Hume Cronyn Memorialized at Shubert Theatre
The life and career of actor/director Hume Cronyn (1911-2003) was celebrated at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre this afternoon. Among those in attendance were Eli Wallach, Frances Sternhagen, and Marian Seldes. As people gathered,
violinist Darwin Shen and pianist Sarah Ho performed, stage right. A floral display stood in front of a podium, stage left, and in between was a screen upon which photographs and film clips were shown. The ceremony began at noon.
Sam and Charlie Whitehead were the first speakers. Sons of Robert Whitehead (Cronyn’s producer-cousin) and Zoe Caldwell, they spoke fondly of their “honorary Uncle Hume.” Next was Tandy Cronyn, daughter of Hume and his longtime wife Jessica Tandy, who called her father “a Renaissance man” and said that the role of parent was his toughest challenge. She told of his reaction to her being photographed early in her career in flowers and a bikini; that picture was shown, as well as one of her father wearing some strategically placed blossoms and little else.
On videotape, Karl Malden recalled being directed by Cronyn and objecting to some things in front of the cast. He said that Cronyn dismissed the company for lunch, chastised him, and then accompanied him to have lunch. Malden said that this had taught him two things: One, don’t complain in front of others; two, Hume is always right. George Grizzard remembered Cronyn, with whom he appeared in four plays, as “one of the most complete men of the theater” that he’d ever known.
Sigourney Weaver spoke of her admiration for and friendship with Cronyn. Ian Calderon, Director of Digital Initiatives at the Sundance Institute, said that it was Cronyn’s “humanity that [he’d] remember most fondly.” He told of walking in Manhattan with the actor en route to a restaurant when a gust of wind lifted Cronyn’s hat off and blew it — along with a stash of money that, for some reason, Cronyn had placed beneath — onto Fifth Avenue. Dodging taxis, Calderon retrieved the bills as Cronyn shouted, ‘Get the big bills, forget the small ones!’ Calderon said that, afterwards, the actor always
denied the story. He then read notes from Elia Kazan and Robert Redford. The latter’s letter stated that he’d asked Cronyn to be a “resource to actors” at Sundance in 1992, and that Cronyn’s initial response was “I don’t give money!” Cronyn, observed Redford, was “a consummate human being.”
On audiotape, Glenn Close recalled Cronyn; he and Jessica Tandy had played her parents in Close’s debut film, The World According to Garp. She remembered that once, during filming, Tandy had had trouble getting a line. After
repeated takes, the director called for a break, during which Close watched as Cronyn went over to his wife, kissed her on the shoulder, and walked back to where he’d been. The kiss, noted Close, restored Tandy’s energy and courage, and she resumed the scene, performing flawlessly. Close also related how Cronyn once astounded her little girl when he emptied his pipe tobacco by knocking the pipe against his glass eye.
The Cronyns’ son, Christopher, spoke of his childhood and of his father’s having read to him in the voices of Long John Silver and other fictional characters, of having been taught how to fish by his dad, of going to the theater or the movies — just father and son — “and the rich conversations that followed.” He mentioned Cronyn’s love of the outdoors and advised his dad, wherever he now is, to “enjoy your pipe, enjoy your drink, enjoy the company — and I hope the fishing is fantastic!”
Accompanied on piano by John Oddo, James Naughton sang two Cole Porter songs (noting that “Hume loved Cole Porter’s music”), “Everytime We Say Goodbye” and (“particularly appropriate for Hume Cronyn”) “You’re the Top.” Mike Nichols said that he fell in love with the Cronyns when he directed them in The Gin Game in 1976: “No one ever worked harder [than they did] or were kinder with co-workers.” His only argument with Tandy, said Nichols, “was getting her [with remnants of her British accent] to take the ‘h’ out of the word ‘fuck.'” Cronyn, then 66, started shuffling during rehearsals. Asked why by Nichols, he replied, “I’m playing old.” Nichols told him, “Hume, you are old. You don’t have to play it.”
Peering over the podium, Zoe Caldwell claimed that she should have worn heels. She recalled the Cronyns’ Bahama Islands paradise and read a passage about it from Cronyn’s autobiography, A Terrible Liar(the title refers to the passage of time). Last to speak was Cronyn’s third wife, writer Susan Cooper Cronyn, whom he married in 1996 (two years following Tandy’s death). Among other projects, they had collaborated on the play, Foxfire. Mrs. Cronyn said that they called each other “Collab,” the same way that Cronyn and Robert Whitehead had referred to each other as “Cous.”
About six weeks before Cronyn’s demise, she recalled, he had gone to Minneapolis for the 40th anniversary of the Guthrie Theater. He had performed a scene from Richard III and chatted about his career with the Guthrie’s artistic director, Joe Dowling. A review of the evening was
quite favorable and very much pleased Cronyn, who told his wife that, should there be a memorial for him at some time, he would like her to read his “last notice.” She wished him “Godspeed, Collab!”
The ceremony ended with a short film narrated by Cronyn, covering his life and career. He commented on how he’d often sit in Grand Central Station and study passersby — “just watch and listen.” The film contained excerpts from such movies as Brute Force, Lifeboat, The Seventh Cross, and Cocoon, along with several TV clips. Among these were a 1970 Hawaii Five-O episode in which Cronyn played a master of disguise, a 1987 60 Minutes in which Cronyn and Tandy were interviewed by Mike Wallace, and the 1986 Kennedy Center Honors. The 75-minute tribute was a fitting one for a distinguished and talented actor.
