Scene - Blogs - Happy Mothers Day from Tim Blake Nelson

Happy Mother's Day, from Tim Blake Nelson
Published: 5/8/2009 5:43 PM
Last Modified: 5/8/2009 5:43 PM

My first conversation with actor/writer/director Tim Blake Nelson took place last week, and he quickly established himself as a very fine fellow: He loves his mother and appreciates her responsibility in shaping his life.
It's rarely possible to wedge every comment into a story from any interview I conduct, and the following words by Tim didn't make it into my recent article.
But there's always room in the blogosphere, and his comments about his mother, Ruth Kaiser Nelson, seemed most appropriate on this Mother's Day weekend.
Remember, this Tulsan is the woman who suggested that he give an acting career a real opportunity to succeed.
"My mother has been so passionately and profoundly supportive of the risky route I chose to take, and I'm incredibly grateful to her. None of what's happened to me would have happened to me without my mother….What's particularly extraordinary about my mother is a recognition that you've got one life, and you need to live it vigorously. My mother has always worked really hard and enjoyed herself passionately when she was not working. This is manifested right now in the fact that she works long hours in the office at the Tulsa Housing Authority and in her many other pursuits. But she has also taken time to travel all over the world. She has stayed in remote villages in India and Indonesia that I would be afraid to stay in, in her 70s. So when I was in college, my mother just wanted to make sure that the opportunity, at that time in life, when chances could be taken without traumatic costs to a wife or children, that I take those chances. Because certainly when I had children and a wife, I wasn't going to be in a position to experiment with all sorts of different careers, because then you are impacting others, and my mother has raised us, if anything, to be responsible to those around us who depend on us. So I think that really it was a life philosophy that encouraged her to give us the advice, and to simply say, `You're 20 years old, now is the time, so go and explore.'"
Happy Mother's Day, from Tim Blake Nelson

Reader Comments

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

Follow Michael Smith on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog

Archive

Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

Michael Smith's Blog Archive:

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011	5/2011	4/2011	3/2011
2/2011	1/2011	12/2010	11/2010	10/2010	9/2010
8/2010	7/2010	6/2010	5/2010	4/2010	3/2010
2/2010	1/2010	12/2009	11/2009	10/2009	9/2009
8/2009	7/2009	6/2009	5/2009	4/2009	3/2009
2/2009	1/2009	12/2008	11/2008	10/2008	9/2008
8/2008	7/2008	6/2008	5/2008	4/2008	3/2008
2/2008	1/2008	12/2007	11/2007	10/2007	9/2007
8/2007	7/2007	6/2007

michaelsmithTW
michaelsmithTW

Join the conversation

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :