F Murray Abraham welcome home!

We're delighted you're in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Lincoln portrait, Manfred Honeck, and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

I'm Jim Cunningham.

We're talking on the Voice of the Arts.

And it's a joy to have you back.

Having won the Oscar and a whole shelf full of awards for your many theatrical accomplishments, the films that you've done.

Stop it!

You told me you've got a new one on the way.

We have to talk about that.

Thats enough.

Isn't it funny to talk about an Oscar?

Because it's it's over 40 years ago.

It's extraordinary that- I'll bet you can't tell me what won the Oscar two years ago.

I cannot.

Three, four?

Its not a brag thing.

It's like a phenomenon.

Does anyone remember the the film that won the Academy Award five years ago?

But they remember Amadeus.

I don't know why we can't make more like that, because we've got an example of it.

My point is, it was a great stroke of luck for me to do that movie because it's perennial.

Anyway.

You made it a great role.

I think there was no bad performances in that movie.

Am I right?

I think you're right.

You were very generous to Tom Hulce when you accepted.

You said he should be standing here next to me.

Yeah, we had a good combination.

Good connection.

Good connection.

Yeah.

Well, I want to get back to that topic in just a little bit.

But you mentioned your Pittsburgh roots.

Where- where was it?

The Hill district.

The Hill district.

Yeah.

The Hill district.

Yeah.

And I hear there's a really good still a good jazz place there.

I like jazz, but I left when I was too young to remember.

I was about 3 or 4 years old, me and my brother and we went to El Paso, Texas.

But my mother, Italian, was one of 14 children.

So I've got cousins all over here.

Homestead, Ford City, Punxsy still, and a bunch of good memories because I used to come back all the time, you know?

But the the thing about Pittsburgh But the the thing about Pittsburgh that people don't know too much is that it's so comfortable.

People are so nice.

You know, you come from New York, and - I like New York.

Okay.

I've been there for a long time, and I'm of a theater, so I need New York.

Sometimes it's really hard.

It's just, you know, you step out the door and you got to put on your armor, you know?

But it's so much more livable here in Pittsburgh.

And I don't mean that in an offhand way.

It's like a generosity of spirit which the country seems to be losing.

And I'm so glad to come back.

And I'm so glad to come back.

I'm sure glad to hear that.

But I want every shred of memory that you have.

What do you remember?

The name of the street?

Is the house still there?

It was Cliff Street.

I think it was Cliff Street.

You haven't been back to see the house?

No, I did go back once and it's gone.

But the thing about the the other thing about - the stadium, it's one of the great baseball stadiums in the country.

Yes, absolutely.

One of the most beautiful.

Im a Yankees fans.

Sorry!

But you know - Steelers!

You know, I happen to live in the village.

There's a place I hang out about about a block away from my house.

And it happens to be a Steelers bar.

They are the the most like dangerous fans.

Every time there's the Steelers game, there's a line of people outside the bar trying trying to get in - very loyal.

They are devoted, no question about it.

When you left us, you went to Texas in El Paso.

Was it because of breathing?

You had a bit of asthma.

Yeah had a problem with asthma.

My brother too.

So we went the whole family, you know, left and we had a good connection with Mexico.

Was it the bad air here at the time that may have contributed to the asthmatic?

Exactly.

You're getting around to something that's important.

I mean, the idea that Pittsburgh cleaned up its air.

So much so that, like, the, the buildings remain, So much so that, like, the, the buildings remain, like, pristine, that the dark smoke is gone.

like, pristine, that the dark smoke is gone.

My uncles were coal miners, Steelworkers.

They suffered from that as everyone did.

Pittsburgh is a real I think it should be an example for the rest of the country.

I don't understand why it's not.

We're working on it for sure.

Get the word out.

That's a part of the plan.

I think.

We'll see.

Your dad came from Syria?

Yeah.

And he was a very highly trained automotive mechanic.

Self-trained.

Here, in Pittsburg And your mom was a coal miner's daughter?

That's right.

From western Pennsylvania.

And in those days, you could be like an apprentice mechanic.

And still your wife could still stay at home and raise the kids.

