Gregory Peck: To kill a Mockingbird (Jerry Skinner Documentary)

[Music] thank you this is Oscar winner actor Gregory Peck has been called the greatest movie hero of the 20th century Liza Minnelli said that Gregory Peck was the ultimate movie star she said he represented all we know to be reliable strong and solid in 1962 this was shown in his portrayal of Atticus Finch in a movie To Kill a Mockingbird a witch he won the Oscar for best actor [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] Pig said to Kill a Mockingbird was his favorite and best film that he'd ever made the film was said in a small Alabama Town it Chronicles the childhood of Scout and Jim Finch as their father Atticus defends a black man falsely accused of rape the movie was to be filmed in Harper Lee's the author's hometown of Marvel Alabama however the town had changed so much since the 1930s when the story was supposed to have taken place they decided instead to construct the town on the back lot of Universal Studios ten-year-old Mary baham played Scout the tomboys daughter of Atticus Finch the town's lawyer this is Mary with pick and Philip Alfred who played Jim they'll remain close the rest of Peck's life even after she was grown Mary always called Peck Atticus and he always called her Scout here's the three in 1997 when Peck was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award Mary bam said that her mother heard that a movie crew was coming to Birmingham she wanted to bring Miri to the audition but Mary's dead a retired Air Force General was against it until her mother convinced him by saying what's the chances of her winning anyway when the studio made the decision to film in California instead of Alabama Mary's mother was unable to stay with her daughter in California full time so Scout would go home with peggs family every weekend he said he didn't want her to lose the feeling of family do you recognize this young actor who played Bo Radley the finch is simple-minded next door neighbor it's Robert Duvall who will later play Augustus Gus McRae and the Epic TV Western Lonesome Dove Scout's older brother Jim was played by Philip Alfred Philip had appeared in three Productions with birmingham's town and town Civic Theater the director of the theater phoned Philip's mother in Gadsden to see if Philip would be interested in auditioning for the part of Jim in a movie that was to be filmed in Alabama called To Kill a Mockingbird he had no interest until he learned that he could skip school to audition Philip became one of three finalists and was called in New York for a screen test he won the role of Jim during feminine his parents drove to Hollywood to be with him his sister became a stand-in from Mary bam that played Scout after To Kill a Mockingbird Alfred would become Boy Anderson the youngest son of Charles Anderson played by Jimmy Stewart in Shenandoah a 1965 Western set during the Civil War where the Anderson family tries unsuccessfully to remain neutral in his early twenties Alfred quit the film business and followed his dead into Construction it's believed that he had a business in Grenada Mississippi where he keeps a low profile Brad Peters played Tom Robinson the black man accused of rape Peters will receive the Emmy Award for his portrayal of Robinson [Music] Tom did you rape melee Ewell I did not did you harm her in any way foreign the two actors Brock Peters and Gregory Peck became lifelong friends while filming this movie years later Brock Peters will give the eulogy at Gregory Peck's funeral James Anderson who was already an experienced actor played the bad guy Bob Ewell whose wife was supposed to have been raped and he wanted a black man executed guilty or not Anderson was a convincing actor he was best known for To Kill a Mockingbird James Anderson passed away on September the 14th 1969 at the age of 48 from a heart attack his last movie was Ballad of cable Hogue 1969 and hunt the Man Down released in 1970 posthumously Eldridge Gregory Peck was born the 5th of April 1916 in La Jolla California his parents were Gregory Pearl pick the town's only dentist and Bernice ayerspic she was called bunny when Gregory was three years old his parents separated but they won't divorce until years later bunny took Gregory back to St Louis and moved in with her mother who run a CD boarding house Peg once said in an interview that he remembered selling papers standing on the counter at age six he wanted a paper route to make more money they told him when he got where he could throw a paper on the second story balcony they'd give him a job he kept practicing until he got the route and then his mother grabbed him up took him back to Los Angeles he said where they moved in with her brother and family but that didn't work out and she didn't like the job that she had waiting on tables so she left Gregory with his paternal grandparents in La Jolla and she moved to Los Angeles to work as a receptionist she eventually got married again and stayed in L.A Peck said these few years with his grandmother was the best in his life she would take him to the movies and when he was nine he remembered seeing Phantom of the Opera being so scared he had to come home that night and sleep with his grandmother one of his