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The late character actor Harry Dean Stanton was born 100 years ago today, and for more than a decade, there's been a festival in his home state of Kentucky to pay tribute to his life and career. Derek Operle with member station WKMS was in Lexington for the festival this weekend and has this report.
DEREK OPERLE, BYLINE: Harry Dean Stanton was a quintessential that guy of American cinema. He appeared in more than 200 films and TV shows over his six-decade career, working with iconic directors like Francis Ford Coppola, David Lynch and John Carpenter.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
OPERLE: More than 100 fans spread out on the lawn of the cemetery where Stanton is buried to watch the festival's opening film. In 1967's "Cool Hand Luke," Stanton plays the most musical member of a Florida chain gang.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THERE AIN'T NO GRAVE GONNA HOLD MY BODY DOWN")
HARRY DEAN STANTON: (As Tramp, singing) Ain't no grave gonna hold my body down.
KELLY BOSTON: Oh, I'd say (ph) a lot of people don't know who he is by his name.
OPERLE: That's Kelly Boston, general manager of the cemetery, who was dusting off Stanton's grave site.
BOSTON: Until you share the movies that he was in, and then they know exactly who he is (laughter).
OPERLE: Like the working-class dad in the movie "Pretty In Pink," or Brett, the ill-fated engineer in "Alien." And he starred in the movie "Paris, Texas," which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In that film, he plays an aimless drifter who talks to a woman as he looks for a father figure in a magazine.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PARIS, TEXAS")
SOCORRO VALDEZ: (As Carmelita) What are you looking for?
STANTON: (As Travis Henderson) Uh, I'm looking for the father.
VALDEZ: (As Carmelita) Your father?
STANTON: (As Travis Henderson) No, no, just a father, any father. What does a father look like?
VALDEZ: (As Carmelita) There are many different kinds of fathers, Senor Travis.
STANTON: (As Travis Henderson) Well, I just need one.
OPERLE: Stanton's storied career is what inspired Lucy Jones and the Lexington Film League to start the festival 14 years ago, to pay tribute to the late actor who grew up about an hour outside of Lexington.
LUCY JONES: Character actors are the folks that make the films, but they're the folks who are not heralded. They're not the household names. So we felt that at least in Lexington, Kentucky, we wanted to make sure that Harry Dean Stanton was a household name.
OPERLE: Indie film director Allison Anders, who met Stanton on the set of "Paris, Texas," often attends the festival. She says he was one-of-a-kind.
ALLISON ANDERS: I think there's an authenticity, and I have to say it's being born in Kentucky. You know, I just think that Kentuckians are always who they are.
OPERLE: Stanton never won an Academy Award or got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He died at the age of 91 in 2017. But Stanton did attend the festival once before his death, and his cousin Jim Huggins says he was moved by what's now become a Kentucky tradition.
JIM HUGGINS: He genuinely loved this idea. So going into his hundredth year, I know Harry's here in spirit 'cause he just - he would love this. He loved it from Day 1.
OPERLE: Organizers aim to keep Stanton's star shining bright in his home state in the years to come with Harry Dean Stanton Fest as a living monument to the late character actor. For NPR News, I'm Derek Operle in Lexington, Kentucky.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WANT THAT MAN")
DEBORAH HARRY: (Singing) I wanna dance with Harry Dean, drive through Texas in a black limousine. I want a piece of heaven before I die. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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