1999-2010

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Exclusive! Farrah's producing partner on Emmy loss: "We didn't deserve to win!"


If only to recognize Farrah Fawcett for her contribution to television culture and American history, it would have been nice to see the disputed NBC special, Farrah's Story, win the Emmy for Outstanding Nonfiction Special at last night's creative arts awards ceremony. The loss was a blow to fans and friends, but not to Farrah's business and producing partner Craig Nevius, who produced the basis for the special with Farrah before she was weakened by cancer and he was edged out by her lover and caretaker Ryan O'Neal. Nevius sent Tabloid Baby this exclusive reaction:

In terms of Farrah's Story not winning: I have mixed emotions about it. I would have liked for Farrah to have been be honored her bravery, honesty and artistry-- not only in fighting this disease but in fighting it on camera in front of the whole world. But I can't lie and say the final product deserved to win.

As most everybody knows by now, the documentary was never finished (at least not if it was really Farrah's story). I was thinking about this on the way home last night. And I remembered a conversation I had with Farrah about her art. I asked her why she had so many unfinished paintings and sculptures. She explained that her art was like her life. It was always evolving and getting a little more interesting. That's why it needed to stay unfinished (for as long as it possibly could). I think my point is that Farrah wanted to surprise herself. She wanted to go to places that most other people, including herself, had never been before. Or even knew existed.


Like when we were in New York (shooting Chasing Farrah). We wrapped up a little early one afternoon and Farrah wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to go to the Empire State Building. That was the one thing that she had never had time to do on any previous trip to NYC. I told her that I would go with her. A few people from the crew came along -- including her old friend (and hair stylist) Mela Murphy as well as a new friend (and photographer) Lisa Boyle.

What was interesting about the trip was that Farrah immediately lost interest in the view from the 86th floor observatory where everyone else stood in awe of the skyline. That's because one of the security guards told us that there was an even higher vantage point in the building but the public wasn't allowed up there because it was a little bit dangerous. Well, that's all Farrah needed to hear. The fact that it was 'not allowed' and 'a little bit dangerous' made it all the more worth doing for her.


So we all went up to the 'tower attic.' It was like being inside a lighthouse that was still under construction. Except the floor was nothing but a metal construction grill that allowed you to see past your feet at a several story drop back down to the 86th floor. Actually, not all of us went up with Farrah. Mela wouldn't get out of the elevator. Lisa wouldn't even get in the elevator. This made it even more fun for Farrah who took delight in calling them both 'Fraidy cats!' She loved it.


I remember her giggling as she tested the sturdiness of the grill by hopping up and down on it like a kid on a new mattress. The view from the tower was so amazing that Farrah had to call her father to describe the sunset to him. Before we left Farrah noticed one of the tower walls: some construction workers and maintenance men had graffitied it. Well, Farrah didn't want to go without leaving her mark. I never forgot what she wrote.


Even though it sounded like a cliche I knew that it was more than that. I just didn't know what the deeper or more symbolic meaning was-- at least not at the time.

She wrote:

The Top
Farrah was here!

and proud of it!

It didn't matter to Farrah that most people would never see her name on that wall. Or even know that she was ever there. Because she knew. And she was proud of it.

It's a little bit like that with her documentary.

For me too.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

But you can sure as hell bet that Craig would have ACCEPTED that statue if her show won, no doubt!! He wants it both ways here, it's so obvious.

Is THIS how you honor your friend Craig, by continuing to publicly bash the special, Ryan and Alana? You are showing your true colors to all.

In the end, FF would have cut you out just like all the other leeches in her life. You are an easy book to read and it's sad you couldn't respect her passing in a more professional and INTROSPECTIVE manner. Shame on you.

Anonymous said...

You go Craig!!! I agree with you 100%!!! As I've stated before, Farrah's 'tainted' documentary did not deserve an Emmy, and it was obvious, the voters felt the same way! Farrah, however, should of received some kind of 'Special Emmy' in memory of her GREATNESS!

God Bless Ms. Farrah Fawcett!

Michael
Europe - THE FREAK !!!hahahahaha ... LOVE this new title I was given!!! :) Now, let me go cut out some more pictures of Farrah and hang them on my wall! LOL

Anonymous said...

On a different topic ... TABLOID BABY ... THEY BEAT YOU TO THE PUNCH!!!

Farrah Fawcett's Head Stone FINALLY has words on it! The only writing on it is her name in Capital Letters! Maybe it's not finished, for it seems there is a lot of space left under the name. At least I hope it's not finished!! Too plain and simple for someone who wasn't in real life!

Michael
Europe - The CREEPY Freak! :)

Anonymous said...

I hope the Emmys do a special tribute to Farrah this year.Also she deserves a Lifetine achievement award.
Why she never won when she was alive is beyond me.
Burning Bed,Poor Little Rich Girl,Small Sacrifices, Between Twow Women were all worth Emmy Wins as Far as Im concerned. Such A shame She went through such grief to prove to Hollywood that she could act and that's a hard road to travel when the only thing people thought about her was she was only beautiful.
Marilyn Monroe tried to prove she was more and never fully got the chance,but Farrah did brealk through that barrier and won and she should have been honored for it when she was alive!

