Not every politician can claim a famous actor as his first campaign manager. Victor Crist can. Fresh from his unopposed re-election to Florida's District 60 House of Representatives seat, Crist last week talked a little about his guarded personal life and his first bid for office: eighth-grade class treasurer at what was then Azalea Junior High in St. Petersburg. Angela Bassett of What's Love Got To Do With It, Contact and Waiting to Exhale fame handled that race. "Angela had all her friends, my friends, and my sister's friends working the halls," Crist remembered. Did he win? If you have to ask, you don't know Crist, who runs his own advertising agency and personifies "gung ho." (He won.) Crist raised well over $100,000 for his most recent election bid and spent most of it campaigning rigorously just in case someone ran against him at the last minute. No one did, and the Republican state representative automatically kept his seat. "I work an 80-hour week. I have little personal time," said Crist said. And he protects that time fiercely. Conversely, as chairman of the high-profile House Justice Council, Crist thrives in the spotlight when it comes to speaking on public issues both in Tallahassee and at home. A local truancy program Crist spearheaded is being used as a model statewide. He was instrumental in bringing a sheriff's district office to the neighborhood once known as Suitcase City. As president of the University of South Florida Area Civic Association, Crist helped bring a 28-acre community park to the area. As a legislator, Crist garnered funding for USF's one-stop job centers, as well as the new 48,000-square-foot community center currently under construction. This year, Crist pushed legislation aimed at justice and adoption reform. But the personal Victor Crist? "I consider myself a very private person," Crist said. Perhaps it's because this is his fourth and final term in the House or because he was giddy from his most recent victory. Whatever the reason, the very professionally public 41-year-old Crist allowed a few glimpses behind the driven persona who has working a room down to an art (take no longer than 20 minutes, move in a "Z" pattern, don't ever stop walking). What's something that nobody knows about him? "I'm a hopeless romantic" who watches and reads love stories, writes poetry and enjoys working in his garden, confessed Crist, who is not married but says he has a steady girlfriend. As a thank-you to those who served a special role in his last campaign, Crist went to a flower shop and ordered a unique bouquet. Then he showed the clerk how he wanted it arranged. He repeated the procedure 16 times so that every supporter would get their own arrangement. "I will go to three different card shops before I find the right card," Crist said. A personal rule? "Health first," said Crist, who can still vividly recall watching his father die from a heart attack when Crist was only 3. He starts every day by working out, either by lifting weights at home or heading to a gym. He tries to avoid red meat, doesn't smoke and makes sure he gets enough sleep at night. A lover of the arts, Crist began playing piano at age 5 and competed at local, state and national levels growing up. Then he switched to dance. "I taught dancing for several years," he said, "at nightclubs and ballrooms around Tampa Bay, back in the '70s when disco was hot." He sang as part of a barbershop quartet for years, recorded two albums as part of a concert chorus in school and finally turned to theater. A role he's always wanted to play? The lead in The King and I or Daddy Warbucks in Annie. "I can do it," he said. Would he shave off his full head of hair for the part? "In a minute," Crist said. "Think of all the free publicity I could get for the play," he said animatedly, waving his hands in the air, "as I worked the state, giving speeches with a bald head. The media would love it."