MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: JAMES DEAN: THE MAN BEHIND THE MYTH {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum of Television & Radio. This seminar -- moderated by Museum television curator David Bushman -- commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the death of actor James Dean with a panel discussion focusing on Dean's television work. Bushman begins the evening with a screening of clips highlighting Dean's performances for this medium, including the following, among others: a 1950 Pepsi commercial; "Family Theater: Hill Number One" (1951); "Westinghouse Studio One: Abraham Lincoln" (1952); "Armstrong's Circle Theatre: The Bells of Cockaigne" (1953); "General Electric Theatre: I'm a Fool"; and a National Safety Council Public Service Announcement (1955) in which Dean speaks to Gig Young about the importance of driving safely. After the screening, the following panelists join Bushman on stage: James Dean biographer Val Holley; playwright Israel Horovitz, author of a recent screenplay about the actor's life; agent Archer King; actress and Dean co-star, Betsy Palmer; and James Sheldon and Lela Swift, both of whom directed the young actor in television plays. The panelists discuss the following topics, among others: how Dean almost lost his role in the television anthology series program "The Web: Sleeping Dogs" (1952); Swift comments on Dean's neediness and dependency, and the warmth towards him that many on the set felt; Palmer recalls working with Dean in "Westinghouse Studio One Summer Theatre: Sentence of Death" (1953) and "Danger: Death Is My Neighbor" (1953); Sheldon comments on the difficulty veteran actor Gene Lockhart experienced working with Dean in "The Bells of Cockaigne" and how the spontaneity of Dean's work put some actors off balance; Palmer remembers Dean's masterful use of props -- and his tendency to invest them with sexual meaning -- and Dean's respect for elderly Shakespearean actor, Walter Hampden, with whom he and Palmer starred in "Death Is My Neighbor"; a humorous story about an awestruck Dean's first meeting with idol Marlon Brando; Dean's acting technique -- which included a highly developed "internal monologue"; a comparison of Dean's work in live television -- which afforded only brief rehearsal time -- to his film work; the influence of Dean's brief stint with Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio; how director Elia Kazan used Dean to provoke Raymond Massey while filming the motion picture, "East of Eden"; the status of Israel Horovitz's biographical Dean film, which may lose actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who was originally slated to portray the actor; Dean's audition for Dick Van Patten's role of "Nels" in the television series "Mama" when Van Patten was to leave for army duty. Questions from the audience lead to discussion of the following topics, among others: how Archer King came to represent young Dean in New York; Dean's experience working with silent screen legend Dorothy Gish in the Sheldon-directed "Robert Montgomery Presents: Harvest" (1953); projections as to what direction Dean's career would have taken if he had lived past the age of twenty-four; Dean's ability to act with his entire body; the power of his work with Natalie Wood in "I'm a Fool"; Dean's painful childhood, in which he suffered being rejected by his father after the death of his mother when he was nine; Swift's observation that Dean brought something "complicated" to the screen -- that he "thickened things"; comparisons of Dean's work to that of Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe; the self-centeredness of Dean's acting, and its effect on the actors with whom he was working; and Horovitz's moving argument as to why Dean's work has endured.
(Scheduled panelists Anne Jackson and Don Medford were unable to attend.)
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: September 21, 1995 6:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:27:05
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:40492
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Lela Swift)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Bushman … Moderator
- Val Holley … Panelist
- Israel Horovitz … Panelist
- Archer King … Panelist
- Betsy Palmer … Panelist
- James Sheldon … Panelist
- Lela Swift … Panelist
- James Dean