Happy Birthday Jameson Parker

While searching for latest pictures of Jameson Parker,

 

– – HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. PARKER – –

I stumbled across this article about Gerald McRaney mentioning Jameson Parker in this interview for the AV Club:  [link]

Gerald McRaney on Longmire, Simon & Simon, and The Neverending Story „Mackie“ talking about meeting his wife Delta Burke during „Designing Women (1987-1988)—“Dash Goff”“:

 

AVC: And then she (Delta) did an episode of Simon & Simon not long after that, right?

GM: Yeah, later that same year, I think, she came over and did an episode of Simon & Simon.

AVC: Was that a “turnabout is fair play” situation?

GM: Yes, it was. Absolutely it was. And the writers in that episode stole a line from me, because there’s a scene where the brothers are driving to meet this lady, and A.J.—Jameson Parker’s role—has never even heard about this woman, and there’s this big effect that the mention of her name has on me, and he wants to know about her, and I’m being rather closed-mouthed, and he says, “All right, just… what does she look like?” And there’s a little back and forth, and finally I said to him, “All right, well, one thing: She’s got those kind of gin-clear blue eyes that a man knows, once he’s lost in them, he’s never going to find his way out.” [Laughs.] Yeah, that was my description of Delta. They stole that and put it in the episode.

Short interview with Gerald McRaney about „24: Legacy“

Gerald McRaney joined Fox’s 24: Legacy as a series regular.
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The 24 spin-off follows Eric Carter (Corey Hawkins), an ex-Army Ranger, and outgoing Counter Terrorist Unit director Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto), as they team up to thwart a terrorist attack in Washington, D.C.

McRaney has been cast as “powerful oil man” Henry Donovan, the father of Rebecca’s husband, Senator John Donovan (Jimmy Smits), who is running for president when the series begins. Henry is described as a devoted father who is willing to do anything to make sure his son wins. It’s likely Henry won’t be too pleased when he learns Rebecca is taking a break from helping John campaign to deal with this terrorist threat.

Watch YT interview by The Knockturnal’s Meral Kathwari after the break:

This Is Us – Gerald McRaney’s Art of Making Lemonade

Interview from Entertainment weekly:

EW: Let me start here: Do you need a hug?
GERALD MCRANEY: (Laughs) Always. Always. It’s amazing — the older you get, the more open to having them you are.

I like that. Now let’s back up, actually, to the beginning. The pilot script for This Is Us comes your way. You read the part of Dr. K. What are your first thoughts? What intrigued you about this role?
What a great role it was to begin with. That one speech after the baby has been lost, advising him to try and move on with his life. When I first read that, it was like, “Gee! Who do I have to pay for this?”

That is one of the most memorable moments of the pilot: Dr. K’s speech to Jack when he’s consoling him. And then you issue that gem: “I’d like to think that one day you’ll be an old man like me talking a young man’s ear off explaining to him how you took the sourest lemon that life had to offer and turned it into something resembling lemonade.”
What a great line!Gerald_This-Is-Us_DrK
Did you know how special that line was at the time?

It felt that way to me when I read it, yeah. It’s an interesting use on words, because the doctor doesn’t say turn it into lemonade. Turn it into something resembling lemonade, which in plain speak is: Do the best you can with what you have.

Life isn’t all bunnies and rainbows.
No. And that’s one of the things I love about this show is that it doesn’t tie things up in a nice little ribbon at the end of everything — but people are going to try.

By the way, do waiters bring you free lemonades when you go out to eat now? Is it free lemonades for life?
No. No. I don’t get lemonade anywhere.

Really? I’m surprised. Are you not a fan?
No, I love lemonade! I make my own!

