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- “Art is theft, art is armed robbery, art is not pleasing your mother.” — Janet Malcolm
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- “There’s a difference between writing about something and living through it. I did both.” — poet/novelist Margaret Walker
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- “My voice isn’t an instrument I can just hang up on a hook.” — Audra McDonald
- “You can’t be on top all the time. It isn’t natural.” — Olivia de Havilland
- “If I don’t feel it, I can’t play it.” — James Cotton
- “I don’t have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I’d become. I’m me, and I’m like nobody else.” — Lena Horne
- “But man has always succeeded in rising again.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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Category Archives: Actors
“I have respect for my profession. I worked hard at it.” — Humphrey Bogart
What an unlikely movie star, on the face of it. Consider the face. The face is now iconic, and “movie star” makes total sense in retrospect. He feels inevitable. But in the ’30s there was no prediction that he would … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Humphrey Bogart, In a Lonely Place, The Maltese Falcon
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“I sucked my fingers for 12 years. I never spoke … but I was a great observer.” — Cicely Tyson
It’s her birthday today. One of my earliest memories seeing a movie – I had to be 7 or 8 – was watching Sounder with my parents. I sat on the floor in front of the television. My parents sat … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day, Television, Theatre
6 Comments
5 Things About Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy
It’s her birthday today. 5 Things About Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy Introduction Joseph Lewis’ brilliant, erotic, and influential Gun Crazy was originally called Deadly Is the Female (which could be an alternate title for almost every film noir ever … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged crime movies, film noir, Gun Crazy, Joseph H. Lewis, Peggy Cummins
52 Comments
“The best thing that can come with success is the knowledge that it is nothing to long for.” — Liv Ullmann
It’s her birthday today. In 2018 I was assigned by the Criterion Collection to write tributes to four of Ingmar Bergman’s actresses: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, (Liv and Bibi were paired together in one video – Bergman saw them as … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies, On This Day
Tagged Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Norway, women directors
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“The best actors in the world are those who feel the most and show the least.” — Jean-Louis Trintignant
It’s his birthday today. My first encounter with the intriguing, mysterious (and yet somehow still vulnerable) Jean-Louis Trintignant, was seeing The Conformist at The Music Box in Chicago, circa mid-90s. I was completely unfamiliar with him. Even just the look … Continue reading
“There needs to be one more bag.” — Buck Henry
It’s his birthday today. I come from a family who can (and does) recite What’s Up, Doc? from beginning to end – “What happened to Fritz?” “There is only me. Franz.” “Oh, what a SHAME.” (My old friend Trav wrote … Continue reading
“As an artist, I wonder, What can I do to make the audience think differently about what good is, what bad is, who a man is, and who a woman is.” — Matthias Schoenaerts
It’s his birthday today. One of my favorite contemporary actors. I think he blows the competition away. I can’t say enough good things about him. His versatility is dazzling. He can be so gentle. He can be so ferocious. He … Continue reading
“Really, there isn’t such a thing as ‘method acting.’ There’s only good acting and bad acting.” — Ellen Burstyn
“It’s been awhile. My Oscar is getting kind of tarnished. I looked at it a couple of years ago and thought I really needed a new one.” — Ellen Burstyn It’s her birthday today. In less than a decade, Ellen … Continue reading
A Streetcar Named Desire: That’s What Williams Wrote. Deal With It.
A re-post for the anniversary of Streetcar debuting on Broadway. I wrote this essay after seeing a 2011 production of Streetcar at Williamstown. Directed by David Cromer Starring Sam Rockwell as Stanley Kowalski, Jessica Hecht as Blanche DuBois, Ana Reeder … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, On This Day, Theatre
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Sam Rockwell, scripts, Tennessee Williams
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A conversation about improvisation with a familiar figure round these parts
There’s a podcast called “Yes, Also”, hosted by Suzi Barrett, an improviser and teacher at Upright Citizens Brigade. In the podcast, she interviews people who come from improv, Second City alum, Improv Olympic alum (RIP), and etc. I was in … Continue reading