Why did he have one handy?

I was working very hard once, doing a television drama called Sergeant Ryker, and one night after the shooting was completed, I was drinking in a San Fernando Valley bar with an assistant director. We were laughing and telling each other stories -- but this stranger kept barging in. He was just asking for it. In the past, guys I had never seen before would walk up to me in a bar and tell me that their wives really hated my guts. I'd just sneer. It was expected of me. But it would always end up in a very amicable conversation and I'd say, "Well, maybe your wife is right." So he'd say, "Nobody's that bad. I mean, you ought to know my wife." Before long, we would be buying each other a couple of drinks and laughing... But this guy in the Valley just kept baiting me. My thoughts were a million miles from him. He was fulfilling some need and, goddamn it, for some dumb, stupid reason, I helped him along. I just had to shut him up, so I hit him over the head with a banjo...
- Lee Marvin.

Comments

  1. Lloyd Mintern14/1/09 12:00 PM

    What a jerk! This is what happens when you take to learning from the characters you play.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous14/1/09 12:21 PM

    Ryker plays a banjo in episode 4, series 6 of Sergeant Ryker: "Ryker Goes South of the Border." No doubt this is why Marvin was carrying the instrument, since he was well known for remaining in character at all times while shooting this important TV show.

    ReplyDelete
  3. C. Van Carter14/1/09 1:28 PM

    I think I'm going to start carrying a banjo into bars. Not only can you hit people with it, you can threaten to play it.

    Thanks for the clarification, Fez. Lloyd, I respectfully disagree. The guy was from the Valley. Hitting guys from the valley is always justifiable.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lloyd Mintern14/1/09 3:12 PM

    Thanks for the clarification, Carter. I am from the East Coast. Nobody around here ever has a problem with anyone else, it is just pure politeness and music.

    ReplyDelete

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