June 01, 2007

Happy Birthday, Jonathan Pryce!

JPryce.jpg

My favorite never-quite-got-there actor, born this day in 1947.

It's nice to see that Pryce got on the gravy train with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies (and IMDb sez he's in an upcoming George Clooney flick as well), but I much prefer his earlier work with Terry Gilliam, including both Brazil and (my favorite) The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

I sometimes wonder how badly getting mixed up with Gilliam hurt Pryce's career, as Terry G has something of a reputation as Hollywood poison. (Speaking of which, if you haven't seen his Lost in La Mancha, you really should. It's a fascinating documentary on the hardships - often self-inflicted in Gilliam's case - of film-making.) Certain Pryce was reduced to doing car commercials in the 90's (for which he was handsome enough to say in interview that he was extremely grateful for the money). But as I say, he seems to have caught a break since. I hope it keeps up.

Posted by Robert at June 1, 2007 11:38 AM | TrackBack
Comments

He was a fairly forgettable Bond villain, unfortunately. But not even Teri Hatcher could save Tomorrow Never Dies.

But I liked him as Henry Kravits in Barbarians at the Gate.

Posted by: The Colossus at June 5, 2007 08:57 AM