Commenting on Jon Voight‘s 7.28 anti-Obama article in the Washington Times, Variety editor/blogger Peter Bart wrote yesterday that while he may “appreciate Voight’s fervor,” he worries “about his intellectual equipment.”
Then comes the anecdote, dating back some 38 years: “I remember that moment in the early ’70s when Paramount offered Voight the lead role in Love Story, opposite Ali McGraw. Voight had just achieved stardom thanks to Midnight Cowboy and suddenly had his choice of roles.
“As a young production executive at the studio, I was trying to push Love Story forward and joined colleagues in trying to interest Voight in the part. However the more we prodded, the more reluctant he became.
“He finally blurted: ‘The character in this movie is a Harvard student. He’s bright. He reads books. I could never be believable as that smart young guy.”
“Reading Voight’s op-ed piece these many years later, I realize how right he was.”