Have you ever heard someone say, or even said yourself, "I have show business in my blood."? For most of us, that's just an old saw we'll use to try to explain what drew us to entertainment. But some of us really did grow up with parents in the business, and such a lineage can have both positive and negative sides.
To get a realistic behind-the-scenes look, Back Stage asked some second- and third-generation performers now making their own marks in the family business to share their thoughts on this special type of life in the theatre.
FINDING SANCTUARY
When actor Tony Torn gave his first professional performance as the villainous Mr. Cribbs in "The Drunkard," at age 15, he was directed by his father, actor Rip Torn. The show was even more of a family project, because it was presented by Sanctuary Theatre Workshop, founded by Rip Torn and Tony's mother, actress Geraldine Page (as well as a company including John Heard and Amy Wright). Tony Torn recalls, "We lived in a very literate household. It was a generous emotional and intellectual environment. I've always been closely associated with my folks and their theatre company."
The younger Torn just finished appearing Off-Off-Broadway, in Sanctuary's production of Ionesco's "The Picture," hosted by theatre collective chashama. He has a twin brother, playwright-actor Jonathan Torn. A sister-film and stage actress Angelica Torn-has also been featured in Sanctuary productions, and is currently appearing in the London's "Side Man," having first done the show on Broadway. Tony offers lightheartedly, "If there's ever any jealousy, it's a good "I want to do a play in London'-type jealousy, never anything mean."
Tony makes sure to stress that his home life is far from just shop talk. While he was growing up, there was a balance between being able to be with his parents backstage or on movie sets, and his father getting him away from the city and the theatre environment. "We used to go and work on horse ranches in the open air," Tony recalls. Some of his fondest memories were learning "practical stuff. I remember my father creating different makeups. He'd have me tape-record accents off the TV and help with technical research. I was always treated as an equal. Whenever I have something to deal with, my father is there for me. He's very supportive, especially of my interest in avant-garde theatre. That takes a pretty open-minded parent."
Tony enjoyed attending theatre while growing up, and especially sitting in on his late mother's acting classes at Off-Off-Broadway's Pelican Theatre. While he's studied styles including Meisner and the Method, he feels, "It's wrong to focus on one single ideology." Torn is also a director chosen to participate this August in the Obie Award-winning Blueprint Series. He was the founding Artistic Director of Off-Off-Broadway's Chain Lightning and still keeps a close association with that company.
On the downside of auditioning with a famous last name, the younger Torn offers, "It can be both a help and a hindrance. People are curious to see you, but sometimes that's all. I think it's a misconception that it's always easy to get on with your own career. People assume you must be incredibly wealthy. They don't realize there were ups and downs. We still had hard times when work was scarce."
Torn also wants readers to know that a famous name can't necessarily get you an agent. He advised Back Stage, "Tell them I've been trying to find a commercial and theatrical agent in New York City and I haven't found one yet."
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT
NYC audiences recently watched the rare occurrence of a son giving his own spin, live, to a role his father made famous on film, when Nikolai Kinski starred as Nosferatu in a stage adaptation of F. W. Murnau's 1922 silent classic. His father, Klaus Kinski, played the role in the 1979 movie version. "I'm in an interesting position," Kinski observes. "While my father's name is known in Europe,
it isn't as well known here, so I grew up removed in Northern California." (Kinski moved there at age five after traveling abroad with his Vietnamese mother.)
"I didn't go to school with performers' children and wasn't affected by who my father was. It's a misconception that all celebrities' kids have been burdened or over exposed, although I'm sure it does happen to some." He explains, "I'm only starting to deal with my father's legacy. That's one of the reasons I wanted to play this role and address the issue, as well as paying homage to his work and regenerating a timeless myth I could bring my own special history to."
Kinski does admit that he'll occasionally go to an audition and find it starting with a and A about his father. He isn't always eager for these because, "I'm very much my own person."
In Northern California Klaus and Nikolai often were able to spend quality time together. At age 11, the father picked up on his son's interest in performing and suggested that he play the central character's son in the film "Paganinni." This was the culmination of 20 years' work by the senior Kinski, who wrote, directed, and starred in the film. Working on it greatly influenced young Nikolai. "It was an amazing emotional experience and he led me through it," remembers the junior Kinski. "It opened up my entire world emotionally." Nikolai later studied Stanislovski, but feels his work is an amalgamation of different styles. "I work basically from instinct," he adds.
