PECK SPEAKS AGAIN
On the centennial of his birth, Gregory Peck’s thoughts on storytelling, ‘ Mockingbird’ and more.
Tuesday marks the centennial of Academy Award- winning actor Gregory Peck’s birth. On- screen, he was known for portraying men of conviction such as Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Offscreen, Peck was a crusader as well. He served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and was an outspoken supporter of liberal and civil rights causes.
Below are some of our favorite Peck quotes from the pages of The Times.
On storytelling
“Telling a good story and having people laugh if it’s funny or gasp if it’s suspenseful or just express enjoyment when the story has been told. Even if the story has been told on f ilm and shipped around in tin cans, it creates a bond between a performer and an audience. It is life’s blood to a storyteller, an entertainer like me, to achieve a response from the audience.
“You occasionally tell a story that doesn’t come off. You say to yourself, ‘ Why did I tell that story? It f lopped. I must remember not to tell that one again.’ … The entertainer goes away and licks his wounds. But since he deals in dreams and illusions, and is not the most realistic- minded fellow anyway, he soon begins to think of the next story he wants to tell.” ( 1974)
On Olivier and Tracy
“Laurence Olivier. He did it all. He played all the great Shakespearean roles. He was the director of the National Theatre in Great Britain. He made a lot of movies … He dared to do so much, to accept all challenges.
“I remember one scene [ in ‘ The Boys From Brazil’] where I was raving as Dr. Mengele about how I had cloned Hitler … and after I finished this tirade, Larry [ Olivier] said, ‘ Very well thought out.’ That was a nice compliment. ( 1999)
“[ Olivier] was just about ‘ it’ in my opinion … I suppose he and Spencer Tracy were my favorite actors. [ Tracy] had total concentration. I saw ‘ Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’ recently. He’d had a heart attack and knew he wasn’t long for this world, and he put everything he had into that role. Without selfpity. And without showing any effort.” ( 2000)
On directors
“There are some who direct out loud for the benefit of 40 or 50 people standing around the set. They all become instant critics to see whether or not you do exactly what the director wants you to do. But the directors I’ve always admired are those who do the job quietly. They talk only for the actor’s ears.” ( 1974)
“I must say I’m getting a little bit sick about questions about Hitchcock … People kind of get hung up on Hitchcock. I loved Hitch … How about some of the ac- tors? Let’s concentrate on the actors …” ( 1999)
On television
“The reason I don’t do TV is that I’m as busy as I want to be making movies — and making movies brings me all the income I need … I feel there is little difference in the media … except that in TV there is less time to do a job and a greater degree of censorship in the subject matter that can be dealt with.
“I would never do a series. Once the characterization is set the actor has to play the same part every week — which to me has no appeal.” ( 1960)
On ‘ To Kill a Mockingbird’
“The minute I read [ it] I felt completely at home. Making the f ilm became a piece of cake. This was the small- town life I knew in La Jolla, walking barefoot, living in tree houses, rolling down the road curled up in an old rubber tire.” ( 1974)
“La Jolla was maybe 1,800 to 2,000 people, so you knew everybody … The general tone of life there was similar to what Harper Lee was talking about.” ( 1997)
The role of Atticus Finch was “so easy to do. My father was that kind of man. I met the author Harper Lee’s father who was that man.” ( 1967)
“It seemed to just fall into place without stress or strain — the screenplay by Horton Foote was very well- written. When you have that kind of screenplay it becomes rather easy if you lend yourself to it and you go along and share the emotions with the character … You have to think your way through the part and identify emotionally with the situations and characters.” ( 1997)
On life
“I can be tough and combative when the occasion demands. I’m ambitious. I have my share of vanity. I couldn’t have survived for 30 years in the highly competitive business of movies without being stubborn and, when necessary, hard. I don’t wear it on my sleeve, but I can’t be pushed around much.” ( 1974)
“I don’t resist change. I love the seasons of life, the process of change. I’m fascinated with the pageant of growing older.” ( 1974)
“I can laugh at fears and anxieties that seemed desperately serious to me 30 years ago. I still know insecurities — I always have — but now I keep them in perspective. I’ve had some dark periods of despair when I was ready to quit. But with maturity one gains confidence that there’s always another chance to do one’s best. I look upon maturity not as a sad sequel to lost youth but as a time of knowing what is really important and enjoying it to the fullest.” ( 1974)
“I’m not as wise as I’d hoped to be. There’s obviously more to remember than to look forward to. But I suppose in the end, I am a family man … I like thinking about all my grandchildren. In the long term, family is all that counts. The fame and the awards and the nonsense that goes with them fades away. You’re left with a good family and maybe some good works.” ( 2000)