Fondest Memories was playing with his dog bud and he rode his bicycle that his dad had bought him all over town and he knew almost everyone when Gregory was 10 he was sent to Saint John's Catholic military school in Los Angeles he then attended San Diego High School while living with his father After High School he entered the San Diego State College soon tired of college and quit to drive a truck for a gas company after a few months he decided he wanted to go back to college and entered the University of California at Berkeley he became interested in acting while there and after graduation Peck headed for New York he ended up studying at the neighborhood Playhouse he worked at several jobs trying to stay alive hoping for a career on the stage Peck made his debut as cliff in Morningstar critics didn't like the production but they lacked pegg's performance in 1941 picked one apart in the doctor's dilemma where he played as secretary the noted actress Catherine Cornell was the leading lady during this time Gregory Peck met Greta kakonian rice who was serving as Catherine Cornell's hairdresser and makeup artist the two married on 4 October 1942. she had been married once before to a man named Charles Rice a businessman World War II was in process even Hollywood actors were being drafted or volunteering Peck was classified for AF when they found ruptured disc in his back with a shortage of Hollywood actors he was advised to try Hollywood on July the 20th 1944 Gregory and Greta will have their first child a son they named Jonathan the same year Jonathan was born Peck appeared in his debut film days of Glory he played a Russian gorilla fighter now remember this was during World War II and Russia was a member of the allies although days of Glory were somewhat disappointment for Peck the next one Keys of the Kingdom will bring him his first Oscar nomination picks performance as an adultistic missionary priest will raise his status as an actor okay oh it's no trouble at all just a simple matter of changing addressing even that will no longer be required thank you good day good day Mr Trump dear Lord let me have patience and forbearance where now I have angered give me humility Lord after all it was only thy merciful goodness and I Divine Providence that saved the boy but they are ungrateful and you know it the next year 1945 Peg will be in an Alfred Hitchcock film Spellbound where he plays an Amnesia victim who is accused of murder along with the help of Ingrid bergman's character trying to prove his innocence during filming rumors spread that Peck and Bergman was having an affair it wasn't until 1987 when a People's magazine reporter asked him about ladies that he had worked with including Ava Gardner Lauren Bacall Sophia Loren Greer Garson and others he spoke well of them all but when it came to Ingrid Bergman he said she was like a lovely Swedish Rose and they were both young stars who were involved for weeks in close and intimate work he confided that he had real love for her however Peck was not like most male stars at that time who had affairs with every Leading Lady he preferred staying at home with little interest in social events he had rather invite a few friends over for dinner he enjoyed just staying home and reading books he became interested in Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War he eventually owned thousands of books on the subject in 1946 Peck will star in the yearling along with Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman Jr written by Marjorie Rollins and based on a true story told to her after the Civil War a family tries to make a living on a Florida farm when Jody played by Jarman finds a young fun and persuades his parents to let him raise the little deer that it lost its mother unfortunately the deer grows up eats the garden that the family needs for food pick will be nominated for the Oscar for his part as the understanding father he also received the Golden Globe award and also in 1946 Peck played in a western as the likable bad boy in duel in the Sun along with Joseph cotton who is the good brother to Gregory Peck's character and Jennifer Jones the fiery half read that wants to be a good girl but succumbs to Peck's character despite his crude ways while at the same time ignoring Joseph Cotton's character who loves her cotton said he don't pick like playing the bad guy for a change duel in the sun was filmed at Wildwood regional park at Thousand Oaks California the scene where Pearl Jennifer Jones Dances was changed because it couldn't pass the centers this is one of the few times that Gregory Peck stepped out of his normal role as an honorable upstanding character the same year Gregory Peck and his wife Greta will have a second child Stephen Joseph peck on August the 16th 1946 Stephen will grow up to become a documentary film director writer and founder of far from home Foundation he served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war although his father was against the war at the same time he was very proud of Stephen's military service the next year 1947 Gregory Peck was star in a political film Gentlemen's Agreement Pig played the magazine reporter that disguises himself as Jewish to pin a series of articles on anti-Semitism