Mitzi Trumbo on the father who wrote Spartacus and Roman Holiday and was a victim of Hollywood’s anti-communist witch-hunts
When Mitzi Trumbo was 15, she opened her front door to find one of Hollywood’s most famous actors standing outside. It was Kirk Douglas. A few days later, Laurence Olivier turned up. “He outstretched his hand for me to shake and the dog got in the way and he tripped over.”
Fifty-five years later, she still remembers how starstruck she felt. But besides the excitement, what Mitzi most recalls from those encounters was a feeling of frustration that she couldn’t brag about it to her high-school friends. Her father, Dalton Trumbo, was one of the most famous Hollywood screenwriters of his generation, both for his work (he wrote the Oscar-winning Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, and several novels) and for his leftwing politics.
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When Mitzi Trumbo was 15, she opened her front door to find one of Hollywood’s most famous actors standing outside. It was Kirk Douglas. A few days later, Laurence Olivier turned up. “He outstretched his hand for me to shake and the dog got in the way and he tripped over.”
Fifty-five years later, she still remembers how starstruck she felt. But besides the excitement, what Mitzi most recalls from those encounters was a feeling of frustration that she couldn’t brag about it to her high-school friends. Her father, Dalton Trumbo, was one of the most famous Hollywood screenwriters of his generation, both for his work (he wrote the Oscar-winning Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, and several novels) and for his leftwing politics.
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- 1/16/2016
- by Elizabeth Day
- The Guardian - Film News
Bryan Cranston as Dalton Trumbo with Sam Jackson
Following the Trumbo première attended by Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Diane Lane, Michael Stuhlbarg and Louis C.K., as well as Dalton Trumbo's daughters Niki Trumbo and Mitzi Trumbo, director Jay Roach mapped out for me the links between birds, Edward G. Robinson's art collection, Otto Preminger, Kirk Douglas and Spartacus; USC, Edward Dmytryk and Lee Grant; Roman Holiday, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo and A Guy Named Joe; Kitty Foyle, Ginger Rogers' mother, Hedda Hopper's hats and horse manure; Bertolt Brecht's Hollywood poem and Myrna Loy's radio show.
Trumbo director Jay Roach: "I wanted to buy Bryan Cranston that bird …" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
While Taylor Hackford, Dana Delany, Kathleen Turner, Elle MacPherson, Tony Bennett, Susan Crow, Julie Taymor, Robert Wuhl, Kate Lardner, Ruben Blades, Tim Daly, Trumbo screenwriter John McNamara, producers Michael London, Kevin Kelly Brown,...
Following the Trumbo première attended by Bryan Cranston, Helen Mirren, Diane Lane, Michael Stuhlbarg and Louis C.K., as well as Dalton Trumbo's daughters Niki Trumbo and Mitzi Trumbo, director Jay Roach mapped out for me the links between birds, Edward G. Robinson's art collection, Otto Preminger, Kirk Douglas and Spartacus; USC, Edward Dmytryk and Lee Grant; Roman Holiday, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo and A Guy Named Joe; Kitty Foyle, Ginger Rogers' mother, Hedda Hopper's hats and horse manure; Bertolt Brecht's Hollywood poem and Myrna Loy's radio show.
Trumbo director Jay Roach: "I wanted to buy Bryan Cranston that bird …" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
While Taylor Hackford, Dana Delany, Kathleen Turner, Elle MacPherson, Tony Bennett, Susan Crow, Julie Taymor, Robert Wuhl, Kate Lardner, Ruben Blades, Tim Daly, Trumbo screenwriter John McNamara, producers Michael London, Kevin Kelly Brown,...
- 11/23/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Bryan Cranston is Jay Roach's Dalton Trumbo Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Trumbo producer Kevin Kelly Brown confided that they were surprised at Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper's ferociousness and actually had to tone her down, while Helen Mirren at the after party mentioned that she wasn't surprised at all by the gossip queen's viciousness. Bryan Cranston captured Dalton Trumbo's physicality, his real-life daughters Niki Trumbo and Mitzi Trumbo confirmed to me, as they waved to Ring Lardner Jr.'s daughter Kate Lardner, author of Shut Up He Explained: The Memoir Of A Blacklisted Kid.
Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston)
Anne-Katrin Titze: Did you re-watch Roman Holiday and Spartacus?
Bryan Cranston: Yeah! You know, it's wonderful. I watched a lot of his [Trumbo's] films again - Roman Holiday, Spartacus, The Brave One. Even, like, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo and Kitty Foyle and I re-read his Johnny Got A Gun novel that he...