Although his father passed away when Nikolai was 15, the young man feels influenced by his father's "fierce need for privacy," and grew up "very wary of having a public life." He keeps in touch with half-sister actress Nastassia Kinski, but theirs is a family relationship, rather than one of actors sharing advice.
Kinski offers candidly, "I've wanted to remain on the periphery and to get my work on my own. I've also had issues with making art and commerce meet." Kinski, who got his BA from UCLA, as well as performed at the UCLA Playhouse, has appeared onstage, in indie films, and in features including "Jamila," with Sean Connery's son Jason Connery. He'll play Nosferatu this July in Telluride and hopes to do more stage and film.
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM
When Back Stage reached third-generation actress and producer Jennifer Verdon (granddaughter of Gwen Verdon and Variety's "Henaghan's Corner" columnist Jim Henaghan), she was enjoying a day of "great auditions," and began our interview by observing candidly, "It's not like being Harrison Ford's kid. I grew up with a very non-glossy view of the industry, because I had the balance of being around the success and longevity of my grandmother's career, but also saw my parents change their professions because of the need for stability raising two kids." Mom was a print model for accounts like RCA before becoming a CPA, and Dad was a touring actor and featured on TV, including in "My Three Sons" and "Batman," before starting his own contracting business.
"Because of my upbringing, I didn't grow up "wanting to be a movie star,' but I did get to be exposed to theatre. It gave me a greater appreciation for the business, like growing up in a family of glass-blowers would make you appreciate more what goes into excelling in that." From both her parents and grandmother, Verdon learned, "Have realistic expectations and keep perspective. Value family and have other things in life that are important besides people's reactions or money. Connecting to people is important too-also have a thick skin. My interest was always nurtured and never discouraged."
Verdon was raised on the West Coast, "with lots of show-biz kids," but only dreamed of being a scientist within her class of nine at the very small Oak Hill High. Because she was initially shy, and heavier-"It took me a while to burn off my childhood"-she didn't see herself as a performer. But high school drama teacher Tim Wright did, and Verdon credits him with getting her involved. She didn't perform professionally until graduating from Cal State.
Looking back on her growing-up years, she remembers most fondly when "Dancin' " was in L.A. and she could watch the cast rehearse. "I was fabulously excited by this
world and its craziness. I enjoy live theatre. For my "Empire Strikes Back' generation, theatre can sometimes get a bum rap and isn't stressed. That's why I'm interested in being both a producer and a performer." Currently working a day job in a publicist's office, Verdon has been performing since April, Off-Off-Broadway, at the Kraine Theatre (Fridays and Saturdays, 10:30 pm), in "Back Seats & Bathroom Stalls-A Not So Romantic Comedy of Bad Manners." She also produces the show, which has just been extended through early August. Other credits include an independent film and an episode of "Law & Order."
Verdon, whose last name actually is Henaghan, moved to NYC four years ago because "L.A. scared me; it's a hard place to start out. In New York, they have more respect for people's talent and are excited by people's genuineness." She decided to use "Verdon" on her resume and immediately found she got more auditions. "My grandmother is a remarkable woman and I'm really proud of what she's accomplished. I changed my name to get more opportunities to work. It gets you in the door, but after that you're on your own." She has studied with William Esper. (Grandmother studied with Sanford Meisner.)
When this actress-singer considers whether her name increases the pressure at auditions, she acknowledges, "I've realized that if they want to ask me at auditions about my grandmother, they're fans. Since so am I, we immediately have something to agree on. I'm very lucky; it's a great icebreaker. If I were a dancer, then I'd be under much more pressure."
THE SECOND TIME AROUND
Matthew Arkin, currently appearing in "Dinner with Friends," Off-Broadway at Variety Arts Theatre, had his first professional experience at age eight, directed by his father, Alan Arkin, in the Oscar-nominated short "People Soup"-along with older brother actor Adam Arkin. (Younger brother Anthony is also an actor.) Matthew looks at the occasional job or "Kojak" episode he had between eight and 18 as "not a real career."
When he went to study and then practice law he thought he'd left acting for good, but came back after five years, because "I missed it. So many actors work and complain. It's inexcusable; we're privileged. I feel lucky to be earning a living and be in a great play."
