“Break
a leg darling”
Old
thespians cry
As
they tread the boards
And
in fear of a mythical curse
Talk
of the “Scottish play”
Off
stage
They
bore one and all
With
quotes of the bard
And
shamelessly drop names
Whilst
imparting anecdotes
And
listing credits long past
I was on a family holiday in Dubrovnik in the late eighties at a time when it was still part of old republic of Yugoslavia.
It
was not the best holiday I’ve ever had in fact it was awful caused by a combination
of foul weather, the worst summer for four decades we were reliably informed, and
the unfriendliness people it’s ever been my misfortune to come into contact
with, in fact they made Parisians look friendly and Bavarians seem charming.
In
retrospect there were obviously unseen tensions lurking beneath the surface,
which finally erupted into the vicious civil war, which saw the breakup of the
old Yugoslav republic.
However,
on this particular morning the weather had picked up a little and the sun was shining,
and the restaurant waitresses seemed a little less surly than usual, so we went
for a walk after breakfast.
We
headed towards the marina through a rather pleasant little park when we noticed
something on the quayside, so we went over to investigate.
We
came upon a scene with cameras and lights and an arrangement of rails on the
ground for the camera to run along and a lot of people milling around like a
group of industrious ants and then there was another smaller group with two men
dressed in east German uniforms and the unmistakable figure of the great Welsh
actor Jonathan Rhys-Davies.
I
know that some of you are asking “who the hell is Jonathan Rhys-Davies” well you may not recognize the name,
but you would certainly recognize the face and some of the many characters he’s
played such as Prof. Maximilian Arturo in the sci-fi series
Sliders, Sallah, the jovial north African friend of Indiana Jones in the
adventure movies and Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
So
now we all know who he is I will continue.
We
stopped to watch the filming and surprisingly there were very few people who
did stop to watch the proceedings and most of those who did quickly moved on.
Which
I found quite strange as it wasn’t as if there was anything more interesting to
do in Dubrovnik during the wettest summer for forty years.
There
were several takes of the shot they were filming and between takes Mr.
Rhys-Davies kept looking over in our direction and when the director was
finally satisfied with what he had done, he signaled for them to pack up for
the day.
On
this signal Mr Rhys-Davies made a beeline to where we were standing and greeted
us like we were long lost friends and kissed my mum, which thrilled her to
bits.
We
exchanged introductions and he proceeded to explain that they were in
Yugoslavia to film a pilot for a proposed TV show for one of the American
networks entitled “THE COMPANY” in which he played a CIA man. He then wanted to
know where we were from, where we were staying, how long we were staying, were
we enjoying it.
All
of course totally irrelevant to him but he took the time to find out about us
rather than do the usual Luvvie thing of talking about themselves and listing
their credits, there was no me me me with him at all.
He
spent over half an hour chatting with us then he posed for photos, but not in a
grandstanding way like stars do for the benefit of the paparazzi, then he
kissed my mum again.
He
had to be called three times by his production people to get in the car and
even then, he apologized profusely that he had to leave.
Whenever
we watch an Indian Jones movie or an episode of Sliders before I can even speak
my wife says, “I know its Jonathan
Rhys-Davies, you met him in Dubrovnik and he’s a very nice man”, before
I can say a word how sad is that.
Many years ago, in the days when the steak houses were only just appearing and there wasn’t a fast-food joint on every corner, indeed the only fast food establishment was the chip shop although the more cosmopolitan towns did have a wimpy bar.
Any way I arrived, with my wife, at a highly regarded and exclusive
restaurant where I had a reservation, made three months in advance I might add.
Well on entering the restaurant the scene that greeted me was that of the
Maitre’d being confronted by a very angry man in fact he was so angry that his
face was a strange purple colour, and his temples were throbbing and the reason
for his shouting was that he was demanding he be seated at the last available
table.
The purple faced man in question was a well-known TV actor of the day in
fact at the time he was starring in a series called “The Lotus Eaters” I won’t
mention his name, but I can say that it wasn’t Wanda Ventham.
The Maitre’d looked a little relieved when he saw me come in and
immediately informed the purple faced actor that the vacant table was in fact
reserved for this gentleman and his companion and he gestured in my direction.
The charmless though interestingly coloured man, now turned his attention
on me and tried to persuade me to give up my reservation by shouting loudly at
me.
When I refused his kind offer, he said “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes” I said and told him exactly who he was and what program he was currently in.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked him in return.
He looked puzzled and then answered “No”.
“I’m the bloke with the reservation” I told him.
He then had thick blue veins throbbing in his neck to go with his purple
face and his language was even more colourful than his head.