Trumbo producer Kevin Kelly Brown confided that they were surprised at Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper's ferociousness and actually had to tone her down, while Helen Mirren at the after party mentioned that she wasn't surprised at all by the gossip queen's viciousness. Bryan Cranston captured Dalton Trumbo's physicality, his real-life daughters Niki Trumbo and Mitzi Trumbo confirmed to me, as they waved to Ring Lardner Jr.'s daughter Kate Lardner, author of Shut Up He Explained: The Memoir Of A Blacklisted Kid.
Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston)
Anne-Katrin Titze: Did you re-watch Roman Holiday and Spartacus?
Bryan Cranston: Yeah! You know, it's wonderful. I watched a lot of his [Trumbo's] films again - Roman Holiday, Spartacus, The Brave One. Even, like, 30 Seconds Over Tokyo and Kitty Foyle and I re-read his Johnny Got A Gun novel that he...
- 11/7/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Diane Lane, Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren - New York Trumbo premiere Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Bryan Cranston (Dalton Trumbo), Helen Mirren (Hedda Hopper), Diane Lane, Michael Stuhlbarg, Louis C.K., producers Michael London, Kevin Kelly Brown, Monica Levinson, Shivani Rawat, Nimitt Mankand, Bleecker Street CEO Andrew Karpen, Trumbo director Jay Roach and writer John McNamara were joined by Niki Trumbo, Mitzi Trumbo, Taylor Hackford, Dana Delany, Chuck Scarborough, Elle MacPherson, Tony Bennett, Susan Crow, Julie Taymor, Robert Wuhl, Ruben Blades, Tim Daly, Jean Shafiroff and Kathleen Turner at the Museum of Modern Art.
Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) Cleo Trumbo (Diane Lane)
Diane Lane, great in Amy Berg's Every Secret Thing, where she worked with Dakota Fanning, is teamed with Elle Fanning in Trumbo. Michael Stuhlbarg is Edward G. Robinson. Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender, and Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic, Miles Ahead, the Centerpiece and...
Bryan Cranston (Dalton Trumbo), Helen Mirren (Hedda Hopper), Diane Lane, Michael Stuhlbarg, Louis C.K., producers Michael London, Kevin Kelly Brown, Monica Levinson, Shivani Rawat, Nimitt Mankand, Bleecker Street CEO Andrew Karpen, Trumbo director Jay Roach and writer John McNamara were joined by Niki Trumbo, Mitzi Trumbo, Taylor Hackford, Dana Delany, Chuck Scarborough, Elle MacPherson, Tony Bennett, Susan Crow, Julie Taymor, Robert Wuhl, Ruben Blades, Tim Daly, Jean Shafiroff and Kathleen Turner at the Museum of Modern Art.
Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston) Cleo Trumbo (Diane Lane)
Diane Lane, great in Amy Berg's Every Secret Thing, where she worked with Dakota Fanning, is teamed with Elle Fanning in Trumbo. Michael Stuhlbarg is Edward G. Robinson. Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs, starring Michael Fassbender, and Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic, Miles Ahead, the Centerpiece and...
- 11/6/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"Spartacus" is one of the most successful films in the history of Universal Studios. The 1960 film earned $60 million at the box office, received six Oscar nominations and is credited with breaking the Hollywood blacklist.
As legend has it, actor and producer Kirk Douglas brazenly hired screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to write "Spartacus," even though the acclaimed author was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of people who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (Huac) about Communism. Trumbo spent 11 months in jail for contempt of Congress, and was summarily blacklisted from Hollywood. It wasn't until 1960, when Douglas announced that he had been hired for "Spartacus," that the blacklisting ended. Over the years, Douglas has been credited for "breaking the blacklist"; he won an award from the Writers Guild of America for his trailblazing work and even wrote about his good deeds in a new book, I Am Spartacus!
As legend has it, actor and producer Kirk Douglas brazenly hired screenwriter Dalton Trumbo to write "Spartacus," even though the acclaimed author was one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of people who refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (Huac) about Communism. Trumbo spent 11 months in jail for contempt of Congress, and was summarily blacklisted from Hollywood. It wasn't until 1960, when Douglas announced that he had been hired for "Spartacus," that the blacklisting ended. Over the years, Douglas has been credited for "breaking the blacklist"; he won an award from the Writers Guild of America for his trailblazing work and even wrote about his good deeds in a new book, I Am Spartacus!
- 7/6/2012
- by Christopher Rosen
- Huffington Post
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