Earning a crust working the till at the local surf store and shredding the shit out your local will always get you mad respect. It is for this reason Turtle from cult movie North Shore remains one of the most celebrated mainstream surfing figures.

You can find a Turtle at every beach the world over. They are the binding fabric of surf culture and the thread that connects generation to generation.

Indeed, Turtle’s character in the film was based on the real life North Shore shaper/shredder, Brian ‘Turtle’ King.

Following his commanding performance in the film, Turtle returned to Hollywood where he was just plain old John Philbin, a milging deadhead who sucked the lived off George Clooney and Eric Stolz’s crumbs.

One day, he woke up and went, man, I’m a lousy deadhead. I need a fucking job, and he got one. He’s now travels teaching actors how to play the part of a surfer. Blue Crush‘s Kate Bosworth was one such client.