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American Morning
Interview with Producer John Dayton
Aired June 30, 2003 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: One of the last people to work with Katharine Hepburn was producer John Dayton. Together they worked on the film "One Christmas." It released in 1995.
It was Hepburn's last film, and Dayton says they had an extraordinary friendship. And he is our guest now from Fort Worth, Texas.
Thanks so much for being here. We appreciate your time this morning, and we are sorry for your loss. We want to make sure we mention that.
Tell us a little bit about Katharine Hepburn.
JOHN DAYTON, KATHARINE HEPBURN'S FRIEND: Oh, gosh. What to say about Kate. She was an extraordinary woman with an incredible zest for life. She was a very strong woman, and for some reason we bonded instantly. I'm still trying to figure that one out. But Kate -- I'm kind of at a loss for words. The only ones that anyone would understand would be someone who was close to her, and I don't know that there were that many people that really got that close to Kate that are still -- let me say, that are still with us.
I know that you have a guest coming up, James Prudhoe (ph), who Jim introduced me to Kate. And he was fascinated by the bond that we had.
But let me just say Kate was a really strong woman. She was the best actress that ever walked the face of the earth. And she is going to be a hard act to follow. I don't know.
She was an extraordinary woman and a by-product of two extraordinary parents, her mother and her dad. And her mom was a feminist and fought to get women the vote, and she got it. And her dad was a doctor and an extraordinary gentleman, and I think Kate was a by-product of the two of them. I don't think they were really excited that she decided to become an actress, but I know her dad wasn't. Her mom was a little bit more understanding. But...
COLLINS: John, let me ask you, obviously this is a great loss to Hollywood and to other actors and actresses who choose to follow in Katharine Hepburn's steps. What was the kind of advice that she would give and maybe even give today to someone who is just starting out in this business? What would be the most important thing that she would likely say?
DAYTON: Know the lines and don't bump into the furniture. COLLINS: Hey, easy enough, right?
DAYTON: She had a thing about knowing lines. She could look at a script and she would know -- she would know every -- she'd look at the script and she'd memorize everyone's lines, including her own. And that was very important to Kate. And she told me at one time that was partly Spencer's influence on her, because Spencer felt just that. Know your lines and don't run into the furniture, and you'll be fine.
And I think Kate minimalized her acting by putting it in those terms, but truly that was, for Kate, she would say to a young actress or a young actor, she would say, know your lines, don't bump into the furniture. Oh, and she'd say be on time. That was an extraordinary lesson -- life lesson for me with Kate was always be on time.
In fact, last week, I was -- I'm working here in Fort Worth with a production company, and I was telling one of the PAs, who was late, I said never, ever be late. In life, you need to keep your commitments by being on time, and that was a big thing with Kate.
COLLINS: Just one of the things that I'm sure will be with you for the rest of your life, among many others, working with Katharine Hepburn. John Dayton, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
DAYTON: You're welcome. Thank you.
COLLINS: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 30, 2003 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: One of the last people to work with Katharine Hepburn was producer John Dayton. Together they worked on the film "One Christmas." It released in 1995.
It was Hepburn's last film, and Dayton says they had an extraordinary friendship. And he is our guest now from Fort Worth, Texas.
Thanks so much for being here. We appreciate your time this morning, and we are sorry for your loss. We want to make sure we mention that.
Tell us a little bit about Katharine Hepburn.
JOHN DAYTON, KATHARINE HEPBURN'S FRIEND: Oh, gosh. What to say about Kate. She was an extraordinary woman with an incredible zest for life. She was a very strong woman, and for some reason we bonded instantly. I'm still trying to figure that one out. But Kate -- I'm kind of at a loss for words. The only ones that anyone would understand would be someone who was close to her, and I don't know that there were that many people that really got that close to Kate that are still -- let me say, that are still with us.
I know that you have a guest coming up, James Prudhoe (ph), who Jim introduced me to Kate. And he was fascinated by the bond that we had.
But let me just say Kate was a really strong woman. She was the best actress that ever walked the face of the earth. And she is going to be a hard act to follow. I don't know.
She was an extraordinary woman and a by-product of two extraordinary parents, her mother and her dad. And her mom was a feminist and fought to get women the vote, and she got it. And her dad was a doctor and an extraordinary gentleman, and I think Kate was a by-product of the two of them. I don't think they were really excited that she decided to become an actress, but I know her dad wasn't. Her mom was a little bit more understanding. But...
COLLINS: John, let me ask you, obviously this is a great loss to Hollywood and to other actors and actresses who choose to follow in Katharine Hepburn's steps. What was the kind of advice that she would give and maybe even give today to someone who is just starting out in this business? What would be the most important thing that she would likely say?
DAYTON: Know the lines and don't bump into the furniture. COLLINS: Hey, easy enough, right?
DAYTON: She had a thing about knowing lines. She could look at a script and she would know -- she would know every -- she'd look at the script and she'd memorize everyone's lines, including her own. And that was very important to Kate. And she told me at one time that was partly Spencer's influence on her, because Spencer felt just that. Know your lines and don't run into the furniture, and you'll be fine.
And I think Kate minimalized her acting by putting it in those terms, but truly that was, for Kate, she would say to a young actress or a young actor, she would say, know your lines, don't bump into the furniture. Oh, and she'd say be on time. That was an extraordinary lesson -- life lesson for me with Kate was always be on time.
In fact, last week, I was -- I'm working here in Fort Worth with a production company, and I was telling one of the PAs, who was late, I said never, ever be late. In life, you need to keep your commitments by being on time, and that was a big thing with Kate.
COLLINS: Just one of the things that I'm sure will be with you for the rest of your life, among many others, working with Katharine Hepburn. John Dayton, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
DAYTON: You're welcome. Thank you.
COLLINS: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
