Skip to main content

My Family in Theatre - Connections with the Past

Shorty-
-Was a roommate with Jason Miller (actor, priest in Exorcist), for a summer at his mothers summer stock (?)
-Was a driver for Paul Newman and his wife during one of his movies - "Rachel, Rachel" (Paul's wife talked about publishing his poetry, which he wrote on the stock sheets). He smoked pot with the screenwriter (Stewart Stern?). Promised a part in a new movie being produced in NYC. He turned it down. He knew the guy they went with instead and how they got him to blush for the camera ("He was a young guy and kind of innocent and Paul shouted as they were shooting 'Look at her nice tits'").
-Sat on Buster Crab's knee one a kids show on ABC that his father producted/directed.
-There's a picture of him in a crib, being strolled by the elder Carradine (Keith's father). My mother has the picture.
- Invited to have lunch with Elvis; decided against it because he wasn't 'cool anymore'.
- Greenwhich Village - Harper Bergoff School of Acting; Acted on stage with Jack Miller (Jason Miller) - Blue Denim, Diary of Anne Frank -- buddies... walked the beaches together... like a big brother... a deep man.
-At Berghoff School he helped a girl in her part for 'The Catcher in the Rye' - got his feelings hurt terribly and stopped going to classes.
-Worked in a music shop for some time with Charlie Parker's saxophonist; had many interesting conversations (the man had been playing saxophone since about age 6, and was amazing)
- Went to Spain (Mjorka -sp?), and Italy to be with the Maharishi Yogi for seminars (to teach others in TM). There for some months. My mother stayed in the States.

Commentary: As part of jazz scene in NYC, he got into heroin. He was fired from the music shop he worked in because of the habit. He moved to Danbury, thought it was a dead end, saw an article in a magazine about Special Forces in Vietnam and decided that sounded like an adventure. This is why he joined the Airborne. He got my mother pregnant and married her before he left for Vietnam. He was for 3 or 4 months before coming back for Tammy's birth. They moved to Gary, IN to hang out with some motorcycle buddies he knew there.

It was during filming of 'Rachel, Rachel' that they both heard about the hippies in San Francisco, so decided to move there (6th st.), to check the scene out. They were the only ones with a baby (me). We lived there twice; once when I was a year old and again when I was three. [note: Remember to get mother to recount barrel-of-donuts story].


His Father -
-Died December 26, 1970 in Indiana.
- The first male lead as Peter Pan (part of touring show).
- Was in 1937's Broadway production of High Tor (the winner of the Drama Critics Award that year, and penned by Maxwell Anderson), alongside Hume Cronyn, John Drew Colt (grandfather of Drew Barrymore and nephew to Lionel Barrymore), Peggy Ashcroft, and the lead; Burgess Meredith. http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=12182
- Was in Daughters of Atreus on Broadway.
- Used to hang around with Henry Fonda in NYC.
- Assistant Directed Elvis western "Charro" (released in '69, filmed in 1968, in Arizona and Hollywood, where Nathan was almost born as a result; moved to Danbury just before being born) - My parents asked if they wanted to have lunch with Elvis, but declined (thought he was no longer a star singer, preferred the Beatles)- Started first ABC station in Louisianna.
- Played in touring show of Harvey.
- Played in 'The Petrified Forest', and 'Alice in Wonderful' - road shows.
- IMDB reports in December 2nd, 1951 he directed an episode of 'Horizons'
- IMDB reports him directing an episode of "Tales of Tomorrow" called 'Sneak Attack' (Dec.2'51) - IMDB reports him assistant-directing 'Mr. Sardonicus' in 1961.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1571378/
- IBDB reports him in 'Once Upon A Time', 'Daughters of Atreus', and 'High Tor'. http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=42572

Commentary: When I think about him being in High Tor with some well-known actors, I have to wonder how he got a part. I mean, it was a starting role in a Broadway production, and alongside some respected actors. He had to have a reputation for being good at it. It's the kind of thing you work yourself up in. He played in many productions, most of them not leading or starting, but was in many. He had to have had a good reputation. It was certainly good enough for him to assistant direct some movies and tv episodes and go on road shows and have his own kids show.