It was possible to live in those days on one salary instead of four.

But yeah, yeah.

My two brothers, unfortunately - theyre buried in military cemeteries in Texas.

But that's our contribution to to the country, which is one of the reasons I'm here to celebrate our 250th anniversary.

It's an All-American program.

Yeah.

I'm glad to be back.

Lincoln Portrait.

Have you done it before?

Yeah!

Yes, I have.

I did it here and several other places.

I love it.

I love the music, but I love also what he says.

Particularly now.

It seems like what Lincoln was saying at the end of the Civil War - He was trying to gather the country back together.

It seems like politics now are driving people back apart.

So I would like to hear this message and send it out to the world.

I don't want to sound like I'm beating a drum.

I really don't, because I basically all I want to do is have a wonderful time.

I want everyone else to have a wonderful time too.

But this is a very important thing to me.

I'm contributing my services because I wanted to work with this orchestra and with this maestro.

I don't know if you're aware of his position in the world of music.

Are you?

We're very proud of him.

He's one of the most highly regarded international maestros in the world.

I hope, I hope you know that.

So is this orchestra.

That's one of the reasons I'm here.

It's a terrible thing.

But Pittsburghers do take our treasures for granted sometimes.

Well, that's too bad.

Time to change that.

Straighten up!

We don't take you for granted.

Let me tell you.

Tell me about your role as the narrator of Lincoln's words.

There are so many beautiful things and dramatic things.

At the end, the “Government of the people... for the people shall not perish from the earth.” You're pretty good.

You ever did this piece?

- I have, believe it or not.

- I knew it!

Yeah.

Isn't it good?

But isn't it interesting how so many narrators have different ideas about how it's done?

Sometimes it's done very straight.

Copeland himself didn't put a lot of drama into it when he narrated it with Bernstein.

Fellow citizens.

We cannot escape history.

QED filmed him at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and his narration was not - - There was drama.

- Well, he's not an actor.

He's a composer.

Did you hear the original with Koussevitzky?

- Yes.

- And Melvyn Douglas?

Very dramatic.

And I think Sting has done it... Itzhak Perlman, all kinds of crazy people have done Lincoln Portrait.

It's- I guess it's the most popular piece for a narrator and symphony orchestra.

But youre right.

How about Peter and the Wolf?

Number 1 or 2?

Yeah, yeah.

Tubby the Tuba.

Do you remember that one?

- Yes.

Of course.

- Oh you do?

Are you from radio?

I'm a radio guy.

Through and through.

6 to 10 in the morning, Monday through Friday.

So.

That's why I'm there listening to the radio.

I loved it.

Bless you.

That's wonderful.

I do!

I mean, it's like the images that happened on radio.

I remember well, I was before television, by the way.

Interesting.

How many people do you know who grew up on radio?

It's fine, because my memory- We're going to digress a little bit.

My memories of the radio shows that I grew up on.

I mean, Superman and the Green Lantern and anyhow, on and on.

When they became television shows, in my memory, I can't separate the TV from the memories of the radio because the pictures were so vivid.

I think the writing was better to it because it had to be clearer.

Let's go on to what you want to talk about.

Well, we might get back- It sounds like a pledge pitch in there somewhere for a noncommercial station, but the Copland Lincoln Portrait has so many moods.

It starts quietly and then ends with that fantastic drama.

it starts quietly and then ends with that fantastic drama.

“And the government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

He was pretty good writer.

Yeah.

Koussevitzky asked him to- he commissioned him to do a piece for the celebration of the centennial.

And he said, “You pick a president.” And Copland on his own went out, picked out Lincoln and put this together.

And he was right.

I think he may be America's favorite president.

The one they trust most.

I think.

Maybe certain people in the South don't agree, but he is, you know.

I keep thinking back to those opening or early lines about Abraham Lincoln.

“This is what he said.” “That is what he said.

That is what Abraham Lincoln said.” Yeah.

It's interesting that- I don't know who helped him to write this, or maybe he did it himself, Copland.

But his insisting on repeating that and repeating it.

It's a reminder that this is not something that was made up.