Now as far as Farrah's Story not winning,well Ryan and Alana can take the blame for that.Everything those two try and do to exploit and make money off of Farrah's tragedy will only backfire.If they could only get REAL and HONEST then maybe they could honor her in a real way and not cheap exploitation.
Craig I hope you do get the chance to honor Farrah the way she should have and do it right and maybe
A Wing And A Prayer will get an Emmy and this woman's vision will be made and not the E True Hollywood story Alana and Ryan made. But Im sure as long as they got paid they could care less.
Good luck Craig and Kick some Ass, It's about time we all as people/fans get real and stop buying into exploitation and allowing Alana and Ryan laughing all the way to the bank.
Out Of town but found a hot spot and had to post.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the misspelling
on my previous post.


Michael Europe
The FF Playboy is supposed to Be November,but nothing comfimed,they still are debating they were to put a female wrestler on the cover and changed their minds and are thinking on doing a FF issue instead.
Google Farrah fawcett playboy 2009 and click news and the story will be in the story about changing their minds about putting a female wrestler on the cover,her name is Brook something.But you can read it there.

Anonymous said...

Mchael your not a creepy freak, those who and those who enjoyed the exploitation of FF are the freaks.

Anonymous said...

I think I know who you are Anon! AND thanks for your kindness! I will search regarding the Playboy. I HOPE it does come true! Just received the magazines my brother sent me. I read Vanity Fair and I have this to comment on.

I think Ryan got a bad rap from this interview's RECAPS. DO NOT GET ME WRONG ... I am not PRO Ryan, BUT however, I call it how I see it, in this case READ it!

Seems as with EVERY celebrity, these things are done constantly, maybe on purpose, to give the celebrity publicity or whatever, or maybe not. In any event, in Ryan's case this is how I saw it:

Some comments were 'taken' from Ryan's Vanity Fair interview and taken out of text to make a BIG DEAL out of nothing! It is TRUE that I don't think, as a father, he should of commented on his kids the way he did, and at least to his credit, he was being honest. However, regarding the other stuff, you can tell he was just joking ... making light of a bad situation. I guess it's just his way. Recently I saw an interview Ryan and Farrah did with Arsinial (sp?) Hall back in 1990 to promote Good Sports (the show they had together). He acted the same way, and you can tell, he was trying to be 'cute' and maybe 'ham' it up. Just like his ex wife said about him, I think there is some 'goodness' in him, but it's tough for him to show it. I think it does stem from his childhood or whatever he endured in life. He is a man with serious issues. A man who NEVER GREW UP! SAD, but TRUE! Kind of felt 'sorry' for him.

If what he said about Farrah and Redmond is true, then Farrah shares a lot of the fault on how Redmond 'turned out'. I'm talking about the part where Ryan said Farrah didn't want Redmond cause she was doing her Art thing (probably the one she did with that guy and they made a book together). Also, I do not beleive that the Letterman Show was an 'act'. I'm not saying Farrah was on drugs, for I won't beleive that, HOWEVER, I do think she had some kind of problem. Most probably she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Even in the All of Me video where she is crying at the end saying the stuff she said. Didn't make sense. Either that or she did it on PURPOSE to gain attention to her and gain publicity in order to get back on top, and return for a comeback!

Now let me get back to hanging the photos I cut out onto my wall! LOL

Michael
Europe

Anonymous said...

Michael,hi,I totally agree with you!!!I am sure Craig will fight for Farrah,it makes me sick to think of what they have done behind her back.And O'Neal sure seems to be devasteted,LOL...
Cinnandchoc

Anonymous said...

I read some of the Letter to Greg from Farrah and it does not sound like any bitterness towards him at all
I hear there are more letters in 2008 and 2009 and I hope they get released. I think Ryan was jealous, it's very obvious Farrah and Ryan were not the love story Ryan is trying to salvage his career off of. I think Ryan was friend who happened to share a child with farrah and farrah had him around and had a civil relationship for the sake of her son. I think they were on and off again from 2001-2009 but not the love story Ryan is trying to sell I think that ended in 1997.

Anonymous said...

Craig Kick some Alana and Ryan Ass in court
Anyone with more then 2 brain cells know Ryan and Alana both are full of it!
Watching Alana on ET at her book signing smiling as though she's Farrah herself makes me sick.
Alana looked as though she had not a care in the world and quite happy. She was even photographed with her book and Raquel Welch who is a good friend of Alana's. I know in 1997 Farrah said how mean Raquel was to her and mean in general on Howard stern. Maybe they made up since then.

Roselvr said...

Craig, I for one am glad you are talking. You're one of the only ones I trust to give a decent story.

I feel that had it won; yes, you would have accepted the award because as you said, a lot of your work was there, but it was the lack of "Farrah's vision" that it did not win.

Your interviews could have been different, instead you chose to honor Farrah like no other interview has done.

Thank you.
You have my support.

Anonymous said...

If there are any fans of Farrah still monitoring this blog, please, please help out by leaving a flower or token for her at Find A Grave. Its free to sign up. MJ is really beating her bad and I hate to see that happen. I like MJ too but its unfair with all the media attention he's getting. I leave a flower for her each day. You can leave only one per day so there is only so much I can do alone. Here's the link: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=38733716 God bless you all. Thanks for helping out. I love Farrah Fawcett!