Habersham Community Theater actor Bruce Martin poses next to the 1949 Cadillac his character, Hoke Colburn, drove in the movie “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Heads were turning outside the historic Habersham Community Theater (HCT) in Clarkesville on Sunday as people captured glimpses and photos of a piece of Hollywood history. The 1949 Cadillac driven by actors Morgan Freeman and Dan Akroyd in the Oscar award winning film Driving Miss Daisy was parked outside the theater to celebrate the end of a seven day run of the play by the same name. (The screenplay was adapted from the stage play written by Alfred Uhry). Audience members and passersby were awe struck knowing the famous actors once sat behind the wheel of the car when the movie was filmed in Atlanta more than two decades ago.
Jay and Elaine Friedman of Marietta have owned the iconic car for thirty years. “I’ve been into antique cars since I was a teenager,” says Jay, “and I saw an ad for it in a magazine which caters to people into old cars. It was in Chicago. I flew up there and liked it and drove it home.”
Friedman paid $5,000 for the car in 1984, five years before Driving Miss Daisy was filmed.
“When they began filming the film Driving Miss Daisy the production team put a ‘call out’ and contacted Ford, General Motors and Cadillac Car Clubs in Atlanta. They asked people to bring out their cars in Atlanta and they just happened to keep our car,” explains Elaine Friedman. “The production crew kept the car for two months while filming on Lullwater Road. They also filmed in the temple in Atlanta where my son actually got to be part of the congregation service scene.” The Friedmans also got the opportunity to meet Morgan Freeman and the director of the film Bruce Beresford.
The Friedman’s 1949 Cadillac Sedan was shot in such a way so as to pass it off as a 1948 model. According to cadillacdatabase.com the grille and other ’49 features were cleverly disguised by simply never pointing the camera at them.
Driving Miss Daisy is set in Atlanta and spans the 25-year relationship of its characters. The film stars Morgan Freeman as chauffer Hoke Colburn and the late Jessica Tandy as the shyly wealthy, self-reliant Jewish widow Daisy Werthan. Dan Akroyd plays her son, Boolie. (The characters they made famous were played by HCT’s Bruce Martin, Alta Moseley and Justin Dudkiewicz, respectively).
The movie won rave reviews and four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress (Jessica Tandy), Best Screenplay (Alfred Uhry) and Best Makeup at the 62nd Annual Academy Awards in 1990. Freeman and Akroyd were both nominated.
For antique car aficionados the vehicles featured in the film were also big winners and it was just by happenstance one wound up in Clarkesville.
Jay Friedman saw a flyer for the HCT production of Driving Miss Daisy while visiting Glen Ella Springs Inn and Restaurant in Turnerville. “The guy just called us out of the blue,” explains HCT actor/director Justin Dudkiewicz, “He made reservations and said, ‘I have the car from the movie and I’m coming to see it.’ He follows the show around, apparently, and wherever theaters are presenting it he volunteers to bring it.” Dudkiewicz adds, “Habersham is a hidden gem. With movie crews being here lately, more and more people hear about our town. For him (Friedman) to find out about us and for them to notice our community and make a visit was exciting.”
Moseley, whose spot-on, witty portrayal of the play’s title character enthralled audiences during the HCT run was thrilled that the Friedman’s – and their car – attended the show. “It was amazing! It was such a suprise,” she says. HCT newcomer Bruce Martin also was smitten by the car and his brief brush with Tineseltown. “This really brought it all together,” he says. “To think this was the car that Morgan Freeman rode in was just wonderful and to have it here for photographs was great.”
