Stutterer
05-10-2004, 03:49 AM
But the primary thing that led me into acting was the fact that I am a stutterer. I stutter and stammer. After years of silence I had the good fortune of having a high school English teacher who encouraged me to regain the power of speech. And I think that led me to want to use my voice once I found it again.
James Earl Jones will speak Monday at a fund-raiser for Missouri Repertory Theatre.
James Earl Jones will give Rep more of Moors
By ROBERT TRUSSELL
The Kansas City Star
James Earl Jones, a second-generation actor, star of films and the Broadway stage and the voice of Darth Vader and CNN, will be in Kansas City on Monday to help raise money for Missouri Repertory Theatre.
Jones, who claimed Tony Awards for his performances on Broadway in “The Great White Hope” and “Fences,” was born in Mississippi and raised in Michigan by his grandparents. His father, Robert Earl Jones, was a stage actor.
His own acting career didn't begin until the late 1950s after a two-year stint in the Army. Among Jones' most notable stage performances are Othello (opposite Christopher Plummer as Iago and Dianne Wiest as Desdemona), King Lear, Hickey in Eugene O'Neill's “The Iceman Cometh” and Lennie in John Steinbeck's “Of Mice and Men.” His memorable film roles include parts in “Dr. Strangelove,” “Field of Dreams,” “Cry the Beloved Country” and “The Hunt for Red October.”
We caught up with Jones recently at his home in upstate New York.
Q. Describe what the audience at the Folly Theater will see when you take the stage Monday night.
A. It's a presentation but it's not anything acted out. I'm reading from Shakespeare … My pet name for the presentation is, “Have You Heard the One About Three Black Guys and a Jew?” That's a joke, but it's a serious treatment of Shakespeare's presentation of four ethnic characters — one Jew, Shylock of “The Merchant of Venice,” and three African Moors. Othello is the most well-known one. And then there's a guy called Morocco, who also appears in the same play Shylock appears in. And the third Moor is Aaron the Moor from a more obscure play that is rarely done called “Titus Andronicus.”
Aaron seems to enjoy his evil. Would you agree with that?
I don't know if anybody enjoys their insanity. But he's certainly caught up in it … He's on one end of the spectrum and Morocco is on the other. Morocco is just pure fun. He's a fool for love. His first line is “Dislike me not for my complexion,” which is not an apology for being black; he's saying, “You haven't tried this yet. The ladies … might find it quite exciting to be with this black face of mine.” He's not a racist in the way Aaron is, but he enjoys his color.
Othello, I think, is certainly the most noble of Shakespeare's characters. One could say that Shakespeare wrote another stereotype if you buy the idea that he's a dupe, that he's a big dumb guy. That can happen only if the production gets in balance in terms of casting. If you don't have a strong Desdemona you don't know what the other two characters, Othello and Iago, are about. It becomes a hollow exercise in one-upmanship.
At what age did you decide you wanted to be an actor?
I knew all along, from the time I began corresponding with my father and mother — see, I was not raised by my parents but by my grandparents — and in my correspondence I began to learn a little bit about my father's career.
One day when I was in high school I went up to the magazine rack in the assembly room and I saw a magazine and it was my father. It was the first time I had seen a picture of him, really. He was in a production on Broadway.
But that didn't inspire me. I hate the word “challenge,” but it might have challenged me to look at his footprints and follow them or not follow them. But the primary thing that led me into acting was the fact that I am a stutterer. I stutter and stammer. After years of silence I had the good fortune of having a high school English teacher who encouraged me to regain the power of speech. And I think that led me to want to use my voice once I found it again.
Will you be involved in the next “Star Wars” film?
I can't say. We're sworn to secrecy. If I knew I wouldn't be able to tell you.
Of your films, do you have a favorite?
I don't have a favorite film. But I do have a type of film and that's the small film that people might not have seen, which would include “Field of Dreams.” That's the only one of my cherished films that I would say people have seen. Other movies: “Matewan” about the coal miners in West Virginia and … more recently “Cry the Beloved Country.” I did one about UFOs for TV called “The UFO Incident.” Those kinds of movies weren't big blockbusters, but I cherish them because they were simple stories and I loved the people I worked with, people like Burt Lancaster and Kevin Costner.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/movies/8614976.htm?1c
James Earl Jones will speak Monday at a fund-raiser for Missouri Repertory Theatre.
