www.elvis.com |
Roustabout, 2 / 3
For authenticity in Elvis's sixteenth film,
"Roustabout," a real carnival was employed and set up on land
near Thousand Oaks, California. This was one of the locations
used for exterior shots in the movie. The interior shots used
three connecting sound stages (Nos. 12, 14 and 15) on the Paramount
lot. The doors between them were opened up to make them into
one huge stage, which was needed to accommodate the set for the big
tent scenes. This was the first time in the history of the
studio that they had done this.
To Elvis the only exciting thing about making the
movie "Roustabout" was the opportunity to work with the legendary
Barbara Stanwyck, who played Maggie Morgan. Unknown to both of
them at the time, her long career of over 90 films was about to take
a turn. For the next twenty years she would be a popular
television actress in such series as "Big Valley," "The Thorn Birds"
(mini-series) and "The Colbys." She was born Ruby
Stevens in Brooklyn, NY in 1907. Orphaned at a young age, she
was raised by her older sister, who was a chorus girl.
Ruby took the stage name of Barbara Stanwyck, dropped out of school
in her teens and looked for work as an actress. She became a
dancer in a chorus line of the Ziegfeld Follies. She finally
landed lead roles on Broadway, where she met and married her first
husband Frank Fay. They moved to Hollywood in 1928.
There she received tutelage under director Frank Capra. Of him
she once said, "Eyes are the greatest tool in film. Mr. Capra
taught me that. Sure, it's nice to say very good dialogue, if
you can get it. But great movie acting - watch the eyes!"
She was married to actor Robert Taylor from 1939 until 1951.
In 1944 the government listed her as the nation's highest-paid
woman, earning $400,000. She received four Academy Award
nominations and in 1982 was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for
her contributions to the acting industry. She was nominated
five times for Emmy Awards, winning three of them, and she received
four Golden Globe nominations, winning one. She received Life
Achievement Awards from the American Film Institute, the Screen
Actors Guild and the Los Angles Film Critics Association and the
Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globes.
Another veteran actor in the movie was Leif Erikson
who played the gruff Joe Lean. The son of a sea captain and a
writer, he was a big band vocalist and trombone player. He
made his acting debut as a corpse in a Zane Grey Western in 1935.
He was known for his brawny, deep-voiced characters, including that
of Big John Cannon in the TV series "High Chaparral." He
served in World War II and was wounded in action twice . Prior
to "Roustabout," he had worked with Barbara Stanwyck in the 1948
movie "Sorry, Wrong Number."
Actor Pat Buttram played the wily villain Harry
Carver. Born in Alabama in 1915, the son of a circuit-riding
preacher, he quickly became known for his comedy. In the
1950s, he replaced Smiley Burnette as the sidekick to western star
Gene Autry, with whom he made a number of movies and a TV show.
In 1961 he played a mechanic in the Elvis movie "Wild In The
Country." By 1965 he became a regular on the TV
series "Green Acres," playing peddler Eustace Haney. Over the
years he also proved to be a talented voice-over actor for many
Disney animated movies, including "The Aristocats," "Robin Hood,"
"The Rescuers," "The Fox and The Hound," "Who Framed Roger
Rabbitt" and, his last one just before his death in 1994, "A Goofy
Movie." In 1982 he founded the Golden Boot Awards to honor
actors, directors, stuntpeople and others professionals who make
significant contributions to the Western film industry.
Jack Albertson played Lou, the manager of Mother's
Tea House in "Roustabout."
He had recently worked with Elvis in the movie "Kissin' Cousins."
Albertson was born in Massachusetts in 1907 and was a veteran of
vaudeville and Broadway.
He was one of the few actors to win an Academy Award, an Emmy Award
and a Tony Award.
The Tony Award was for his role as John Cleary in the play "The
Subject Was Roses" on Broadway.
The Academy Award was for the same role in the film version.
One memorable film role was Grandpa Joe in "Willy Wonka & The
Chocolate Factory."
He is best know to many as Ed Brown in the TV series "Chico and The
Man," for which he won an Emmy Award.
Like Pat Buttram, he lent his voice to the Disney film "The Fox and
The Hound" and was working in TV and film right up to his death in
1981.
Another familiar face is that of Dabbs Greer, who
played Arthur Nielsen. His long career includes many roles in
film and TV. Born in 1917 in Missouri, he was the only child
of a pharmacist and a speech therapist. He began his career on
stage as a child and later studied drama in college, earning his
degree and then becoming the head of the drama department. He
moved to California 1943 and became an instructor and administrator
as well as an actor at the famed Pasadena Playhouse. He made his
film debut in 1948 and has continued to act in TV and movies ever
since. Among his memorable roles are the Reverend Robert
Alden in TV series "Little House On The Prairie," his role as a
minister on the TV series "Picket Fences" and Paul in the film "The
Green Mile."
Cathy, Elvis's character's love interest in the
movie, was played by actress Joan Freeman.
Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1942, Ms. Freeman began acting as a
child. Although she has acted in a number of movies,
she has had more roles in television series such as "Bus Stop,"
"Bonanza," "The Virginian," "CHiPs" and, most recently, "The
Commish."
One source places her today as retired and living on a yacht with
her husband. |
