Actress Dyan Cannon talks about her four-decade career as an actress, writer, producer and director.
By Rachael Stillman / Special to the Malibu Times
In 2005, women comprised 17 percent of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films. This is the same percentage of women employed in these roles in 1998 (from “Celluloid Ceiling 2006 Report,” by Martha Lauzen.)
As a three-time Academy Award nominee, and the first woman in the history of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences to be nominated for Oscars as both an actress and director (for the 1976 short film “Number One,” which she also produced and wrote), Dyan Cannon has defied the statistics for more than four decades. This Friday, she will be sharing her insights into the film industry as a special guest at the Women in Film breakfast networking meeting in Malibu.
From her first film, “This Rebel Breed,” to the 1960s film, to “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” and “Heaven Can Wait” in the 1970s, “Death Trap” in the 1980s and TV show “Ally McBeal” in the 1990s, Cannon has consistently stayed at the top of her game playing strong, independent-minded women. In the last 40 years, the avid Lakers fan, animal activist and former Mrs. Cary Grant has also seen a lot of changes in the film industry, including an increase in women directors.
“When I directed my first film in the 1970s, there were very few women directing. But when I was nominated for ‘Number One,’ I was still surprised to find out that I was the first woman to be nominated for Oscars both as an actress and as a director,” Cannon said. “Now women are choosing to become directors more and more often. It’s a far more popular and acceptable thing for women to do. I think we’re making great strides.”
Cannon said she is happy to share her successes and experiences with Women in Film.
“I’m very impressed with Women in Film-what they do, how they do it and how they keep people interested. They encourage women in film; they support them, nourish them, nurture, maintain and sustain them. It’s important to have support. We all need that,” Cannon said.
Still as active as ever, in her latest film, “The Boynton Beach Bereavement Club,” directed by Susan Seidelman and costarring Joseph Bologna, Sally Kellerman and Michael Nouri, Cannon plays Lois, a free-spirited retiree living amidst love and loss in a retirement community.
“I loved playing Lois. I love her energy and the way she likes to help people. I like that she is a little flamboyant and has so much fun in life. And I really liked the script,” Cannon said. “It has heart and it reaches out to an audience that is often left out of movies. Today, movies are usually made for 17, 18 and 19 year olds. People over 50 are left out.”
With little regard for the stereotypes that cling to age and aging, and several other projects on the horizon including a documentary involving kids and teens, Cannon is just where she wants to be in her career and her life.
“I am involved with two projects that have to do with kids and teens and the motion picture industry,” she said. “I just love helping kids and I love the motion picture industry. It’s all one. That’s where I see my time being spent.”
Cannon encourages women aspiring to become involved in the film industry to consciously create the careers they want. “Never give up on your dreams and always live up to your highest sense of right.”
For Cannon this means taking on projects that are important to her, and enjoying her career without letting it define her.
“I always knew I wanted to be an actress. There was no question about it from the time I was five years old. But I have never thought about my life in terms of my career. I think about how I am unfolding as a woman, and I like me more and more. That’s what makes feel like a success,” she said.
Dyan Cannon will be a special guest at the Sept. 8 Women in Film Malibu Breakfast meeting at the Chart House Restaurant from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. More information can be obtained by contacting Candace Bowen at Candace@malibuonline.com or by phone at 310.457.8664. The Chart House is located at 18412 Pacific Coast Hwy.