Thursday, September 5, 2013

Saul Holiff is the subject of his son Jonathan’s film documentary, “My Father and the Man in Black,” opening in New York and Los Angeles September 6. The Man in Black is of course country music singer Johnny Cash. Saul was associated with the superstar for 17 years, and for 13 of those as his manager. The movie is based on telephone conversations with Cash which the elder Holiff secretly recorded, unknown to the singer or his family.

Here is a portion of an interview with Jonathan Holiff concerning Saul Holiff which was conducted by Curt Schleier and published in the Sept. 3 edition of the Jewish Daily Forward.

Schleier: But finally June Carter Cash said something that broke the camel’s back. Was she an anti-Semite?

Jonathan Holiff: I can’t say that she was. But when John (Johnny Cash) started working with (the Rev. Billy) Graham she asked my Dad if he had some problem with Jesus and was only interested in money.

My father said, “I consider that remark anti-Semitic. I should not be expected to attend shows I did not book. I’m giving my notice.”

He’d quit Johnny four or five times before. He’s the only one to quit a superstar. In Hollywood we would sooner convert to Scientology than walk away from $1 million a year. This is something I respect about him...

His integrity was paramount and when Johnny tried to convert him to Christianity my father couldn’t take it any more. He walked away from all that money and retired at age 49 never to work again.

Read more:
http://blogs.forward.com/the-arty-semite/183178/johnny-cashs-jewish-manager/


***

0 comments:

Post a Comment