William Kennedy talks about a scene from the film adaptation of his novel 'Ironweed'.
William Kennedy was born in New York to Irish American parents in 1928. He embarked on a career in journalism, wrote a series of successful novels and won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1983 novel Ironweed.
William Kennedy explains how he and his wife ended up in a scene in the film 'Ironweed'. He wrote the screenplay for the film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep adapted from his novel.
We were playing a couple of swells out on the town.
The pair were asked to be extras in a bar scene in the film where William Kennedy's character is kissed by Helen Archer played by Meryl Streep. The writer insists he had no part in setting this up and the kiss came as a complete surprise to him on the 18th take. This was the take used in the final film.
This episode of 'Hanly's People' was broadcast on 15 May 1989. The presenter is David Hanly.
'Hanly's People’ was a weekly programme featuring a guest in conversation with presenter David Hanly in a living-room setting for half an hour. Each guest was someone in the news, making the news, or behind the news. They were drawn from all spheres of public life, including politics and the arts. ‘Hanly’s People’ was first broadcast on 6 October 1986 and ended on 6 June 1991.
