Real-Life Influences
Much of Alfred Uhry's critically acclaimed Driving Miss Daisy was directly influenced by his own experience of growing up as a Jew in the south. Uhry explains that, "Two of the characters were composites of people in my family—my parents, my grandmother, my brother-in-law, my aunts, a few cousins and myself. The third character, Hoke Coleburn, was pretty much based on Will Coleman, my grandmother’s chauffeur." The playwrite wrote very specifically about time and place.
A great deal of his female characters are based on the women he's observed in his life. Having suffered the loss of his father at age 18, Uhry grew up surrounded primarily by women--his grandmother, mother and sister.
Uhry says, "Writing is listening. I remember the way people sounded. I had an Aunt Coeinne who died when I was about ten. She was the basis of Dana Ivey’s character, Boo [The Last Night of Ballyhoo]. Frankly, I don’t remember her that well, but I remember family stories of what she did. And I could hear her voice—what I think was her voice—although when I got into the play enough I started to hear Dana Ivey’s [actress in a revival performance of The Last Night of Ballyhoo] voice as well. If I’m writing a Southern play and there’s a character Dana’s age—it’s irresistible because I don’t know any finer actress than Dana. Dana knocks the ball out of the park every time."
On Morgan Freeman's performance as Hoke Colburn, Urhy reflects, "I never had to worry about Morgan because I think he understood the play better than I did."
He says that the relationship between Daisy and Boolie Worthan is inspired between the relationship between his mother and himself, as his grandmother had no sons. "You know, my mother is deeply involved in this thing because it is her story," he says.
The creation and success of Driving Miss Daisy has helped Uhry form a greater relationship with his religion. He says, "This has been therapeutic in a nice way. For the last few years I’ve conducted my own Seders. I’d be embarrassed to have anybody who was a particularly good Jew come to it, but it’s enough . . . I am getting better about my Judaism." As many do, Uhry is one that believes in Judaism as more than a religion, but also as a greater culture. "There is something about being Jewish, even as un-Jewish as I was brought up to be, that’s in the marrow of your bones."
He refers to Driving Miss Daisy as a memoir about his childhood above all. Daisy Worthan comes from his grandmother, Lena Fox, an "irascible" and "feisty" woman, who takes herself very seriously, much like her fictional doppelgänger. Uhry recognizes the comedy of his grandmother, citing these qualities as part of what make both her and Daisy so lovable.
Where Daisy is a hardened character, Hoke Colburn, her chauffeur, can be thought of as her foil to an extent. Based on Will Coleman, the chauffeur to "Miss Lena," he too was hired after a mishap with an automobile and garage door. Uhry explains, "Hoke is a more socially evolved man than she is. Of course, he hasn’t had any education. He’s functionally illiterate when he comes to work for her. And he’s an old man, too. But they learn from each other that label aren’t it. It’s what’s inside yourself that’s it. And that people need to realize that about each other." Much like Hoke, Coleman evolved into a member of the Uhry family. Though Fox detested the idea of having a chauffeur, initially, he visited her regularly when she was moved to a nursing home until she died at age 95 in 1973, sat with the family at her funeral and stayed on with the Uhrys until he passed away at 94. While Hoke is predominantly based on Coleman, there are also traces of other black chauffeurs Uhry had known during his youth.
Boolie is a conglomerate of various men Uhry knew, including himself, and is by far the most mixed character in terms of inspiration.
Having grown up in a primarily Jewish community in Atlanta, Uhry witnessed much of the history employed in his play. Segregation was typical, and being Jewish was not. “Being Jewish was some sort of defect that you had to overcome like being lame or being blind. So I grew up with a chip on my shoulder," he said. The film adaptation of Driving Miss Daisy was filmed in the neighborhood Uhry grew up in with his mother, father, sister, and live-in grandmother. Lena Fox, like Daisy Worthan, was a widowed ex-schoolteacher. Though the core of Daisy comes from Lena Fox, Uhry admits that there is also a notable amount of influence from his grandmother's four sisters, and his mother, as well.
Uhry considers his play a blueprint for tolerance and advocacy. “What we see in the play is the kind of patience that’s needed from people who are essentially powerless. Not just Hoke but Miss Daisy….Really powerless to curb the things that went wrong in Atlanta and in the South in general – in America in general. We didn’t have much power. Not that we would have used it well if we had. But you will have a chance to see people functioning from powerlessness,” he said.
A great deal of his female characters are based on the women he's observed in his life. Having suffered the loss of his father at age 18, Uhry grew up surrounded primarily by women--his grandmother, mother and sister.
