Preface to The Good, the Bad, and the Dolce Vita
Mailer's preface to the memoir of his old friend the actor Mickey Knox, recalling their fifty-year friendship, Knox's blacklisting in the 1950s, his Rome years, and his scene-saving performance as Collie Munshin in the 1967 stage production of The Deer Park.
Mailer’s preface to the memoir of his oldest friend, the actor Mickey Knox. He recalls first “encountering” Knox on screen as the gang leader Larry Tunafish in City Across the River (1948), their meeting in the summer of 1949 (“Hey, you’re a real good actor”), Knox’s blacklisting during the Hollywood red-hunt of the early 1950s, his long Rome years as actor, translator, and dialogue coach, and — the preface’s centerpiece — his entrance as Collie Munshin that broke “the ice block” of critics and helped save the 1967 off-Broadway Deer Park on opening night. “I don’t think we would have lasted four days without Mr. Knox.”