I'm just going to let everybody know that I'm Jewish Jewish but you're not Philip are you not that it would make any difference to me but you said I'm going to let everybody knows if you hadn't before and would now so I just wondered along with pink it starred Dorothy Mcguire and John Garfield Peg will received his second Oscar nomination for a gentleman's agreement also in 1947 the pecs moved in this house at Pacific Palisades in 1948 Peck will play the leaders of an outlaw gang in yellow Sky consisting of Richard Widmark John Russell and Harry Morgan running from the law while crossing the desert looking for water they come across the deserting ghost town where everyone had left except a girl and her Grandpa and Baxter played Mike the pistol tote and tomboy when the gang discovered that Mike and her Grandpa had gold hid they was determined to take it however stretch their leader Gregory Peck decided to help the girl and her Grandpa against his own gang I like the scene where the Gang has Mike her Grandpa and Gregory Peck's character surrounded in the house argument not ideal couldn't see it your way what do they do next that's hard to say with me not there to tell them the next year in 1949 Peck will receive his third Oscar nomination for 12 o'clock high about an air crew in the eighth air force bomber unit during World War II flame daylight bombing missions also in 1949 Gregory and Greta will have their third son Carrie Paul peck on June the 17th 1949. this is Gregory with his three sons a few years later Jonathan Stephen and Kerry in 1951 year after Kerry was born Peg will star in the gun fighter where Jimmy Ringo played by Pig returns to his hometown to see his wife and little boy he had been gone for several years and developed a reputation as a gunfighter he was now getting older and wanted to settle down with his family but his reputation prevented it kind of strong talking at Mr Ringo your hunt Bromley ain't you yeah you heard of me already yeah I heard about you I heard you're a cheap no-good bar room all over if I didn't have something else in my mind I'd take them guns away from me and slap you cross-eyed you're asking for trouble Mr Ringo you already got it partner because I got a gun on you under this table and it's point and smack at your belly now you're gonna get out of here or not Pig said the director Henry King wanted it to look authentic so they dressed him in baggy clothes for the mustache the way people actually dressed at that time the head of Fox Studios was in Europe While most of the picture was being shot but when he returned he wanted it reshot with Peck wearing better clothes and no mustache when he asked how much it would cost the studio to reshoot it they told him twice as much as it actually would have cost he left it alone the way it was the script of the gunfighter was actually written with John Wayne in mind but Columbia Pictures first bought the script and Wayne refused to play the part because he didn't lack Harry Cohn head of Columbia so Colombia ended up selling it to 20th Century Fox why don't you button up your britches and go home how'd you like to try to make me Mr Ringo a listen partner I come in here minding my own business how about letting me go out the same way I want to know first what do you meant by that remark you just passed how come I gotta run into a squirt like you nearly every place I go these days what are you trying to do show off in front of your friends are you ready to back up that remark or not what about this I think some of you fellas in charge of this donkey I'm telling you Mr Ringo Eddie don't mean no real harm Mr Ringo and let Daddy keep us big ugly nose out of my business if you don't want to get it slapped Richard Jekyll who was co-star on the gunfighter was later diagnosed in 1969 with cancer and his wife had Alzheimer's disease the Jacobs had lost their Brentwood home and was a million dollars in debt leaving them basically homeless Jacob's family tried unsuccessfully to get him into the motion picture and television County home and Hospital once picked lobbied for Jacob he was admitted within three days Jacob stayed there until his death in 1951 Peck became Captain Horatio Hornblower captain of the HMS Lydia where his loyal crew battles a Spanish warship and a band of Central American Rebels in the process he manages to save lady Barbara wellinsley played by Virginia Mayo who is betrothed to rear Admiral lingington played by Dennis O'Day on the return Voyage Captain Hornblower and Lady Wellesley falls in love complicating things also in 51 Pegg had become a heavy drinker and was hospitalized from his lifestyle and overwork he cut down on his drinking being able to make David and Bathsheba with Susan Hayward in 1952 Peck traveled to Italy to play Joe Bradley a reporter who realizes the young woman he had met played by Audrey Hepburn is secretly a real live princess out on the town in Roman Holiday Hepburn was a newcomer to American audiences and she didn't know if Peck would accept her or not she was 24 and he was 37. he said sure we'll give her a try after a few weeks filming he told the director I want her name on the billing equal to mine he said if you don't you're going to look mighty silly when she wins