1987

Foxfire
Hallmark Hall of Fame (NBC)
Jud Taylor, director
Murray Schwartz, unit production manager
Fred Blankfein, first assistant director

Two subjects that have often gotten short shrift from films and TV—the elderly and Appalachia—are the combined subjects of this adaptation of the play by Susan Cooper and co-star Hume Cronyn. It's the story of the life of farm wife Annie Nations (Jessica Tandy), a widow who's visited by her country-western singing son, Dillard (John Denver). Her flashbacks combine with Dillard's complex notoriety as a "hillbilly" figure to flesh out issues of heritage and regional identity. Tandy won the Emmy Award as best actress and Cronyn and the show were nominated.