Uhry says, "Writing is listening. I remember the way people sounded. I had an Aunt Coeinne who died when I was about ten. She was the basis of Dana Ivey’s character, Boo [The Last Night of Ballyhoo]. Frankly, I don’t remember her that well, but I remember family stories of what she did. And I could hear her voice—what I think was her voice—although when I got into the play enough I started to hear Dana Ivey’s [actress in a revival performance of The Last Night of Ballyhoo] voice as well. If I’m writing a Southern play and there’s a character Dana’s age—it’s irresistible because I don’t know any finer actress than Dana. Dana knocks the ball out of the park every time."
On Morgan Freeman's performance as Hoke Colburn, Urhy reflects, "I never had to worry about Morgan because I think he understood the play better than I did."
He says that the relationship between Daisy and Boolie Worthan is inspired between the relationship between his mother and himself, as his grandmother had no sons. "You know, my mother is deeply involved in this thing because it is her story," he says.
The creation and success of Driving Miss Daisy has helped Uhry form a greater relationship with his religion. He says, "This has been therapeutic in a nice way. For the last few years I’ve conducted my own Seders. I’d be embarrassed to have anybody who was a particularly good Jew come to it, but it’s enough . . . I am getting better about my Judaism." As many do, Uhry is one that believes in Judaism as more than a religion, but also as a greater culture. "There is something about being Jewish, even as un-Jewish as I was brought up to be, that’s in the marrow of your bones."
He refers to Driving Miss Daisy as a memoir about his childhood above all. Daisy Worthan comes from his grandmother, Lena Fox, an "irascible" and "feisty" woman, who takes herself very seriously, much like her fictional doppelgänger. Uhry recognizes the comedy of his grandmother, citing these qualities as part of what make both her and Daisy so lovable.
Where Daisy is a hardened character, Hoke Colburn, her chauffeur, can be thought of as her foil to an extent. Based on Will Coleman, the chauffeur to "Miss Lena," he too was hired after a mishap with an automobile and garage door. Uhry explains, "Hoke is a more socially evolved man than she is. Of course, he hasn’t had any education. He’s functionally illiterate when he comes to work for her. And he’s an old man, too. But they learn from each other that label aren’t it. It’s what’s inside yourself that’s it. And that people need to realize that about each other." Much like Hoke, Coleman evolved into a member of the Uhry family. Though Fox detested the idea of having a chauffeur, initially, he visited her regularly when she was moved to a nursing home until she died at age 95 in 1973, sat with the family at her funeral and stayed on with the Uhrys until he passed away at 94. While Hoke is predominantly based on Coleman, there are also traces of other black chauffeurs Uhry had known during his youth.
Boolie is a conglomerate of various men Uhry knew, including himself, and is by far the most mixed character in terms of inspiration.
Having grown up in a primarily Jewish community in Atlanta, Uhry witnessed much of the history employed in his play. Segregation was typical, and being Jewish was not. “Being Jewish was some sort of defect that you had to overcome like being lame or being blind. So I grew up with a chip on my shoulder," he said. The film adaptation of Driving Miss Daisy was filmed in the neighborhood Uhry grew up in with his mother, father, sister, and live-in grandmother. Lena Fox, like Daisy Worthan, was a widowed ex-schoolteacher. Though the core of Daisy comes from Lena Fox, Uhry admits that there is also a notable amount of influence from his grandmother's four sisters, and his mother, as well.
Uhry considers his play a blueprint for tolerance and advocacy. “What we see in the play is the kind of patience that’s needed from people who are essentially powerless. Not just Hoke but Miss Daisy….Really powerless to curb the things that went wrong in Atlanta and in the South in general – in America in general. We didn’t have much power. Not that we would have used it well if we had. But you will have a chance to see people functioning from powerlessness,” he said.
Source: http://bombmagazine.org/article/2088/alfred-uhry
Source: http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Entertainment/What-drives-Alfred-Uhry
Source: http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/theatre-arts/alfred-uhry-going-into-reverse-and-the-inspiration-for-miss-daisy-34669223.html
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1990/04/01/move-over-scarlett-here-comes-daisy/5be5deda-dffd-4264-b143-ebe3f604ea57/?utm_term=.bb32131ecb60
Source: http://www.jpost.com/Arts-and-Culture/Entertainment/What-drives-Alfred-Uhry
Source: http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/theatre-arts/alfred-uhry-going-into-reverse-and-the-inspiration-for-miss-daisy-34669223.html
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1990/04/01/move-over-scarlett-here-comes-daisy/5be5deda-dffd-4264-b143-ebe3f604ea57/?utm_term=.bb32131ecb60