Holbrook honored by Miss. lawmakers
By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer


Hal Holbrook was honored by the Mississippi Legislature Monday, and the actor who has spent a lifetime impersonating Mark Twain recalled his own travels through the South.

Holbrook, 82, told lawmakers that he began his journeys from New York in the late 1940s and continued through the most turbulent years of the civil rights struggle.

"I was doing material that I could never do as Hal Holbrook. I was doing material which directly spoke to what was going on and the troubles that people were having," Holbrook said. "Speaking as Mark Twain, I was able to get away with it."

Mark Twain was the pen name for writer Samuel Clemens, who explored class and race with such enduring characters as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Holbrook carved a niche for himself by taking on Twain's persona in what the Mississippi Legislature's resolution calls the "most enduring one-man show in theatrical history."

Holbrook, a four-time Emmy winner who has appeared on television shows from "Designing Women" to "The Sopranos," was in Jackson for a performance when he was asked to visit the state Capitol.

"Trying to understand why you Southern folks would invite this northern boy down here to speak in this chamber, I think maybe it was because I married Dixie Carter" of Tennessee, he said.


Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_en_tv/people_hal_holbrook

Never seen his Mark Twain, I'd like to though. Apparently he's still doing it so I still potentially have a chance. However, I enjoyed him in such films as Shade, Wall Street, The Firm, The Fog, Creepshow, and Capricorn ONe.

I think Suicide Kings is probably my favorite caper movie, but Shade is definitely up there. I will never understand how that movie only got a limited release, the cast is phenomenal: Sly Stallone, Melanie Griffith, Gabriel Byrne, Thandie Newton, Stuart Townsend, Jamie Foxx, and Hal Holbrook. There's so many award nominations and wins between those people that I don't care to count them. And then you've got Mark Boone Junior and Michael Dorn as bit players, which is pretty cool too.

It was topical humor. You would loved that joke if it was on Family Guy.

Fright Night was one continous movie, wasn't it? The one where the guy from the late night TV show helps the kids kill the vampire?

Personally, I'm a big fan of Tales From The Darkside: The Movie. The story where Grandpa from Pete & Pete hires Buster Poindexter to kill his cat is amazing.

That was Creepshow. Creepshow had several segments:

"Something To Tide You Over" where evil Leslie Nielsen drowns Ted Danson and his gf

"Father's Day" - A guy comes back from the dead... for cake.

"The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" - The thing with Stephen King where he find the meteor.

"The Crate" - The segment featuring Hal Holbrook. Guy finds a random crate with a yeti in it, uses it to kill his abusive, drunken wife.

"They're Creeping Up On You" - An evil millionaire who hates bugs gets killed... by bugs.