“You look like Donald Sutherland”
She told me at the
cocktail party
I was extremely
flattered by this
Even though she
was quite tarty
Being compared to
a famous star
Left me with a
warm feeling inside
Head high looking
down my nose
I saw her smiling
wryly at my pride
Its only human to
be so flattered
Even if he doesn’t
make girls swoon
Then she continued
loudly in my ear
“Well viewed in
the back of a spoon”
I can’t watch Christopher Eccleston
I
find his speech very distracting
He
was clearly a graduate
Of
the shouty school of acting
My younger sister reckons she’s an actress
She’s not a very good one I should stress
And her type of films tend to have no plot
Mum says she’s in Hollywood doing a pilot
Well that’s apparently my little sister’s claim
Knowing Sis as I do I’d like to ask his name
I can’t watch Sylvester Stallone
I
find his speech very distracting
He
was clearly a graduate
Of
the Mumbling school of acting
Eric Cuthbert Christmas was born March 19th 1916 in London.
He
trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and in 1936 gained valuable
experience in the English repertory theatre.
The
zenith of his early theatrical days was a principal role in the London
production of Noel Coward's "Bitter Sweet" before the Second World
War.
During
the war he continued his acting career while he was a member of the Royal Air
Force production unit and performed in the RAF's Gang Show.
After
he was de-mobbed from the air force he moved to Canada in 1948 where he first
met the television comedians Wayne & Shuster which began a long
association.
He
toured Canada extensively with His own show "Christmas is Coming"
during the 1950s.
In
1957 Eric first appeared at Canada's Stratford Festival and performed in 12
seasons and 21 Shakespearean productions until 1970.
His
final appearance at Stratford was in 1987, when he played Dogberry in “Much Ado
About Nothing”.
In
addition to his Shakespearian experience’s he also had long and rewarding
associations with the Canadian Players, San Diego's Globe Theatre, and the
drama department at the University of California at San Diego.
Eric
Christmas was a superb supporting actor and always delighted in whatever film
he is in.
He
appeared in a large body of TV shows of which
"Days
of Our Lives" (1965) (1995-1996)
"The
Sandy Duncan Show" (1972)
Columbo,
A Friend in Deed (1974)
"War
and Remembrance" (1989) are but a few and his Film credits include Monte
Walsh (1970) The Andromeda Strain (1971)
The
Last Tycoon (1976) Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
The
Changeling (1980) Porky's (1981) Porky's II: The Next Day (1983)
The
Philadelphia Experiment (1984) All of Me (1984)
Porky's
Revenge (1985) Bugsy (1991) Almost Dead (1994)
and
Mouse Hunt (1997).
In
everything he did he always gave of his best and like many supporting actors
before him he was the glue that held a production together.
He
and his wife Marcy had three children Robin, Holly, Kailee and six grandchildren.
Eric
Died July 22nd 2000 in Camarillo, California.
Some actor’s, male and female, have such a presence when they’re on the screen that you feel an immediate empathy with them, Robert Donat had that effect on me.
He
was born on March 18, 1905 in Withington, Manchester, and he suffered with the
worst kind of handicap for an actor a stutter.
In
order to overcome it, he began taking elocution lessons when he was eleven
years of age and as a result he developed an exceptionally versatile voice.
As
a result he began his stage career aged 16 appearing in a number of classical
and Shakespearean roles in repertory as
well as touring companies and By 1924 he had joined Sir Frank Benson's
repertory company.
He
immediately gained popularity in the early Thirties after he had signed a
contract with Alexander Corda particularly after he appeared in what was only
his third film “The Private Life of Henry VIII” in 1933 playing Thomas
Culpepper.
He
followed this with “The Count of Monte Cristo” in 1934 portraying Edmond Dantes
and then in my opinion he delivered the definitive Richard Hannay in Alfred
Hitchcock’s “The Thirty Nine Steps” in 1935.
The
Thirty Nine Steps is not only one of my favorite Donat films it is also near
the top of the list of my favorite Hitchcock classic’s and I can remember being
enormously envious of Robert Donat being handcuffed to the lovely Madeline
Carroll.
The
late thirties proved to be his heyday with His two most successful films being
“The Citadel” in 1938 where he starred with Rosalind Russell in which he
received an Oscar nomination and the following year in “Goodbye Mr. Chips” with
Greer Garson for which he was again nominated for an Oscar and this time he won
it, no mean feat as he was up against “Gone With The Wind”
His
career was hampered by chronic asthma and he turned down both “Robin Hood” and
“Captain Blood” because of the Hollywood air aggravated his complaint.
Both
parts eventually went to Errol Flynn who in acting terms wasn’t worthy of being
mentioned in the same breath as Donat.
He
was also an insecure man plagued with self-doubt and as a result he turned down
more film scripts than he accepted, rare indeed for an actor of the day.
Due
to is ill health He did very few films in the 40's and 50's averaging one film
every two years and his last film was in 1958 when he had a cameo role in “The
Inn of the Sixth Happiness” which starred Ingrid Bergman.
He
was so ill at the time you could almost see him dieing before your eyes His
health was failing him so fast in fact he died on June 9, 1958 a matter of days
after the film was completed.
Ironically
his last words in the film are "We shall not see each other again, I
think."
