well.