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"Basically, all parts are character parts. The problem of the actor is to protect the differences in a character: to identify that the character being portrayed has his own personality traits. He has to find things within himself to establish these differences. I'm best when I portray not good guys, or bad guys, but human guys. These are the people I understand."
Arthur Kennedy's words speak volumes about the kind of actor he was, one sought by both Hollywood and Broadway to be in dramas involving real people struggling with real problems. His many talents were recognized with several Academy Award nominations and the winning of a Golden Globe and a Tony award. This work covers Kennedy's film and stage career, film-by-film and play-by-play, and provides pictures, synopses, and commentary for each one.
Acting anecdotes from Kennedy himself or from his peers in film and on stage, such as Errol Flynn, Elia Kazan, James Cagney, Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, and many others, bedizen the commentary. Among the films and plays included are Joy in the Morning, Henry IV Part I, Strange Alibi, High Sierra, Bad Men, Desperate Journey, Cheyenne, The Window and Champion.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Foreword ACT
1 Introducing Arthur Kennedy
2 Born to Act (1936-1940)
3 The War Begins (1941-1943)
4 From Hot to Cold War (1943-1949)
ACT
5 Into the Fifties (1949-1950)
6 Korea and McCarthyism (1951-1952)
7 Back to Broadway-and Back Again to Hollywood (1952-1959)
8 Into the Sixties (1960-1962)
9 Sometimes for Art; Sometimes for Money (1962-1969)
10 Into the Seventies (1970-1973)
11 Some Personal Time, Then Back to Work (1974-1989)
APPENDICES
Remembrances of Laurie Kennedy
The Lesser Works of Arthur Kennedy
Warner Bros. and the War (1943-1945)
After the War (1951-1958)
Offshore Cinema and Made-for-TV (1964-1979)
Notable Television Guest Appearances (1959-1969)
Notes Index
About the author
Meredith Macksoud, a teacher's assistant in Santa Barbara, California, died after nearly completing this book.
Her mother,
Jackie Lohrke, helped to see the project through to publication.
Family friend,
Craig R. Smith, helped to see the project through to publication.
