Back to Life

At a recent Coachella concert, a holographic image of  the late rapper Tupac Shakur was displayed on stage with Snoop Dog. Of course, the audience loved it. Still, it was just an image, it wasn’t the real thing. As you can guess, that got me thinking. If it were possible to bring back dead actors and actresses, who would I like to bring back? Well….

Katherine Hepburn
Yes, the great Kate. Her obituary in the July 6, 2003 issue of Time stated that “…A new actress might be called a Marilyn Monroe type or a Drew Barrymore type, but there was no Kate Hepburn type. There was only Kate Hepburn.”  How true. She was feisty, smart and she didn’t just play an independent career woman, she was one off-screen.  After all, in 1940 she bought the rights to the play The Philadelphia Story, as well as starred in the film. Remember, this was a time in Hollywood when the studios called the shots on their employees. Yet, she thrived being who she was, which is all the more reason to bring her back. She could star in a film where she mentors a young female college graduate how to navigate life (and love) after college. It would be the opposite of The Devil Wears Prada and a welcome change of pace from all the girl loves man-child films out there.

Jimmy Stewart
Another great from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Of course, it is obvious that he would play George Bailey again and this time he would be dealing with the mess left behind by the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Then again, you could put him together with Katherine Hepburn. After all, they starred in The Philadelphia Story together. They could be in a sequel of sorts to that film where they deal with a new generation of rich soon-to-be marrieds and show them that feistiness and love doesn’t end at age 45.

James Dean
Of course, how could he not be brought back. He left this world much too soon when his career was so full of promise. Had he lived, would he go on to bigger and better things or would he flame out, as director Elia Kazan said he would in his autobiography. Well, there is only one way to find out and that is bring him back and have him star in some movies. He could be cast in a Western or maybe a Romantic Comedy. I think he would do very well in a Western, even get an Oscar nod and the rom-com would be fun to watch.

Of course, this is all speculation on my part. I certainly don’t have the ability to bring people back to life. So, if you should see a dead actor or actress walking around, chances are that person is just an impersonator or just playing that particular actor or actress in a film.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/music-fans-hanker-ray-charles-hologram-poll-215223531.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,463117,00.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032904/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000015/bio

 

Advertisement