Zelig in La La Land

Harry Dean Stanton's career expanded over the next decade with multiple appearances on television and in films such as director Monte Hellman's Ride in the Whirlwind in 1966 and a year later Cool Hand Luke, which fixed his face, if not his name, in many moviegoers' minds. Between roles he hung out with fellow actors such as Jack Nicholson and Warren Oates at Schwab's Pharmacy and Chez Paulette. He and Nicholson even became housemates for a while and took acting lessons from blacklisted actor/teacher Jeff Corey and actor Martin Landau, both influenced by the Stanislavski-inspired Method school of acting eschewed at the more traditional Pasadena Playhouse. Harry Dean and his pals discussed philosophy and Beat poetry and became part of the hip set in Laurel Canyon. Meanwhile, back home, Ersel moved to Florida with her new husband, Stanley McKnight. She and her actor son stayed in touch but often through horrific fights over the phone. Stanley died at 51 the same year Cool Hand Luke came out. Harry Dean's father never remarried, worked his barbershop, and lived in a room behind it.