Post A Pup Sundays; Gregory Peck

Eldred Gregory Peck was born on April 5th, 1916, in La Jolla, California, and died in Los Angeles on June 12th, 2003. He was one of his generation's most dignified, prolific, and acclaimed actors. Undoubtedly, he was a movie star, but more importantly, he was an actor who approached his work as he did his life with integrity and a deep sense of morality. His protagonists often mirrored his sentiments during a time when there was injustice, inequality, and civil unrest. Gregory would spend his life fighting for those exact causes, often risking his career to stand for what was right. 

Gregory's childhood was somewhat erratic due to his parent's divorce and the subsequent death of his grandmother, who had been his guardian. He was a college athlete, running track at San Diego Teacher's College. It was here that he discovered theatre and public speaking. After a year, he transferred to the University of California Berkeley as an English/pre-med major but never finished, having been one class short. But he wasn't concerned because his ambition centered around becoming an actor. Even though he didn't graduate, he considered his years at Berkeley some of the best years of his life.

 

Like many who had dreams of a career in theatre, he moved to New York City and enrolled at the highly respected Neighborhood Playhouse. He was a student of the legendary Sanford Meisner, whose techniques are still studied by actors today. The Neighborhood Playhouse has an impressive alum list, including Grace Kelly, James Caan, Carol Channing, Steve McQueen, Sidney Pollack, Eli Wallach, Jessica Walter, Lee Grant, and Joanne Woodward. During this period, he was like many struggling actors, poor and broke. This forced him to sleep in Central Park sometimes, and he did some modeling to make ends meet. 

One of Gregory Peck's most memorable traits is the timbre of his deep voice, which made him a perfect orator and public speaker for the numerous voiceovers he did during his career. This, along with his dashing good looks and impressive stature, standing 6 feet 3 inches tall; the depth of his performances, and the intelligent way he approached his protagonists, brought him positive attention, and it was only a short time before someone noticed him. I will confess here that he is one of my all-time favorite actors of yesteryear and today, and I have seen almost every film he has ever made. His performances are unmarred by some of the overacting and melodramatic histrionics some actors from that era could not escape. Theatre acting is very different from acting in films, and the ability and understanding of what it takes to do both equally well is not all that common.  

Peck starred in many successful films that earned him stellar reviews and critical acclaim. Even if the film was not a box office success, his acting was never in question. He also accomplished something rare during the studio system era; he was a freelancer for four studios under contract with the great David O' Selznick. This approach enabled him to take roles that interested him instead of being beholden to the politics of just one studio system. 

He was always the highlight of the films he starred in, turning in thoughtful and powerful performances onstage and in films such as The Yearling, Gentleman's Agreement, and The Keys to the Kingdom and nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor four times before winning as a courageous and profound lawyer and father Atticus Finch for the film adapted from Harper Lee's book To Kill A Mockingbird. Like many roles, he accepted it dealt with issues plaguing society during that time that we are still dealing with today.

In 1947 he signed a letter deploring a House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of alleged communists in the film industry. This act took bravery because it could have ended his career—a lifelong Democrat, Gregory had been encouraged to run against Ronald Reagan for the governorship of California, but he declined. He and Reagan would be adversaries for decades, and Peck protested against one of his supreme court nominees, Richard Bork, who was defeated. 

Gregory received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1967, and LBJ awarded him with the highest civilian honor-Presidential Medal of Freedom; alternatively, Richard Nixon considered him an enemy for his anti-Vietnam War stance and other views that he thought were un-American. Like Atticus Finch, Peck deplored racism and bigotry of any kind. He advocated for gun control and a woman's right to safe abortions and supported a global ban on nuclear weapons. Unlike some actors who are performative in their liberal ideals, this was not the case with Mr. Peck. His views were a part of who he was and had much to do with the characters he chose to play. 

In his private life, after a failed marriage and an affair with Ingrid Bergman, he married Veronique Passani, a French reporter who had interviewed him before he left to play a rare comedic role as the hero in Roman Holiday. The two were deeply in love, inseparable, and the parents of two children, a son who had been married to Cheryl Tiegs and a daughter who is a documentarian. From his first marriage, he had three sons; one tragically committed suicide in the 70s and a grandson who plays Spock in the Star Trek television series.

Beyond acting, Gregory was also known for his love for animals, specifically dogs. So doting was he that he left the set of one of his films to aid his dog Slip after she gave birth to 13 puppies so that he could help her and bottle feed the babies. Over his lifetime, Peck had many breeds, including a three-legged Golden Retriever, a poodle, several German Shepherds, and some mixed breed "mutts" along the way. This devotion to canines was a trait he shared with his lifelong friend Ava Gardener. 

In 2003 he passed peacefully in his home in Los Angeles in his sleep from pneumonia with his great love, best friend, and his beloved wife, as always, by his side. 

There were so many photos of him with dogs that it was hard to choose just a few, so I included several that spoke to how caring of a human being he was.