He said these things at that time, in the time of terrible upheaval in the country, and it should be reminded, hammered home.

He said this, this is what he said.

Abe Lincoln said this.

It's like reminding them it's something like, I imagine some preachers saying, “This is in the Bible, blah, blah, blah.

This is in the Bible!” It's the same kind of litany.

And Lincoln was a biblical scholar as well as a Shakespearean scholar.

Did you know that?

- I did not know that.

- Yup.

And it's interesting that his favorite Shakespeare play was Macbeth.

The social team here at Heinz Hall, the Pittsburgh Symphony has had a spirit of Abraham Lincoln wandering around Heinz Hall.

You must take a look at it.

He's wearing his stove pipe hat, and he's stealing your thunder by looking around the place.

Will I meet him?

Will I meet this person?

Very possible.

A woman, maybe?

We'll try to arrange that for sure.

Did you speak with Manfred Honeck at any place?

You just came from rehearsal.

Did he say I want more here?

Did you have any direction?

I trust him implicitly.

Whatever he wants, I'll give him.

There are not many people I admire more than he, by the way.

I mean that sincerely.

His taste, his choices, his company and his faith.

Very religious man, I respect that.

No.

Whatever he wants, I'll try to give him.

You grew up with a church background.

You were an altar boy early on.

You were lighting the candles.

Yeah, yeah.

If you've never been to an Orthodox service, an Easter service, you got to go, because it's... It's thrilling.

It's very dramatic.

And have you found a Presbyterian church in New York City that you like?

You know a lot about what I'm doing, don't you?

Yeah.

There's a great old pre-Civil War Presbyterian church across the street from where I live in Manhattan.

And I've been a member for years.

But - because they do good deeds They feed the homeless once a week.

They have a big soup kitchen.

We have places for people to sleep.

Homeless people every night.

It's a- it's a great organization.

The Mozart Requiem you recorded with Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony.

I did it in Carnegie Hall in New York too- speaking of Carnegie.

I was there, I heard you.

It was the Spring for Music festival.

It was fantastic.

Absolutely.

How could I miss it?

With F. Murray Abraham reading the letters of Mozart's.

The letter to his dad.

You had Nelly Sachs, you had the Book of Revelations.

- Your readings were golden.

- Boy, youve really done your research.

Youre a pro.

Now, tell me about recording that narration.

It was all very dramatic.

I remember specifically the Book of Revelations after we've had the the terrible plagues and the floods.

And thats all the maestros choice.

He put it together and it worked.

He knows the Bible, but I'm an actor.

Just give me the material and show me the stage.

I'll do it.

But your interpretation when you asked “Who shall stand?” It's just electrifying.

Boy oh boy.

You really know your stuff.

Well, I listen to the recording.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

So, of those readings which spoke to you the most.

Revelations?

It was the whole thing.

It was his putting together those words with that music.

Yeah.

When you do things like that- I've done quite a bit of Shakespeare.

Along with many other plays.

There are certain things that you connect with, and I'm telling you the truth.

If it's 400 years old, I still have the feeling that he wrote it for me.

Like Shakespeare said, “Let's see this role of King Lear, its F. Murray man!

He could do that.” And... you get my drift.

When you connect with a role, it's as though it was written for you.

That's how you want it to feel, finally.

And that's- that explains my work.

And when it doesn't work, it's really a drag.

Which happens, I'm sorry to say, a lot of the time.

I'm not kidding.

When it's bad, it's just you think... The problem with the theater is when it's good, it's wonderful because you get to do it eight times a week, or you get to work on it and improve it.

But if it's bad and you don't have a connection at all with it, you think, “I gotta do that damn thing again eight times a week!” But that's the other side of the coin.

It's like going on a date with someone and thinking it's going to be a great date.

And at the end of the night, you both decide you're going to go to bed together, and you realize that the last minute, “I don't want to do this.” Well, it sounds like we're talking about White Lotus.

Well, it sounds like we're talking about White Lotus.

I've got to ask your special thoughts about this amazingly popular series of films.

Your second season with White Lotus.

Please tell me, how did it go?

