The William Saroyan Theatre in downtown Fresno was recently renovated and photos and sayings of William Saroyan now decorate the walls.
PBS Valley Public
Television (KVPT-Fresno) aired a special one-hour documentary about the famed
writer William Saroyan at 7PM on Sunday,
August 31. Entitled “Saroyan,” the
film was produced in honor of the year long William Saroyan Centennial
Celebration. Those who tuned
in to see the documentary learned about Saroyan’s
life, including his childhood, about his hometown of Fresno, about highlights of
his career, his
marriage, and most importantly, the legacy of his writing. Saroyan’s story was
told through the eyes of his friends
and fans and also featured
never-before-seen photos and archival interviews of the man himself. Local TV
personality John Wallace narrated
the documentary.
“American writer…Armenian
hero…This is Saroyan” –with these words viewers were transported into the life
of William
Saroyan. Saroyan’s life began
on August 31, 1908 in Fresno,
California. He was the youngest
of four and his parents were Armenak and
Takoohi Saroyan. Saroyan’s parents had
immigrated to California from Bitlis, Armenia
in 1905. Saroyan endured a tough childhood, his
family was poor, and his father
died in 1911 when he was three years old.
Saroyan inherited his
father’s drive to be a writer. He learned
to read so that he could write. As he
said in an interview, “If Charles Dickens could do it, why couldn’t William
Saroyan?” Saroyan’s
experiences with people and of living in the city of Fresno as well as his
Armenian heritage provided him with the foundation to write
his stories. One
point the documentary noted was that Saroyan’s writing showed very little
evidence of the discrimination Armenians
experienced during his childhood. Herb
Gold, an author and a friend of Saroyan, remarked that he was “very aware of
the prejudice against
Armenians,” and added, “he wrote about them [Armenians]
because he was them.”
Saroyan’s experiences in Fresno as well as his
Armenian
heritage were the inspirations he used to write his stories. In 1928
at the age of 20, he became a published writer. Six years later
he achieved the
success he desired when Story magazine published his short story, “The
Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze.” These
works, as well as those that
followed, such as My Name Is Aram, The Human Comedy, and his
Broadway plays, “My Heart’s in the Highlands,”
and “The Time of Your Life,”
were written in an unconventional way. Shakespearean actor, David Fox-Brenton
stated that “his use of language
was unstructured…he wrote in a new way.” Herb
Gold put it this way, “he wrote very much as he spoke.”
The documentary also showed
how
Saroyan was an “enigma.” He wanted success and recognition from the critics
and the public, but he did not want to receive awards for
his success. In 1940,
he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and turned it down, feeling the
prize was “too commercial.” This arrogance
of his was also portrayed in his
marriage. His only marriage was to Carol Marcus, whom he married twice and
divorced twice. He had two
children, Aram and Lucy. Roxie Moradian, a
life-long friend of Saroyan’s, said that “he was not a good husband, but he
loved her, I
think.” One of the notable
absences in this documentary is that none of the interviews are from his
family, including his son Aram.
The
focus towards the end
of the documentary shifted to Saroyan’s talent as a music lyricist and artist.
He wrote the 1951 chart-topping
hit song “Come On-A My House,” which was made
famous by Rosemary Clooney. Saroyan wrote this song in collaboration with his
cousin Ross
Bagdasarian; “Come On-A My House” was written in Saroyan’s friends,
Frank and Roxie Moradian’s home in Fresno.
Besides writing music,
Saroyan also liked to paint and draw. A number of his
paintings and drawing are on odd pieces of paper, such as stationery, because
he
never liked to throw anything a way. Just like his written works, Saroyan
had extraordinary vision in his paintings. “He was ahead
of his time,”
commented David Fox-Brenton.
In his later years, Saroyan
chose to live in Fresno,
the place that had been the inspiration
for many of his writings. During this
time, Saroyan was often seen riding a bicycle around Fresno. He died in 1981.
The documentary
“Saroyan”
portrayed him as a man who desired success and who wanted to be liked for his
works. He was stubborn and arrogant, self-confident
and unconventional. Saroyan
had grown up to be sure of himself and where he stood in the world. His roots
in Fresno, as
well as his family
and Armenian heritage, shaped his vision as a writer,
composer, artist, and as a man. The enduring legacy of William Saroyan is that
his
works continue to delight audiences.
December 2008 • Vol. 30, No. 2 (104)