Growing up in Chappaqua, N.Y. Arkin found, "Preconceptions were a big problem. Having a famous last name robbed me of anonymity. People assume you're spoiled before they even meet you. The biggest misconception is that working takes an actor away from his family. Where I grew up everyone's dad was a lawyer. It was my dad who was home and I saw him much more than other kids saw their fathers. I also had some great educational experiences traveling and spending time on movie sets."
Arkin studied with Uta Hagen and Austin Pendleton at HB Studio. "That's the style I like-straightforward without a lot of hoo-ha," he declares. While his father's training was with Second City, Arkin "wasn't that interested" in Dad's improv background. He does feel he learned from his father that there is no difference between performing comedy or a straight play: "Whether it's funny is what happens to the audience when they see it. I got that from my dad-not to be concerned with what's funny, or if the audience is getting it. My dad has impeccable taste in what is good work; I learned a lot.
"I also learned realistically how hard it is to make a living. When I first came back, I think my father thought I thought it would be easy to do. I don't think he felt I had an aptitude until this show." Arkin adds, "I don't go to him for advice because we're in different places in our careers and the business has changed in 40 years, from when he was where I am now." Matthew does call brother Adam for advice. "I respect his great sense of humility and gratitude for the work he has."
Matthew doesn't feel pressured or compared, but finds that some auditions first turn into 20 minutes about his father and brother. He observes with a sense of humor, "That's not unique; I had that for college interviews too. Early on, a small company might want your name for a press hook, but that doesn't help after a certain level. Eventually all people care about is what you, yourself, bring to the table."
Arkin's household now contains his wife, actress-director Pamela Newkirk-Arkin, and their two-and-a-half-year-old son. When Matthew considers whether he'd like a third generation of performing Arkins, he smiles, "Right now he wants to be a major-league ball-player, but if this is what he wants to do I'd encourage him."
IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR
When Greg Naughton was born, his father, actor James Naughton, was getting his MFA at Yale, and Greg recalls "living backstage while Dad did plays. When you're little, your dad is a hero and you want to do what he does, so of course that's why I became an actor."
Greg also grew up spending summers with the legendary Williamstown Theatre Festival, while his father performed there under the watchful eye of Artistic Director Nikos Psacharopolis. "I sang in the cabaret as a kid and actually got to hold a spear in a seven-hour version of "Oedipus.' I was very aware there was a big difference between school and summer. The people in theatre were open and physical and then I'd come back to school and a very different reality."
This growing up under the glow of the blue-gelled lights so well known to anyone who has spent time backstage made the younger Naughton aware, once he was performing himself, that something was missing. "I wanted there to be an actor's theatre-for actors, by actors. So many theatres are focused on directors and playwrights-new plays with small casts done for monetary needs, instead of large-cast classic plays involving different generations of actors who can learn from each other."
Naughton's vision has especially struck a chord with his father and a number of his father's respected acting peers, who have become company members, board members, and enthusiastic supporters of the six-year-old Blue Light Theater Co. Naughton often refers to the troupe in our interview as "very much the family business," and with good reason. He is the actor-manager of the company (a job he is now trying to balance with being a solo singer-songwriter and with searching for a recording contract for his "roots," rock "n' roll and pop band Stark Naked Soul). Mother Pamela Naughton is the director of development (neither collects a salary), sister Keira has acted with the company, and dad James is on the board of directors as well as acting and directing as a company member.
Greg Naughton observes, "It's a great thing for our family; I talk to dad at least every other day on the phone about something. If it didn't exist I can't imagine what life would be like." On the subject of talking shop, Naughton laughs heartily as he describes the frequent "tight family dinners" where his sister, her actor boyfriend, himself, and his actress girlfriend (stage and film actress Arija Bareikis), plus Mom and Dad, will "rarely have any escape from the same topics of conversation."
On a more serious note, considering whether he feels pressured to succeed, Naughton responds candidly, "I feel a real sense of obligation. There aren't a lot of young people who are in my position. There has been a great deal of generosity and support. I know I'm really lucky. Early on I resisted being aggressive because I have a dad in the business-I didn't want to use every contact or be perceived as using connections. Growing up being aware occasionally of jealousy, I was shaped by that and people's misperceptions that all doors are opened, so I wanted to avoid getting help or tapping into nepotism. It was my father who had to remind me that I should be using every option available."