James Grissom Chats Tennessee Williams Book FOLLIES OF GOD on THEATER TALK This Week

An all-new THEATER TALK presents an interview with writer James Grissom. In 1982 at age 20, Grissom met playwright Tennessee Williams. He became the famous writer's confidant, took copious notes of their conversations, and - encouraged by Williams (who died the year after they met) - went on to interview many of the great actresses who had worked with the master dramatist about their impressions of him and the impact of his work. Grissom then compiled their insights about one of the most gifted and complex American playwrights into his wonderful book, FOLLIES OF GOD - Tennessee Williams and the Women of the Fog, now published by Alfred A. Knopf.

"Women of the fog" was a term Williams used to describe how he would first see and hear his famous female characters - among them: Blanche DuBois, Amanda Wingfield, Alma Winemiller and Rosa Delle Rosse - they would appear in his imagination on a stage, emerging from a fog, and when they began to speak, he would start to write.

Williams had become somewhat estranged from many of the actresses he worked with - "They were irritated with his neediness," says Grissom - but he encouraged the writer to contact them anyway. Williams died in 1983, before Grissom began. He moved to New York in 1989 and it was then that Marian Seldes, a friend and champion of his work, began to pave the way for the interviews to take place. Among the extraordinary talents he talked to were Jessica Tandy, Maureen Stapleton, Geraldine Page, Eva le Gallienne, Lois Smith and Frances Sternhagen.

Grissom also discusses his next book on Marlon Brando, who used to call him in early-morning hours and talk as a way of avoiding his compulsive overeating. "We acted as therapists for each other," said Grissom. The two never met, but Brando read everything Grissom wrote down, and never insisted on changes.

Co-hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins, this latest edition of THEATER TALK premieres in the New York metropolitan area Friday, March 4 (2016) at 1:30 AM (early Saturday morning); on CUNY TV* Saturday 3/5 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 3/6 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 3/7 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM; and on WLIW/21 on Monday 3/8 at 5:30 PM - a total of 7 showings this week.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The CUNY TV Foundation, and The Friends of THEATER TALK.