His Mother (aka "Danbury Mom") -
- Ballet dancer in NYC for many years, started her own studio in New Rochelle. It burned down and she moved to Danbury, where she started another one. Was director/teacher of that one for decades. Performed Nutcracker Suite each Christmas for many years in state capital... I have a copy of the honorary award presented to her by the governor because of it.
-In College, played Blanche in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (Shorty played the upstairs neighbor), and played it Off-Broadway too.

Commentary: They had some troubles and had a trial separation. During this time, her sister came to town to visit (about 20 older than her), and her and Leslie hooked up and he left his wife for the sister. This would have been when Shorty was about 12 (1955?).

Moi -
:Shows acted in:
- Death By Chocolate ("Ralph Deadwood")
- Crimes of the Heart ("Doc")
- Dracula Baby ("Harry")
- Ten Little Indians ("Blore")
- Born Yesterday ("Eddie")

:Shows as Assistant:
- My Three Angels

:Shows doing Sound and/or Operating Light Board:
- Mouse Trap
- Picnic
- Take Me Back to the Five-and-Dime, Jimmy Dean
- The Nerd
- No Sex Please, We're British
- Curious Savage
- A Shot in the Dark
- Wait Until Dark
- A Tuna Christmas
- On Golden Pond
- My Three Angels
- I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
- I Do, I Do
- The Odd Couple
- The Tale of the Alergists Wife
- (more coming once memory or the Arena Archives page is up).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Eve Online - Faction Warfare Missioning

Basics: Gain ISK and LP by completing and turning in missions. Missions are against npc's (non-player "rats"). They generally involve destroying an object (like a reactor), or a head honcho rat (like a Sector Commander). With ISK you can purchase whatever you need off the Eve markets. LP you use to purchase items in your corporations Loyalty Points Store (LP = Loyalty Points). How lucrative is mission running? It depends on the tier the faction is at in the warzone. If you complete 20 missions, you should on average at Tier 3 get a payout of about 40 million ISK and 450K-550K LP. At about 700 ISK/LP that translates to about 350 mil. ISK. At Tier 4, those same missions completed should pay out 650k-850k LP. This would translate to about 550 mil. ISK. What do I use to run missions? Current doctrine suggests that if you're Amarr fighting against Minmatar, the best ship to use on Level 3 and 4 missions is a Stealth Bomber called the Hound . You can stay at range

Why the world doesn't need Superman

When you read a romantic novel, or watch a blockbuster movie, or even something as mundane as a soap opera, the girl always gets her man. She always leaves another man, less worthy than this Superman. He invariably beat her, or never had time for his kids because he was too busy with his job, or carried on affairs with someone from his office, or any one of a dozen or so standard reasons. But, she leaves him because she found her true love, her Super Man. In any case there is this unworthy ex that we as the audience find despicable in some way so that her leaving him is justified and the right thing to do. This is a metaphor, of course, but what happens to all those unworthy ? Are they as bad as all that, or do they just serve as a mechanism that allows the plot to permit this behavior of hers? So who are these nameless unworthy ? In fact they do have names and personalities, and I'd wager they are not quit as bad as made out. Why? Because I am one of these, and as a member of t

Commentary: Religion - Why it's hard for me to Believe

1. I have been ernest many times in my pleas to ask something of God and I've never received a whisper of a voice back. I've wanted to talk to my Dad, but have never heard any voices talking back. I would venture to say that if I had heard either, anyone upon hearing of that would think I'm 'mental' and suggest I see a psychiatrist, no? How about priests? They say they 'talk to God' and that God 'speaks' to them, but they never claim to have actually heard an actual voice. If all this time the real audio communication is only one-way, how is there any proof that anything is on the other side? 2. Sure, there are stories of miracles, but in your life or mine or anyone we know... When was the last time there has been an unequivical miracle happen that cannot be explained away as anything else but a miracle? 3. When people get a touchdown, they thank God. When they're rescued from a burning building, they thank God. When they're rescued from a pr