Film festival Aug. 11 and Aug. 25 to feature career of actor born in Clayton, grew up in Quincy

QUINCY — The Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County will sponsor a two-day John Anderson Film Festival in August. Anderson, one of the finest character actors of his generation, was born in Clayton in 1922 and grew up in Quincy.

The festival will cover two aspects of the actor’s career. “From Gunsmoke to MacGyver” is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, and will feature Anderson’s most popular roles through five decades of television – the 50s through the 90s. “The Hallelujah Trail,” slated for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 25, will focus on his only comedic movie role.

Both showings will be held in Quincy’s Senior and Family Resource Center.

In addition to showing Anderson’s television and film work, Tim Jacobs, HSQAC board member and chairman of the Program Committee, will discuss the actor’s childhood in Quincy, his career path from Broadway to movie stardom and “A House Divided,” his “missing” movie about the Lincoln-Douglas debate which was filmed at various locations in Quincy, including the Gov. John Wood Mansion.

Jacobs and Barb Rowell, director of the Quincy Community Theater, were Anderson fans and spent several years trying to locate “Quincy’s movie.” The film was finally discovered at the University of Maryland but in a Beta format. Following conversion to VHS and then into a DVD, it was shown in Quincy again in 2010 at a gala event at the Quincy Community Theater, sponsored by the Historical Society of Quincy and Adams County and the QCT.