Yes, I have three heroes. All men, sorry, ladies. I suffer from reading about, and listening to men, though I confess that the women in my life have affected me greatly… in mostly a very positive way.
But yeah, three heroes. Oh god, I have lots of heroes, plus a special friend who more than qualifies. But the three I’m writing about today are all famous, very talented, and, most important of all, they are thinkers! That’s right, they are far more than just their art, their craft, the special abilities they are known for.
Strangely enough, all three were actors, for which they are probably most noted. And it is worth mentioning that none of the three were “family men.” The life of any famous entertainer is usually more complicated than we can imagine, and it can be nearly impossible for them to balance both. I consider having and nurturing a family to be perhaps the most honorable and important thing we can do in our life. But my heroes’ other accomplishments, sometimes worlds away from their families and their acting, is worth telling about. And so I will.
“Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE is a Welsh actor. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama in 1993. One of Britain’s most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award.” Wikipedia
Born: December 31, 1937 (age 86 years), Margam, United Kingdom
Spouse: Stella Arroyave (m. 2003), Jennifer Lynton (m. 1973–2002), Petronella Barker (m. 1966–1972)
Children: Abigail Hopkins
Height: 5′ 9″
But versatile? God yes! He was an accomplished musician and composer who composed many operas and more than 10 film scores. He was a radio personality and talked about music on his radio show “All About Music” from 1954 to 1992, and was syndicated to 44 countries. And he was sought after as a music director and adviser.
But a thinker? Damn right! And here’s a thing he thought and wrote –
““I know that I have less to live than I have lived.
“I feel like a child who was given a box of chocolates. He enjoys eating it, and when he sees that there is not much left, he starts to eat them with a special taste.
“I have no time for endless lectures on public laws – nothing will change. And there is no desire to argue with fools who do not act according to their age. And there’s no time to battle the gray. I don’t attend meetings where egos are inflated and I can’t stand manipulators.
“I am disturbed by envious people who try to vilify the most capable to grab their positions, talents and achievements.
“I have too little time to discuss headlines – my soul is in a hurry.
Too few candies left in the box.”
“I’m interested in human people. People who laugh at their mistakes are those who are successful, who understand their calling and don’t hide from responsibility. Who defends human dignity and wants to be on the side of truth, justice, righteousness. This is what living is for.
“I want to surround myself with people who know how to touch the hearts of others. Who, through the blows of fate, was able to rise and maintain the softness of the soul.
“Yes, I hustle, I hustle to live with the intensity that only maturity can give. I’ll eat all the candy I have left – they’ll taste better than the ones I already ate.
My goal is to reach the end in harmony with myself, my loved ones and my conscience.”
“I thought I had two lives, but it turned out to be only one, and it needs to be lived with dignity.”
“I am fully aware of my mortality, but at 87 years old, I still wake up every morning with the desire to misbehave. Age is not a barrier when you find passion in what you do. The real secret lies in keeping your curiosity alive, continuing to learn, and not letting the fear of time stop you from enjoying life. Every day is a new opportunity to create, to laugh, and to show that it is never too late to move forward with enthusiasm and joy.”
Here’s to you, Sir Anthony. Brilliant, thoughtful, creative, courageous, versatile, empathic. My hero.
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Chris Christofferson
Wildly creative, wildly versatile, wildly courageous. I simply can’t totally imagine all the things Chris did in his life, and did them all well, to the max! Could a helicopter pilot write hit songs? Chris did. And could he sing them? Chris did. Could he be a Rhodes Scholar, famous actor, yet never take himself, or life itself, too seriously. Yes, he could be all those things, and was, brilliantly.
June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024,
Golden Gloves boxer, helicopter pilot,
Rhodes Scholar, soldier, janitor,
game-changing songwriter,
acclaimed actor,
activist for peace and justice.
My god. I could be talking about a half dozen different famous men here. Mind boggling. But Chis was proof positive that there are men walking this earth who are that smart, that talented, that versatile, men who simply handle this living experience from beginning to end with immense abilities, ease and grace.
Here’s a lift from a WaPo article by Sally Jenkins
“Kristofferson didn’t seem to know how to do anything but spend himself. He was just 5-foot-10 or so and 165 pounds, but at Pomona he made the varsity as an end and a linebacker — while he also commanded his ROTC battalion, made Phi Beta Kappa studying literature and won prizes in a short story contest sponsored by the Atlantic.
“In his summers, he beefed up for football on brutal construction gigs such as dredging on Wake Island in the Pacific and working for a railroad in Alaska as a firefighter. When he was pushed to apply for a Rhodes Scholarship, Kristofferson sought a recommendation from a philosophy professor, who talked to the football coach, Jesse Cone. That resulted in the following exchange, as memorialized by Pomona’s College magazine.
“Well, Kris really isn’t very tall,” Cone replied. “And he isn’t really very strong. And really, he’s not very fast.” The coach thought for another moment and added, “Kris is a football player by the will of Kris Kristofferson, not by the will of God.”
