June
5
Westerner's Brian Keith Lands Star on Walk of Fame
One of my great guilty pleasures is 60s family comedy The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills (playing separated twin sisters) and Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith as their estranged parents. Well, loyal fans of the late actor, who died in 1997, have raised some $30,000 (or whatever it costs) to land Keith a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame on June 26. It's well-deserved, and among the rare stars to be totally fan supported. No corporations or studios were involved; contributions came from around the world: Zaire, Canada, Egypt, Australia, Germany, and Scotland.
Here's a tribute from David Weddle (the author of “If They Move… Kill ‘Em!” The Life and Times of Sam Peckinpah, and a writer/supervising producer for Battlestar Galactica):
Brian Keith By David WeddleBrian Keith is mostly remembered today as a warm, charismatic and likable actor who ambled his way through a number of fantastically successful but blandly forgettable television shows, such as Family Affair and Hardcastle and McCormick.
It’s a shame, because Keith was a complex, literate man with an encyclopedic knowledge of the American West, and one of the most talented actors of the his generation – a talent as formidable and multifaceted as Marlon Brando’s.
For proof of this, one need look no further than The Westerner (1960), the short-lived but critically acclaimed television series that Keith made with writer/director Sam Peckinpah. It is quite simply the best half-hour western series ever made and Keith’s portrayal of Dave Blassingame – a drifting cow puncher who dreams of settling down on a ranch of his own one day, but never manages to save the money to do it – is a revelation. In every episode Keith displays startling range and subtlety: heartbreak and disillusionment in “Jeff,” a man torn between his best and worst impulses in “Mrs. Kennedy,” and childlike naiveté when he falls in love in “The Courtship of Libby. In all its subtle nuances, its intriguing combination of brute strength, emotional fragility, and a haunting inner melancholy, Keith’s performance ranks as one of the finest every crafted for the screen.
In “Jeff,” he tries to rescue a girl he knew in his youth from a rat hole of a brothel where she now works as a prostitute. In the climax of the episode, she tells him she doesn’t want to be saved, that she loves her abusive pimp and cannot leave him because he needs her. As a shattered Keith turns to leave, Jeff shuffles after him and takes his arm. He turns to look at her and she leans forward to plant a tender, chaste kiss on his stubbled cheek. He runs a callused hand gently along the side of her pale face, but she turns it away from him. “Yeah, you’re right,” he murmurs, “why should I worry about you?” His big hand moves to delicately untie the thin ribbon that holds her blond hair. He folds it carefully in his palm – the action denying his words, revealing the slow acid burn of love forever lost.
That’s acting, ladies and gentlemen.
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It's a shame that Mr. Weddle dismissed "Family Affair" and "Hardcastle & McCormick" as "blandly forgettable", for it was the fans of those shows in particular that raised the money needed for the star. I am proud to say that I am one of those fans who will be flying in cross-country for the long-overdue June 26th ceremony.
Posted by: Barbara | June 06, 2008 at 05:03 AM
As Mr. Weddle pointed out, Keith's work in The Westerner was excellent and has stood the test of time, but, like you and Babara, I've always enjoyed his more popular portrayals as well. He was protean, and had the ability to make a variety of roles look effortless. Many people related to one or more of his performances: loner, bemused parent, charmingly irascible authority figure, and a hundred others. That's undoubtedly why his fan base remembers him fondly and supported the campaign.
Posted by: Deb | June 06, 2008 at 09:30 AM
I enjoyed reading about Brien Keith today, but can you tell me, Anne, why on earth Sam himself does not have a star on Hollywood Blvd?
Posted by: Paul Seydor | June 06, 2008 at 11:12 AM
we'd need to raise the money--Robert Towne doesn't either--as far as I know there are no screenwriters on the Walk of Fame. You buy the star. That's the deal. Usually the studios do it to promote a star or movie.
Posted by: Anne Thompson | June 06, 2008 at 11:16 AM
I recently bought the entire Westerner series off a fan site and it's jaw-droppingly great. No Peckinpah fan should be without it, especially that first episode, "Jeff," which is mind-boggling, especially if you have any memory or sense of network TV in 1959.
Sam was not the messiah, just a very very bad boy.
Also, I'm sure all the Peckies out there have/need the new University of Mississippi paperback, "Sam Peckinpah: Interviews." Best price I found on this was at deepdiscount.com.
More than essential, it's a Bible of tasty life and biz observations, ruminations on art, profane madness, sacred insights.
As for a Sam star on the Walk of Fame: let's ask Tarantino, Woo, the Scotts, et al, ie everyone who creatively "borrowed" from the Samography, to fund it. They've reaped millions while the Old Iguana never moved out of his suitcase, until he shed his skin for the last time.
Posted by: Gaydos | June 06, 2008 at 03:33 PM