A Renaissance Man of the Arts
Artist/Writer/Director/Actor Lawrence Holofcener Brings Talents of All Forms to Lake County
Written by Blair Townley; Photos by Anthony Rao
First it was writing songs for Broadway shows. Then it was directing and acting in the film industry. Later it was cultivating his talent for sculpture and painting in the art world.
One can say Lawrence Holofcener has had quite the illustrious career in the arts and entertainment business.
He recently made a new home for that talent in downtown Mount Dora with the opening in December of Holofcener Studio & Gallery, exhibiting his diverse collection of sculptures and paintings.
Known for his lifelike sculptures of worldwide icons and nature-oriented paintings, Lawrence hopes to expand on his art repertoire with his move to Lake County.
“I have never been a shopkeeper and I’m here every day [at the gallery], having fun painting and sculpting,” Lawrence says.
“There is a lot in Lake County that I haven’t touched on or seen. The whole area is beautiful with the lakes, the sunsets and the birds.”
Lawrence began an early interest in art while growing up in Baltimore, being brought to the Maryland Institute by his father after he found doodles Lawrence had made.
His father enrolled him in commercial art but the teacher soon told his father Lawrence belonged in fine arts, a career his father didn’t want him to pursue.
“I was taken out of art school and I missed the fact that I don’t have the artistic background or training. It would have saved so much trouble learning about the techniques, the tools and everything, which I did on my own,” he states.
Lawrence continued doing sketches here and there as he went on to attend the University of Wisconsin but went in a different artistic direction after meeting a young composer, Jerry Bock.
“Professionally I began as a songwriter, a lyricist and Jerry persuaded me to come to New York with him to become a songwriter in the theater,” Lawrence recalls.
The duo went onto to pen songs for the television show, “Your Show of Shows” with Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner as well as for Broadway shows such as “Mr. Wonderful” with Sammy Davis Jr.
Lawrence then went on his own to appear on Broadway opposite Ginger Rogers and Carol Channing while also directing several shows include a musical he wrote himself, “I Don’t Live There Anymore.”
As for film, Lawrence appeared in his daughter Nicole’s writing and directing film debut, the theater-oriented film “Walking & Talking.” His literary writing credits include novels, poetry and providing material for British English and rhyming dictionaries.
He didn’t really become involved with sculpture until 1979 when an exhibit in South Carolina promoted him to focus more energy into the art form.
“Sculpture was most enjoyable as I worked with clay, my hands and my eyes. I think I could get lost in that more easily than anything else as everything else was an intellectual exercise, a challenge with how accurate I wanted to be or not,” he says.
His name is synonymous with excellence in art as two of his sculptures, the life-size Churchill and Roosevelt on a bench and Faces of Olivier, are some of the most famous in England.
Lawrence even presented the Faces of Olivier, a collage of 28 roles performed by Laurence Olivier, to the veteran actor himself when it was unveiled in 1985 at the Chichester Theatre in West Sussex.
“I did the Laurence Olivier collage even though I had never met him or seen him [before] except in film. It was just an idea as I thought he was the greatest actor in the 20th century. We spent the day together and it just happened that way because I wanted to do the sculpture,” he states.
After living in England for 12 years, Lawrence relocated with his wife of nearly 40 years, Julia, to France where they lived for the past five years before making the move to Mount Dora.
Lawrence is looking forward to what will emerge artistically as he spends more time interacting with visitors to his gallery, teaching first-time students at his $10 sculpting classes at his gallery and exploring Lake County.
“My future plans are to keep living because as long as I’m alive, I’m going to keep doing something,” he concludes.
“You don’t learn unless you want to learn. The arts come from the soul.”
Learn more about Lawrence Holofcener and where to find his gallery by visiting his Web site, www.holofcener.com.
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