“I imagined myself into a pretty full life,” Kristofferson told NPR’s “Fresh Air” in 1999. “I was certainly not equipped, by God, to be a football player, but I got to be one. And I got to be a Ranger and a paratrooper and a helicopter pilot, you know, and a boxer and a lot of things that I don’t think I was built to do. I just imagined ’em.”
“… mopping floors and smelling oil after rejecting his Army commission, Kristofferson was in debt, going through an early divorce and had basically lost everything. Yet “I never felt like I was failing,” Kristofferson told Hawke years later. “What is even more difficult than failure is when you are perceived as a ‘success’ and you are failing,” he added.
Here are some of his lyrics, his thoughts, his poetry.
“He’s a poet and he’s a picker,
He’s a prophet and he’s a pusher
He’s a pilgrim and a preacher
And a problem when he’s stoned
He’s a walkin’ contradiction,
Partly truth and partly fiction
Takin’ every wrong direction
On his lonely way back home…”
–Kris Kristofferson
Am I young enough
to believe in revolution?
Am I strong enough
to get down on my knees and pray?
Am I high enough
on the chain of evolution
to respect myself
and my brother and my sister
and perfect myself
in my own peculiar way?
I get lazy and forget my obligations.
I’d go crazy if I paid attention all the time.
And I want justice, but I’ll settle for some mercy
on this Holy Road through the Universal Mind.
– Cpt. Kris Kristofferson.
Here’s to you, Kris. Brilliant, thoughtful, creative, courageous, versatile, empathic. My hero.
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Jimmy Stewart –
James Maitland Stewart was an American actor, military aviator, and poet. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart’s film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. Wikipedia
Born: May 20, 1908, Indiana, PA
Died: July 2, 1997 (age 89 years), Beverly Hills, CA
Spouse: Gloria Hatrick McLean (m. 1949–1994)
Children: Ronald Stewart, Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, Judy Stewart-Merrill, Michael Stewart
Height: 6′ 3″
I have always loved Jimmy Stewart. To me he was always a somewhat quiet, gentle, thoughtful man who had a fire inside, a kind of smoldering fire that life situations could ignite him and turn him into a strong and courageous force that seemed to me surprisingly and thoughtfully
macho.
His acting skills were great, and versatile, as was he. He could play comedy, drama and dark drama, and was supremely effective at all. I loved him in “the Philadelphia Story,” when he played Macaulay “Mike” Connor, and won an academy award for his performance. I can still hear him say, a touch drunkenly and a little too loudly, “Now just a minute there, C.K. Dexter Haven!”
He made at least four movies a year from 1935 to 1941. He was nominated for an Academy Award four times, and won it once in 1940.
I have always loved flying movies, especially about WW II, and Jimmy did several, including Strategic Air Command,( which of course he would do well, since he’d experienced it) and The Spirit Of St. Louis. He flew his own private plane, and turned that experience into a bomber pilot in WW II.
“With his private pilot’s skills, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II seeking combat duty and rose to be deputy commanding officer of the 2nd Bombardment Wing and commanding the 703d Bombardment Squadron from 1941 to 1947. He later transferred to the Air Force Reserve, and held various command positions until his retirement in 1968 as a brigadier general.”
Amazing to me! He put a brilliant movie career on hold to serve, using his abilities in a most positive way. He was conscientious and brave, more than most people knew. The percentage of dying in a bomber in WWII was high, and he had to know that. Yet he signed up and even asked to be put into duty on the front lines. Here’s what he did –
“Stewart entered the Army as a private and at the end of WWII was a colonel in the Army Air Corps. He was concerned that his celebrity status would relegate him to duties behind the lines.After spending over a year training pilots at Kirtland Army Airfield in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he appealed to his commander and in November 1943 was sent to England as part of the 703d Bomb Squadron to fly B-24 Liberators. He was based initially at RAF Tibenham, before moving to RAF Old Buckenham.”
“Jimmy was fully decorated as the result of the 20 combat missions he flew over Germany as leader of a squadron of B-24’s. Among the medals, he was awarded were two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Croix de Guerre.”
My god. Again, it boggles my mind. And here are a few of his writings and thoughts –
“Fear is an insidious and deadly thing. It can warp judgment, freeze reflexes, breed mistakes. Worse, it’s contagious”.
“The secret to a happy life is to accept change gracefully”.
“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners”.
“It may sound corny, but what’s wrong with wanting to fight for your country. Why are people reluctant to use the word patriotism?”
“I always told Hitch that it would have been better to put seats around the set and sell tickets.”
“Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing a Jimmy Stewart imitation myself.”
And here’s to you, Jimmy. Brilliant, thoughtful, creative, courageous, versatile, empathic. My hero.
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Yes, these three lives remind me that it’s dangerous to compare ourselves with people like these. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” And it often is. But I wanted to share these lives to remind us that there are some fantastic people out there right now, sometimes walking among us, quietly inspiring those who watch and listen, those who are still open to change, to improvement. Those few.
Steve Hulse