A tribute to Bobb James, actor

Bobb James in The Sunshine Boys, TST 1999

One of the most beloved actors in the history of Tibbits Summer Theatre, Bobb James, will not be appearing this summer. Since the fall of 2005, Bobb was fighting liver disease. I drove him home from Florida, where he was about to go into rehearsal, to let him end his days in Coldwater. Instead, with the help of some of his best friends, he fought back. He stopped drinking and there was enough liver left to produce a near miraculous recovery. The Bobb I knew best returned, and we did some of our best work together. He was back onstage, writing, and feeling great. But by the beginning of 2008, it was a different story. And on Saturday morning, May 3, just days shy of his 56th birthday, Bobb died peacefully at U of M hospital in Ann Arbor.


Where to begin?


That voice. Bobb had one of the best instruments I knew. A leading man’s voice in a character actor’s body. But he finally found the roles: Juan Peron in Evita, The Governor in Best Little Whorehouse, Michael in I Do I Do, Honore in Gigi. He excelled at anything that could show off his felicity with words and bring out the native born Brit: Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, Andrew Wyke in Sleuth, Charles Condomine in Blithe Spirit. He delighted in (and was delightful) in farce: …Forum, Charley’s Aunt, Footlight Frenzy, Lucky Stiff and Lend Me a Tenor. Or on the flip side which we didn’t see nearly enough: Mass Appeal. It threatens to become just a list-- with 22 seasons at the Tibbits--- playing over 70 roles. And there were countless roles in Nashville, Dayton, Birmingham and in Florida.


It was no secret that I directed him in many of his best parts. He was such an instinctual actor. He made it look easy. But I knew the tricks--I rarely let him get away with the easy choice. We could speak in shorthand--while the rest of the company wondered what the hell we were talking about--but the performance emerged richer and more layered.


We didn’t do it often in later years, but we enjoyed being on stage together. Harvey springs to mind. The Gershwin brothers. And mention must be made of Once Upon a Mattress where few can forget Bobb as King Sextimus teaching me, as a very slow Prince Dauntless, the birds and the bees in mime….


Then there’s the writing, over 20 plays, the best of them written together---my spare style meeting his effuse one, creating a better whole. Sort of like our life together…


One last thought: Several year’s ago, a season subscriber was at the ticket window. She was listening to the rundown of what shows we were doing. The patron cut the box office manager off. “Just tell me if that Bobb James is gonna be here. That always means a good show.”


Not this year, ma’am.

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A Celebration of Bobb's Life will be held onstage at the Tibbits, May 15, 2008 at 7:00pm.

Please no flowers. All memorials will go the Tibbits Restoration Fund.