I Drove Kevin McCarthy to the Airport

[Guest WrestlingDeacon]

I mentioned on here that I would be going to a horror film convention over last weekend, the Monster Bash outside of Pittsbrugh. One of the guests was Kevin McCarthy and I and my friend Shawn got to drive him to the airport on Sunday. For those who don't know, McCarthy was the star of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but might be better known to the younger generation as the bad guy from Innerspace and UHF. Check out his filmography here.

 

He's near 90, but still very sharp and coherent and still gets around under his own power. He has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, but is incredibly nice and tolerable of people's questions and interest in his career. We talked a bit about his films and life in the car. He was one of the co-founders of the Actors' Studio and good friends with Montgomery Clift. He said that when they founded the Actors' Studio, Marlon Brando asked him about Clift, "Does Monty always act like he has a Mix Master shoved up his ass?" We also talked about his work in Death of a Salesman, he was nominated for an Oscar for playing Biff in the original film adaptation. He thought that Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Willy Loman was "shitty" when he did the part years later and couldn't understand why Brian Dennehey had to yell all his lines when he played the role recently, although he had a good look for the part.

 

I don't know how many people here are actually interested, so I won't go on, but if you have questions about the man, ask me and I'll see what I can fill in from my time with him.

[Guest godthedog]

that's so cool, kevin mccarthy's awesome! i didn't even know he was still alive.

 

more. must know more.

[Guest WrestlingDeacon]

Let's see what else I can remember:

 

He doesn't like American cars because there are no hand holds above the windows.

 

He once bought a Buick off of Montgomery Clift and sold it back to him at a profit years later.

 

He and his wife came down to visit Clift doing a play in the middle of Pennsylvania and he offered to drive them home all the way to New York City. He drove them on back roads doing 120 miles per hour all the way in the middle of the night.

 

The director on Big Hand for a Little Lady would buy the cast lunch and wine everyday. Lots of wine.

 

He and Gregory Peck were friends and he is very sad at his passing. The last time he saw him was a few months ago as they both use the same vet and they were in the office at the same time.

 

Tuition when he went to the University of Minnesota was $26 and $10 more for books.

 

There, that's more.

[Guest godthedog]

sweet. i am a happy man.

[Guest Lethargic]

I think that would be the weirdest thing to happen to me if I walked into a vet's office to see Gregory Peck and Kevin McCarthy sitting together in the waiting room.

[Guest WrestlingDeacon]

I forgot to mention that I had him sign my DVD copy of UHF. He got a real chuckle out of that.

[Guest G. HOOD]

Yo son for a second I thought you was talking bout dude from Pretty in Pink. I was like damn yo that's pretty sad if you all hype about driving some gay dude to the airport.