Timothy Carey is one of the greatest character actors of all time. He was a staple of legendary auteurs like Stanley Kubrick and John Cassavetes. He was in Ace in the Hole, The Killing, Paths of Glory, East of Eden, The Wild One, One-Eyed Jacks, and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, among many other all-time classics.
He was a favorite of Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, and John Lennon. He was almost in The Godfather and Reservoir Dogs. His off-set behavior was legendary. He befriended a young Frank Zappa, who wrote music for his excellent film, The World’s Greatest Sinner, which was one of his few directoral efforts and an absolute classic.
Timothy Carey died in 1994, but his son Romeo Carey keeps his memory alive with a loving website tribute, multiple social media accounts, and a long-in-the-works documentary about his father. Romeo is an impressive figure: a producer, director, editor, actor, and media educator. Last year, I spoke with Romeo on the phone and got some fascinating details about his father and details on his own career.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length]
So, when were you first aware of what your dad did for a living?
It’s probably early because he’d take me to the movie studios. I knew what he was doing when I was five years old. Then you’re watching him on TV. It’s clear what he was up to.
I will mention films, stars, and directors and see if you know any stories. I will start with Ace in the Hole, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Kirk Douglas.
He used the GI Bill, went to acting school, and hitchhiked from New York to Hollywood. He started as an extra because he had heard that was the fastest way to get in the door. He ended up on set with Kirk Douglas and made a rookie mistake. He kept trying to get closer to the camera to get seen, and he got fired. He got paid for the days he worked and was done.
They told him another film was shooting nearby—Across the Wide Missouri with Clark Gable. Director William Wellman handpicked him as an extra, and then the assistant director cut him. He got lucky because one of the other guys didn’t show up and was back in.
On his first day on the job, he wandered around the set and met Gable who handed him an invitation to a party that night. He went to dinner that night, and they went around the table, introducing themselves and their roles. When they got to my father, he said he was an extra. Gable’s face dropped.
And he was uncredited in that film as well…
Yeah, he’s uncredited. A lot of his early roles are uncredited… The Wild One, East of Eden. Then came one of his best-known roles, Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing.
What stories did you hear about Kubrick?
The scene where he gets shot in The Killing, Stanley made him do it 45 times. I interviewed producer James Harris for the documentary about my father. He talked a lot about Paths of Glory. My dad was invited out three months early for Paths of Glory because they thought he was fun. After about a month, he wanted to go home. He missed his friends; he would hang out in black clubs in Los Angeles. He would get treated like a celebrity because he was in movies. Many of his friends were musicians, and he liked that scene.
How did he ultimately get fired?
He removed himself from that one. He saw all the other actors getting lots of press and all their images in the papers, so he created his own publicity, faking his own kidnapping. So he disappeared. He said he had to wait anyway because he wouldn’t shoot for another week. He would take that time and make headlines, and the story made it worldwide.
He left the ransom note in the English Garden, which has a big lake. The Munich police dragged the river for days, thinking a body was going to show up at the bottom. They found him in a ditch and on the side of the road. The investigators didn’t believe his story, and the production company would be liable for the incident. So the production told him, you got to go home because if you hang out around here, we’ll get stuck with the bill. They had to let him go. He had more scenes to do, so they used a double and cut his part down.
What do you know about One Eyed Jacks?
My father was interested in Marlon Brando when he went to drama school. Then he got to work with him on The Wild One and got to know him – this was why my father was in One Eye Jacks.
So, did Brando stab him with a pen?
Brando would do things to get a reaction, especially when the cameras were rolling. He would talk to the actors independently and get them to do nefarious things to another actor to make it more real.
Wasn’t there an incident with his co-star, Karl Malden?
Karl Malden really kicks him in the scene where he’s supposed to kick him in the back. He stomps on him. He really stomps on him. So the next day, my dad’s back was all messed up. He couldn’t get out of bed. The next day, he didn’t show up to work.
Let’s talk about The World’s Greatest Sinner… Amazingly ahead of its time. It’s a cult movie scene that didn’t break out until years later.
Well, the thing about The World’s Greatest Sinner is it’s not a movie that is easily understood, like a relationship. The love story is so simple, with some subtitles, and you got it. There’s no way of really knowing what’s going on, especially since you could barely follow it in English.
