Rarely has an actor with virtually no recognition by wider
audiences made such a lasting impression on a small circle
of movie fans as character actor Timothy Carey. His crazed
improvisation and intense manner graced small but memorable
roles in movies and television of the 1950s and 60s.
Timothy William Carey was born in Brooklyn in 1929. The 22
year
old Carey made his film debut in 1951 (as a corpse in
"Across the Wide Missouri"!), but it was as a member of Lee
Marvin's motorcycle gang in the 1953 film "The Wild One"
that pointed the off-kilter direction his film roles would
take. For Andre DeToth's 1954 film noir "Crime Wave", he
mugged and grimaced in the background of several scenes -
one would assume not at the request of the director. He
menaced James Dean in "East of Eden" and performed an
improvisational dance in the grind house hit, "Bayou" that
was re-titled "Poor
White Trash" and played second run theaters for a decade
Perhaps most memorable, and hard to fathom, was his
scene-stealing work in two Stanley Kubrick's classics, "The
Killing" and "Paths of Glory". A director known for his
tight control, Kubrick seemed willing to let Carey do as he
pleased, improvising eye rolling and facial tics that hardly
seemed relevant, but were all the better for it.
Carey lobbied hard for parts and filmmakers were impressed
with his peculiar genius, but it's easy to imagine his
presence unnerving co-stars. His energy often left other
cast members looking a bit flat He appeared in "One Eyed
Jacks", "Beach Blanket Bingo" and several films for John Cassavetes. Francis Ford Coppola tried unsuccessfully to
cast Carey in the first two "Godfather" films and "The
Conversation". Quentin Tarrantino tested him for the role of
the
crime boss in "Reservoir Dogs", but felt he wasn't right
for the part.
Rarely screened is Carey's brainchild, "The World's Greatest
Sinner", a cult classic for die-hard fans of scenery
chewing. He wrote, directed and starred as a bored insurance
man who changes his name to "God" , becomes a rock and roll
star and eventually runs for president. Rumor has it that
Elvis Presley personally asked for a copy of the film and
was denied. Carey was working on a stage play entitled "The Insect
Trainer" (subtitled "an intimate collaboration with
Salvatore Dali") when he died at the age of 64. The old
saying "We won't see his likes again" was never more true.