A Short Time For Insanity. An Autobiography
signed first edition
1974 · New York
by WELLMAN, WILLIAM A. & PAUL FIX
New York: Hawthorn, 1974. First Edition. Inscribed and signed by the author, William A. Wellman, to actor Paul Fix: “To Paul - one of my best friends and finest actors - I love him, Bill Wellman.” About fine copy with a hint of handling and shelf wear in a very good dust jacket with a bit of edge wear. The frank autobiography of the director of such film classics as Wings, The Public Enemy, Call of the Wild, A Star Is Born, Beau Geste, The Ox-Bow Incident, The High and the Mighty, etc. Illustrated. With a foreword by film critic Richard Schickel. From the library of film and television actor Paul Fix (1901 - 1983) who collaborated with William Wellman in the films Island in the Sky (1953), The High and the Mighty (1954), Ring of Fear (1954), Blood Alley (1955), and Lafayette Escadrille (1958). On page 95 Wellman writes with affection for Fix: “I had a visitor today. Paul Fix the actor, or rather Paul Fix the fine actor. Paul has had, at various times in his life, a slight grog distress. He never let it interfere with his career, but between pictures it gave him a little trouble, a touchy tummy, and a slight change in the contour of his profile. Perhaps that is what made him such a good actor.” Some of Fix’s other well known films include George Stevens’ Giant (1956), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) with John Wayne and Dean Martin, and El Dorado (1967) with John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. One of Fix’s most memorable roles was his portrayal of Marshal Michah Torrance opposite Chuck Connors in the television Western series The Rifleman. He and Connors also appeared together in the 1966 Western film Ride Beyond Vengeance. Fix had roles in some of the most successful television series of his time, including Perry Mason, Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, The F.B.I., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Wild Wild West, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Rockford Files with James Garner, and The Streets of San Francisco. On a personal note, his daughter Marilyn married fellow actor Harry Carey, Jr. in 1944. (Inventory #: 22218E)