In Praise of Character

Never let a good fancy pass. So one of the passing fancies I like to pursue down the rabbit hole is tracing where I've seen a particular character actor before. 

Often it's actually the voice that catches my attention, as did a character on an episode of My Three Sons running on MyTV. When the credits rolled at the end, up popped Anne Seymour as the befuddled marriage broker (finding a prospective wife for a widower seeking a temporary housekeeper). I knew I knew the actress but didn't recognize her face at all. It was definitely a voice I'd heard, and quite recently during one of my afternoon DVD diversions.

She was in Field of Dreams! Small part, credited as the "newspaper publisher" in Moonlight Graham's hometown. In the book, Shoeless Joe, the character is named Veda Ponikvar, and, to the film's credit, her byline does appear in the obit she reads to Ray Kinsella and Terry Mann (J. D. Salinger in the book).

Anne Seymour as newspaper publisher, Field of Dreams

Byline Veda Ponikvar, newspaper publisher, Field of Dreams

Terry: "You're a good writer." Veda: "So are you."

Apparently Anne Seymour's most famous role (judging by the number of film stills in her IMDb bio) was All the King's Men, which I'm sure I've seen but don't remember well enough to pick Anne out. But I knew I'd seen her before!

As it turns out, she was also in one of my favorite movies in life, Mirage, a playground for character actors you see in thousands of other films. As Frances, the wife of the hero's lamented fallen (heh) mentor Charles Calvin, Anne is regal, savvy, and very sad. Again, it's the voice more than the face that ties her with newspaper publisher and befuddled marriage broker.

Anne Seymour as Frances Calvin, Mirage

Anne Seymour, Gregory Peck, Mirage

In fact, most of Anne's scenes with Gregory Peck are voice overs; he hugs her tightly, and we see his handsome face and the back of her beautiful coif as she recites her lines. That's character acting for you. But what a beautiful and distinctive, plaintive, intelligent voice she had. 

"I knew it was you!" Diane Baker, Mirage

Speaking of Mirage, the leading lady, Diane Baker, is another character actress you see everywhere. I could have a DVD film festival: bigoted mother of rich white boy in Joy Luck Club, bereaved mother of dead soldier in Courage Under Fire, senator bargaining with Hannibal Lechter and pleading for her daughter's life in Silence of the Lambs. Beautiful and sane as a mother, she was also beautiful and slightly insane back in the day, with Joan Crawford in Strait-Jacket. 

And among the gentlemen of Mirage, there were Walter Matthau, Jack Weston, Leif Erickson, George Kennedy, Kevin McCarthy, and Walter Abel ...

Walter Abel as Charles Calvin, Mirage

... who played a stabilizing force as Fanny's (Bette Davis) cousin in Mr. Skeffington. Now that's what I call acting!

Love, hosaa

In pursuit of characters