Ruth Leon recommends…. Shirley Maclaine – The National Medal of Arts
Ruth Leon recommendsShirley Maclaine – The National Medal of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award which was created by the United States Congress in 1984, the most prestigious honour given to artists by their country. There is an annual performance in the Kennedy Center in Washington DC where each of the five nominees is lauded with a separate specially conceived tribute to their careers in the arts. The audiences for these awards are almost as starry as the guests and the presidential box always contains the current president and his wife, in this case President and Mrs Obama.
In 2013 it was the turn of Shirley Maclaine to be honoured with an all-star career roundup, and a loving introduction from her friend Kathy Bates. As she watches the tribute to her work and career, the young dancers and singers performing her signature steps and songs, you can see her pride as well as her desperate desire to be down there on the stage dancing and singing with them. A medal and an honoured place in the audience is no substitute for the joy of the work itself, no matter how prestigious the rewards.
Just a correction. This is not the National Medal of the Arts but the Kennedy Center Honors. They are two completely different awards. The Medal is chosen by the president; the Kennedy Center Honors is voted by the Board of the Kennedy Center Honors. The president and many others usually attend but it is not an official governmental award. They are not connected and there is no performance that takes place for National Medal recipients.
I’m not stupid enough to deny the talent of Shirley MacLaine, but I have never, ever, enjoyed a moment of her work, though she was tolerably un-Shirley-MacLaine-ish in The Children’s Hour. When she was announced for Downton Abbey I almost stopped watching it and was relieved when her brief arc ended.
BTW, I wish Ruth Leon or SD would make up their collective minds about how to spell her name. I have used the one I believe to be correct, but I got no clue from the article and caption.
She was great in The Apartment – you really felt the pain and humiliation that her character was going through.
Her brother is Warren Beatty. Interesting how God gave this family so much beauty, so much talent, and so little brain.