Great 70s Dads: Roger Winslet at 2008 Oscars

 

Of all the key moments at the 2008 Oscars, who could forget the single shot of Kate Winslet's pa, way way back in the mezzanine, his big black slouch hat on, rosy cheeks, as cheery and unshowy about it as you could ask. In a way he was in a way a bit reminischent of Jack Nicholson, who's easygoing rogue charm usually fills in the front row, usually (was he there that night? Who remembers.) Winslet won for THE READER, a film that to me epitomizes all  that's wrong with craftsmanship Oscarbait (see my Oscarbait checklist for the Reader here), but Winslet deserved to win, for HEAVENLY CREATURES, her debut which is still iressistable to this old codger's eyes, and for having a salty-looking 70s dad like Roger.

From the site Free Frank Warner 2-23-09

  Kate Winslet accepting the best actress Academy Award and wondering aloud where he father was in the audience.

"Dad, whistle or something ’cause then I’ll know where you are."
Roger Winslet whistled so loud everyone in the world heard him. (Dad is an actor, too, appearing in several television productions. Kate is 33. Dad is 69.)

The UK's Daily Mail ran a thing about Kate's childhood where she talked of being poor, fat and bullied, which proved in the face of it to be exaggeration:

Kate Winslet never seems to tire of repeating the story of her miserable adolescence. She says that she was fat, weighing 13 stone when she was 15 years old and nicknamed-Blubber' at school.She was picked on and bullied, mentally and physically, and even locked in a cupboard; or so she says. 'I was bullied for being chubby. Where are they now!' she tells this month's Marie Claire.

Class act: Kate Winslet who grew up in a working class family in Reading, Berks., pictured with her sister Beth and father Roger.

It is interesting that, now that she has won an Oscar as Best Actress, Kate feels that she wants to talk about her past misfortunes.

It rather gives a different dimension to her current achievements and acknowledged beauty: that she has suffered in earlier life makes her seem, perhaps, all the more likeable.

But speaking to some of the friends from those early days, one can't help but become a little suspicious about just how very miserable it all was.

It is true that the Winslet family did indeed live in a small terrace house, and she shared a bedroom with her sister Anna while her father, Roger, took on all kinds of part-time work to supplement his faltering acting career.

And yet, despite a lack of ready cash Roger to this day drives an ancient Vauxhall car, the fact is that money was found to send both Kate and Anna to a private theatre school. Kate went aged ten to Redroofs, then based in Reading, at a cost of £1,000 a term. (more)

Now, why would such a childhood indicate a 70s dad? It's not the childhood, it's the remembrance and the freedom to talk about. Were her childhood truly dismal I don't think she would remember it the way she does, or be so free to talk about it with journaliststs. A great 70s dad, as I've discussed in past 70s dad entries, is a master of indirectly inspiring rebellion against himself; he provides for his kids while seeming to be louche and undisciplined, to free the child from the neurosis caused by parental expectations, anxieties and insecurities. If Kate knew their lives were semi-impoverished JUST SO she could go to a tony drama school, she might have decided not to go. Instead she seems to not make the connection at all.

A great 70s dad runs counter to the average hypocrite:  they preach vice but practice virtue; they roll their eyes at the self-sacrificing martyr while doing them one better. Looking at those pics above, the truth is all there in the casual smiles, the relaxed atmosphere. At the Oscar podium Winslet didn't need to paint her father in noble colors; she just spake directly to him, "Whistle!" and he whistled immediately - he was right there, like a faithful steed; he seemed to be having a great old time way the hell back in the audience, completely relaxed and needing no validation, no 'credit' for her win. Not worrying if he would be thanked or not, he doesn't need it and that's why he deserves it. In that winning sense he's a cross between Stella Dallas and Andrew Undershaft in Major Barbara.

Still in a punk band and it's not weird? Yep, 70s dad

Lastly, you can tell he's a 70s dad by the persona of Winslet herself, her keen thrilling sense of gravitas and lack of self-serious sanctimony. A real 70s dad can only be behind that, the kind of dad who gives his daughter the space to freely criticize the way he brought her up. He doesn't measure himself by his parenting; he pursues his own (mostly TV) acting career and music career and isn't afraid to take a tumbler or two. In the process he allows a true actress to thrive, for children are like plants - you water them, give them access to sun, transplant as needed, and then step back and let them figure it out - most stage parents prune and fuss and overfeed until the plant's a nervous wreck, not the 70s dad. Instead he leaves an invisible signature. You'd never guess he was even there - until it's time for him to whistle, and show an entire academy audience the definition of ballsy 70s dadness.