Patricia Neal Died, 8-10-2010

 I had a youthful attraction to Patricia Neal – see The Fountainhead and Bright Leaf and Hud for why. As I grew older, I appreciated her for being one hell of an actress. Does not Cookie's Fortune pale a bit after her departure(even with Liv Tyler on hand)?

Today's batch of young blondes seem all interchangeable. none have the quirkiness of a Paltrow, so they do not stick out in my mind. The best actresses in my lifetime are all older: Streep, Sarandon, Pfeiffer, Lange. Of those younger, I remain fixated by Winona Ryder – a talent and a beauty who seems walking a desert in search of good roles. Maybe it is facing over a decade with nothing but men that has me thinking of movies without women like Patricia Neal as unleavened bread. Yes, it is edible, but not what I prefer for a corned beef sandwich.

Finally, The New York Times obituary concluded with a quote from Ms. Neal:

"I can't see from one eye," she said in 1988. "I've been paralyzed. I've fallen down and broken a hip. Stubbornness gets you through the bad times. You don't give in."

But what does one do when one has no future to hold out for? Or what is a stubbornness that either creates or increases one's bad times?

sch

[I will add here, after all this time, that one keeps on keeping on till you reach the place where one can do some good work. sch 3/12/23.]