Welcome to ODYSSEY ~ KEIR DULLEA ONLINE @keirdullea.org a site dedicated to the career of actor Keir Dullea. Best known for his role as Commander Dave Bowman in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. In a career that has spanned five decades, Keir has worked in film and television including Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Castle, Damages, The Hoodlum Priest, Bunny Lake Is Missing, The Fox, Paperback Hero, David & Lisa, Madame X, Isn't It Delicious, and the sequel to 2001, 2010: Odyssey Two. Keir's favourite medium is the stage where he's starred in such projects as the original production of Butterflies Are Free, On Golden Pond, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, Doubles, Dr. Cook's Garden, I Never Sang for My Father, The Shawshank Redemption, Tales from Hollywood, The Cherry Orchard and many other workshop productions.
Upcoming Projects
Film:HBO'S Fahrenheit 451 playing The Historian Status: Post-Production
ODYSSEY ~ KEIR DULLEA ONLINE @ keirdullea.org is a website dedicated to the work of American actor Keir Dullea. I am in no way affiliated with his person, his management, nor his family. All content, except otherwise noted, is copyrighted to their original owners and no infringement is intended and no rights implied. Content contained within are subject to fair use and used here either in whole or in part as a commentary on the work and career of Keir Dullea.
Another article on Keir and Mia’s upcoming performance in ON GOLDEN POND.
Side by side, Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon take the stage
David Patrick Stearns, Inquirer Classical Music Critic
Posted: Sunday, July 5, 2015, 3:01 AM
NEW YORK – When the call came to do On Golden Pond together at Bucks County Playhouse, Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon asked each other, “Why didn’t we ever think of that?”
Though best known for his role in 2001: A Space Odyssey or his early turn in David and Lisa, Dullea and his wife (since 1999) Dillon lately have been working through the slim but often prestigious body of plays with great roles for actors over that draconian cutoff age, 40.
Dillon, 59, who plays Ethel, is far enough away from her ingenue days that she retrained for a side career in acupuncture when roles started slowing down. Dullea, 79, is the same age as Norman, his character – one of the largest and more complicated roles of his career, a crusty, retired college professor facing heart trouble and failing memory as he turns 80. Rehearsals for the three-week run that begins Friday at the New Hope theater are a scant two weeks.
“This is our eighth gig together,” says Dullea. But by the end of the interview, the count was up to 12, given how often one or the other said, “Oh yes, we also did that.”
The important thing is that, while shows might have been forgotten, lines weren’t. Dullea worked on the play for two months before rehearsals began, determined to be “off-book” on the first day, allowing him to concentrate on higher matters.
Neither Henry Fonda nor Katharine Hepburn, who starred in the 1981 film version and won Oscars, cast long shadows on them. “Every script you get . . . it’s yours and nobody else’s,” said Dullea.
“You can have chemistry with different chemicals,” added Dillon. “This play [by Ernest Thompson] has been around since 1979, and has been done all over the world, and was a major movie. There’s a reason. This pond is deep.”
Just as Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt were known to be stronger than the sum of their parts, Dillon and Dullea help each other as only fellow actors can, whether running lines or just empathizing with each other’s process. Perhaps that’s one reason both seem to be in their primes, discovering roles in plays likeTennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that might have seemed beyond them in years past but turned into triumphs. That’s not to downplay their higher-profile glory years – especially because those periods were so interesting.
Born in Colorado and raised in Newtown Square, Dillon had her share of big-award nominations for provocative plays such as Once a Catholic and Crimes of the Heart, plus TV credits that include Mary and Rhoda as well as Law & Order and its various offshoots.
Dullea, who grew up in New York City but was educated at Bucks County’s George School, was cast in films as disturbed and disturbing individuals (the Marquis de Sade, for one), even if his less-demanding astronaut turn in 2001: A Space Odyssey is the role for which he is best known. “You could do a lot worse,” he says.
Some of his headier assignments were also the least pleasant, such as 1965’s Bunny Lake Is Missing, in which he played opposite Sir Laurence Olivier but had to endure merciless bullying from director Otto Preminger as well as the frustration of sharing a film with the great Noel Coward but having no scenes with him. Dullea nevertheless insisted on meeting Coward, who immediately delivered what sounds like an insulting quip: “Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow.”
