Stage and film actor Jason Robards, who helped revive interest in Eugene O'Neill with performances in The Iceman Cometh and A Moon for the Misbegotten, is one of five recipients of the 1999 Kennedy Center Honors.
The silver-haired Robards, 77, a Chicago native who shifted from leading man to grizzled character actor over his career, has also appeared in TV and films ("All the President's Men," "Julia"). Robards is a veteran of Pinter, Shakespeare and more.
He played Jamie in Sidney Lumet's 1962 film version of "Long Day's Journey Into Night," with Katharine Hepburn. He played an older Jamie in the semi-sequel to the story, A Moon For the Misbegotten, opposite Colleen Dewhurst on Broadway in 1973-74.
Other honorees at the 22nd annual awards ceremony Dec. 4 will be Sean Connery, singer-pianist-comedian Victor Borge, singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder and dancer Judith Jamison. On Dec. 5, President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend a gala performance honoring the artists at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The Kennedy Center Honors recognize lifetime achievement in the arts. CBS will tape the gala for broadcast later in the year. The honorees were announced Sept. 14.
-- By Kenneth Jones
