As a longtime television producer, Westlake Village resident Jim Jacobs knows the secret to success in Hollywood is having a great story to tell.

Jacobs has been retired from show business for several years, but if he ever decides to make a comeback his own life story would seemingly be one that movie fans would be drawn toward.

During the course of his career, the 77-year-old Jacobs mingled with some of Hollywood's biggest names - everyone from Jimmy Cagney to Bob Hope. Part of his success can be traced to his prowess as an athlete, particularly as a golfer.

Many of Jacobs' television projects involved golf.

Jacobs produced a series of Dodge commercials starring Lee Trevino. Jacobs also teamed up with Trevino to produce a series of golf instruction videos.

The two men also worked together on a television pilot called the "Hole-in-One Show," which included Trevino and celebrity golfers Dick Martin and Tom Poston, along with well-known game show host Dennis James.

While filming one of the instruction videos, Jacobs had the chance to play nine holes with Trevino at Indian Wells Country Club in Palm Desert.

"Lee was a true professional," Jacobs said. "He was easy to work with and he had that charisma that made him so popular with everyone."

Besides Trevino, Jacobs had the chance to do television spots with such notable golfers as Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson.

"Being a golfer, it was exciting to get a chance to work with players like Nicklaus and Snead," Jacobs said.

Jacobs was able to relate well to golf's best players because he knew what it was like to play the game at a very high level.

As a junior golfer in Illinois, Jacobs won the 1947 Urbana Junior Open and was junior club champion at Lakeside Country Club for three straight years.

Not bad for a kid who never had any formal golf lessons and learned his golf swing while working as a caddie.

Jacobs eventually played two years for Notre Dame, where he helped the 1951 team to a third-place finish in the NCAA Championships.

While at Notre Dame, he was a teammate of Billy Casper and Tom Veech.

In the summer of 1951, Jacobs competed as an invited amateur at the PGA's Decateur Open.

In addition to golf at Notre Dame, Jacobs was a member of the Irish fencing team, competing in the 1952 NCAA Championships. That season Jacobs earned All-American honors.

As a result of his athletic prowess and his high grade-point average (3.8), Jacobs was named Notre Dame's first President's Award winner for overall excellence by a student.

After graduation, Jacobs spent two years serving in the Air Force, where he continued to pursue athletics. He was captain of the 10th Air Force golf team and was Individual Base champion.

After leaving the Air Force, Jacobs settled in Los Angeles, attending graduate school at USC, where he majored in film and TV.

He spent several years in the early 1960s as an actor, doing a lot of commercial work, especially in commercials that involved athletics.

In 1962, he was in a Chrysler commercial that starred Hope, where he and another actor were shown playing golf with legendary comedian.

Jacobs' biggest part came on the series "Men Into Space," where he portrayed an astronaut.

"There were some fun times," Jacobs said. "It gave me a chance to meet a lot of interesting people."

Jacobs shared the screen with greats like Cagney and Danny Kaye. He even got a chance to play in a touch football game against Elvis Presley.

But ultimately Jacobs decided the production side suited him better.

Throughout Jacobs' entire career, golf remained a constant. In 1963 he was one the original founders of the Hollywood Hackers, a group comprised of players from all walks of show business. Among its members were Jack Lemmon and Clint Eastwood.

Jacobs served on the executive board and was handicap and scoring chairman. He won the club championship multiple times and also won the 1962 World Entertainment Golf Championship.

Jacobs still plays with the group, which is now known as Don Porter's Thursday Golf Group.

Many of their tournaments are held in Ventura County, including Simi Hills, where Jacobs turned in the rare feat of making a hole in one on the same hole twice.

He accomplished it on Simi Hill's 15th hole, with the pin in the same spot both times.

"I don't play as well as I once did, but I still enjoy the game," Jacobs said. "Golf has been a big part of my life."