The movie business runs deep in the Bluegrass State. While many famous Hollywood stars have called Kentucky home, the commonwealth has played host to a number of popular Hollywood films.
Famous Films
A number of well-known Hollywood movies have been filmed on location in various Kentucky cities. For instance, Cameron Crowe's 2005 film Elizabethtown portrayed a man who returns to bury his deceased father in his father's hometown. The movie was partially filmed in Kentucky in Elizabethtown, as well as in Crestwood, Louisville, and several other Bluegrass State communities. It starred Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst, with Kentucky rock group My Morning Jacket making a cameo appearance, playing the fictional rock group Ruckus.
Also in 2005, Dreamer, starring Dakota Fanning and Kurt Russell, appeared in theaters. Set in Lexington, the story revolves around a horse trainer's daughter who sets out to nurse an injured horse to win the Breeder's Cup. The movie was filmed almost entirely on location in Frankfort and Lexington.
The 2003 film Seabiscuit was a critical and commercial smash, garnering seven Academy Awards as well as numerous other honors. It was also partially filmed in Lexington at the famous Keeneland Racetrack.
On a more humorous note, the 1981 comedy hit Stripes, starring Bill Murray, John Candy, and Harold Ramis, was shot almost entirely in the commonwealth. Shooting locations included Fort Knox, Elizabethtown, Louisville, and the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont.
In 2007, John and Brad Hennegan showed their award-wining documentary The First Saturday in May at the Tribeca Film Festival and at SilverDocs, the AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. The film follows six thoroughbreds as they attempt to make the 20-spot field at the 2006 Kentucky Derby, "the most exciting two minutes in sports."
Parts of the 1962 multiple Academy Award-winning film How The West Was Won were filmed in Paducah, as well as 1955's The Kentuckian, which boasted shooting locations in Owensboro.
Famous Performers
A number of natives from the Bluegrass State have found their calling on the silver screen. Perhaps the most famous Kentucky alum is George Clooney. Born in Lexington in 1961, he graduated from Augusta High School in Bracken County, one of the commonwealth's smallest high schools. After graduating from high school in 1979, he began auditioning for film and television, his first real break coming in a role on the popular television series The Facts of Life in 1985. He continued to toil in relative obscurity, still managing to land roles on The Golden Girls, Roseanne, Sisters, and Murder, She Wrote. In 1994, he won the role of Dr. Doug Ross on a new medical drama, ER. Clooney earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, as well as heartthrob status, for his portrayal of Dr. Ross.
His television success enabled him to earn major movie roles, first gracing the big screen in Quentin Tarentino's From Dusk To Dawn. Over the next few years, he starred in Batman & Robin (in the titular role), The Thin Red Line, Out of Sight, and Three Kings. In 1999, he left ER to pursue his film career full time. Since then, he has appeared in critically and commercially successful films, including The Perfect Storm, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (which he also directed), Solaris, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? As well, he played Danny Ocean in the movie Ocean's Eleven, plus its subsequent sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen.
In 2005, Clooney received Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe award nominations for his film Good Night, and Good Luck, in the categories of Best Screenplay, Best Direction, and Best Supporting Actor. A year later, Clooney took home both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Bob Barnes in Syriana, which also earned him a BAFTA nomination.
Kentucky's other Academy Award-winner is Patricia Neal, born in 1926 in Packard County. Her awards started early: at age 20, she won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in the production of Another Part of the Forest. She transitioned to Hollywood in 1949, quickly being cast alongside stars such as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, Andy Griffith, and Walter Matthau. She appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961, alongside stars Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. However, her keynote success was the 1963 film Hud. Appearing alongside Paul Newman, her portrayal of Alma led to Oscar, BAFTA, and NYFCC award wins in the category of Best Actress. She would win another BAFTA Best Actress award in 1965 for her role in In Harm's Way. In 2007, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Waltham, Massachusetts SunDeis Film Festival.
Of course, anyone familiar with University of Kentucky basketball has noticed Ashley Judd at home games. While born in California, Judd grew up in Kentucky, attending the University of Kentucky as a French major. She was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a national academic honor society. Though country music is in her blood (half-sister Wynonna and mother Naomi are both country music stars), Judd found her niche in Hollywood. Beginning her acting career in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1991, her breakout performance came in the independent film Ruby in Paradise (1993), which won her an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. She gradually acquired roles in major movies such as Kuffs, Smoke, and Heat. This led to her arrival as a major Hollywood actress, noted by her leading status in Kiss The Girls, Double Jeopardy, and De-Lovely.
Other famous Kentucky-born stars include Johnny Depp, Florence Henderson, Harry Dean Stanton, and Sean Young.
Famous Directors
D.W. Griffith is perhaps the most renowned, and controversial, Kentucky-born director. Hailing from La Grange, a small city in Oldham County, Griffith achieved both notoriety and acclaim for his ground-breaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation, widely viewed as promoting racism and the Ku Klux Klan. His next film, Intolerance, attempted to demonstrate how the concept of intolerance was detrimental to humanity. Filmmakers from Charlie Chaplin to John Ford have praised Griffith's movie-making ability, with Chaplin referring to Griffith as "the teacher of us all."
Known primarily for his Oscar-nominated direction of 1997's Good Will Hunting, Louisville-born Gus Van Zant established his directorial career with movies made outside the mainstream. Early works include Drugstore Cowboy (with Matt Dillon), My Own Private Idaho (with Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix), and To Die For (with Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, and Joaquin Phoenix). He won the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palme d'Or for his 2003 film Elephant, an exploration of a Columbine-style school shooting. In 2007, Cannes awarded him the 60th Anniversary Prize for his film Paranoid Park.
Raised in Bowling Green, John Carpenter became well-regarded in Hollywood for his contributions to horror and science fiction films. He first achieved acclaim for Assault on Precinct 13, released in 1976. Though it initially did little business in the United States, after its positive response at the London Film Festival in 1977, Carpenter found a growing American audience. He later directed the first Halloween movie, a suspenseful slasher film that introduced audiences to the character of psychopath Michael Myers. Other well-known Carpenter films include The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), and Starman (1984). He also participated in Showtime's Masters of Horror series, contributing episodes for both Seasons One and Two. Of particular note is Season One's Cigarette Burns, an episode considered to be equal in quality to Carpenter's early work.
Places To See
Louisville is home to a number of classic and historic movie theaters. Renovated in 2000, the Kentucky Theater now shows art and independent films, and serves as a community arts center. Of additional interest is The Louisville Palace, which was established in 1928. The Palace shows a variety of newer and classic films, and has also staged numerous musical concerts.
Lexington's Kentucky Theatre, first opened in 1922, also emphasizes non-mainstream films. The Paramount Arts Center, located in Ashland, appears on the Historic Register. It first opened its doors in 1931 and was initially designed to show silent movies. Currently it functions as a performing arts center.
Kentucky is truly a star-powered state, boasting dozens of Hollywood actors and actresses, and providing the perfect location for both filming and enjoying a movie. Kentucky's film heritage may fly under the radar, but it's certainly been a major player in Hollywood.
