KU alumni hit the silver screen

If there was an award for cameo roles, KU would have a fighting chance. After all, Jack Nicholson was nominated this year for best actor for portraying a KU graduate in About Schmidt. Yes, the director did use a Nebraska school as a stand-in for the actual KU campus, but moviegoers did get to hear Nicholson recite the memorable line "Next stop: my alma mater, the University of Kansas."

So much for that star in a Hollywood sidewalk.

Neil Labute, Gretchen Moll and Paul Rudd on the set of "The Shape of Things"

But KU has at least two other opportunities this year—with KU graduate and writer/director Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things, starring fellow KU alumnus Paul Rudd, '92, and with Elijah Wood portraying a KU freshman in Try Seventeen, a debut screenplay by alumnus Charles Kephart, c'97.

LaBute, g'89, best known for his movie Nurse Betty, came to campus last month to screen his latest movie and attend an alumni reunion and scholarship benefit for the department of theatre and film and the University Theatre. He has directed a number of feature films including In the Company of Men (1997), Your Friends and Neighbors (1998) and Possession (2002). He cast Rudd, who spent a year at KU with LaBute. Rudd has appeared in Clueless (1993), Romeo and Juliet (1996) and The Cider House Rules (1999) and has a recurring role on NBC´s Friends as Phoebe's latest boyfriend.

The Shape of Things, a contemporary story of love, sex and art set in a college town, opened nationally May 9.

Try Seventeen features Lord of the Rings star Wood as Josh Dillon, a 17-year-old aspiring writer who drops out of KU after one day and goes to live in an old apartment building, where he gets involved with the eccentric residents, including singer Mandy Moore and Blondie's Deborah Harry.

The KU connection is definitely not the location—the film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia—but the screenwriter is Charles Kephart of Salina. Kephart, who studied English and creative writing at KU, penned the screenplay nearly a decade ago.

For more on Kephart, go to:
http://www.saljournal.com/stories/062102/ent_kep.html

Try Seventeen is expected to be released in September.

(We can only hope another movie due in September has no KU connections. The bad news is that "Rolling Kansas" is about four college students on a crazed journey in search of an illusive marijuana crop. The good news is it was filmed in Austin, Texas)

Other KU Connections?

The University Daily Kansan recently compiled the following list of films with strong connections to KU or Lawrence:

"Dark Command" (1940)

John Wayne stars as a federal marshal who squares off against William Cantrell, a fictitious representation of William Quantrill, who led a band of guerrillas to raid Lawrence. Wayne's date for the world premiere at the Granada and Dickinson theatres in downtown Lawrence was KU student Virginia Ford Sollenberger, d'41, who won an evening with the star in a campus contest. Kathleen O'Sullivan Kelly, ' 42, won a date with Wayne's co-star, Walter Pidgeon.

"Carnival of Souls" (1962)

Herk Harvey directs a thriller shot primarily in Lawrence. A teen-age girl survives a car accident only to be tormented by a strange phantom.

"Leo Beuerman" (1969)

Arthur H. Wolf and Russell A. Mosser received Oscar nominations for Best Documentary short subject for this 13-minute film. The filmmakers captured the life, philosophies and business of Leo Beuerman, a disabled Lawrence resident who sold pencils in downtown Lawrence for a living.

"Brian´s Song" (1971)

Billy Dee Williams stars as KU hall of fame running back Gale Sayers in this made-for-television project. Sayers, d'75, g'77, played for KU from 1961 to 1964. The movie tells the story of Sayers´ friendship with fellow Chicago Bear Brian Piccolo. James Caan plays Piccolo as the two deal with life and death in the NFL.

"The Day After" (1983)

John Lithgow and Steve Guttenberg star in this made-for-television that portrays the effects of nuclear war in everyday America. The film primarily takes place in Lawrence and features Wescoe Hall and Allen Fieldhouse.

"Running Brave" (1983)

This Canadian release tells the story of Billy Mills, d'62, a Native American track star who won the Olympic gold medal at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo for the 10,000 meter run. Mills ran for KU from 1958 to 1961. He is the only American to win the gold medal for the 10,000 meter race in Olympic history.

"Cross of Fire" (1989)

A detailed made-for-television account of the rise of Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Indiana. The cast and crew shot many sequences in Lawrence.

"Blue Chips" (1994)

Nick Nolte struggles with the ethics and morals required of a college basketball coach. Former KU basketball players Adonis Jordan, '93, and Rex Walters, d'93, have cameos as unnamed players on opposing teams.

"Eddie" (1996)

When Whoopi Goldberg wins the coaching spot for the New York Knicks, comedy ensues. Former KU basketball player Greg Ostertag, '95, puts in a riveting performance as Joe Sparks.

"He Got Game" (1998)

In the Spike Lee joint Denzel Washington and NBA all-star Ray Allen star as estranged father and son whose only means of communication is through basketball, especially because Washington´s character is in jail. Former basketball coach Roy Williams makes a cameo appearance as himself.

"Ride with the Devil" (1999)

Ang Lee directs this pre-Civil War drama based on a novel, "Woe to Live On," by KU alumnus Daniel Woodrell. The film features scenes of Quantrill´s infamous raid on Lawrence. While researching the movie, Lee visited KU's Spencer Research Library to view Quantrill materials in the library's Kansas Collection. A handful of scenes were shot near Lawrence with assistance from KU students on the crew and acting as extras. Theater professor Paul Meier taught stars Skeet Ulrich, Tobey Maguire and Jewel the Missouri dialects for the film.

Links:
KU LIBRARIES PLAYED SECRET ROLE IN NEW MOVIE

KU PROF TUTORS TINSELTOWN TONGUES

"Erin Brockovich" (2000)

Julia Roberts plays a single mother who raises her children while fighting legal battles for the little man. The real life Erin Brockovich graduated from Lawrence High School and her mother, Betty Jo ("B.J.") O'neal Pattee, c'46, recently retired from the Kansas Alumni Association.

"About Schmidt" (2002)

Jack Nicholson once again gains acclaim as he plays Warren Schmidt a sad, lonely man entering retirement. After a tragedy occurs within his family, Schmidt travels across the country to sabotage his daughter´s wedding. At one point in his marriage-wrecking trek Schmidt stops at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. Though the film makers did shoot some footage at KU, all scenes in the movie are actually the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Alums Come Home

"Alums Come Home IV" is a benefit for the endowed scholarship funds in memory of LeWan Alexander, Lewin Goff and Tom P. Rea, and to add to the Glenn Bickle Fund, which honors excellence in technical theatre.

LaBute was joined by such alumi as:

• Jay Karnes, '89, one of the stars of the UPN-TV series "The Shield"

• Bill Russell, '82, Tony Award-nominated writer and lyricist of the Broadway hit "Side Show" and "Pageant" and "Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens"

• Michael Nash, g'72, PhD'78, dean of the Boston Conservatory in Massachusetts; and

• Gigi Gibson Bolt, c'65, head of the Theatre Program for the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C.