Learning of the sudden passing this past Friday of actor Don LaBranche at the age of 76 was particularly saddening not only to myself but to so many others who worked with him. As many of you know, Don was, besides being a well-known stage actor throughout New Hampshire, in some ways the 'face' of both of my feature-length films,
Old Man Dogs (1997) and
Dangerous Crosswinds (2005).
In
Old Man Dogs Don portrayed 'Ned Noonan', an elderly hermit who went by the nickname of 'Old Man Dogs', and spent his days digging up holes all over Mount Penobscot, looking for the remains of his long-deceased wife and daughter.
To this day, whenever Don would call me on the phone, he would start off with 'Hi Bill, it's Dogs'' which, of course, would always make me smile. You couldn't compare him to anyone else. He was dependable, relentlessly loyal to the material and his acting abilities gave me, as a first-time feature-film director, an enormous boost of confidence in what we were attempting to accomplish with this film. Low-budget independent films endlessly strive for authenticity and from the very first moment Don appears onscreen (with shovel in hand and walking away from the camera) our film had achieved that.
Eight years later I had the privilege to work with Don again on
Dangerous Crosswinds and this time he played a completely different character, the multi-layered seasoned attorney 'Alec Holbrook'. I remember driving to the Dunkin Donuts in Straham, NH with Bill McNally (the lead actor in
Old Man Dogs) to offer Don the part. I wanted to have my 'act' together when I explained the new production to Don and having Bill with me ensured that I did. I respected Don so much as a person that I'd be furious with myself if I wasn't prepared and ending up wasting his time.
The last time I saw Don was this past August when I interviewed him for a documentary that we're currently producing on the making of
Old Man Dogs (to be included with the upcoming DVD re-issue). He was in wonderful spirits that day and especially upbeat when we discussed our next film,
Death & Glory, and how I was determined to cast Don in a comic role as I knew how terrific and unique he could be in such a role. Unfortunately, that will never happen.
It was during those interviews for the
Dogs documentary that I was especially struck (though I can't say surprised) by the nonstop praise heaped on Don by his fellow cast & crew members. Lead Actress Julia Radochia said, with no room for debate, 'Well Don, he's simply the best." Production Manager Paul Foster commented that he thought Don's performance in the film was 'tremendous' and added how much it meant to him getting to know Don during the production. Wendell Goodrum mentioned how he, like Don, had appeared in both of my films but how they had yet to appear in a same together. Wendell hoped that this would change in
Death & Glory. Bill McNally, in particular, was very emotional in describing his time working with Don, how he's forever indebted to Don for being patient, generous with his time and guiding him in all of their scenes together (as
Old Man Dogs was Bill's first film).
Don LaBranche was more than just an actor who gave arguably two of the most memorable performances in New Hampshire filmmaking history. For me, Don was a good friend - who also happened to be a wonderfully talented and unique actor. Rest in peace Don, one thing I know for sure is that we will all be thinking of you when the time comes to start our next film and seeing how well we can move forward without the dependable safety net which you were to all of us.
