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| Appearing as a miner on set for filming in 1976. |
There are chapters in my life that seem
absolutely unbelievable, though perfectly true. For instance I was once hired to play a scene in a film opposite the legendary
actor John Carradine, of Grapes of Wrath fame! This was a
made-for-TV film I auditioned for when I was 20 or so. The film was a
story about a coal mine disaster,
called Christmas Miracle in Caufield, USA, starring Kurt Russell,
Melissa Gilbert and Michael Ryan. For this scene I played a homeless drifter playing harmonica on the street when John's
character came along and the two of us engaged in a short
conversation.
As you might have guessed, the scene
was ultimately cut from the film and I appeared only as a miner in
the background of a couple of scenes. But I did get to hang out with
the actors and watch a film being shot on location, a new and interesting experience
for me, who would later help start a film company (did I mention unbelievable chapters? That will be addressed in time...) Sadly, the film was not that great, but the experience was unforgettable!
It was a decade or so later that a very
similar thing happened to my father. He auditioned for and was cast in a
film that was being shot near our Montana home, one that you no doubt know of as the classic A River Runs Through
It. Dad was cast as a newspaper editor by
Robert Redford, who went out of his way to find historic precedent
for a bearded editor at the time specifically so Dad wouldn't have to
shave his beard. But alas, the shooting schedule was severely
delayed, which finally edged Dad out of the role as he had a
commitment in Europe to fulfill. So both our film careers ended up
"on the cutting room floor". But they couldn't strip us of the gripping story, of Dad's being cast in a classic and my having once been hired to play opposite a great film star!
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