Documentary
Filming Makes
One-Day Stop in Augusta
AUGUSTA (Georgia) FOCUS,
September 30, 1999
Story & photos by Staff Writer
Lillian Wan
Used by permission.
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Corbin Bernsen as |
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A shiny metal truck stuffed full of shelves of snack foods and drinks. Long picnic tables set up on a grassy street median under trees, covered with colorful plastic tablecloths. China dishes and silverware laid out on top of the tablecloths. Bright yellow tape roping off a section of streets along the Lake Forest Drive bus stop shelter, with the words "do not cross" printed on the tape. Three people dressed in older period clothing, surrounded by about 20 other people milling around in modern wear including jeans and tank tops. This was the sight that greeted this reporter as she came upon a usually plain modern bus shelter at the corner of Lake Forest Drive on Saturday afternoon, September 25.
The Tyee Group (of Portland, Oregon) is filming a documentary on the Pamplin family ranging in locations from Oregon to Georgia to Virginia. Robert B. Pamplin Sr. and his family had lived in Augusta in a house at 3002 Lake Forest Drive. The upcoming TV movie, A Separate Path to Glory, is based on Robert B. Pamplin, Jr.'s book: Heritage: The Making of an American Family (published in 1994). The time frame covered on the Pamplins in the movie will span mainly from 1950 to 1961, with flashbacks to the Civil War and the Spanish Armada.
The Pamplins are widely known for their financial generosity in the Augusta area at Augusta State University. It was their funding that helped build the Reese Library which officially opened in 1977. The library was named in honor of the parents of Mary Katherine Reese Pamplin (Mrs. Robert B. Pamplin, Sr.), a 1936 graduate of the then Junior College of Augusta. Several other financial donations have been made by the Pamplins over the years to Augusta State University. In 1997, the then school of Arts and Sciences was renamed as the Katherine Reese Pamplin College of Arts and Sciences.
Actor Corbin Bernsen will star as Robert B. Pamplin, Sr. He is best known for his long-running role as Arnie Becker on the TV series, L.A. Law from 1986 - 1994. He was one of only five original cast members who starred from the beginning to the end of the series. Since 1981, he has worked as an actor in over 60 movies and TV series. He also produced and starred in the movie The Dentist, II last year.
Actress Brynn Baron will co-star as Katherine Pamplin. She has starred in the 1991 TV movie The Marla Hanson Story and has worked in numerous commercials out West. She noted that it was a strange coincidence that she had lived in Augusta for two to three years during her youth and had not returned until her current film role.
Also co-starring in the film is actor Chad Bartulis as Robert Pamplin, Jr. Two local actors were also called to work on the one-day local filming. Daniel Thornton of North Augusta, S.C. worked as an extra. Brad Green, an Augusta actor/dancer/model, was called in by Model Productions as a stand in for Mr. Bartulis and as an extra. The Westside High student is also a member of the Augusta West Dance Studio. Director Nick Abdo is an experienced producer, director and assistant director of over seven movies and TV series since 1979.
On Saturday, the film crew mainly shot scenes of the former Pamplin house and street scenes with two older cars being driven back and forth past the house on Lake Forest Drive. A constant stream of loud airplane flybys could be heard for several hours due to the nearby Boshears Airshow 1999 held at Daniel Field. Mr. Abdo noted that the noise would not be a problem as sound could be manipulated during editing. Watch for the debut of A Separate Path to Glory around November.
This story was originally published in the September 30, 1999 issue of the Augusta (Georgia) Focus, pages 6C-7C.
Pamplin Dot Net wishes to express it's sincere appreciation to Ms. Wan and the Augusta Focus for providing the story & pictures.
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