Harry Dean Stanton Honored with Film Festival

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 31, 2011) − Kentucky native and former University of Kentucky journalism student Harry Dean Stanton's acting career will be highlighted with an upcoming KET special and film festival at the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington. Stanton, who grew up in West Irvine and studied journalism at UK before moving to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, has appeared in more than 100 films and 50 TV episodes. His films include Alien; The Green Mile; Cool Hand Luke; Paris, Texas; and Repo Man.

KET, the Lexington Film League and the Kentucky Theatre will present the Harry Dean Stanton Fest Feb. 2-4. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2 with the premiere of the Kentucky Muse special, "Harry Dean Stanton: Crossing Mulholland." Producer Tom Thurman will answer questions after the screening. The event is free and open to the public.

The second night of the film festival will feature a rare screening of Paris, Texas at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3. Admission is $10 per person. Stanton's co-star Hunter Carson will answer questions after the film. The Sidebar Grill will host a party afterwards, featuring Stanton's music.

The film festival concludes Friday, Feb. 4 with screenings of two Stanton classics, Cool Hand Luke at 1:30 p.m. and Repo Man at midnight. Admission for each film is $5.

The Kentucky Muse special about Stanton will also air at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, Feb. 15 on KET and 10 p.m. ET Wednesday, Feb. 23 on KET2.

KET's Kentucky Muse series celebrates Kentucky painters, musicians, authors and artists of all kinds. For more information about its upcoming special on Stanton, visit www.ket.org/muse/stanton.