James Cromwell: My father told me: Don t be an actor, you re too damn tall
The 80-year-old actor and activist recalls being raised among film royalty, avoiding the draft for Vietnam, and his losing streak at tennis tournaments
The actor James Cromwell with (from left) his mother Kay Johnson, James Dean and Bob Dylan. Composite: Getty/Rex/Allstar/Warners/Guardian Design Team
The actor James Cromwell with (from left) his mother Kay Johnson, James Dean and Bob Dylan. Composite: Getty/Rex/Allstar/Warners/Guardian Design Team
Thu 7 Jan 2021 11.37 EST
Last modified on Thu 7 Jan 2021 12.14 EST
Bob Dylan
I was born in 1940 and went to an American prep school, The Hill School, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in the 50s. It was all white boys: no people of colour, no Hispanics, no Chinese, and it was all very organised and bound in tradition. Other kids brought records to school by people such as Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. To me, they seemed like stylised crooners si