So guess who was Al Gore’s roommate at Harvard?
Yep, I’m talking about the amazing Tommy Lee Jones. He played defensive guard on Harvard’s undefeated football team in 1968 and graduated from the Ivy League school with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1969.
Tommy Lee Jones is a favorite of mine. He is currently set to write a direct a remake of John Wayne’s “The Cowboys.” It is not known yet who will star in the film, but I’d love to see Tommy Lee step up and do it all. Heaven knows he has the talent.
Like Morgan Freeman and the late Jack Elam, Tommy Lee Jones has an unforgettable and highly recognizable voice, along with “one of those faces.”
Those faces are lined with deep character crags, etched into our memories as unique and yet universal. These are the guys who make the movies live and breathe. And yet they are so much a part of the fabric of a movie that, in my humble opinion, they rarely get the recognition they deserve. (Jones and Freeman each have only one Academy Award, both for Best Supporting Actor.)
“Good things come to those who… work like hell,” Tommy Lee Jones joked once in a recorded interview.
Tommy Lee turned 67 today. (Yeah, I thought he looked older, too.) So I’m thinking there’s lots more time to add to his already impressive credentials. After all, Morgan Freeman is 76, and he’s still going strong.
And while I normally abhor any movie remakes, I’ll admit I can’t wait to see how “The Cowboys” turns out. It’s a shoe-in to be a whole lot better than “Space Cowboys,” don’t you think?