But Dullea was flattered, noting, “How many people have a quote from such a man?”
Both he and Dillon feel that their good old days are now. Many stage actors are living on borrowed time after 70 due to memory issues and vocal decline. Some implode from the wear and tear of always going where the work is. But Dullea has worked fairly constantly, fondly recalling summer theaters in one-stoplight towns in Ohio. He looks terrific – certainly better than those late scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which he aged all the way to his deathbed. He often bicycles 20 miles a day near his home in Fairfield, Conn. You can see him these days on the towpath trails in New Hope.
The subtly radiant Dillon casually quotes the Dalai Lama and sees important parallels between acting and acupuncture. “Both of them, I believe, are about healing,” she said. “In the theater, the shared communion of stories, when you’re laughing and crying as a group. . . . That’s what I love about the theater, that feeling of connection.”
“In serious sections,” said Dullea, “there’s what I call ‘the roar of silence’ from the audience. The attention, the connection is palpable. I can’t explain it, but it’s there.”
Carrying that sense of connection offstage is perhaps crucial. “There’s almost a period of mourning after a play, for the family that you gathered together and that incredible energy that you had onstage,” Dillon said. “The work is emotionally intense and then you have nothing. I can see how actors sink into alcohol and drugs. But if you have something spiritual – and it doesn’t have to be religion – you still have a feeling of connectedness and being alive.”
Such insights leave the two of them with little taste for sitcom-ish scripts – one reason why they happily went against type in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof two years ago when they played the aging Southern power couple in Provincetown.
Dullea says he momentarily failed to recognize Dillon in the part, so completely had she transformed herself into Big Mama with powers of illusion – and a matronly fat suit. “I have some steel magnolias . . . in my family,” she says.
Dullea has little in common with portly Burl Ives, the most famous portrayer of Big Daddy. “But to me, it was the personal pinnacle of everything I’ve ever done in film, stage, or TV,” he says. “I grew a long beard . . . and used a voice I’d never used, way down here. . . .” He says a few lines, and you hear what he means. They both want to do it again.
Something they won’t touch is Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Though they had success in Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (playing the secondary, non-warring couple), they won’t take on the playwright’s better-known piece for fear of ruining their marriage.
“People who play Martha and George, even if they’re friends to start with, there’s a rift in their relationship,” says Dillon. “There’s something about the cruelty of the play that changes their relationship.”
Other actors might simply wait at home for the Big Phone Call to come, offering something like the film version of Driving Miss Daisy. Not Dullea: “I’ve had those calls already.”
TWO FOR THE SHOW
On Golden Pond
Friday through Aug. 2 at Bucks County Playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope.
Tickets: $29-$85. Information: 215-862-2121 or bcptheater.org SOURCE
Keir and Mia are in rehearsals for a production of the play ON GOLDEN POND to be performed in a limited run from late July to early August. If anyone is able to go see this, please feel free to leave a comment on how awesome Keir and Mia are. The information is in the article to follow with some photos from the rehearsal featuring Keir and Mia.
Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon for ON GOLDEN POND at Bucks County Playhouse
The real-life acting couple Keir Dullea (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY) and Mia Dillon (CRIMES OF THE HEART, Broadway original cast) will be joined by actors Todd Cerveris, Cameron Clifford, Don Noble and Christa Scott-Reed in the BUCKS COUNTY PLAYHOUSE production of Ernest Thompson’s comedy ON GOLDEN POND, running July 10 to August 2, at the Playhouse, located at 70 S. Main Street in New Hope, Pa. Dullea and Dillon portray the long-time married couple Norman and Ethel Thayer as they spend the summer on their lakeside cottage in Maine. Mr. Dullea and Miss Dillon have themselves been married for 16 years. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!
ON GOLDEN POND is directed by Jonathan Silverstein, who recently directed the acclaimed Off-Broadway productions of the musical JOHN & JEN, the hit THE TEMPERAMENTALS and A WALK IN THE WOODS starring Kathleen Chalfant.
