In the role of James Court, Diane's father, is JOHN MAHONEY. A complex man, Court is seemingly a perfect parent who is very protective of his daughter and her brilliant future. His concern for those around him also extends to the elderly whom he cares for with great compassion at the nursing home he owns. Yet his sense of self-righteousness ultimately leads him astray.
"James Court is a fascinating, amoral character," Mahoney notes. "He never realizes or accepts that he's done anything wrong. When he's confronted with the terrible things he's done, he merely rationalizes them away. He really believes he's providing these elderly people with a way of life they can't get anywhere else. Consequently, he feels that he has the right to shoose how he is to be repaid for that service. I truly believe he really had the best intentions in the world of providing a good life for these people, but it got to a point where he became dependent on the money he was taking from them to do that.
"I liked this film because the script was well-written and provocative. It's unusual to find a story about young people treating older people with respect and affection. There's a tendency to lump older people into an undesirable category and treat them as thought they're idiots, but this film treats all of the elderly residents with dignity."
British-born actor John Mahoney, although a latecomer to acting, has compiled an impressive array of stage and screen credits in a very short time. On screen, he has recently appeared in "Eight Men Out" (with John Cusack) as William "Kid" Gleeson, the tough but fair Chicago White Sox manager, and in "Betrayed" as Shorty, a sympathetic farmer who is also a racist. Prior to these roles he played an ineffectual protocol officer at the American Embassy in Paris in "Frantic" and an amorous college professor who wanders into the life of Olympia Dukakis in "Moonstruck." His earlier screen credits include "Code of Silence" (Which marked his film debute), "The Manhattan Project," "Streets of Gold," "Tin Men" and "Suspect." Since completing "Say Anyting," he filmed Bud Yorkin's "Love Hurts," in which he stars a Jeff Daniel's father.
Born in Manchester, England, Mahoney developed an early interest in the stage, performing classics with the Stratford Children's Theatre between the ages of ten and thirteen. After graduating high school, he was briefly associated with the Birmingham Repertory Company. Upon moving to the United States at nineteen, he served a stint in the Army and taught English at Western Illinois University. Then, at 35, after a successful career as an editor of medical journals in Chicago, he decided to change careers and pursue his early love, theatre. He enrolled in classes at Chicago's St. Nicholas Theatre, where David Mamet was then a moving force, and landed his first professional role in the world premiere of Mamet's "The Water Engine." His appearance in "Ashes," with John Malkovich, led to his membership in Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theatre. And despite his subsequent successes in film and on the New York stage, he still regularly returns to work with the company.
A consummat stage actor, Mahoney has appeared in over thirty producions at the Steppenwolf Theatre and has been nominated three times for Chicago's Josiph Jefferson Award for his work in "The Hothouse," "Taking Steps" and "Deathe Of A Salesman." His New York debut in 1985, as Harold in the off-broadway production of "Orphans," brought him a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk nomination. The following year he made his Broadway debut in "The House of Blue Leaves," winning a Tony, the Clarence Derwent Award and Drama Desk nominationg for his performance as Artie.
For television, Mahoney's credits include "Chicago Story," "The Killing Floor," "First Step," "Lady Blue" and "Prisoner of Silence."
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