Breaking Character: Since Lee J. Cobb’s premier as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in 1949, four actors have played the role on Broadway, each with their own point of view toward the struggling salesman, but the shadow of Cobb hovers over them all. Such an iconic portrayal remains alive in the cultural memory, and Cobb’s legacy has informed all subsequent performances in one way or another.
1 comment:
The story this article presents truly illustrates the double-edged nature of "iconic" performances. They both lend something more to the text they are performing, while also inherently taking away some of the choice naturally present in any text. As in the case of Cobb's performance, the text became largely inextricably linked to that particular presentation of Loman. Even as I was reading Death of a Salesman for a sophomore english class in high school, I could not envision anyone but Cobb as Loman because someone (perhaps my teacher) had asserted that he was the standard against which all Willy Lomans would be judged. Willy Loman is a character that can be played through a variety of perspectives; indeed, the noted actors who played him after Cobb utilized some of those different ways of perceiving his character. But with a "standard", untouchable iconic performance to "measure up" to, I fear all other performances will never be given the credence and unadulterated consideration they deserve.
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