By James Carrington
Carrington is an actor and writer now based in Rome, Italy. A native of New Jersey, he is a 1971 graduate of the University of Virginia, where he was a wide receiver and kicker on the football team.
Dear supporters of the old Mill Mountain Playhouse and citizens of Roanoke: As a young man in 1970 and 1971 I had the privilege of working as an actor at the Mill Mountain Playhouse summer theater under the direction of a wonderful man named Jim Ayers.
I played leading roles in “Summer and Smoke” by Tennessee Williams, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller and “Harvey,” among other parts. It was only with the financial assistance of a young Roanoke couple that I was then able to attend the Tisch graduate acting school at New York University and begin a career as an actor.
In the seventies and eighties I acted in dozens of movies and TV shows from “Charlie’s Angels” to “Dynasty,” “Knot’s Landing,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Real Genius,” etc. In 1985 while working as acting coach for Marlee Matlin (who won the Oscar) I rewrote “Children of a Lesser God” (which was nominated for the Oscar for best adaptation). And thus I became a writer.
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I worked for some years in Europe and in 1995 won the Emmy Award for a TV-movie based on the Biblical story of “Joseph”, a young Jew who was sold into slavery by his envious brothers, and who then went on to become the right hand man of the Pharaoh, a role played by Ben Kingsley.
I also wrote the screenplay for “Coco Chanel” starring Shirley MacLaine and Malcolm McDowell and over thirty films and television movies, winning other awards including the Italian “Oscar” for best film.
So what’s the point? you ask. Why am I telling you all this? Because I feel I owe my career and success in life in a big way to my two patrons from the Mill Mountain Playhouse who believed in me from the very beginning and whom I have never properly thanked. Why? I can’t remember their names! Shame on me! I know. But how I have longed to thank them over the years.
Citizens of Roanoke! Please can you help me find these two lovely people. They were big supporters of the playhouse and perhaps on the board of directors. Maybe over a cocktail someone once mentioned giving a hand to an actor who disappeared without a “thank you.” Please help me make amends. They deserved it. Contact me at carringtonjim@gmail.com.