The man in question, pictured above, is Peter Tewkesbury, no relation to Joan, because he did not have that kind of brilliant talent. He was an average TV director, who just happened to latch onto directing many episodes of a series that has now become iconic--"Father Knows Best."
But he was not a nice man. He was a fucking son of a bitch!
The proof was revealed in Lauren Chapin's book, "Father Does Know Best," first published, I cannot believe it, 25 years ago, in 1989!!!!!!!!! Where has the time gone!
It is quite a book, the most harrowing account of a child star's life, on a par with "Call Me Anna," by Patty Duke. Too bad no one has ever written Anissa Jones' story.
Now, THAT would have been something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lauren, of course, played little Kathy Anderson, on the hit show, where the character was known as "Kitten." At home, Lauren's mother was a stage mother tramp, and her brother, Billy, a child actor himself, who scored big in the 1955 thriller, "The Night Of The Hunter," but never achieving the lasting fame of his sister, abused her, too, because he resented this.
So, often, for Lauren, the fabricated family set was a safe haven.
Until one day.
Lauren goes into exhaustive details about that day which are recorded on pages 67 through 69 in the book,, but she does not mention which episode they were shooting. If I may make an educated guess, based on having seen almost all the episodes, and then reading the book, my guess is the episode in question was "Big Sister," which was first aired on January 8, 1958.
This is where Kathy goes away to a Summer Camp, where her eldest sister, Betty (Elinor Donahue) is also a counselor. Of course, the sisters are assigned to each other, and tensions ensue. For one thing, Kathy hates the change she sees in how her sister relates to her, because, to ensure she makes a good impression on the job, Betty demonstrates that she can be extra tough on one she loves--her own sister--which drives Kathy over the edge emotionally; so much so, that, while a storm comes up, she runs away from camp, and cannot be found. The last scene has Betty finally finding her, in the pouring rain and blowing wind, clutching her affectionately, and profusely apologizing for her behavior, while Kathy sobs in her arms. I have never forgotten this moment, because it is the only time I have ever seen Elinor Donahue, here or anywhere else, play a bitch. And, second, because, while the scene involved crying, something about Lauren's in that scene was not right; meaning it was almost too real. And there may have been a reason for that, as Lauren recounted.
She starts out by saying that everyone was comfortable working with Peter Tewkesbury, who was in his 30's, married, and with children. She even confessed to having a brief crush on him. He worked well with the actors, but on the day in question, Lauren's character was required to do a crying scene,(which makes me think it was the episode above) and for whatever reason--a bad day, problems at home, or maybe just plain exhaustion--she was not able to get it right. Twekesbury was feeling the heat from studio bosses to bring in the goods on time, and this was taking much to long. So, he resorted to the oldest trick in the book--using excessive verbal abuse on Lauren, to get what he wanted!!!!!!!!! Adults, especially those in corporate America, do this to each other all the time, but to do this to a child--a professional worker, but still a child--is heinous.
According to Lauren, Peter had sent cast and crew on a break, while he fumed, over what to do. While Lauren was playing cards with some crew members, she heard Twekesbury call her in a manner he never had before--"You goddamned brat, get your goddamned tail out here, at once," he screamed. Lauren approached, and stood there, while, Peter, screaming, dressed her down, professionally and personally, in front of everyone. None of her cast members came to her defense. As soon as he saw tears forming, he turned the cameras on, filmed the scene, and instantly transformed back. "Now, that's the kind of crying we want to see," he called out generously! " You've got it, Lauren! Great!"
You know, if this had been me, darlings, I would have walked over, and smacked him across the face!!!!!!!!! He would have had no idea what he was dealing with, with me, and he had no idea about Lauren. Thanks to her tramp mother, and all the scum she slept with, Lauren had quite a vocabulary for a little girl, and, screaming at equal pitch, she fired back an invective of obscenities, at Tewkesbury, for using the cheapest trick in the book to extract a performance from her. She was so incensed, she walked off the set for three days; even her tramp mother backed her up!
Peter Tewkesbury is no longer alive, but if his children are, I am glad Lauren told the truth about their father---he was an abusive son-of-a-bitch! Anyone who messes with me in this manner---or tries to--will get the same results!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sometimes, you just have to be a bitch, darlings, and with Lauren, at that time, Bitch Knew Best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fuck you, Peter Tewkesbury!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment