History Buff Makes Movie Debut

Sen. Robert C. Byrd celebrated his 84th birthday in the company of some even older American leaders: generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet.

Byrd played Confederate Brig. Gen. Paul J. Semmes Tuesday in a cameo role in "Gods and Generals," a major motion picture being shot in western Maryland, West Virginia and northern Virginia.

The West Virginia Democrat said he took the non-speaking part to help stimulate interest in American history, a subject on which he sometimes lectures his colleagues.

"People generally don't know enough about the history of our country," Byrd said. "I hope this film will make people more alert to the suffering caused by the Civil War and the causes that led to the Civil War."

Director Ronald F. Maxwell said he invited Byrd and several other senators to be in the $51 million movie in hopes of drawing attention to both the film and Civil War battlefield preservation efforts. Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, recently filmed a scene as a
Virginia legislator and Senate Republican leader Trent Lott will take a role Dec. 2, Maxwell said.

Star Stephen Lang, playing Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, seemed thrilled to share the outdoor set with Byrd, who has served in Congress since 1952.

"It's very appropriate, I think, to the whole spirit of what we're doing here to have a senator who's been so much a part of history," Lang said. "It gives a certain amount of integrity to the project."

Byrd spent more than six hours on the set, mostly waiting in blustery, 45-degree weather for the crew to set up a scene that lasted three minutes, 20 seconds.

The setting is a camp where Lee, Jackson, Longstreet and other Confederate leaders are discussing strategy for the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., fought on Dec. 13, 1862. Byrd stands at one end of a group of 19 officers clustered around a long, folding table, listening to Lee, played by Robert Duvall, and Longstreet, played by Bruce Boxleitner.

Maxwell filmed five takes, pausing after the third for an hour-long lunch in a gigantic mess tent where Byrd was serenaded with "Happy Birthday" and given a cake decorated with a blue-and-yellow outline of West Virginia.

Maxwell also gave the senator a miniature Civil War cannon as a keepsake.

The Ted Turner Pictures production, set for release by early 2003, is based on a book of the same name by Jeff Shaara. It is a prequel to Maxwell's movie, "Gettysburg," which was based on "The Killer Angels" by Shaara's father, Michael.

Ted Turner Pictures has optioned the rights to "Last Full Measure," also by Jeff Shaara, on which Maxwell hopes to base the last installment of a Civil War film trilogy.

By David Dishneau © MMI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed