Usually when I meet an actor, I don't know what to say. They fear me. I hold my tongue and get surprised. Living in Los Angeles, when I saw a celebrity's face, I just turned around and walked in the opposite direction – I looked like an idiot.
That wasn't the case with Gary Graham.
The first time I met Graham was in the men's room. He nods and says hello. I recognized him right away. And what comes out is, “I saw George C. Scott kick your butt.” It took a moment, but he started laughing, and we were two guys in a bar. We talked to each other in the same way.
What I said was true. Last weekend I watched a Paul Schrader movie (for the billionth time). hardcore (1979), Graham's unforgettable feature debut.
After his teenage daughter disappears, the formidable George C. Scott plays a pious Midwesterner who embarks on a journey into Los Angeles' turbulent sex industry. This is Schrader's homage to John Ford. searchers (1956) — The story of a man who will stop at nothing and overcome any danger to get back the one he loves.
Gary Graham's burden was to play Todd, the invisible boogeyman (for 95 minutes). Todd is a ghost that hangs over every moment of the movie, every moment of Scott's search. This means that when Todd becomes real, when we finally meet him, Graham can't be disappointed.
he didn't.
Graham's Bullseye was pure movie star acting, all presence. Menace, charisma, sexual danger, belligerence, wariness…all are implicit. If you think I'm exaggerating, just take a look at George C. Scott's appearances and see who can hold the screen with him…otherwise make me worry for his safety.
And from there, Gary Graham's busy acting career was born, starring in two still-popular science fiction shows. alien nation and Star Trek: Enterprise.
The other thing Gary has done is put the website you're reading on a map. Graham wanted to join Breitbart News in its early days, when it was known only as Big Hollywood. He had a career. He knew the price. He still wanted to join. Hollywood's conservative blacklist stunned an American named Gary Graham, but he had no intention of daunting if coming out of the conservative closet would help end it. .
As the first editor-in-chief of what would become Breitbart News, if you were to ask me what work set the tone for Big Hollywood, it would be Gary Graham's epic manifesto and debut novel, One Pissed-Off Dude.
A lot of great people wrote a lot of great work for Big Hollywood. I wrote many pieces, but I can't remember any of them. But I remember “One Pissed-Off Dude” very well. This was our first viral piece and it's still beautiful. Gary had a unique voice, he knew who he was and what he believed in, he could write like a dream, and he let it all out.
“I'm an American,” Graham began. “This has always been my favorite label[.]”
Gary was also a man, a good man, and a hell of an actor.
Gary Graham was 73 years old.
