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This past Saturday, I was lucky enough to attend an awards ceremony put on by CIMA (Catholics In Media Associates), a group that honors TV shows and movies that put forth good messages. This year they selected "American Dreams" as the show, and "Seabiscuit" as the movie. In addition, they presented Ricardo Montalban with a lifetime achievement award.
American Dreams was honored because it demonstrates how change needn't be done on an epic level, by people in positions of power, but through individuals, making personal decisions on how to live their own lives. It also relates the central importance of the family. Seabiscut was selected as the story of three broken men who healed each other. And Ricardo Montalban because of his tireless dedication to his faith (Catholicism) and his countless charitable activities.
Some of the memorable quotes:
The MC, when introducing American Dreams dispelled some of the possible criticism about that show's selection: "Some have said, of course you'd honor American Dreams, it's a show about Catholics. That's not true, we've never honored the Sopranos."
The writer and creator of American Dreams sumed up his inspiration for the show - "My agent told me to write about what I know. So obviously, having grown up as a Jewish kid in Beverly Hills, I wrote about a Catholic family in Philidelphia."
Gary Stevens, the jockey who played George Woolf, spoke about his involvement in the film. When the MC described his background, I had no idea that he was such an accomplished jockey:
-Through 2002, has had 4,691 wins and has won $206,293,634 in purses. He has won 28 races with purses of $1 million or more.
-Through 2003, has eight Triple Crown victories.
-In 1993, became the youngest jockey to surpass $100 million dollars in purse earnings.
-He won the Eclipse Award as the nation's top jockey in 1998 and awarded George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1996
-Was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1997 at the age of 34, the second youngest jockey to be voted in.
Apparently, the character he played, George Woolf, is considered the greatest jockey in the sports history.
Gary related his introduction to the movie: When the producers approched him about playing George in the film, he had just finished a race where he got second, and was in a rather foul mood. After a short discussion, Gary told the producers, "'I don't have enough time, and you don't have enough money.' I was wrong on both points."
Ricardo Montalban, you might know him (like I do) as Khan from Star Trek II, or Spy Kids, The Naked Gun, Fantasy Island, and countless others. The man has had a ridiculously succesful and long career. I was amazed at how natural and charismatic he was on stage, one of the best public speakers I've ever seen. One of his funniest moments came when he described the stages of an actor's career:
The Five Stages of an Actor's Career
1. Who is Actor X.
2. Get me Actor X.
3. Get me an Actor X type.
4. Get me a young Actor X.
5. Who is Actor X.
If you're really lucky, you might make a sixth stage.
6. Hey, isn't that that guy.