Cancer documentary was Herrmann’s final project

  • By Scott Collins Los Angeles Times
  • Friday, March 27, 2015 1:49pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

Edward Herrmann had collapsed at the studio in New York, and no one knew why.

The actor had arrived to record his narrator part for Ken Burns’ latest documentary epic for PBS, “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies.” The three-part, six-hour film, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, traces the story of the disease from its earliest accounts in ancient Egypt to the latest scientific breakthroughs and their impact on real-life patients.

Herrmann, a favorite collaborator of Burns’, was helped up by colleagues after he had crumpled to the floor and was soon back at the microphone. “But during the break, he came back into the booth and explained that he not only had cancer, he had terminal cancer, brain cancer,” the film’s director, Barak Goodman, said. “He was confident he could finish this. … He felt it was appropriate that this be his final project.”

Herrmann — who died last December at 71 — did finish his work on “Cancer,” which premieres on PBS stations Monday. But that cancer cells were ravaging his body as he narrated the story of humanity’s battle against the disease offered a haunting symbolism. This is an illness so frightening that people sometimes find it hard even to utter its name, resorting to such euphemisms as the “C-word.”

Despite decades of increasingly sophisticated medical research, cancer remains relentless. And ubiquitous. Burns, the director behind “The Civil War” (PBS’ No. 1 series of all time), “Jazz” and many other documentaries, lost his own mother to breast cancer when he was 11.

Cancer is perhaps the most-feared of all diseases — which is exactly why Burns sees it as a vital topic, if never a welcome one.

“The essence of drama is conflict, and the essence of conflict is live or die,” the filmmaker, 61, said in a joint interview with Goodman and Mukherjee. “Those are the stakes here. … One out of three women and half of all men will get cancer” at some point in their lives.

“There are sad moments and there are exultant moments” in the film, he added. But “if you’re curious about who you are and what your fate is, you’ve got to know about this.”

Burns insists the topic is not as depressing as it might first sound. The work on “Cancer” has convinced him that a cure might not be as far off as it sometimes seems. “Just as progress has often led to intolerable failure,” he said, “failure has been the sponsor of so much extraordinary progress.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.