----- Original Message ----- From: "JIM DOHERTY" <
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com> To: <
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 15,
2006 7:48 PM Subject: RARA-AVIS: DEADWOOD in AMERICAN
HERITAGE
> Those of you who are DEADWOOD fans might be
interested
> in an interview with series creator David Milch in
the
> latest issue of AMERICAN HERITAGE.
>
> In addition to discussing the historical background
of
> the series, the article draws comparisons
between
> DEADWOOD and Hammett's RED HARVEST, as well as
another
> hard-boiled and (for its time) ground-breaking
western
> that has been mentioned here recently,
GUNSMOKE.
>
> While I'm on this subject I'll take the opportunity
to
> ask Jim Beaver a question. Since your
character,
> Whitney Ellsworth, represents a particular TYPE
of
> character but has no actual historical
counterpart
> (like Bullock, Swearingen, Hickok, and Jane),
I've
> often wondered if the choice of name is a
coincidence.
>
> But having recently discovered that you wrote the
IMDb
> bios of Jack "Jimmy Olsen" Larson and John
"Perry
> White" Hamilton, I'm compelled to ask if
your
> character's name is a deliberate tip of the hat to
a
> certain comic book writer/TV producer.
Good catch, Jim.
Yes. For a number of years I've been working in my spare time
on a biography of TV Superman George Reeves (I also served as
historical consultant for the upcoming film about his
mysterious death, HOLLYWOODLAND). The first couple of seasons
of DEADWOOD, my character's name was simply
"Ellsworth." But at the end of the second season, they needed
a first name and came up with one. As a tip of the hat, as
you say, to Whitney Ellsworth, longtime producer of the old
Superman show and editor of DC Comics, I asked if we could
change their choice of first name to "Whitney." They acceded,
and the rest is a stunning monument of Hollywood
history.
On another subject: any of you writers have any experience
with the Levine/Greenberg Literary Agency in New York?
Jim Beaver
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