Dr. K returned in the fall finale and barely survived that very critical surgery. Were you surprised that they brought you back again? And were you thinking that when they did that it might be his last go-around considering the seriousness of the situation?
When I do a project like this, I don’t think too much in terms of where it’s headed in terms of my being on the show. It’s just such a joy to do it that I appreciate it when I’m doing it, and that’s one of the things in my approach to acting is I just enjoy the process, not so much the result…

You knew there was something special with this after the pilot. Were you thinking, “They may have me back once or twice”? What kind of role were you expecting?
I thought that they might bring me back for one or two episodes because I knew that they were going to be going back and forth in time. But I had no idea what that might be, and then what it might entail for me.

I heard that initially the way that script was written for the fall finale, Dr. K, like Toby, was left in jeopardy, as a cliffhanger. Were you asking them, “Well, what will my fate be?”
No. I left that totally up to them, because when you’re dealing with writing that good, who the hell am I to tell them how to do something differently? I mean, that would be ridiculous! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Quote from: ew.com/tv
Get your tissues out:

Watch the episode highlight – The Art of Making Lemonade (after the break)

Gerald McRaney, working off his tail

McRaney´s answer when getting asked about his many guest star roles lately which kept him very busy:

Yes, I’ve been working my tail off lately! It’s been fun, I’ve been lucky to be on some really good shows, which really makes all the difference because financially it’s all the same. For the Southland job, I’d met [producer-director] Chris Chulack on another occasion, but really it was because of a lot of lobbying by my manager, Geoffrey Brandt. He also helped me work with [executive producer] Graham Yost on Justified. [Star] Tim Olyphant was just the coolest guy. And it was a blast to work with my friend [actor] Jim Beaver again. We had a great little fraternity on Deadwood. It’s funny … I started acting in a rep company years ago. I hadn’t done it for a long time until [playwright] Horton Foote asked me to do a play of his — Dividing the Estate — off Broadway, then on Broadway in 2007. It was thrilling to get back to those roots and stretch those muscles.

Unfortunately „Southland“ got cancelled after 5 seasons:

I’m sad about the show not coming back. I wish I had a good explanation about why it isn’t! That character grew out of talking to real cops. I am technically still a reservist deputy in Louisiana, so I’ve gotten to know more cops than the average actor. I’ve known many people who didn’t deal with their problems the same way. It’s very tough to retire from a job like that. You’ve been dedicating and risking your life for something for 30 years, it’s very hard to step away from that. The job costs people marriages and relationships with kids and can be quite disabling. So to switch that off — to cut off the adrenaline rush, which many are addicted to — is very difficult.

And of course McRaney´s most famous roles in Simon & Simon and Major Dad also were mentioned:

(Laughs.) Major Dad … I can’t let it go! There was actually a lot of criticism when I was on Deadwood, like „Why did they hire Major Dad for this part?“ No, it was a great show and experience. Funny enough, Simon & Simon went off the air in 1989 and Major Dad went on the same year. I had a whole three months off. I was also an EP on Dad, and I remember getting script pages sent to me on my honeymoon in Europe. It was a phenomenal period in my life, but I decided early on — as did my agent — that during my hiatuses, if I got offered roles, they had to be 180 degrees away from those characters. I worked very hard not to get typecast! I guess it’s paid off.

Read the full article (by Stacey Wilson) here:
Hollywood Reporter

Gerald McRaney – busier than ever

Don´t you just love to see him so much on screen recently?

Discerning TV viewers are to be forgiven if they feel like Gerald McRaney is stalking them. Like a latter-day version of the Scarlet Pimpernel, he’s been popping up all over — in the prestige cable dramas “Southland” and “Justified,” Netflix’s “House of Cards,” a sitcom stint on “Mike & Molly.” “I’m everywhere,” McRaney quips.

gerald Mcraney_booksglastable
(from: VARIETY article , photo by Sian Kennedy)

More quotes from the article:

McRaney describes himself as “sort of a gypsy at heart” who is having the time of his life flitting from playing a Warren Buffett-like billionaire to a drunken ex-cop to a seedy criminal. When asked about down time between roles, he says, “I consider anything after two weeks not to be a vacation, but unemployment.”

gerald mcraney_welcomesmile_chair