Cloris by Cloris Leachman & George Englund

Author:Cloris Leachman & George Englund [Leachman, Cloris & Englund, George]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2009-07-15T04:00:00+00:00

A Bit of History

In preparation for this book, I asked for a list of the Broadway productions, films, and television shows in which I’ve appeared. It’s in front of me now, and as my eyes run down the columns, even I am surprised at the numbers.

BROADWAY PLAYS: 11

FILMS: 57

TELEVISION SHOWS: 137

My mind flicks back over the different roles; different costumes; different eras in history; the Broadway openings; the world premieres; the TV series; the tearful departures when they were over; the faces that were part of those productions, some instantly familiar, some brought back from the outer fringes of memory, many having passed on. I recall the care we took of each other, the way we worked to create the best possible performance.

My thoughts come to rest on my one-woman show about Grandma Moses. She began painting late in life and became famous for her “primitive art.” In the first act, I portrayed her as what she was then, a woman in her early sixties, living on her farm, starting to paint, and having no idea that she would become famous. And she certainly didn’t know she was going to live for another forty odd years.

At the opening of the second act, I came onstage when she was about to leave for Washington, D.C., where she was going to be honored by the president of the United States on her hundredth birthday. The curtain rose on the set of her living room; no one was there. After a moment I entered and took a measured walk across the front of the set to pick up the hat and gloves I was going to wear in Washington. I walked slowly, the years having reduced my speed. My lower jaw was protruding and making contact in a chewing motion with my upper teeth.

The audience was silent at first, then, as I continued across the stage, there were gasps. It was a holy moment for me, one of my best as an actress. I could hear, I could feel, the audience seeing me, experiencing me, as this hundred-year-old woman.

It came from inside me. I hadn’t studied the physiology of old age. I had sat alone and imagined how the act of walking would feel when I was a hundred years old, how my capacity to proceed in a straight line would have weakened, how my bones and ligaments would have dried and thinned after such long use.

I want to portray Grandma Moses again. Creating the character this time will be a different challenge, I’ll be ten years nearer to a hundred myself. Recreating Grandma Moses in her early sixties, her quick laughter, her springy step, her farm woman’s vitality, will be the task next time.

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