Notes to Younger Self – Sam Shepard & Art Garfunkel
Sam Shepard and Wim Wenders (Paris Texas)
Happy birthday Sam Shepard.
America on its way out of culture – interview –
He recalls one of the play’s most notable stagings, in New York at the turn of the century, the two leads played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C Reilly, who alternated parts every so often to keep things lively.
Shepard saw Seymour Hoffman a week before he died of a heroin overdose in February and says he had no inkling anything was awry. “He was overweight, but he was overweight a lot,” he says quietly. “And he was pretty tired. He said he was going to go back and take a nap… See, I don’t think he meant to kill himself, I think he had some bad heroin. Though I didn’t realise he was that much of a junkie.”
He pauses. “I knew Robin [Williams] pretty well and Robin knew he wanted out – he had Parkinson’s. The two guys were very similar in that they were both overwhelmed by their own thing. I know a lot of people who’ve died… who’ve taken their own lives,” he continues after a moment of quiet. “But you know Patti [Smith], who’s an old, old friend of mine, she wrote a review of the new Murakami book that appeared in the New York Times, and at the end of it she said, ‘I don’t want to kill myself, I want to see what happens.’ And what a statement. I believe her.”
Happy birthday Art Garfunkel.. he has the most impressive reading list. He reads all the important literature. I like him in Bad Timing, Carnal Knowlege, Catch 22. In this video.. he explains how singing makes him happy. we’re happy and consoled by his beautiful voice and interpretation.
Nicolas Roeg directed Art Garfunkel in Bad Timing