Martin Scorsese is a fan of the film…
Martin Scorsese walked into a screening in New York and caught the scene where the blood was flowing. He said it inspired scenes in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, and The Last Temptation of Christ.
So he was almost in The Godfather… Did he fire blanks at Francis Ford Coppola?
I was in the room when it happened. We went to Western Costume, got decked out, and stopped at an Italian pastry shop. Inside the pink box was a 35-millimeter starter pistol, and we drove into the Paramount lot. He was going to play Luca Brasi. There, he was all completely in costume, and he just wanted to show Coppola how well he knew the part and what he could expect with it. He was really excited.
We got into Coppola’s room. He goes right into the scene, and as he goes into the scene, I’m holding the pink box. At one point, he reached into the box, grabbed the gun, and then shot. He fired five rounds at Coppola. Coppola wrestled the gun out of his hands, and then security came in. They escorted him off the lot, but Coppola was like, no, he’s doing his thing. Police came too…
Lenny Montana ultimately got his part. Tweet’s Ladies of Pasadena happened when he was supposed to do The Godfather. It was a feature, but it became a series because somebody at the network said, “Just do a series, and we’ll get it on the air.”
Is there anything in the works to have it formally released? It’s tough to find.
It doesn’t exist except in the Carey archives. I’ve been offered many different situations, and I’m working on it.
Repertory screenings have become very popular in recent years. Tell me a little bit about the documentary you’ve been making about your father.
I have many unfinished projects. I interviewed James Harris and many people about my father, and I’ve been working on the documentary on and off for many years.
How about Quentin Tarantino? He’s on record as being a big fan of your father.
I met Quentin when I was working at MGM a long time ago. Somehow, he got into the lot. He was still working at the video rental store at the time.
Video Archives…
My friend let him use our copier to make copies of his script Reservoir Dogs. He sees a photo of my dad on the wall, and Quentin says, “What are you doing with Timothy Carey on the wall?” Then he says, “Look at my script, it’s dedicated to Timothy Carey.” “I’m in his play,” my friend told him. “I play the insect trainer, and his son works here too. Quentin asked, “Can I meet him?” I was out, so he left a note on my desk saying: Here’s the script: “Reservoir Dogs. I wrote it. I was inspired by your dad because of The Killing. I wrote a part just for him and dedicated the script to him.”
I met Quentin soon after that. He asked if I could help him cast my dad in his film. I had been working in film and video for a long time, doing a bunch of music videos and commercials. I suggested that he get letters of intent from prospective actors. I wrote it on my dad’s letterhead and gave it to my dad. My dad signed it.
My dad liked Quentin instantly after reading the script. Quentin got his budget, and when I introduced him to my father, he was starstruck. He quoted lines from my dad’s films and talked trivia, and then he brought out a Killing of a Chinese Bookie poster and asked my dad to sign it. The rest of the team was in the room, but my dad ended up being replaced by Laurence Tierney. Honestly, Tierney was a better match as Chris Penn’s dad.
You worked with Laurence as a director… what was that like?
He was tough, but I was thick-skinned because of my father. Tierney was a very interesting character. He was a character because he had a rap sheet as long as my arm, but he was also a model for Sears.
A lot of the old character actors were fascinating, and that’s something that doesn’t exist anymore. People used to live real lives and do interesting things, and it came out on screen. They were very real people. Now, it’s just not like that anymore. Your dad was great in The Outfit as well. When you watch these movies, the gangsters look like gangsters.
It’s a different world.
The Outfit… Robert Ryan, Richard Jaeckel, Joe Don Baker. It’s such a great cast. Looking back at your father’s career, he’s labeled a character actor. Is that something he was comfortable with?
He liked that. He liked being a character actor but wasn’t just a character actor. The character actor thing came later. He was “the heavy”; that’s like most of his career. He was “the heavy.”
He’s definitely a character actor. I have him very high up on my list. It’s a superhuman quality to be in one scene, and that’s the scene that people think about afterward. He could steal the movie with one scene.
Do you know what Quentin said in an interview about Reservoir Dogs? He was talking about who he dedicated the script to; he said that my dad was the greatest character actor of all time. That’s the first time I ever really thought my dad was a character actor. I didn’t really know what a character actor was before that.
Romeo Carey’s work can be found here.
