Show WhaHyUywood ght JonVoight The maverick a part of their fam- - OCtOT ily enterprise Voight recently was made an ad- viseron future film development for E WAS my hero a truly wonderful' man” Jon Voight said of his father Elmer who died in 1973 “At the age of 16 he became the head golf professional at the Sunningdale Country Club in Scars-dal- e N Y Stayed on and on They loved him They were like a family to him” Jon Voight will soon star in a movie called The Avatar I had heard that it was very special to him and that he had it I wanted to discover what it really meant to him Instead as soon as we sat down in a sunny outdoor Beverly Hills restaurant he leaned forward and started to talk about his father What he shared with his sons above all Voight recalled was how to live “Dad spoke quite beautifully actually had a great style about him He’d come home at night and give me and my two brothers a little piece of wisdom I remember there was this psychiatrist that Dad knew ‘Boys I talked to the doctor today a very wise man’ Dad said one night We immediately sat up ‘All right pay attention now’ he said ‘I’m going to discuss the subject of values’ ” Voight’s eyes took on a distant gleam as he attempted to repeat the story the way his father told it: “ ‘We were on the course watching some golfers tee off on the back nine I said “Doc it’s amazing to me that we have a group of people coming in from New York City and from various towns all over Westchester County and the only thing they have on their minds is revenue Money The stock market going up and down up and down They don’t seem to be concerned with the things that should make them happy and peaceful They never see the sky the lovely trees the grass or even the other people Instead they come out on the course ask me to check their swings and run around for a the company “We pooled our talents and wrote a spiri- tual contract on a L- - n-- w tells Lp pot that j WOy (JTlu napkin to love respect and protect each other’s psyches” said Hank Paul the chairman of the board “Of course our lawyers buttoned up the legal end” A sep- arate agreement en Voight in Los Angeles: “I’ve always had this dream couple of hours Then they get into their cars drive away to Wall Street and watch the stocks go up and down again So Doc what do you make of this?” And the doctor looked at me and said "Elmer you don’t have to do it” And that’s the advice I’m giving you my sons YOU DON’T HAVETO DO IT!”’ Jon Voight 48 has never quite done what others expected him to do “My father probably thought I’d follow in his path — become a fine professional — because I was nice with people” he said “Yet he couldn’t help golf-teachi- BY that people must help each other” but see that I was an artist A dreamer” In Hollywood Voight is known as a maverick a loner And though he has achieved critical and popular success in such films as Coming Home (for which he won an Oscar) Midnight Cowboy and Conrack he preferred to talk about the dream he has had since boyhood Something of that dream seems to be tied up with The Avatar produced by Paul Entertainment Voight is enthusiastic both about the film which he considers his most ambitious and about the Pauls themsleves who have made him called for Voight to write and star in The Avatar The film is a “magical love story” said Stuart Paul the film’s cowriter and Hank’s son who added that Voight plays "a great holy man who brings truth to human consciousness” Voight explained how the screenplay of The Avatar came out of his own deep longings to share hopes fears dreams and desires — “those basic emotions that ultimately drive us all into doing either good or bad things” “I’ve always had this dream” he said “I’d see God looking down on our tiny planet as a land needing to get better that people must help each other must realize we are all the same flesh and blood So when I became an actor it was to do good things — maybe unlock a little laughter some love a bit of wisdom — by which 1 mean the understanding of life’s dramas the ability to face tragedy then pull out of it with lessons to grow from But you know my films They aren’t holy things They contain a wide range of very human qualities: anger dismay fear unattainable longings In The Avatar I want to show how every individual can be elevated to a complete state of spiritual awakening” When did he first decide to become an actor? “In the fifth grade while painting sets for a play” he said “The comedy lead took sick They couldn’t get any- - HERB GLUCK PAGE 18 MAY 3 1987 PARADE MAGAZINE |