Word: motheral
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Growing up in the farm country of Van (pop. 610), 80 miles from Dallas, Hall realized early that he would not become a rancher, like his father, or a preacher, as his mother hoped. He was willowy, almost too handsome, sensitive and shy. Says he: "I was called 'sister-boy' more than once." He played the trombone in the high school band to avoid sports and was president of the square dance club. After working his way through East Texas State University by teaching high school drama in Galveston, he moved to New York City in 1955. He staged...
Guinness himself seems removed from such mad scenes. Like George Smiley, the most interesting character of his later years, he is more of a reactor than an initiator, an amused but always clear-eyed observer. Part of that ironic aloofness may come from his childhood. His mother lived from hand to mouth, and he never knew who his father was. He was forced to adapt, and he has been doing that ever since, making a brilliant career out of pouring himself into a myriad of molds. He is now a little startled, however, to discover some of his mannerisms...
...most. They began when J. Paul demanded his birthright from his father. After George F.'s death in 1930, the ambitious son set about loosening the widow's grip on her trust fund. When he succeeded, according to Biographer Lenzner, he boasted to an acquaintance, "I just fleeced my mother." His own will was engorged with codicils that treated beneficiaries like stocks on an exchange. One result was that suits and countersuits by Getty heirs cost more than $13 million in legal fees...
...much one can blame a father for the fate of his children is uncertain, though Getty's absenteeism and disparaging attitude toward his sons were not helpful. The oldest, George F. II, a president of Tidewater Oil, died an apparent suicide in 1973. Jean Ronald, born to a German mother in 1929, left the family oil business to produce a few minor films like Flare-up with Ursula Andress, and claims that "the only thing I inherited from my father was his love of animals." Jean Paul Jr., 53, one of the most flamboyant jet-setters of the 1960s...
Another bright spot in the generally dull show is actress Beth Steinhorn who plays the archetypal nagging mother. Steinhorn delivers litotes on the apartment's less than impressive decor such as "amazing what you can find at garage sales these days" with deadpan motherliness. Steinhorn also helps move the play along--surprisingly needed for this short drama...