(HOST) Filmmaker and Marlboro College professor Jay Craven was surprised and sad to hear of the recent passing of comic actor Henry Gibson.
(CRAVEN) The first time I saw Henry Gibson, it was out of the corner of my eye. I had cast him in my film, A Stranger in the Kingdom and we were laying dolly track inside the big church in Washington, Vermont. As I spoke to our cinematographer, I caught a glimpse of Henry crossing the street, looking like an elf and still wearing his bib from the make-up chair. With his arms straight out and his palms up, he was carrying his neatly stacked blue suit, pressed white shirt, and dress shoes. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
And that’s the way it was with Henry – always good for a laugh. When I told him last spring that I was producing Burlington’s Champlain festival, he started sending me newspaper clips and half-baked suggestions.
"Find out Champlain’s shoe size," said Henry. "Then, make molds of it and invite everyone to follow in Champlain’s footsteps."
As a fundraiser, he suggested that we "Bottle lake water and call it Champlain’s Champagne." Then he said he’d bring William Shatner, his co-star on "Boston Legal," to Vermont. Henry said, "Shatner loves a party. He’ll pass out and it won’t be from dehydration. Then we can revive him with the water. The New York Times will put it on their front page."
I once told him I’d figured out that we were both born in Philadelphia’s Germantown Hospital. "Great," he said. "Let’s organize a Germantown Hospital Film Festival."
Like many kids growing up during the 60’s, I loved to watch Henry on the TV show "Laugh-In" where he held a single flower and spouted absurdist poems that he wrote himself. Here’s one of them, "The Eyelash":
The eyelash is a friend to man,
It lives to serve the eye.
It fights the dirt and dust and grime,
And keeps the eyeball dry.
Flick, flick. Flick, flick.
It’s busy as a bee.
Flick, flick. Flick, flick.
It’s helpin’ you and me.
No one I’ve met in the movie business was more generous than Henry. My kids knew Christmas was coming when his annual gift arrived. It was always the first and most elegant package under the tree – always modest but also always bearing the mark of Tiffany’s or Neiman Marcus.
And I’ll always give film director Robert Altman credit for casting Henry against type as Haven Hamilton, the slightly creepy country singer in Altman’s signature film, "Nashville." Henry played a little man with a huge ego and he showed in spades just how much range and rich complexity he could play. He wrote his own songs and was named Best Supporting Actor by the National Society of Film Critics. He also picked up Golden Globe and Grammy nominations.
After a film, actors often disappear into their separate worlds leaving behind only vivid memories. I worked with Henry Gibson twice and he became a dear friend – one I’ll carry with me – always.