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TCM Website
October 2, 1999
World Premiere of A Conversation with Gregory Peck Launches Gregory Peck Week; 21 Movie Tribute Includes
To Kill a Mockingbird, Cape Fear, Roman Holiday and MacArthur
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On Monday, October 18, at 8 p.m. (ET), the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network will premiere an exclusive look at the day-to-day life of one of the screen's greatest stars, Gregory Peck, in A Conversation with Gregory Peck, a two-hour special produced by OscarÆ-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, Peck's daughter, Cecilia Peck and Linda Saffire. This unique special follows Peck as he performs his one-man show, and evening of film clips and storytelling, and follows him backstage and around the world. The intimate, behind the scenes portrayal of this screen icon looks back at his career, and tells the story of who he is now through revealing and humorous moments with friends and family. A Conversation with Gregory Peck will kick off Gregory Peck Week, a 21 movie festival of some of Peck's best films, including TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962, Oct. 18, 10 p.m.), ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953, Oct. 20, 8 p.m.), CAPE FEAR (1962, Oct. 22, 8 p.m.) and HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962, Oct. 19, 2:30 a.m.).
A Conversation with Gregory Peck attends Peck's one man shows in Boston; Buffalo; Abingdon, VA; Colorado and Texas, where he entertains and moves audiences with candid stories of working with Hitchcock, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, John Huston, William Wyler and others. The film reveals Peck in a way that he's never before been seen-through scenes with his wife, family and friends. The film gives viewers the opportunity to experience his daily life as though they are with him. At a lively dinner in a Paris restaurant, French President Jacques Chirac confesses that he is smitten with Peck's wife VÈronique. Peck travels to Ireland with Martin Scorsese, is honored by the Clintons at the White House, cozies up to pal Lauren Bacall, and when his grandson is born he is in the hospital room watching over his daughter. Moments like these reveal the humor, vivaciousness and warmth that lie beneath the private man and the dignified screen persona.
Peck arrived in Hollywood in 1944 after learning his craft on Broadway. For more than six decades, he has given a human face to integrity in performances as a crusading reporter exposing the depths of anti-Semitism in Gentleman's Agreement (1947), the driven Captain Ahab in Moby Dick (1956), and small-town lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), which brought him the OscarÆ for Best Actor. Among his other honors are a New York Film Critics Award (for Twelve O'clock High), the Motion Picture Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute and the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts and the Medal of Freedom.
Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Kopple has won two Academy AwardsÆ, one for her daring film, Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) and the other for American Dream (1990). More recently, she followed Woody Allen on a European jazz tour with his then notorious girlfriend Soon-Yi Previn, for her film Wild Man Blues (1998), which won the 1998 National Board of Review award for best non-fiction film. Cecilia Peck has produced films with Barbara Kopple for the last three years. As an actress her credits include Torn Apart and TNT's The Portrait for which she received a Golden Globe nomination Linda Saffire has produced films with Barbara Kopple since 1992. She also has a strong background in series television, non-fiction specials and feature films. Film Editor Bob Eisenhardt is renowned for his films Concert of Wills: Making of the Getty Center and Soldiers of Music: Rostropovich Return to Russia, which he also co-directed.
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