Please tell me, how did it go?

One of the best jobs of my life.

We got to live in that hotel.

It was off season, so we had cast, crew, all of us together in that fabulous hotel.

We became a family and it was... I hated to leave that job.

Everyone liked each other.

That does not happen very often.

Big company like that.

Everybody.

And we got paid and we ate good Italian food.

- This was Sicily.

- And it was Sicily!

So.

No.

And Mike White, Id work with him for the rest of my life.

Like Wes Anderson, I'd work with him for the rest of my life.

Certain people, the Coen brothers, same thing.

That's... Thank you for asking.

It was a great experience.

It was a great experience.

Well, you made a great splash with with that role- Burt.

Was anybody bad in that film?

- Nobody.

- And it was complicated.

It was a shifting tone.

You had- You had some funny things.

You had a murder mystery.

All kinds of stuff going on.

Oh, I want to know a little bit more about your memories.

You mentioned right at the top, the Oscar for Salieri.

This is a classical music radio station.

You've got to tell me the memories you have of working with Milo Forman... Ill tell you very simply that I liked some classical music.

I also like rock and roll a lot.

I like- I like the blues.

I like country music.

I like good music.

But when I started to work on this film for Milo, I had to listen to certain passages of music.

I'm a very serious actor, and I listened over and over and over to certain passages.

I had to listen to certain passages of music many, many, many, many times because of the cues I had to learn and to get it right with the passages.

And every time the same music came on, it was always like a little bit of a surprise.

And I thought, that's genius!

It's always fresh.

It was a great discovery, by the way.

I didn't know that.

And I thought, well, there's a real mystery in music.

Where it comes from, who knows?

But when it happens, you go.

This is- This changes my life.

Or changed the world.

It's Bach as well.

You think, let me hear that again and again and again.

And it never gets tired.

That was a great discovery.

And from that, my knowledge of music expanded a lot.

And consequently, because of Amadeus, people think I know a lot about music.

So I had to- I had to make it my business.

But I began to perform with orchestras all over the world, narrating behind Mozart's music, of course, and I insisted some of Salieri be included, by the way.

I owe him.

And it was funny because I was forced to learn more about music, and now it's like one of the great pleasures of my life Now, like the Star Wars films, orchestras are playing it and the screen projects it.

So great.

I've done that.

I've narrated to the film.

And everyone assumes that you killed Mozart, even though that's not really historically accurate.

That's okay.

Let them think what they want.

Okay, just real quick.

Some other special things about your career.

Uta Hagen, early on, you worked at the University of Texas at Austin and prior to that in El Paso.

But then you wound up in New York with one of the great theater legends, Uta Hagen.

Your best memory of working with Uta Hagen?

She was my only teacher.

I trusted her completely.

I loved her.

You got to be careful about that kind of thing, by the way.

I teach from time to time at the Atlantic Theater Company.

Once a year, maybe once every year and a half.

And the first thing I tell them, among many other things, one of the first things is be careful of the teachers who have or charismatic, because the best teachers are charismatic.

And what happens is you fall under their spell and you begin to forget who you are and try to please them.

It's a very dangerous path- which I followed.

I began to, like, try to make her happy.

And finally just we broke off.

I said, I can't stay.

I was forgetting how to act.

- Do you know what I'm saying?

- I think so.

I was not trusting my instincts any longer.

I was trying to do what the teacher... And there are a lot of students who become professional students.

They can't really function outside of class.

There's a real danger there.

I'm glad you asked that, because she was a powerful and remains a powerful influence in my life.

And all her training, all my training under her after I left her class is a foundation for my work.

You made each role special.

The stage business, the stage roles, the smaller films or the big films where you had a smaller role.

You dug in and did something special with Serpico and Scarface and - All the King's Men.

- Dont forget Sunshine Boys, Sunshine Boys!

All these amazing... I grew up in a garage.

Thats why I did that so well.

So I just wanted to ask you for a few memories of some of those other parts that may not have been as big as Salieri.

The funniest thing about what you're asking is that you're not talking about the terrible stuff I did.

Because, my dear, there are sometimes when you just can't help it.

