How Stirling Silliphant, One of the 20Th Century's
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How Stirling Silliphant, One Of The 20th Century’s Greatest Writers, Became My Mentor Chapter 8/Finale Connected at the Hip Forever! By John Corcoran “There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed or spoken one word of encour- agement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts as well as our success.” —George Adams, philosopher I moved from L.A. to Tampa/St. Petersburg in central cutthroats and thieves, Nat stands out as the antithesis: Florida from 1983-90, initially to work on a motion- A person of high character and a dependable man of picture opportunity that ultimately fizzled out. As his word. Nat had done one of the last elaborate Q&A fate would have it, while there I ended up editing yet interviews with Stirling, via countless fax exchanges another martial arts magazine, “Fighter International,” with him between Bangkok and L.A. Nat and I had the first full-color publication ever produced in Ameri- nothing to gain by coming to the widow’s rescue. We can martial arts. During this seven-year period, I was did it out of our mutual respect for Stirling. mainly in touch with Stirling’s lovely wife, the glo- betrotting Tiana Alexandra-Silliphant, whose acting Conversely, many people who had benefited profes- career was taking off, and I wrote some newspieces sionally, some magnificently so, from their connection about her activities. with and to Stirling during his life were conspicu- ous by their absence! As Tiana remarked to me many We Got a Fair Maiden Tied to the times, “Where are all the people that Stirling made Railroad Tracks! Where the Hell’s the millionaires of now that his widow needs help?” Hero, Hollywood? Adding to Tiana’s existing financial crisis was the sud- After those seven career-challenging years in Florida, den, mysterious suspension of royalties/residuals for I moved back to L.A. in January 1991. Stirling and Stirling’s past work. Payments flow from a project’s Tiana had already relocated to Bangkok, Thailand in commercial life after its first broadcast and can con- July 1988, where he had semi-retired, and we were tinue to generate revenue, on a descending scale, for completely out of touch until I re-established contact decades. Depending on how many runs in how many with Tiana after Stirling’s death. On April 26, 1996, small markets, this can amount to a great deal or a Stirling, at age 78, died of prostate cancer in Bangkok. great nothing. In the case of international sales, royalty His estate was left in turmoil and complicated legal checks may depend upon the veracity of entanglements and Tiana, who had returned to L.A., the distributor. was overwhelmed with the complex problems of try- ing to put it in order. With an astonishing output of 200 TV and movie cred- its, as both a writer and a producer, Stirling’s estate Nat Segaloff, author of Stirling’s 2014 quintessen- should have had a constant stream of residuals still tial biography, “The Fingers of God,” and I stepped coming in from some of them. Furthermore, produc- forward for some four years to help her — and Nat ers get the lion’s share of residuals. After his death, it more so than anybody else. This is when I met and was estimated that Stirling’s projects collectively had got to know him. In an industry abounding with liars, earned over $1-billion! Tiana’s letter inviting me to meet her and SS in Miami. On the other hand, toward the end of his life when he ing “Ninjamania” trend. Later, it produced bigger- needed cash, Stirling may have sold back his screen- budget mainstream films, but continued cranking out play share of some projects to their producers, al- martial arts pictures. though the paperwork was not forthcoming. Because of this, Tiana was convinced she was being cheated The company was already in production on its first out of residuals owed to the estate. In dire straits and martial arts film, “Enter the Ninja” (released in Octo- with the IRS pursuing her for a massive unpaid back- ber 1981) when I established contact with Priscilla. I tax debt, at one point she found herself had sent her a copy of the May 1981 issue of “Kick Il- practically homeless. lustrated,” the magazine I was editing at the time. The cover story, which I wrote, focused on the retirement The harsh reality of Tiana’s struggles and lack of sup- from competition of Atlanta’s Keith Vitali, America’s port from Stirling’s network of friends and colleagues number-one-ranked fighter. She was apparently im- led to my own disenchantment with Hollywood in pressed by his movie-star good looks and ended up general and screenwriting in particular. Another reason signing him to a multi-picture deal, which launched was because of something that happened at the 1997 his post-competition film career. Oscars®. Of all organizations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences misspelled his name! Apparently, Priscilla liked my writing style, too. She called me one day in July 1981 to set up a meeting Each year at the televised Oscars©, the Academy runs with me to discuss the potential of my writing a ninja- a brief clip and/or picture, along with their names, of themed script for Cannon. Even before that phone call, all of the Academy Award© winners who died in the she had sent me a script to read that was personally previous year. When Stirling’s visual was presented, delivered by my old acquaintance, actor Sho Kosugi, some idiot spelled his name “Sterling” Silliphant. who disliked that script and implored me to get the job to rewrite it. (Sho would go on to become the most I was outraged. My immediate thought was, ”They prolific star of films in the ninja genre, playing count- oughtta fire the guy who made that error! Besides be- less roles as both hero and villain). ing an Oscar©-winner, here’s an industry giant whose canon of TV and filmwork was probably unprecedent- There was one big problem with Cannon Films, ed in his era and they can’t even spell his name right!” though, and everyone in Hollywood was aware of I called Tiana right after the broadcast and we vented it. The company was notorious for reputedly stiffing together over that error. writers and the casts and crews that worked on its many movies. Reportedly, veteran actress Shelly Win- My Adventures/Misadventures as a ters once kept an expensive diamond ring she wore Sideline Screenwriter while working on a Cannon-produced film as a means to force Cannon to pay her for her work. When Chuck In terms of our mentor-protégé relationship, I would Norris signed a multi-picture contract with Cannon, never become a Stirling Silliphant — and we both, he reportedly told his stunt crew that normally worked of course, knew that. Compared to the King, I’m not with him that he could not guarantee any payments even a vassal! He clearly recognized my passion and owed to them by Cannon. talent for martial arts writing. Screenwriting was just a professional sideline for me and I’ve taken a few With Priscilla’s permission, I brought an acquaintance serious shots at it over the years. Here’s a summary, with me named Bob Easter, a big, burly Vietnam starting with my first writer-producer meeting, one veteran whose nickname was “Bear.” Bob was an that would take a shocking, unforeseen turn! established screenwriter with produced credits. I had no credits yet, so I knew teaming up with him could be In 1981, I had been in contact with Priscilla McDon- the key to finessing the deal. ald, a strikingly beautiful and very competent execu- tive at Cannon Films. Cannon would become a pro- Everything commenced calmly and professionally dur- digious producer of very profitable B-movies in the ing our pitch meeting. Then, about five minutes into it, martial arts/ninja genre and a key player in the grow- Bob suddenly leaped out of his chair and — all kid- My letter to Cannon Films’ Priscilla McDonald after reading a script she sent to me. ding aside — threw a fit! He launched into a bellowing week! But at least, they already had the basic storyline tirade about Cannon’s bad rep for not paying writers it cemented and could dictate most of what they wanted hired and said he wasn’t about to be screwed by them in the script. on a writing gig! He was so angry I thought he was gonna turn violent and bust up the office, and I knew George took the deal, brought me in on it, and we he was scaring the hell out of Priscilla. immediately leaped into action. As a Writer’s Guild member, union regulations prevented him from writ- After I recovered from my momentary speechless ing a non-union, low-budget picture. So, he mentored shock, I calmed him down and Priscilla quietly ad- me as I wrote it, giving me a updated crash course in journed the meeting. I was terribly embarrassed since I screenwriting and earning me full screen credit. was the one who had brought Bob there. Upon leav- ing, I apologized to her profusely and did so again by I was very rusty at the craft of screenwriting at that phone later that day.