Feature: Spartans in Hollywood, Part II
As we were completing this story, we received the devastating news that Jim Cash, '70, M.A.'72 had died, cut off at the much too young age of 59. Jim was a Hollywood Spartan par excellence, making his mark as one-half of a screen-writing team with Jack Epps, Jr. '72. But Jim was much more—a giant and a legend on campus. We loved all his films, but our 'faves' include Top Gun (1986), Legal Eagles (1986) and Dick Tracy (1990). We dedicate our article to Jim. –Editor.
Whenever current Spartan faculty, students and administrators venture out to Hollywood, they will find a warm welcome awaiting them from the network of the many Spartans working there. A top Hollywood executive like Bill Mechanic, '73, has treated several Spartan spirits to a royal reception at his spacious offices at the lovely Fox lots in Beverly Hills; a young actor like Steve Van Wormer, '92, invites Spartan visitors to sets of his latest film productions; a compensation analyst like EMI Recorded Music's Michelle Leach, '90, offers fellow Spartans the finest private tours of Los Angeles. These creative individuals are representative of the extraordinary accomplishments of many Spartans in Hollywood.
Since the publication of 'Spartans in Hollywood' (Spring 1999, pp. 16-22), we have received many additions to this fascinating and unfolding story. The more we explored, the more thunderstruck we were over the huge number of Spartan Hollywood players that continued to emerge. We knew that we had missed several names. But so many have turned up that we determined that a sequel was necessary, not just to make note of them, but also to give an update of the latest accomplishments of the Spartans in Hollywood.
In the first generation of Spartan players since World War II, James Caan, who came to MSU in 1956, delivered a bravura performance as a gangster in the black comedy Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), also starring Hugh Grant and Jeanne Tripplehorn.
During the current television season, Charles Cioffi, '57 , M. A. '63, gave a fine sustained performance in several appearances as a judge in the ABC award winning popular drama The Practice. Cioffi has appeared in numerous supporting roles, including as Peter Cable in the Oscar-winning Klute (1971).
Also Chad Everett, a household name as Dr. Joe Gannon of Medical Center, attended MSU briefly in 1957 before transferring to Wayne State University. Chad's real name was Raymond Cramton. Jerome Jerzy, '58, writes that Chad 'graduated from Dearborn High...[he] pledged my fraternity--SIGMA CHI--but never went active'.
In these years, as Bob Carroll, '61, has reminded us, the renowned director Michael Cimino, ‘59, studied graphic arts at MSU. Bob reports that he was deeply impressed with 'the artistic talent [Cimino] displayed at that time, watching in fascination as he produced marvelous charcoal sketches.' After studying at Yale, where he received an M.F.A. degree, Michael eventually landed in Hollywood, beginning his film career as a screen writer. After he successfully directed Thunderbolt and Lightning (1974), starring Clint Eastwood, Michael embarked on his next project, the powerhouse film featuring the Vietnam War, The Deer Hunter, which was released in 1978 and was a career 'enabler' for such brilliant stars as Meryl Streep, Robert de Niro and Christopher Walken. Although this much discussed film was highly controversial because of its anti-war sentiments, The Deer Hunter, partially because of its searing and unforgettable images, was a huge commercial and artistic success, winning the Oscar for best picture and landing Michael the Oscar for best director, the only Spartan in Hollywood recognized.
Sadly, the fate of Michael's next film, Heaven's Gate (1980) of United Artists, proved to be just the opposite of The Deer Hunter, a box office and artistic disaster of the first rank—a film which would unfortunately make Michael a 'marked' man for some years. Overly long and an enormously expensive production, Heaven's Gate was such a failure that it caused Hollywood executives to rethink industry policies of granting young directors so much power over budgeting and the final cut. In recent years, Heaven's Gate's reputation has been somewhat restored, and Michael has found more work, but not on a scale originally anticipated. Seldom has a film artist's career been so mercurial.
Interestingly, more recently Michael Cimino directed The Sunchaser (1996), starring Woody Harrelson and Anne Bancroft, a film that was produced by fellow Spartan Joe Vecchio, ’65, who also produced Sylvester Stallone’s Oscar (1991).
One of Hollywood’s top producers, Ed Feldman, ’50, responsible for such classics as Witness (1985), with Harrison Ford, Golden Child (1986), with Eddie Murphy, and Wired (1989), has continued to produce a string of successes, including Honey, I Blew Up The Kids (1992), My Father The Hero (1994), The Jungle Book (1994) and The Truman Show (1998) with Jim Carrey. His most recent film is 102 Dalmatians (2000), with Glenn Close returning as the voice of Cruella de Vil, a memorable role from 101 Dalmatians (1996), also produced by Feldman.
Mike Lobell, ’62 (see Fall 1999, p. 12), has also emerged as one of Hollywood’s top producers. He is known in Hollywood circles for his intimate involvement with the making of his films. A former baseball player, he’s hit plenty of home runs as a film producer, among them The Freshman (1990), with Marlon Brando, Striptease (1996), with Demi Moore, and a couple of Nicholas Cage movies, Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) and It Could Happen To You (1994).
Novelist Tom McGuane, ’62, the highly acclaimed author of ten novels, including Ninety-Two in the Shade, The Sportswriter, and Bushwacked, has also written screenplays for eight movies, including The Missouri Breaks (1976), Rancho Deluxe (1975), and Tom Horn (1980). He appeared as an actor in a couple of movies and directed 92 In The Shade (1975).
Bubba Smith, ’67, forever typecast as Sargeant Hightower in the wildly successful Police Academy series, has just finished shooting Down & Dirty, an action thriller he co-stars with Gary Bussey and Beverly Johnson.
Screen writer Yale Udoff, ’57, has written extensively for episodic television, including such series as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Baretta and Batman, and such feature films as Eve Of Destruction (1991) and Third Degree Burn (1989). He won first prize for the short feature Vera at the Houston Film Festival.
Joel Higgins, ’66, who began his acting career on Broadway, starred in several TV series, including Silver Spoons and Best of the West. He also starred as Bruce Carson in the soap opera, Search for Tomorrow, from 1975-78. Joel is also an accomplished musician, and helped host Bob Hope entertain the Spartans who traveled to the 1988 Rose Bowl in Pasadena with the MSU Alumni Association.
In the second postwar generation of Hollywood Spartans, those who attended MSU in the 1970's and 1980's, Bill Mechanic, '73, the celebrated CEO of Fox Films who supervised the production of James Cameron's Titanic (1997), continues to display a Midas touch, both artistically and commercially, as he has nurtured such winning films as the 1998 summer hit There's Something About Mary (1998) and the recent sumptuous production of Anna and the King (1999), starring Jodi Foster. Under Bill's tutelage, Fox distributed George Lucas's megahit The Phantom Menace (1999), his latest entry in the ongoing Star Wars saga.
Also notable on the Mechanic ledger are Terrence Malick's haunting The Thin Red Line (1998), this past summer's hit Entrapment, starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones and the fascinating if controversial Fight Club, a fall release starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