James Earl Jones will give Rep more of Moors
By ROBERT TRUSSELL
The Kansas City Star
James Earl Jones, a second-generation actor, star of films and the Broadway stage and the voice of Darth Vader and CNN, will be in Kansas City on Monday to help raise money for Missouri Repertory Theatre.
Jones, who claimed Tony Awards for his performances on Broadway in “The Great White Hope” and “Fences,” was born in Mississippi and raised in Michigan by his grandparents. His father, Robert Earl Jones, was a stage actor.
His own acting career didn't begin until the late 1950s after a two-year stint in the Army. Among Jones' most notable stage performances are Othello (opposite Christopher Plummer as Iago and Dianne Wiest as Desdemona), King Lear, Hickey in Eugene O'Neill's “The Iceman Cometh” and Lennie in John Steinbeck's “Of Mice and Men.” His memorable film roles include parts in “Dr. Strangelove,” “Field of Dreams,” “Cry the Beloved Country” and “The Hunt for Red October.”
We caught up with Jones recently at his home in upstate New York.
Q. Describe what the audience at the Folly Theater will see when you take the stage Monday night.
A. It's a presentation but it's not anything acted out. I'm reading from Shakespeare … My pet name for the presentation is, “Have You Heard the One About Three Black Guys and a Jew?” That's a joke, but it's a serious treatment of Shakespeare's presentation of four ethnic characters — one Jew, Shylock of “The Merchant of Venice,” and three African Moors. Othello is the most well-known one. And then there's a guy called Morocco, who also appears in the same play Shylock appears in. And the third Moor is Aaron the Moor from a more obscure play that is rarely done called “Titus Andronicus.”
Aaron seems to enjoy his evil. Would you agree with that?
I don't know if anybody enjoys their insanity. But he's certainly caught up in it … He's on one end of the spectrum and Morocco is on the other. Morocco is just pure fun. He's a fool for love. His first line is “Dislike me not for my complexion,” which is not an apology for being black; he's saying, “You haven't tried this yet. The ladies … might find it quite exciting to be with this black face of mine.” He's not a racist in the way Aaron is, but he enjoys his color.
Othello, I think, is certainly the most noble of Shakespeare's characters. One could say that Shakespeare wrote another stereotype if you buy the idea that he's a dupe, that he's a big dumb guy. That can happen only if the production gets in balance in terms of casting. If you don't have a strong Desdemona you don't know what the other two characters, Othello and Iago, are about. It becomes a hollow exercise in one-upmanship.
At what age did you decide you wanted to be an actor?
I knew all along, from the time I began corresponding with my father and mother — see, I was not raised by my parents but by my grandparents — and in my correspondence I began to learn a little bit about my father's career.
One day when I was in high school I went up to the magazine rack in the assembly room and I saw a magazine and it was my father. It was the first time I had seen a picture of him, really. He was in a production on Broadway.
But that didn't inspire me. I hate the word “challenge,” but it might have challenged me to look at his footprints and follow them or not follow them. But the primary thing that led me into acting was the fact that I am a stutterer. I stutter and stammer. After years of silence I had the good fortune of having a high school English teacher who encouraged me to regain the power of speech. And I think that led me to want to use my voice once I found it again.
Will you be involved in the next “Star Wars” film?
I can't say. We're sworn to secrecy. If I knew I wouldn't be able to tell you.
Of your films, do you have a favorite?
I don't have a favorite film. But I do have a type of film and that's the small film that people might not have seen, which would include “Field of Dreams.” That's the only one of my cherished films that I would say people have seen. Other movies: “Matewan” about the coal miners in West Virginia and … more recently “Cry the Beloved Country.” I did one about UFOs for TV called “The UFO Incident.” Those kinds of movies weren't big blockbusters, but I cherish them because they were simple stories and I loved the people I worked with, people like Burt Lancaster and Kevin Costner.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/movies/8614976.htm?1c