You're bad.

You're just bad, that's all.

So.

Yeah.

Okay.

I'm glad about the good stuff.

And what can I say about the bad stuff?

Unfortunately, it's the bad stuff I remember.

“I wish I could have done that!” But you're a bad guy that was married for 60 years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's pretty spectacular.

I think people would like to have some advice from a theater person.

Showbiz people are notoriously bad about relationships.

Yeah, I don't know if it's just showbusiness these days.

A lot of people can't maintain relationships.

They always point to show business.

But it's general these days, unfortunately.

Best thing that ever happened to me.

The dad met my wife.

Luckiest day of my life, no question.

Where did you meet?

I was thumbing my way to LA from El Paso to seek my fortune, and my friend said, “Here's this number.

There's this girl's number.

Give her a call.” I called her and we were together for 63 years.

It was just luck.

Just good fortune.

That's all.

I wish you, you know, I wish you all good luck.

And her name?

- Kate.

- Kate.

So she'll be with you in spirit this weekend.

Always.

But for the first time in my life since she died three and a half years ago, Ive begun to have yearnings for a female company.

I didn't think it would ever happen, but I, I really... Hello I'm looking for a mate!

She has to be at least 65, maybe 70, and she has to be smart.

I don't care much else.

I feel like I'm on a dating thing.

Can you tell us about your work with Adam Sandler?

- One of your most recent films?

- Oh, Adam Sandler.

You know, he's the only big star I've- him and Tom Hanks, the only two big stars I've ever worked with- nobody says anything bad about them.

That's astonishing.

He was wonderful.

I can't say enough about him.

And the film?

Is it out?

No, no, no, they're still working Theyre cutting it right now so we can hope for the best.

- A name?

- Very serious film, by the way.

Not a comedy.

Really tough.

He's taking a big gamble.

Good for him.

It's called “Time Out.” I can't say enough good about the man.

We'll look forward to.

If I didn't, I wouldn't say anything at all, by the way.

I'm of an age, as they say, I can get away with it.

Drop dead!

Adam Sandler.

I'll fight for him.

Do you think because you're from Pittsburgh, you have in your genes that work ethic - that we seem to have here?

- Its from my father.

He was a hard working man.

No.

My whole family, I mean, these coal-workers.

These steelworkers.

When there was a steel industry here, that was their whole lives.

And those men and women worked, baby.

My grandfather, God rest his soul, had hands like stone.

He wasn't very big, but he was strong.

But he worked on his hands and knees with a pick.

That's how far back he goes.

No, the work ethic is my family.

You told Ben Bankowitz when they profiled you for CBS Sunday Morning that you wanted to die on the stage?

Yeah, I think it's going to happen.

If I'm lucky.

I'm almost... I'll be 87 soon, but I'm not the oldest person to be performing on Broadway.

There's someone who just finished, got a Tony nomination.

She's 96.

Fabulous.

So I got a good ten years.

Okay.

Thinking back to that kiddo in the Hill district.

Just a boy.

Looking at your career.

What do you think would be the surprise for that young guy?

All these things that you've done.

It's so sensational.

No, no, no.

We were blue collar people.

We were all hardworking, blue collar, working men and women.

Theater was the last thing in our lives.

I was a hoodlum in El Paso.

Like so many of us.

And it was, you know, I had some big problems.

But a teacher... I don't know how she saw it, because I didn't know it was there.

She saw something in me and said, try this.

I remember her name.

I mean, we're talking to high school a long time ago.

70 years ago.

Lucia P. Hutchins, God rest her soul.

She would have been so tickled at my Academy Award.

Anyhow, it was just plain good fortune.

When you're drinking champagne in Elysium with all these great folks, you've put on the stage Shakespeare with your wife, with Milo Forman, with all these people.

I hope you know that Pittsburgh is always claiming you as our own.

Thank you.

I'm delighted.

We are thrilled that you are back in town.

And please return soon.

Bless your heart.

Thank you.

Fellow citizens.

We cannot escape history.

We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves.

No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.

We - even we here - hold the power, and bear the responsibility.