Lary Bloom
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Thursday, November 17, 2005
Sam Waterston, Privately
Last night, at the Bushnell theater in Hartford, the actor Sam Waterston was among five who received the Governor's Arts Awards, a ritual that goes back twenty years.Before the festivities began, I ran into Lynn Fusco, the dynamic New Haven developer who is married to Doug Hughes, one of the honorees, and a prominent theatrical director (Doubt, on Broadway, and a ton of regional triumphs). She introduced me to Doug's father, Barnard Hughes, the veteran actor, sitting in the first row. He was a kick. When Lynn told him that I write plays, he agreed that if the festivities on this night were in any way boring, I would hand him a hurriedly written script and he could go up on stage to perform it.
But of course it wasn't a boring evening. The hosts, the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, did an exquisite job, with the help of videos of the honorees made by Connecticut Public Television. And, before he accepted his award, Sam Waterson was honored in one of these. He seemed humble and funny on video. And I thought, well, maybe I'm wrong about him -- he's not aloof. I remembered that 20 years ago I had written a letter to him asking him to comment on why he lives in Connecticut, for a special magazine issue. He wrote back saying, basically, that it was no one's business that he lived in the state. He needed his privacy.
Last night, however, he seemed human, at least from a distance. After those in charge had a bit of a hard time putting the medal over his noggin and around his neck, he commented, "I guess I do have a swelled head." Then he confessed that he had to read off his computer because he couldn't figure out how to print out his speech. Well, that's human. Even a man who is famous for his longtime role on Law & Order, and for many excellent movies (The Killing Fields was a classic), and memorable stage triumphs of classic comedies and tragedies, he is, after all, just another guy. Tall and distinguished, but just another guy,
Another guy, it turns out (I learned later) who pretty much demanded that he and his wife be brought dinner from Vito's on the Park, near the Bushnell, because they hadn't had a chance to eat, and were very hungry. The staff of the event had no budget (or time) for meeting such demands, but did this anyway.
I've never been a big fan of honoring actors. What they do is show up for work and talk into the camera. On Oscar night, I cringe through the whole thing. Sam Waterston had a chance to prove to me that I was wrong. He should have arranged for his own dinner.
Posted by:Lary Bloom at 9:05 AM
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