"The speech of the American middle class is largely the attempt to impress, obfuscate, or placate. That of the streets is..."

"... in my experience, to express. For example: Middle class: 'What a nice dress.' Street: 'Hey, baby, any more at home like you?'... Iambic pentameter, five feet to the line. I was filming Heist with Gene Hackman; my wife, Rebecca Pidgeon; and Danny DeVito. Danny’s line to Gene, his rival, is, 'Are you fucking with me, are you fucking with me, or are you done fucking with me?'... I was concerned that [Danny] would (incorrectly) accentuate the word done at the end of the phrase, which would have branded him, sadly, with a merely academic understanding of actual American idiom. But I need not have worried, as he accentuated the final fucking and all was well. Per contra, Becca was raised in Edinburgh, and educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In the early days of our association she flatteringly strove to adopt my Chicagoan vocabulary. Our great friend, Shel Silverstein, corrected her: 'Becca, when you say motherfucker, it’s like someone is trying to fuck your mother.'"

Writes David Mamet in "Back When We Gave a Fuck" (Free Press).

I love the sudden appearance of Shel Silverstein and the use of the phrase "per contra." And I considered taking out the clarifying "[Danny]" and putting back the "he" — wasn't it obvious that Mamet meant Danny and not Gene" — because I wanted to preserve the number of syllables. I didn't want to intrude on  Mamet's rhythm. I even asked Grok to analyze the text and tell me to what extent it approached iambic pentameter. Was "per contra" chosen for the meter or because boring people begin sentences with "By contrast"/"Conversely"/"On the other hand"?  Is Shel Silverstein "Our great friend, Shel Silverstein" for the meter or because Mamet is the sort of person who wants you to know he was especially close to that celebrity he's name-dropping. 

"The actor Gene Hackman died from heart disease at his home in New Mexico, most likely a week after his wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from the effects of hantavirus..."

"... a disease linked to rodents that can cause respiratory failure in rare cases, the authorities said on Friday. The revelation that the famous and reclusive couple had died of natural causes put to rest much of the speculation that followed the discovery of their bodies on Feb. 26. But it also raised new questions about the state of mind of Mr. Hackman, who investigators said had severe Alzheimer’s disease, and why the couple was not discovered sooner...."

The NYT reports.

Terribly sad to think of him, suffering from dementia and alone in the house with his wife's dead body. Had she been shouldering the entire responsibility to care for him, with no one backing her up, so that she could die and he would be helpless and no one would notice for a week?

"Is that about everything? Anyone else want to be arrested or killed before we wrap this fucker? Let's do the shot!"

The shot that is life is wrapped. It is about everything.

"Gene Hackman, actor who dazzled in spectrum of Everyman roles, dies at 95/He twice won Oscars for bringing humanizing depth to corrupt lawmen, from the raging cop in 'The French Connection' to the ruthless sheriff in 'Unforgiven'" (WaPo)(free-access link).

"The city’s sheriff’s department said there was no immediate indication of foul play in the deaths of Mr. Hackman and Betsy Arakawa. The exact cause of death had not been determined," and I think we can respectfully turn away. You don't need more information. But I see in other newspapers that their dog was also dead. You didn't need that to understand the cause of death.

Let's talk about the Gene Hackman movies you love. That clip is from one that I love, "Postcards From the Edge."

UPDATE: I wanted to close the door on the death scene, but now I am seeing: "Gene Hackman and wife’s death investigated as ‘suspicious’ after door was open, pills were found" (NY Post). I'm seeing that the wife was in one room with the dog and with "an open pill bottle and pills scattered around." Hackman was in another room.

UPDATE 2: Additional facts reported by the NYT: Arakawa's body was on the floor of a bathroom, and the dead dog was in a nearby closet. There were 2 other dogs that did not die. There was no gas or carbon monoxide leak. The bodies were discovered "after a maintenance worker made an emergency call." Hackman's body was in the mud room, and in the same stage of decomposition as Arakawa's. Both Hackman and Arakawa looked as though they had fallen. There was no sign of "trauma" (which I take to mean no sign that an intruder had fought with either of them).

Cloris Leachman had epic sex with Gene Hackman and would have had sex with Ed Asner if he'd lost 3 more pounds.

The secrets, revealed at long last.

And by the way:


via videosift.com

"One of the great plug-ugly he-man overacting contests ever committed to celluloid."

That's A.O. Scott's description of Ernest Borgnine and Gene Hackman in "The Poseidon Adventure." They've done a remake of it, you may have noticed. Apparently, it sucks.