Keir Dullea has appeared in more than 25 feature films since 1957 including DAVID AND LISA (Golden Globe Award for “New Star of the Year”); 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY; MADAM X opposite Lana Turner; and BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING with Sir Laurence Olivier. His Broadway roles include in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE and P.S. YOUR CAT IS DEAD. Upcoming films include: ISN’T IT DELICIOUS and as Mark Ruffalo’s father in INFINITELY POLAR BEAR.
Mia Dillon has appeared on Broadway in OUR TOWN, THE MISER, HAY FEVER, CRIMES OF THE HEART (Tony Award nomination), AGNES OF GOD, THE CORN IS GREEN, ONCE A CATHOLIC and DA. Film and TV credits include GODS & GENERALS, A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM, THE MONEY PIT, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and a recurring role on THE JURY.
Scenic design for ON GOLDEN POND is by Steven C. Kemp; costume design by Jennifer Paar; lighting design by Gina Scherr; and original music and sound design by Obadiah Eaves. SOURCE
I just found this. An amazing bit of acting from Keir performing a ten minute monologue from “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” as Big daddy. This is likely as close as I’m going to get to seeing him perform in a play so I’m just going to enjoy it. For your consideration.
A little more about Keir and Mia’s upcoming revival of the Tennessee Williams play CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.
Wellfleet to Stage CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, Begin. 8/29
Real life husband and wife Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon play the classic couple ‘Big Daddy’ and ‘Big Mama’ in Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize Winning play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opening August 31 at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (WHAT).
Since starring in the classic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dullea has starred in both films and plays. He’s especially excited to play Big Daddy in this production because he played Brick, Big Daddy’s son, in the 1974 Broadway production with Elizabeth Ashley and Fred Gwynne. “Gwynne was magnificent as Big Daddy,” Dullea says of the man to whom he has dedicated this performance. “He inspired me to want to play that role. His voice rings in my ears today. I’ll be reaching deep to find that voice within myself.”
Mia Dillon won a Tony nomination for her role as ‘Babe’ in the original 1981 Broadway play Crimes of the Heart. She has had a very strong presence in the theater world, starring in such shows as Our Town with Paul Newman, Da and Agnes of God among others. Dillon sees ‘Big Mama’ as deeply in love with her husband and riding an emotional roller coaster from elation as she believes he is cured of cancer, to despair as she discovers he’s dying. Dillon appreciates that the genius of Williams’ poetic writing gives her the chance as an actor “to explore deep emotions in the safe place of the stage.”
Dullea and Dillon have been married 15 years and have enjoyed performing together often. Soon after they met while reading Selected Shorts for NPR, they played together in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Right after they were married, they toured in Death Trap, in which Keir’s character killed Mia’s off every night. Most recently they both appear in the film Isn’t it Delicious.
Director Elizabeth Falk has also cast newcomers Madeleine Lambert as Maggie and Steven De Marco as Brick. Like Williams, Falk was born in the South, and she is especially sensitive to the musicality of his writing. “Even punctuation is important to capturing the music. It must be honored to get the sound Williams wanted to hear.” Falk has directed 64 productions of drama, musical theatre and opera at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Off-Broadway, as well as in many overseas countries. She was the first woman to ever direct at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.
From Wellfleet, this production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof continues on to the Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, for four performances at Town Hall (206 Commercial Street, Provincetown), September 27, 7:30 pm; September 28, 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm; and September 29, 4:00 pm.
Tickets: Premium Seating: $37; Family Circle: $27; Under 18 or with Student ID: $10
Box Office: 508-349-WHAT (9428) www.what.org
I don’t know what it is about this guy, but he just makes me hate him every single time I find he’s opened his mouth about playing Keir in the new biopic Sal based on the life of actor Sal Mineo. Who is Jim Parrack? He’s well known for playing the part of loser Hoyt Fortenberry on the HBO blood sucking series True Blood. Why do I hate him? Because I think he’s one of the most narcissistic human beings I’ve ever had the chance to see. According to him he didn’t want to contact Keir about playing him because he felt he didn’t need to. More below the cut.
