01/13/2010 6:00 am
Culture
Thank Heaven for Leslie Caron, by Liz Smith
From Gigi to Emmy, our Liz catches up with screen legend Leslie Caron on what was, what is … and what will be.
Leslie Caron
In 2007, Caron won an Emmy for her performance as a rape victim on "Law & Order: SVU." The honor meant a great deal to her, and she is full of praise for her co-star, "SVU’s" Chris Meloni: "So sensitive. Such a wonderful, intelligent man and actor. Thoughtful, both at his craft and as a person. He calmed me down tremendously. He could see I was a nutcase because I hadn’t acted in a couple of years." Leslie Caron, child of the movies, has nothing but praise for the television process and the "remarkable" directors who "too often go unrecognized … these men should be making feature films, too!"
Today, Caron still has the ambition and independence that marked her earliest years. "I have one wish left," she says, and then adds, "And if it’s fulfilled I’m sure to have another, I hope! But I want to play on Broadway. In a straight drama. I always yearned to do Chekhov or Shaw or Ibsen. Naturally, this is what I got whenever I mentioned that: ‘Yes, yes, honey, sure.’ The typical brush-off when you’ve been ‘typed.’"
| "I have one wish left," she says, and then adds, "And if it's fulfilled I'm sure to have another, I hope!" |
Caron will tackle the stage soon, albeit a musical. In February she is set to appear along with Kristin Scott Thomas in a production of Stephen Sondheim’s "A Little Night Music" at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. Caron will play Madame Armfeldt, the disapproving mother of flighty actress Desiree. She’ll perform one of Sondheim’s most complex songs, "Liaisons." And yes, if she’d been in America when plans were afoot for the current Broadway revival of "Night Music" – "I would have auditioned," she says cheerfully. (Madame Armfeldt is now being played by the incredible Angela Lansbury.)
Caron is nervous, and a bit daunted by her coming assignment, but she says, "Could it be any worse than when I had to go to the hospital during ‘Gigi?’ I was filming the scene with Isabel Jeans where she is teaching Gigi to eat these little birds, ortolan. The point was to place the birds in your mouth, bones and all, and eat it. Well, after three takes, I had a bone stuck in my throat. It was terribly painful. And you know what, it came as a huge surprise to the director, Vincente Minnelli. He had this kind of out-of-this-world quality, it just never occurred to him that one might have a bit of trouble swallowing whole birds, no matter how tiny they are. I can laugh at it now. Then it wasn’t so funny. Especially as I had to come back the next day and do it again."
We are interrupted by the nice PR man who is escorting Miss Caron to her various duties. Our time is up. Caron rises quickly, like a girl – well, once a dancer always a dancer. Gathering her purse, her gloves, she says, still on subject, "So, I think if I could handle those damn birds, I can handle Sondheim."
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Lovely article - beautifully written - entertaining and very interesting. Always loved Leslie Caron - can’t imagine any other young woman in "American In Paris" than Leslie. She always was and is wonderful; a marvelous dancer and charming woman. Still beautiful and graceful. Definitely want to read her book!
Had just been reading about the terrible earthquake in Haiti - was a relief to read this article. Later I’ll find out where I can make a donation to help the Haitians; poor, poor people. Hope others will do the same.
Even those of us who have so little have much, much more than those living in Haiti. One wonders how, with so many countries struggling financially, including America, we can help them enough to make a huge difference.
No doubt Warren Beatty will be thrilled by yet another revelation that he is indeed "so vain."
Eh, he should be happy anybody remembers those good old days. Mr. Beatty’s charm has been elusive to Mr. Wow. Don’ t find him such a superior actor/director/producer, either. His success is a mystery. But more power to what Mr. W. cannot understand. How boring life would be if we all agreed!
Mr. Wow tends to be castigated when he declares himself immune to Warren’s appeal and talent. To me, he’s very like a higher-rent George Hamilton.
Mr. Wow - Have to agree with you with regard to Mr. Beatty. Was not he awarded the Irving Thalberg award ….for what? For the motion picture "Reds" - he won several Oscars …. but the Irving Thalberg award? Really not deserved IMO.
As for Leslie Caron, simply marvelous.
Later I’ll find out where I can make a donation to help the Haitians; poor, poor people. Hope others will do the same.
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No doubt the dynamic duo of George HW Bush and Bill Clinton will be opening up the "pay pal" account today. Some of which might make it to Haiti. And the wealthy will use it to rebuild their homes and palaces and the poor will be left, again, to fend for themselves.
A horrible tragedy and a reminder of how we are all subject to the whims of Nature and Mother Earth. The right earthquake on the wrong fault and everything comes tumbling down.
There was even a period where she became better known for her Hollywood hostessing than her acting.
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Many have enjoyed her hostessing in France as well at "The Owl’s Nest" which Liz doesn’t mention beyond passing.
http://www.lesliecaron-auberge.com/US/auberge_us.html
I loved this memoir and I especially love it with the actor writes a book themselves proving they have other talents. As always with Warren Beatty, when you read about him in his former lover’s books, he always makes them give up a job they regret and he did this to Leslie too besides making sure he has their constant attention. How he finds the time to also call other women, it’s amazing as he’s a phone-aholic.
But Leslie showed she had many talents, dancer, actress and now author besides her current occupation, managing The Owl’s Nest, which I hope to visit some day, if I ever get a job again. When you express yourself with dance, or even as a singer, one is often a good actress if one cares about their craft. No wonder she was nominated for two Oscars.
Look forward to reading this memoir. Leslie Caron was charming, talented and elegant in her youth, and remains so today. Tho’ I don’t remember the "provenance" of this experience, I do remember that when we were very young (early 20s), my Manhattan roommate & I were planning our respective weddings & for some reason always hummed or sang (with my lame guitar accompaniment) "Hi Lily." We knew it was sad, plaintive, and in definite contrast to our respective happy moods at that time. But we persevered, probably because we’d each delighted in finding another person who had so loved the movie "Lily" when we’d seen it as young girls.
Within the next year, Charlotte (my ex-roommate) & I were both married (she in New England, I in the Midwest) and expecting our first child. One year later, Charlotte died of breast cancer, leaving a husband a 9-month-old son. The song, & Leslie, are indelibly linked in my soul & my mind with these few years — happy/plaintive, youth/wisdom — & I think of Leslie Caron in the framework of such opposites: delicate/strong, girlish/independent. So I definitely agree with such previous posters as John Dillon and David Cuthbert.
I also agree, re. Warren Beatty, with Mr. Wow. His charm has eluded me. But instead of George Hamilton, I’d say he’s a low-rent George Clooney
Thank you for a captivating article, Liz. Recently, I was thinking how much the young actress Ellen Page resembles a young Leslie Caron…the lips, the cheek bones, the eyes.
peace and grace