the Academy Award for this role which she did [Music] thank you foreign [Music] she later publicly thanked Pig for supporting her Roman Holiday was written by Dalton Trimble who was on the Hollywood blacklist at the time Ian Hunter fronted for trimbo as a writer and even accepted the award for best Motion Picture story while in Italy working on Roman Holiday Gregory Peck was interviewed by French journalist Vernick passone it will be a while before they will meet the second time after almost 13 years of marriage on December the 29th 1954 the pecs filed for divorce but it'll be December the 29th 1955 before it'll become final according to law they had to wait one year on December 30th 1955 one day after his divorce from Greta coconi Gregory Peck will marry for the second and final time Peck and Vernick passone was married by Justice of the Peace as his religion didn't allow him to be married in the church greater conconian was given custody of the three boys and a generous alimony settlement Greta will become a Los Angeles realtor and she passed away at home in Beverly Hills in 2008 at the age of 96. also in 1955 Peck will team up again with Jennifer Jones in the man in the gray flannel suit about a next World War II soldier with wife and kids trying to cope with his deeds in Italy during the war during a scene where the two argue Jones scratches Peck's face he told the director I don't call that acting I call that personal in 1956 Gregory Pickin veronik personi will have a son Anthony pick on 24 October 1956. he was called Tony Tony would become an actor and writer he said he grew up around famous people and it was only natural for him to wind up attending acting school in 1983 Tony met model Cheryl teigs and they began seeing a lot of each other and will soon marry in time Tony would develop a drinking problem it will affect his family he'll become estranged from his father his wife Cheryl Teague will divorce him the shock of his wife leaving him will cause him to quit drinking the same year Tony was born his dead was starring in Captain Ahab and Moby Dick Moby Dick will take nine months to film during filming the climax scene Peck almost lost his laugh when the rubber whale that he was strapped to slipped the cable that was holding it Peck was lost in a fog for 10 minutes before being found swimming after the huge rubber whale sank on one may 1958 Gregory Peck and vernac pasoni will have a daughter they named Cecilia she'll become an actress and director and producer of documentary films she is the only daughter of Gregory out of four boys also in 1958 Gregory Peck will be in two excellent films bravados where Jim Douglas played by Peck is determined to avenge the rape and death of his wife he chases down one at a time four men Accused by his neighbor of committing the crime After he finds the last man played by Henry Silva he learns that he has been chasing and killing the wrong men [Music] what I have told you is the truth [Music] next it was the big country where Peck's character and sea captain arrived at a sprawling range owned by his fiancee Carol Baker's father major Terrell played by Charles Pickford is involved in a water dispute with Burl ives's character Rufus Hennessy Gene Peters played the love interest to pick and Charlton Heston played the range Foreman that is in love with PEX fiance Peck said that when they filmed the scene where he and Carol Baker was riding in a carriage and being harassed by Chuck Connor and his men Peck hated the scene and asked Billy Wilder if he could redo it Wilder refused even though Peck was co-producer one scene was when the cowhands tried to cun pick and to ride an old Thunder a horse that no one could ride he refused and they laughed at him for being scared but whenever one was gone he goes down and rides the horse without anyone knowing it any advice yes don't do it thanks when you see Peck riding old Thunder that's not pick it's Slim Pickens riding his own horse Dear John piggins taught his horse to Buck On Cue no one knows how Pickens got the horse to book he never let anyone ride Dear John but himself the horse that picked was seen riding was picking's daughter's horse that looked like Dear John when slim asked his daughter if they could use her horse in a film she first said no until he said they'll pay you Gregory Peck's Sons Jonathan Stephen and Kerry Paul played his boys unaccredited in the film in 1959 Peck will become lieutenant Joel Clemens and pork chop Hill the movie's about a real battle that took place during the Korean War the hill became a political pun used during peace talks newspaper reporters that were actually there during the battle commented that the movie was close to reality in 1961 Gregory Peck was star and one of the biggest box office hits of the year The Guns of never wrong a World War II adventure with David Niven and Anthony Quinn the Allies sent a Commando unit to destroy a seemingly impregnable German Fortress that hindered Allied Shipping in the engine sea the next year Peck will lose his debt Gregory Pearl Peck on the 25th of August 1962 at the age of 76. that same year Gregory Peck will receive the Oscar for his portrayal of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird Pig will be named the