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James Stacy Interview
(TV and Film Actor)
He was born Maurice William Elias, but the world knows him as James Stacy.
In 1957, he was in the film “Sayonara”.
In the 1960s you could see him on such TV shows as Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel and Donna Reed Show.
His most famous role was Johnny Madrid Lameer on the TV show “Lameer”.
James Stacy died on September 9th, 2016. He was 79 years old.
This previously unpublished interview was conducted on September 1st, 1982.
Q - More actors and actresses seem to have their own production companies. What’s the advantage of having your own production company?
A - It helps protect them and their monies I guess. You pay 25% on any investment if you’re a corporation. I don’t know. The tax laws have changed so much I’m not quite sure. It’s lucrative for the lawyers.
Q - Why did you start your own production company?
A - Well, for the tax write off and the deductions I would get by having a company.
Q - I assume most interviewers don’t ask you that question.
A - No, not unless it’s a business section. But, if it’s a business section they usually don’t. (Laughs). But, if it’s a working production company. I send all my scripts I acquired through the production company. It’s owned by Ragmuffin.
Q - And you of course are writing.
A - Yeah, I’m writing. I have a book right now that in the publisher’s department of about five of them in New York hoping to be published and eventually be made into a film. An original idea.
Q - If it wasn’t for your friend Robert Fuller who dragged you to one of his acting classes would you have thought to go into acting at all?
A - I don’t think I would’ve been in the place to be dragged anywhere if I had not wanted to. During that time Bob Fuller took me to Richard Boone’s class, but I think it was me consciously or unconsciously asking for it and putting myself in the in the position to want to go into acting.
Q - And then Richard Boone cornered some Warner Bros. executives and asked them to sign you to a contract. That’s pretty rare isn’t it?
A - No. That happens a lot.
Q - Does it really?!
A - Oh, yeah. It happens a lot. It happens quite a bit. I mean Richard Boone at that time was pretty “hot property” and he had some influence on who to see and how to get to the right people. If he brings someone to the studio that could help with their revenues then he’s doing them a favor and therefore may be returning a favor that was done for him. It’s not unlikely.
Q - I’ve always been under the impression that people like Richard Boone are so busy they only concern themselves with their own career.
A - Well, it’s not true. People do help an awful lot. I’ve received a lot of help only because I wanted it. I put myself in a position to need help. I think everyone in every facet of business or life needs friends and help along the way.
Q - After only one game of professional football you gave up on football. Why was that?
A - It just wasn’t exciting to me anymore. It became business and I knew I didn’t like that kind of business as far as making a living. In high school and junior college it was very exciting, very exciting because you have your own family there your own click, your own rewards for doing well on the football field. To go up to Canada and nobody knows you. Nobody could care less. I didn’t care about all the hullabaloo that attracted me when I was in high school and junior college. It just wasn’t important to me. Now I was out in the world thinking about the future and football was not where I wanted to be. I went to New York because that was the closest thing to do. I had been thinking about acting. I tried out for a play in high school called Harvey and I lost it but I was still trying out so I must’ve been thinking about something. I love to give speeches in speech class and I found myself in New York working in Davagas in the advertising department. They had about 25 stores in and around New York. I handled the type, the price in the picture of what they were selling. When the guy that hired me got fired, I got fired.
Q - You went backpacking and worked your way through 14 countries by doing odd jobs. That seems a little dangerous to me. You could be a target traveling alone.
A - I’ve never been afraid of those things. It never bothered me. I traveled by myself quite a bit. I stayed in Rome for three months, working at Trattoria's cooking spaghetti in cleaning out the place just for food. I was a good worker. I was honest congenial and they liked me. Some of the other kids who needed a job, I was just competing with them and they knew I shouldn’t have been working, but, it never bothered me. I just go on to another trattoria just for food. And then I travel all the time and meet people.
Q - You'd probably do that same thing today would you?
A - I just finished coming back from Alaska on a grizzly bear camera shooting expedition, 16mm, 35 slides. I’m having a party tomorrow night showing all the film I took.
Q - This is for your own use?
A - Yeah, for my own use and maybe an HBO placement. I’ve also got a picture coming out in December (1982) called Something Wicked This Way Comes. I’ll probably go on some of the talk shows, good morning America, and talk about the film and also about my experience up in Alaska and maybe show two minutes of the brown bear photography I shot.
Q - You’re always looking for something just a little bit different aren’t you?
A - Yeah. I’ve always liked traveling and enjoying museums in different countries. I haven’t made it yet but my next thing will probably be Thailand.
Q - What are you going to do there?
A - Oh, just visit, see and look.
Q - You worked with Marlon Brando. What was he like to work with?
A - He was wonderful. He had a great sense of humor. And, great control over his emotions. They had them hurried the scenes and he just refused to hurry the scenes. He enjoyed his craft and worked very hard at it. He improvised along with you. Congratulated me with improvising along with him. He asked Mr. Logan to keep my part in there. I improvise something with him. You let the boy keep that in there! I was just a young kid then. One of my first parts. I liked him.
Q - Did you ever get nervous working with a guy like that who is so well known?
A - Not nervous, but anxious. I always used the nervousness as part of the character. I always found a way to use that energy to be part of the character. Anticipating him and working with him was delightful. It was a great experience.
Q - You were married to Connie Stevens and Kim Darby why do actors and actresses seldom stay married? Does professional jealousy get in the way?
A - Its very hard for a man and a woman to stay together. Acting is heightened by the fact that one is getting more attention than the other. Jealousy got entwined. That’s a prolonged psychological question. It would take a long time to answer. I think just the fact that man-woman relationships have been difficult throughout the centuries and it’s been heightened by maybe egos.
© Gary James All Rights Reserved
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