Who was the actor/actress that you were first interested in?
Steve McQueen. While most kids my age were marveling over Star Wars and Harrison Ford, I was pretending I was McQueen’s Captain Hilts character from The Great Escape while pedaling my bike as fast as I could. My childhood “Holy Trilogy” of McQueen adventure epics were The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, and Papillon. That hasn’t changed! My close friends and I worshipped this guy’s movies! McQueen turned out to be a not-so nice human being, but I “judge the art, not the artist.”
Childhood Icon: Steve McQueen could do no wrong. I'm still looking for that color of sweatshirt.
How old were you when you really began watching old movies?
Five.
What was the first old movie that caught your interest?
One of the "Universal Monster movies": Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolfman, and the Abbott & Costello variations thereof. With Frankenstein being my all-time favorite. I reminisce about it here.
Who is currently your favorite actor?
I'm not tellin'!
Second place in this favorite actor category would be a revolving door policy of various 1960s actors. As Trixie once told me, “Your love of 1930s women is only overridden by your love of 1960s tough guys.” So true, but Steve McQueen, Lee Marvin, James Coburn, Burt Lancaster, Charles Bronson, and Clint Eastwood---are all jockeying for second place to ---. It's interesting to note that I haven't written about him yet...
Who is currently your favorite actress?
I guess when all is said and done I’ll take Katharine Hepburn. Any dame who can go toe-to-toe with the best actors of their respective generations (Spencer Tracy and Peter O’Toole) has got to be my favorite.
What is your favorite old movie and why?
I’m not tellin’—yet. A lengthy blog entry is in progress. Stay tuned.
How many old movies do you own? How many old movies do you have recorded/on the dvr?
Not as many as I’d like. A lot less than everyone else who's answering this! I also have a lot of 1960s-70s TV shows that compete for my attention. I don’t have a Tivo/DV-R recorder…
If you could go back in time and visit any actor/actress, who would it be?
I’d love to play poker and drink tequila late into the night in a tent in the middle of the desert with John Wayne, John Ford, Ward Bond, and the other stock cast members on the set of one of Ford's cavalry epics. Oh, the ripe conversations they must have had!
Who is one actor/actress that you want to know more about?
I’m usually disappointed when I read too much about a beloved movie star. But I’ll say Robert Ryan.
What film could you watch over and over again?
Impossible to pick just one, but if I had to live my life in a movie, it’d be as Nick Charles in a never-ending Thin Man film.
What is your favorite Hitchcock film?
B&W: Strangers on a Train
Color: North by Northwest
Who is your favorite director?
I don't think I really have one. Today, I’ll say George Cukor---but tomorrow it might be…Richard Brooks, Leo McCarey, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, John Ford, Howard Hawks...it's impossible to choose a single director.
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