greatest film hero of the last hundred years by the American Film Institute for his portrayal of Atticus Finch another movie picked made in 62 was Cape Fear with Robert Mitchum playing the ex-prisoner that blames Gregory Peck's character for sending him to prison Mitchum determined to get revenge by threatening pick's wife and daughter the police is unable to help they can't prove that Mitchum's character is a threat in 1963 it'll be Captain Newman MD repek plays a World War II Army psychiatrist charged with determining whether patients are able to return to the battlefield it also co-starred Tony Curtis and Angie Dickerson in 1967 until 1970 Peck will serve as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the request of Sammy Davis Jr Peck delayed the Oscar presentations until after Dr Martin Luther King's funeral was over in 1968 Peck will start with Eva Marie Saint in the stalking Moon where U.S army soldiers rounds up a group of Apaches mostly women and children to their surprise they find a missing white woman and her half Apache son among the group in 1974 Peg will produce the dove about Robert Lee Graham a real person who started at the age of 16 to sell around the world by himself it took five years the next year on the 26th of June 1975 Peck and his first wife Greta received news that their oldest son Jonathan Gregory Peck had committed suicide at his home by a self-inflicted gunshot wound Jonathan was working as a journalist and TV reporter his father said that his son Jonathan was depressed by being overworked a failed love affair and his illness of hardening of their arteries Jonathan was 30 years old he left no note Pegg was affected by the death of his son he couldn't work for a year in 1976 he played in The Omen with Lee Remick after the omen Pegg went back to playing bigger than life Parts like MacArthur in 1977 MacArthur presents the life of general Douglas MacArthur played by pick from his defeat in 1942 in the Philippines then his Triumph returned in October 1944. at the end of World War II he served as Council to Japan and later commander of American and U.N troops in Korea then his final confrontation with President Truman next it'll be a huge hit the boys from Brazil picks started with Lawrence Olivier about Dr Joseph mingle known as the angel of death when he escaped to South America after World War II he tried to clone Hitler so the third rack could continue in 1979 Gregory Peck was inducted into the Hall of Great Western performance at the national cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City in 1982 Peck will play Abraham Lincoln in the TV mini-series the blue and the grave about two families that are kin one for the North and one for the South co-actors are John Geezer Julia Duffy and Stacy Keith among others in 1989 Peck will start with Jane Fonda and Jimmy Smith in Old Ringo when Jane Fonda's character goes to Mexico to work as a governess and gets caught up in the Mexican Revolution she gets involved with General Thomas Arroyo apacho Villa's Army she also becomes involved with The Old Gringo Gregory Peck's character also that your pet will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award the next year on January the 25th 1990 actress Abel Gardner passed away leaving her longtime housekeeper and pet dog without a place to go Ava had been a longtime friend of pecks so he took in her housekeeper and her dog in 1992 Gregory will lose his 98 year old mother bunny airs pick Mason after divorce impact's father in 1921 she had later married Joseph May such on 22 January 1927. in later life Peck performed in a one-man show a conversation with Gregory Peck where he would answer questions and Converse with the audience in February 2000 at the Elsinore theater in Salem Oregon Pegg joked at the age of 83. this will be the end of my first farewell tour he said I'm completely done with film but I am open to a smashing cameo Gregory Peck star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is located at 6100 block of Hollywood Boulevard on June 12 2003 Eldridge Gregory Peck age 87. will succumb to bronchial pneumonia passing away at his Los Angeles home according to his wife he passed away in his sleep peaceably without pain while she was holding his hand the actor is entombed at the Cathedral of our lady at the Angels mausoleum in Los Angeles his eulogy was performed by his old friend Brock Peters whose character Tom Robinson was defended by Peck's character Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird I remember when my daddy give me that gun he told me that I should never point at anything in the house and that he'd rather I'd shoot a tin cans in the backyard but he said that sooner or later he supposed the temptation to go after Birds would be too much and then I could shoot all the Blue Jays I wanted if I could hit him but to remember it was a sin to Kill a Mockingbird why well I reckon because Mockingbirds don't do anything but make music for us to enjoy don't need people's Gardens the nest in the corn cribs they don't do one thing but just sing their hearts out for us

Channel: Jerry Skinner

Views: 83,357

Keywords:

Id: rM43Y8_mHCI

Length: 38min 44sec (2324 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 21 2023