Gerald McRaney Works To Bring More Films to Mississippi

[Brian Damage]

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Actor Gerald McRaney talked with 16 WAPT on Friday about art and filming more movies in Mississippi.

McRaney is known for sitcoms like "Major Dad" and "Designing Women," and for moves like "Gunsmoke" and "The Incredible Hulk."

He said he was taught early in his career about the fundamentals of art. His coach often intrigued him, he said, with tales of European cave dwellers who would etch drawings on their cave walls after feasting.

"Art is an essential part of the human condition," McRaney said. "It is wired in our DNA. We are hardwired to be artists one way or another."

Art is definitely in McRaney's makeup. He has acted in countless productions, but none of which were filmed in his native Mississippi.

"I would love to see more production done in Mississippi," he said.

McRaney has been lobbying to get a tax incentive for more movie productions in his state, but nothing has come of it yet. Still, he said he won't give up.

Talks about cutting funding from the Mississippi School of the Arts -- the only of its kind in the state -- prompted McRaney to make a visit home and to the school.

"To take a program that is operating at that level, that successfully, and to think about withholding funds is idiotic," he said.

McRaney said that while he understands the vitality of math and science in traditional curriculums, he feels just as strongly about art education and various forms of the art, such as dance, music and sculpting.

"That sort of education produces the kinds of people that wind up leading the world to better places," McRaney said.

McRaney is also home attending the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration. On Saturday, he will present the Horton Foote Award for Screenwriting.

http://www.wapt.com/entertainment/22689678/detail.html