Jason Holliday | |
|---|---|
 Jason Holliday in "Portrait of Jason," 1967 | |
| Born | (1924-06-08)June 8, 1924 |
| Died | June 15, 1998(1998-06-15) (aged 74) Flushing, New York, US |
| Occupation(s) | hustler, nightclub performer |
| Known for | Star ofShirley Clarke's 1967 documentaryPortrait of Jason |
Jason Holliday (bornAaron Payne; June 8, 1924 – June 15, 1998) was an American hustler and nightclub performer. He is the star ofShirley Clarke's 1967 documentaryPortrait of Jason.[1]
The facts surrounding Aaron Payne's life are unresolved. In Holliday's own words:
Began career at five years old as errand boy for prostitutes, pimps, bootleggers, schoolteachers, doctors, lawyers, etc. — and anyone else I could get a buck out of. Lonely old men and hot old maids.[1]
Payne said, "Jason Holliday was created inSan Francisco, and San Francisco is a place to be created."[2]
He was born in eitherMontgomery, Alabama, orTrenton, New Jersey. His parents, Fannie and Eugene, owned Payne's Restaurant in Trenton, but were from the South. Payne attended Rider Business College for one year before moving on to the Actors Workshop inHollywood, where he studied withCharles Laughton. He then studied at theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, along withCarl Lee, the man who introduced Payne to Shirley Clarke.[1]
The details get even less clear afterPortrait of Jason. In 1967, Holliday recorded an LP of a comedy act which was eventually released in 2007 as an edited version.[1]
Aaron Payne's obituary appeared inThe Trentonian on July 31, 1998. He died inFlushing and was survived by two sisters, six nieces and two nephews, and was cremated at Oxford Hills Crematory inChester, New York.
A month before shooting, Holliday metAndy Warhol at a bar throughPaul Morrissey. Warhol attempted to make a film starring Holliday andEdie Sedgwick, but it never materialized.[1] Shirley Clarke went on to makePortrait of Jason.
In an interview withJonas Mekas for hisVillage Voice column in 1967, Holliday said:
I know I am a great actor and I got a chance to prove it ... I wondered if people would think I was a homosexual, bisexual or heterosexual. I wondered if I was great enough to convince them I was all three … I was aware filmwise of what I was doing. I never got too far beyond my image. But what is my image? Other than a well-dressed, well-liked swinging cat? I also play many roles in life. I was also hip enough to do it on the screen – dig it?[1]
Richard Brody wrote of Holliday's performance:
"Jason Holliday," the character in the film, is the performance of the frustrated performer who performs everywhere but where he wants to (on stage), the mask for a man who lives with masks, whose very persona is that of the mask and whose most scathingly self-revealing stories concern his ruses, his evasions, his deceptions...[3]
The film criticVito Russo wrote: "two hours with Jason Holliday is like a month in another country."[4]
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