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Make way for 'world's greatest ham'

Make way for 'world's greatest ham' image
Parent Issue
Day
14
Month
April
Year
1979
Copyright
Copyright Protected
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Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

Make way for 'worid's greatest ham'

SATURDAY APR 14 1979
By Richard Vander Veen

SPECIAL WRITER

Timothy Carey is a maverick
actor, a perfectionist, and accord-
ing to one film critic, "the world's
greatest ham."
Carey has established himself
> a character actor in movies
inch starred Kirk Douglas, Mar-
ion Brando anc' T - f ' .
Asked to "wali
; movie sets by i"
'of working with his style •••:•':

minute changes, he has mu
cently acted and directed hi^, ./.,;.
television and movie films. Thurs-
day night Carey and two of those
film displayed at the
Li' Hchigan.

acting standards

ies. He's proud of
a movie scene 75
'•direct-
ii-sday,

per
hav
tin)
ed;

CAREY DE:1
tor "become"
movie script, <

plished, that he have the right to
be innovative.

"Acting is an intimate thing -
dealing with emotions. The script
is only the blueprint - not the
final product.

"You've got to take the charac-
ter and become it. You've got to
live the role," he explained, speak-
ing at the Ann Arbor Film
"'estival""

:hat director
>v once cautioned
its performance as
t-nvcuc rerui 111 the 1957 "Paths to
Glory."

"' 'Make this good. You're too
strong (an actor ' ^
Kirk (Douglas),
ofKubrick'sw;i:

Nevertl-H , s part - as
the private . ,.y to his exe-
cution - squeezed every bit out of
the scene and strengthened the
movie's theme against cold-
blooded murder. The scene's ef-
fectiveness grew partly from Ca-
"'y's innovations.

IORE RECENTLY, Carey has
n.i"ned to riirwtino as wpll as get-
He ac- ting small ;1 full-
r in a length con
'"•""- His firy- -ting effort,

"The Wor! it Sinner"
(1962), is fi. :ng critical
accia; \'cursor to "The
Exor r its insight into
theGi, ''.suicide.

The film - produced, written
and directed by Carey - stars him
in the lead role of Clarence Hil-
liard, an insurance salesman who
first denies the existence of God,
then proclaims that he is God. The
Frank Zappa musical score car-
ries the viewer through Hilliard's
metamorphosis - from salesmiii.
to rock-and-roll evangelist, to n;;

tional politician to " God."

HE IS "an Elvis Presley who be-
comes a Billy Graham who be-
comes a Father Divine," said Car-
ey, who promoted the movie in
Hollywood during the mid-60s in a
gold Elvis Presley jumpsuit.

In "Tarzana," a 30-minutr short
shown Thursday, ' s the'
side-kick Benny ; i-cool
Humphrey r - — ' -.'ate
detective. '; iiial-
izesontougii ; '.i . >.' the
superhero and, in the '.:nd, a dying
Benny asks, "Give me five." The
private detective responds with
five quick puffs of smoke from his
cigarette. ,

•-Tweet's AarilBB.ateasadena"

ry's most
i a a direc-
11charac-
inherited
_iidena Wo-
.ub. Said Carey:

has certain!
a.-nbitious un
tor, Tweet-T
ter played I'
aiiAadoDte'J
men's
• (It i-

utisfying role to

i AS worked on the film
intended for a televi-
for
elf
. -- ... ..„......; ,'.ith

,'rs, who he calls "re-
lie Wizard of Oz."
me v\ .imen's Club takes to the
streets on roller skates, most of

;ogs and
oi, i to have
learned mucli from his numerous
pets, including a gangster smile
from a pet eagle.)

"I wanted to take ci 'i
see I was so bored wil

have on TV - I wanieu lo iaKe
comedy into the streets - as ac-
tion comedy," he explained. "It's
because it's new. That's why it's
difficult to follow," he said, ex-
plaining the rapidly paced and oft-
en soundless movie of the good-
natured Tweet-Twig and his lady
wrestler wife, and their skating
knitters.