Silhouette

This, y'all, makes me very happy.  It's a silhouette of Bobby based on his late 50's likeness.  I commissioned a girl on Etsy to do it because I couldn't resist it.  Didn't she do an amazing job?

(Btw, it's by Ines Madureira at NineDesignCreations.  Go see her for all your silhouette needs, I promise she's the bomb and she will make sure you're 100% happy with something before you pay)

His lips are slightly parted here, hence why they might not seem as full as they actually were.  But I feel it's a wonderful likeness of a beautiful, spirited man.

Hart Island

On "A Daughter's Musings," Kathy Driscoll's public Facebook blog (Bobby's daughter), she states she is going next month to visit her daddy for the first time on Hart Island, and plant California poppy seeds for him.

This is a beautiful thing to hear.  I'm so glad one of his children finally gets this chance to go to him.  California poppies are among my favorites flowers (and I'm not a big flower person, so that's really saying something), and it makes me wonder if it was Bobby's, and that's specifically why she's taking them!  Either way, I know it will absolutely warm his heart.

Meanwhile, I tried to go to Hart Island myself last October and didn't make the ferry in time.  You can imagine how upset I was, having driven all the way from North Carolina.  I then wanted to try again in March for his birthday, but there was a blizzard in New York plus my dad was very sick...

So I have been planning for October again this year, to go and pay my own respects.  My plan is to take sunflowers -- my favorite flower, which I want to leave there with Bobby -- and a tile I hand-painted a message on.  I might not be able to take one or both of those things, as they are picky about what they let go on the island (I know no glass!) but going there will be enough.

Let's wish Kathy well in our hearts for her trip to finally get to whisper goodnight to her father.  Addiction may have claimed the best years of his life, those he didn't get a chance to spend on fatherhood, but I am sure the man loved his children the very best he could at the time and is so very proud of them.

Roles for Bobby Part 2

I did a blog post like this at the very beginning of "Remembering Bobby," and it was great fun.  Since then, I've continued to keep  my eye open for film/TV roles that I feel Bobby could have easily aced, and I've come up with a few more!

Here we go:

Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate

Now I love Dustin Hoffman, but I have to be honest:  he felt a little too "MAN" to be young, impressionable Benjamin Braddock in film.  I feel this role could have been played very well by Bobby who would give some naivety and youth to the film, but also the passion needed.

Robert Philip in Enchanted

Of all the "Disney princes" I can see Bobby being a shoe-in for, I would have to pick this character.  He's the charming, but serious lawyer who takes in Princess Giselle after her arrival to "the real world" from "Disney Princess-land", assuming her at first to be mentally disturbed, then falls in love with her.  It's a precious movie and I feel Bobby could have pulled Robert off very well.  Of course, Patrick Dempsey was in his 40's when he played this role, but it would have been suitable for a 30-year-old.

Eddie Tate in The Night She Won Miss America

Alot of people wouldn't identify with this if they hadn't read the book, but Eddie Tate is a young, eagle-eyed reporter who comes to fall in love with Miss Delaware at the Miss America competition in 1950.  The love goes unrequited, as Betty Jane is in love with her escort, but Eddie's tenderness toward Betty Jane and his determination to keep her safe in the heat of danger makes him a worthy competitor to wealthy Griffin.  He is described as slightly built, but handsome in a quirky way, which I think describes Bobby perfectly.  The only part that wouldn't match up is the blonde hair, but hey -- easy to get around.

Any other ideas?

Some Good Screenshots from Some Good Acting

I took more screenshots of Bobby as Lew Conover a couple days ago.  What's my fascination with this role, you may ask?

.... Nothing, actually, other than that this is one of the few leading TV roles he had as an adult that I have a copy of.  So, gotta work with whatcha got!

Which, btw, leads to another reason I'm posting these.  Running a Bobby Driscoll blog can be daunting for the lack of new content that comes 'round.  Sometimes you just have to make your own.

Oops, forgot to crop some of these, but it doesn't matter.

These might seem unremarkable but for my love affair with the man's profile.  They're good angles I thought...

 This next one is another one that interested me for good reason!

Note the similarities of this with this:

It's a great kid/adult parallel, don't you think?  It's always fascinating to me to observe how the human face changes from year to year, yet also how it stays the same over decades.

I really love these because they show how good Bobby was at conveying emotion with his face.  Often, 1950's acting could feel stiff and "professional."  Bobby, however, seemed before his time in his ability to get lost in the mood behind the lines he read.  When you actually watch this show, you can see him subtly trembling with rage in this scene and the veins in his neck popping every so slightly.  What wonderful acting ability, such a talented guy....

If there's one thing I wish I had more access to, it's Bobby's TV work.  People downplay it because it was only TV and not movies, and during his big decline, but it's still wonderful acting and the chance to see how his talent followed him into adulthood.

What might he have gone on to do?