Dennis
Weaver : A Renaissance Man
A
review of All the World's a Stage by
Dennis Weaver, 314 pages (October 2001)
Hampton Roads Pub Co; ISBN: 1571742875 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.18 x 8.78
x 5.92
I
admire Dennis Weaver. He has a long consistent acting career in diverse
roles, a marriage now celebrating its second half century and deep
convictions on what is meaningful in life. His life story is full.
Besides his lead in the television series McCloud and the role of
Chester on television's longest running prime time series, Gunsmoke,
Dennis Weaver won an Emmy for his portrayal of Chester on Gunsmoke;
is an inductee of the Cowboy Hall of Fame; co-founded LIFE (Love
is Feeding Everyone); serves as host of cable TV's Western Channel;
and served for fourteen years as the spokesman for Great Western
Bank replacing John Wayne after Wayne's death. Dennis Weaver starred
in Steven Spielberg's first movie, "Duel"; teamed with
Orson Welles in the movie "A Touch of Evil"; acted with
James Cagney in "The Gallant Hours"; co-hosted Farm Aid
IV with Willie Nelson. He is a singer/songwriter and has recorded
his works with the likes of John Denver. Like Ronald Reagan, Dennis
Weaver served as President of the Screen Actor's Guild. Weaver was
a naval aviator in the Naval Air Corps in WWII; was offered a football
scholarship at the University of Oklahoma; and finished #6 in the
decathlon tryouts for the United States Olympic team. He built a
house out of old tires,dirt filled pop cans and adobe and dubbed
it "Earthship". Behind the scenes, he introduced the parents
of Ron and Clint Howard. Ron Howard, of course, played Opie on the
Andy Griffith Show and later made great films like "Apollo 13".
Clint Howard costarred with Weaver in the television series "Gentle
Ben." Dennis Weaver introduced Linda Evans ("Dallas")
to her first TV acting job on McCloud; coached his son's little league
team; was financially helped by Shelley Winters in lean times; and,
before fame, made money delivering flowers to people like Lucille
Ball, Jack Webb and John Ford. Director extraordinaire John Ford's
son-in-law, Ken Curtis, later replaced Dennis Weaver's character
of Chester on Gunsmoke as the hay seed Festus.
The
first eight chapters of "All the World's a Stage" are Weaver's
autobiography. The account of his life in the Great Depression reads
wonderfully like John Grisham's "The Painted House". The
times were tough, but there was love, family, adventure and good
friends. Some of Weaver's pros are poetic: "A shared crisis
is fertile soil in which kindness can grow"; "The purpose
of life is to Love and be Loved". Some read like proverbs: "to
achieve a goal, three things are necessary, focus, focus and focus"; "Everyone
should be passionate about something"; "that which you
would have for yourself, give to others"; "Be happy with
yourself;" and one his favorite sayings, "The difficult
we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer."
Dennis
Weaver soared to popularity as stiff legged Chester Goode in television's
Gunsmoke. Chester was Matt Dillon's hired help - not a deputy as
reported in most commentaries on the series. The cast and theme of
the early Gunsmokes were magic. Doc, Kitty, Matt, Chester and the
magic writing of John Meston zoomed the early black-and-white half
hour Gunsmokes into the number one spot for four straight years.
Purists (like me) say these are among the best westerns ever aired.
Dennis Weaver soon tired of the role of Chester. He felt the possibilities
of Chester's character were exhausted and left Gunsmoke after the
first nine seasons. He wanted to be a leading man. He achieved this
in numerous roles including the television series, McCloud.
The
last ten chapters of "All the World's a Stage" proselytize
Dennis Weaver's pantheistic worldview. He is a vegetarian concerned
about the planet earth. His call to activism came during meditation. "One
evening, while I was practicing the stillness, the Divine Presence
of God came in a very sweet and loving way; and I was moved to mentally
speak to that Holy Consciousness, which I often refer to as the `Divine
Mother'." He envisions his god as a female. In the book's preface,
he writes, "I sincerely and humbly thank God for we are all
together in Her". He is the member of Self-Realization Fellowship
described as "half-Yoga [Hindu] and half-Christian". (There
are Christians - like me - who believe being half-Christian, like
being half-pregnant, is not possible.) Weaver is not passive about
his faith. He has placed his passions into action. Besides LIFE,
he champions the discipline of "Ecolonomics", a term he
created to describe joint concern of ecology and economics.
Compared
to the autobiographies of James Arness and Burt Reynolds, both Gunsmoke
regulars, Weaver's autobiography overflows with passion, concern
for truth, introspection, and search for spiritual identity. Little
emphasis or concern is placed on the importance or the fame of self.
The title of Weaver's autobiography, unlike those of James Arness
and Burt Reynolds, does not include his name. "All the World's
a Stage" emphasizes both who he is - an actor - and where his
passion lies - in the spirituality of planet Earth. Dennis Weaver
holds these precepts higher than self. Some may not agree on the
conclusions of his quest for truth, but all must admire the sincerity
and outstanding character that constitutes a remarkable man.
