Last month, a couple of fantastic character actors went to the great green room in the sky. Because they weren’t A-listers, I only recently found out about their deaths. I’ve always gravitated toward the sidemen instead of the leading actors, and admire those folks who can immerse themselves in a role so fully… as opposed to, say, a Tom Cruise, where he’s basically playing Tom Cruise in every movie.
First up on the “men of character” honor roll is David Huddleston. And as is typical of character actors, when you say their name most folks will say “who?”. But when you see his face, you’ll say, “Oh, that guy!”
Perhaps his most famous role was as the real Big Lebowski.
Next up is Jack Riley. Better known as Elliot Carlin, the most irascible and neurotic patient ever of Bob Newhart.
But he also was a guest star on a ton of TV shows from the 60s through the 90s.. and charmed a new generation of fans as the voice of Stu Pickles in Rugrats.
Here’s to you, David and Jack, two regular dudes who did yeoman’s work outside the spotlight.
American actor Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in ‘Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory’, directed by Mel Stuart, 1971. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory…
In The Producers…
In Blazing Saddles…
In Young Frankenstein… (admit it, in your head you just thought “It’s FRONK-in-Steen)
In buddy films like Silver Streak and Stir Crazy with Richard Pryor…
… and in the way he cared for his wife Gilda Radner as she struggled with, and eventually succumbed to, ovarian cancer. Despite his heartache, he became an advocate for cancer patients.
In loving memory of a true original, Merle Haggard:
Porter Wagoner is a bit off grammatically, but he speaks the truth at the end of the video:
“Of all the singers there is, I just think he’s the greatest man to listen to and puts a story across better than anybody, anywhere.”
Merle and “Kern River” both have a special place in my heart because I lived in Bakersfield, California for a couple of years. That’s where Merle was born (in a converted railroad boxcar!) and raised, and where the Kern River is. Here’s an excerpt from his NY Times obit:
Defying the conventions of the Nashville musical establishment, Mr. Haggard was an architect of the twangy Bakersfield sound, a guitar-driven blend of blues, jazz, pop and honky-tonk that traced its roots to Bakersfield, Calif. In Mr. Haggard’s case the sound defined a body of work as indelibly as that of any country singer since Hank Williams.
I read a Q&A with comedian/author Greg Behrendt in CityBeat(a local alternative weekly) yesterday. I’m not familiar with Mr. Behrendt’s work, but the article mentioned that last year he was diagnosed with cancer and went through three rounds of chemo. And that battle gave him an interesting perspective on social media:
CB:You don’t seem to be as engaged in social media. Why is that?
GB: Recently I just stopped going on any of it. I have them for promotional purposes, but I find they don’t even work well for that anymore. There’s just so much, and it’s an echo chamber of your own taste sometimes. I just got off and wondered what kind of art I would create if I were less plugged in and more aware of my natural environment. It’s been so far so good.
CB:So are you feeling more connected with the real world?
GB: After being sick last year, I realized I wasn’t thinking about my Facebook page. I was worried about spending time with people that I love and being in the world more. I just wanted to be part of the human experience a little bit more. I think there’s a kind of connection with the Internet, but there’s kind of a danger in it as well. The news cycle is so fast and people are missing important facts — it gets to be unhealthy. We become less thoughtful and we’re on to the next thing.
This may sound strange coming in a blog post, but I do agree with GB. Unplug from the interwebs and get out in the world more.
This morning while driving my youngest son to school, I heard this great song on the same subject from St. Vincent.
Favorite lyric:
If I can’t show it, if you can’t see me What’s the point of doing anything?
And St. Vincent (a.k.a. Annie Clark) has some fantastic hair too.
You done said…