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Celebrate Harper Lee’s birthday!Brought to you by our sponsors:
Juanita Johnson & Scruggs, Dodd & Brisendine
To K*ll a Mockingbird is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. To K*ll a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize a year after its release, and it has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten.
The book was made into the well-received 1962 film with the same title, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch. The movie was a hit at the box office, quickly grossing more than $20 million from a $2-million budget. It won three Oscars: Best Actor for Gregory Peck, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Horton Foote. It was nominated for five more Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Mary Badham, the actress who played Scout. At the time, she was the youngest actress nominated in the category.
Lee was pleased with the film, "In that film the man and the part met ... I've had many, many offers to turn it into musicals, into TV or stage plays, but I've always refused. That film was a work of art". Peck met Lee's father, the model for Atticus, before the filming. Lee's father died before the film's release. Lee was so impressed with Peck's performance that she gave him her father's pocket watch, which he had with him the evening he was awarded the Oscar for Best Actor. Lee and Peck shared a friendship long after the movie was made. Peck's grandson was named "Harper" in her honor.
In May 2005, Lee made an uncharacteristic appearance at the Los Angeles Public Library at the request of Peck's widow Veronique, who said of Lee:
“She's like a national treasure. She's someone who has made a difference ... with this book. The book is still as strong as it ever was, and so is the film. All the kids in the United States read this book and see the film in the seventh and eighth grades and write papers and essays. My husband used to get thousands and thousands of letters from teachers who would send them to him.”
Doors open at 6pm
Movie starts at 7pm
No Admission
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
510 Gault Ave N, Fort Payne, AL 35967-2308, United States, Fort Payne, AL, United States, Alabama 35967