Actor on Sex Scene with Ryan Kwanten and Sal Mineo Biopic
Actor Jim Parrack, who plays vampire-smitten Hoyt Fortenberry on the HBO hit True Blood, talks about a sex scene he recently filmed with costar Ryan Kwanten as well as his role in James Franco’s upcoming film about murdered gay actor Sal Mineo in an interview with New York magazine.
Parrack is asked about the sex scene, which happened during a dream had by Jason Stackhouse (Kwanten’s character). “I still haven’t seen that, but to play the cowgirl straddling my buddy?” he says with a laugh. “That was a very interesting scene to shoot, to say the least.”
Parrack also appears in close friend James Franco’s upcoming film, Sal, as actor Keir Dullea. The film, which chronicles the last days of actor Mineo as he was appearing in the play P.S. Your Cat Is Dead, will premiere at the Venice Film Festival later this month.
“There’s some great material,” Parrack says of the screenplay, adapted from Michael Gregg Michaud’s highly regarded biography. “It’s amazing to me that Sal Mineo was getting nominated for Oscars [for 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause and 1960’s Exodus] but then when he came out as a homosexual, he lost everything.”
He also gives a shout-out to actor Val Lauren, who plays Mineo. “He is going to fucking blow people’s minds,” Parrack says. “He is going to break your heart and make you fall in love with Sal — how he kept his dream alive, how he wasn’t bitter, how he wasn’t blaming anyone, up to that last tragic moment.”
Asked if he sought advice from Dullea, who starred in the sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and costarred in Mineo’s last play, Parrack says no. “Look, if I do that, he might tell me things that could go against my instinct. I don’t know if he was bisexual, but I sensed that about him, so I took that idea to James, and we incorporated that. Not in an obvious way, not that I’m flirting with boys, but just suggesting that it’s possible.”
Keir Dullea (left) starred as Lewis in the film ‘Welcome to Blood City’ in 1977. Jim Parrack (right) plays Dullea in the biopic ‘Sal’ directed by James Franco.
Okay Parrack is a whack nutter. First of all saying that to consult with Keir would “go against my instinct” is plainly stupid. If the person you’re playing is still alive, as an actor he should have at least had the courtesy to seek Keir out to ask him what he was feeling, thinking, being at the time the film’s events take place. Secondly, Parrack claims he felt a ‘homosexual’ vibe from Keir is just plainly idiotic. If he’d at least taken the time to IMDB Keir, he’d have found out Keir had been married rour times, including his current wife, Mia Dillon. Not to mention at the time of Mineo’s death, Keir had been married to Susie, a marriage that lasted 27 years till her death in 1997. Thirdly, I have no idea where Franco got the idea that Parrack even looked like Keir. When IMDBing Parrack, I found out he is at least 6’4″ which places him at least three inches taller than Keir at 6’1′. Parrack also is bigger physically than Keir. He also just doesn’t have that gentility Keir possesses. The photo above shows what Keir looked like circa 1977, about the time the Franco film takes place.
Personally I think Parrack is a jerk. Certainly the play Keir was perparing at the time of Mineo’s death was P.S. YOUR CAT IS DEAD, a play Keir originated on Broadway with actor Tony Musante. The theme of the play involves homosexual undertones, but for Parrack to state he ‘feels that homosexual vibe’ means he does not understand the nature of acting. Part of that is to research your topic or character. If a doctor, you read books on being a doctor. If a firefighter, hang out for a time with firefighters. Lots of actors do it. When Angela Bassett played rock icon Tina Turner in the film What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Bassett consulted Turner and received some insight from the singer. Same when Tom Hanks played Jim Lovell in the film “Apollo 13,” he met with the astronaut many times to discuss what happened on that ill-fated flight. It just galls me that Parrack is being so conceited to think he doesn’t have to meet with Keir, a real person, about playing him. For that reason alone I can say I hate Parrack with a passion. Thank goodness he’s off of True Blood because I really didn’t care for his character.
