All in the Naughton Family
The Tony Award-winning theater, film, and television actor James Naughton (who also just happens to be on our Board!) appears in All in the Family here on Monday, April 11. He’ll be appearing with his children Keira and Greg as well as daughter-in-law Kelli O’Hara — all of whom are leading lights in the Broadway world.
This week, I talk with Jim about the concert and his talented offspring.
Can you tell us a bit about what you and your family are doing for the All in the Family concert on Monday?
We’ve done this a couple of times and it’s something that we really enjoy — in fact, there’s nothing more fun for me than singing with them. Greg and I are going to do a song that we first did in Williamstown, oh, probably 30 years ago. He was a 16- or 17-year-old kid working as a waiter in the summertime while I was doing plays up there. We sang a Righteous Brothers song, “Soul and Inspiration.” It’s a big, rousing song, so it gives us an opportunity to blast away. As it turns out, President Clinton is a big fan of The Righteous Brothers, so we did it in 1998 in the White House. It was broadcast on PBS, a Live from the White House kinda deal. It was a lot of fun, and we’ve done it once or twice since then.
My daughter-in-law Kelli is going to sing a song that Greg wrote “When the Sun Went Out.” They’ve also recorded it together. My daughter Keira is going to sing a song that she wrote — it’s called “Dirty and Disheveled.” It’s sung from the viewpoint of a woman who likes knuckle-dragging men: “Here’s to the cowboys because they work with animals, here’s to the man who works the jackhammers. It’s very funny. The four of us will do a really beautiful James Taylor version of a song called “That Lonesome Road,” which we’ll sing a cappella.
What other performances have you been involved in together?
Two years ago, my daughter directed me in a one-man show at the Berkshires, and recently she co-directed me in a show at the 92Y. Just last Friday I was playing a cop in an independent film that Greg is directing. It’s wonderful because it’s the family business and the kids were raised with an understanding of how things work. I’ve thought through the years that they would each turn out to be really good directors and it’s turned out to be true.
How do you think your career in the arts influenced your children to pursue careers in the arts?
I’ve always been of the opinion that kids basically have two choices: they either follow what you’re gonna do, or they go in the opposite direction. In my case, they obviously didn’t go in the opposite direction. During the 80s I spent just about every summer in Williamstown, so they saw the best of the business. We were doing plays by Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams performed by the “who’s who” in the American theater at the time. I’d rent a house there for the summer and we’d all go. The kids were in those really formative ages, from 10 or 11 through 16. They went to tennis camp up at Williams College and afterwards would hang out with other actors they met over the summers.
When they were going to college, I told both Keira and Greg, “Go to a good school, get a real education. Don’t major in theater. Afterwards, if you still want to do it, go to a professional school, a drama school.” And they did — they both did that.
How about the grandkids? Any early interest in the performing arts?
My grandson Owen is almost seven and taking piano lessons; sometimes I get to sit in every once in a while. And I go to the recitals, which is adorable. And my other little guy, Charlie — Keira’s boy — is three-and-a-half. He’s very theatrical in everything he does. He loves trucks more than anything else, but he’s a real sponge. We took him to see the Nutcracker in December, and he sat there with eyes wide as saucers for two and a half hours through the whole thing.
Looking back, did you hope to have a family so involved with the Performing Arts?
When I was a young man watching other families who had children working together, like Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson and their daughters, I knew then. I could see then the total delight those actors took when they were working with their children, and I’m thankful to have the same.
