Interview with Lamar Herrin, October 16, 2016

Partial Transcript: This interview is for the Don Galloway Oral History Project.

Segment Synopsis: Herrin talks about his family settling in Bowling Green, Kentucky when he was 12 years old. He came to the University of Kentucky as a transfer student in 1959 and studied theater. He acted in 5 plays in his first year. During his studies, he took a year off to work in the television industry in California. He came back to change his major to English and focused on writing. He graduated in 1963, did his masters at University of Tennessee, and became an English instructor at the University of Cincinnati. After spending some time abroad, where he also got married, he came back and finished his doctorate degree. He published a novel and got a job at Cornell University in 1977. He has been there since.

Keywords: Novelists; Theater at University of Kentucky; Writers

Subjects: Authors; Bowling Greek (Ky.); Cornell University; Television actors and actresses; University of Cincinnati; University of Kentucky; University of Tennessee

Partial Transcript: Can you tell us a little bit in general what the theater department was like during the years that you were here at UK?

Segment Synopsis: Herrin says he was in the theater department at the University of Kentucky (UK) just for one year before he moved to California for a year. After coming back, he changed his major to English. He recounts that there was a lot of activity in the theater department at that time. He talks about his adviser, Wallace Briggs, who was also the founder of the theater arts at UK. Don Galloway was also a member of the theater group at that time. He talks about his disillusionment with acting, which happened during his time in Hollywood. He talks about some of the parts he played in movies before discovering that he enjoyed reading, particularly the works of William Faulkner and Thomas Wolfe.

Keywords: Hollywood; Movie industry; Theater at University of Kentucky

Subjects: Faulkner, William; Galloway, Don, 1939-2007; Television; University of Kentucky; Wolfe, Thomas, 1900-1938

Partial Transcript: Um, do you remember your first impressions when you met Don Galloway?

Segment Synopsis: Herrin recounts finding Don Galloway more mature and accomplished than others in his cohort at the University of Kentucky. Galloway was friendly and a talented actor, but he was not obsessed with acting. He could act in a variety of roles, but was not a mesmerizing actor. He remembers what a unique couple Galloway made with Marie Warner Ford, who was quite short compared to him.

Keywords: Marie Warner Ford; Theater at University of Kentucky

Subjects: Acting; Actor; Galloway, Don, 1937-2009; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Don graduated in 1961. And then you had this summer in New York with him, didn't you?

Segment Synopsis: Herrin recounts his summer visit to New York in 1962. His car was full of belongings of Bobbie Ann Mason and Doug Roberts when he drove to New York. He left his car parked in Greenwich for the first few nights, but when he returned to the parking spot, he found his car stolen. Two months later, the police found his car, but much of the belongings were already looted. He lived in a small basement apartment with Doug and Don in New York. While they worked at NBC, Herrin worked at the Fruit of the Loom company offices located in the Empire State Building. He talks about his time in the city.

Keywords: Car robberies; Car thefts in New York; NBC Pages

Subjects: Empire State Building (New York, N.Y.); Fruit of the Loom (Firm); Greenwich (N.Y.); Mason, Bobbie Ann; New York (N.Y.)

Partial Transcript: So then in the fall did you leave and go back to UK?

Segment Synopsis: Herrin talks about not spending much time with Galloway in New York since they had different work life. He returned to the University of Kentucky that fall. He recounts an episode when Marie Warner Ford and Don Galloway talked about their marriage prospects and how they wouldn't have children during the nuclear threat. The only other time he saw Galloway after New York was in Burbank, California in 1964. He remembers meeting Galloway in his ranch-style house there. He and the interviewer talk about Galloway's wives. Herrin says that he followed Galloway's performances, though they never met again.

Keywords: Actors from Kentucky; Don Galloway; Nuclear threat in 1960s

Subjects: Burbank (Calif.); Cold War; Galloway, Don, 1937-2009; Mason, Bobbie Ann; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: I saw him in that--in a movie, that movie with William Hurt in it--

Segment Synopsis: Herrin talks about Galloway's work in the movie "Big Chill." He remembers Galloway's character and how it was different from other roles in the movie. Even though Galloway only had a small part, he was working with great actors and it was a successful film.

Keywords: Don Galloway movies; Films; Motion pictures

Subjects: Big chill (Motion picture); Hurt, William; Kline, Kevin

Partial Transcript: New York--I don't know, was it you or Doug who said something about 'New York is filled with people who can act.'

Segment Synopsis: Herrin lists some of the qualities that might have led to Don Galloway's successful start in acting in New York. Galloway was affable, decent, and generous as a person. He was also a versatile actor, but didn't appear to have a great ambition. Galloway didn't do many character roles, like many aspiring actors of his time. Herrin remembers being impressed by Galloway's performance in a comedy by Eugene O'Neill at the University of Kentucky. Galloway could perform a variety of roles, and so he was seen as a useful actor in the industry. In television, Herrin thinks that only in "Ironside" did Galloway have a memorable role. Herrin recounts that he himself was not very attracted to the exploitative movie and television industry.

Keywords: Don Galloway; Ironside (Television show); Successful actors; Television industry

Subjects: Acting; Actors; Galloway, Don, 1937-2009; O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953; Television actors and actresses; University of Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Then he went off to Manchester, New Hampshire and wrote for the Union Guardian...

Segment Synopsis: Herrin talks about not knowing that Galloway was politically conservative, but not being surprised at this discovery. Galloway had always been the kind of person who lived and worked according to the established standards. He and the interviewer talk about his smoking habit, his children, and his relationship with Marie Warner Ford.

Keywords: Conservative actors; Marie Warner Ford; Union Guardian

Subjects: Conservatism; Galloway, Don, 1937-2009; Smoking