Remembering Daniel Petrie, Sr.
Multi-Emmy Award-winning director Daniel Petrie, Sr. has passed away. He began his career during the Golden Age of television dramas, directing Stud’s Place, Omnibus, and the U.S. Steel Hour. In 1962, he directed the acclaimed feature film adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's landmark play "A Raisin in the Sun."
Some of his finest work took the form of television movies and miniseries, including Sybil (1976), Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and its sequel, The White House Years. He also directed The Dollmaker (1984), starring Jane Fonda. In the 1980s, he continued in feature films with Fort Apache, the Bronx (1981) and won a Genie award for writing the semi-autobiographical The Bay Boy (1984), starring Liv Ullmann and Kiefer Sutherland.
He was interviewed by the Archive of American Television on February 28, 2001. Below are some excerpts from the 4 1/2 hour interview:
On the casting process ...
You try to make a project director proof, and that means that no matter what kind of screw-ups you are responsible for, none-the-less, if you cast it really well, if you really worked on the script really well, then you can get away with murder. I tell a casting agent right off the top, I say, if you keep any actor waiting for more than 15 minutes, I want to be known. I want to be told that somebody is out there, at which point I go out and say, “are you comfortable? You have coffee? Do you want to come back? We’re running a little late, I’m sorry. Do you want to take the script away, and have a look at it?” I will do all of those things because I want an actor to come to me feeling good. I don’t want them coming in and feeling, “they’re crapping all over me, keeping me waiting out there. This does not feel dignified for me, so if you bring in an actor who feels he’s respected, and they’re gonna get a good reading, good trial, then they’ll really work for you. The casting process is very, very important to me.
On his craft ...
The main thing on your agenda is to create an atmosphere where there’s no yelling, there’s no interference with what the actor is going through at that time. Sally Field, for example, in Sybil. She had a very devastating role to take on, and she had to be 100 percent focused. So I would get the crew all together, and say, “you know, you can yell as loud as you want, if it’s about the work. If you want a 10K, yell, give me a 10K! Give me a stand!” Whatever. She won’t hear that, because that’s the work that has to be done, that’s appreciated. You would keep your voices down, but essentially she won’t hear that kind of stuff. But, if you talk about trouble you’re having with your wife or your golf game or whatever, it will be distracting. Nothing about the daily news or small chatter on the set. An atmosphere of reverence, so we can help her totally do what she has to do, which is to remain totally focused.
His advice to aspiring directors ...
John Huston was asked that question and he said, “I tell them sit down a lot.” That can be facetious, but on the other hand, what he’s talking about is keeping your energy high by resting, by keeping focused on the project at hand. Actors don’t exist in a vacuum. Actors need to have an audience, and you as a director are that audience. You’re an audience of only one, but you have to supply to those actors the kind of approval and respect that they earnestly desire and need. Being an audience of one who nurtures the actor’s ability to do his best work is your best work. It’s the relationship, for me, more than anything else, there is the storytelling by camera. Essentially it’s the relationship between you and the actor.